Fundamental
Evangelistic Association
News
and Views - 1998
©FOUNDATION
A MAGAZINE OF BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM
Dennis W.Costella, Editor; Karel Beyer, Production Manager; Matt
Costella,
Copy Editor
M.H. Reynolds, Jr. (1919-1997), Founding Editor
Index of Articles
FOUNDATION Magazine : Current and Past Issues
1997 News and Views
1999 News and Views
2000 News and Views
2001 News
and Views
Index of FOUNDATION Magazine News and Views for 1998:
Baptist World Alliance Denies Press
Credentials to FOUNDATION Magazine
Canadian Lutherans and Anglicans Expected to be in Full Communion
Catholic Answers, Roman Catholic Apologetics and
Evangelization Organization
Catholic
Politicians Who Support Laws Defending Abortion Jeopardize Their Own Salvation
Chosen Women, A Female
Counterpart to the Promise Keepers Movement
Dutch Theologian Harry
Kuitert, Most Widely Read In Netherlands, Rejects Deity of Jesus Christ
Episcopal Bishop Spong's Latest Book Rejects Christian Fundamentals
God's Will for Every Believer
According to TBN
Growing Number Of
Ministries Hoping To Thrive As Result Of The Millennium Bug (Y2K)
"Heaven's Gate, Hell's Flames" Is Popular Religious
Drama Being Embraced By Many Churches
James Dobson Addresses the 1998
Southern Baptist Convention
Jerry Falwell Participates in the
1998 Southern Baptist Convention
"New Version Of The Bible To Satisfy Churchgoers And Comic
Book Fans"
Robert Schuller Joins David Yonggi Cho in Sicily, Visits Pope En-Route
Top 25 List of Religious Figures
Who Have Influenced Religion In The United States
World Council Of Churches (WCC)
Will Hold Its Eighth Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe
Baptist World Alliance
Denies Press Credentials To FOUNDATION Magazine.
FOUNDATION had hoped to gain press credentials to
the July 5-11 BWA General Council Meeting in Durban, South Africa in order to provide
Fundamentalists with credible, firsthand information concerning the activities and
associations of the Baptist World Alliance. However, a fax sent by Wendy Ryan, director of
the BWA communications division, stated, "I am not sure why you want to send a
reporter to our meeting since we are a global organization composed of 191 independent
member bodies and, as director of communications, I do the reporting ... After discussing
with my boss, we decided not to offer you press credentials." A follow-up telephone
call to Ryan revealed how the BWA is carefully seeking to censor the press. Even though it
was explained to Ryan that Foundation magazine had covered past BWA meetings and
seeks to provide credible, firsthand information to its Fundamentalist audience, Ryan
blatantly stated that she was the authoritative, credible source of reports coming from
the meeting. She added that independent Baptists and other Fundamentalists have no part or
interest in what the "member Baptists" are doing. Such censorship not only shows
a high degree of bias and press control, but it also reveals a lack of professionalism in
both the attitudes and actions of the Baptist World Alliance.
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Canadian Lutherans and Anglicans Expected to be
in Full Communion
Canadian Lutherans and Anglicans are expected to be in
full communion in 200l according to an Ecumenical News International (ENI) wire
story. ENI reported that both the Anglican Church in Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) are currently drawing closer together and expect to be
in full communion in three years. If the proposed declaration is passed in July 2001, then
both the Lutheran and Anglican churches will be required to recognize each others' rites,
services, sacraments and clergy. According to the Canada Lutheran, the official
ELCIC magazine in Canada, the Lutheran National Church Council has already declared that
any Anglican church member transferring to a Lutheran church should be fully admitted and
received with the same status they held in the Anglican church. The two religious
organizations combined account for approximately one million Canadians. This is yet
another example of the ecumenical spirit of the last days that is bringing about the
apostate, one-world church.
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Catholic Answers, A Roman Catholic Apologetics and
Evangelization Organization "Fights Back"
Catholic Answers, a Roman
Catholic apologetics and evangelization organization, is urgently appealing for
monetary donations in order to "fight back" against anti-Catholic radio
programs. A recent fund-raising letter begins: "Here's how to fight back against
anti-Catholic radio programs that are taking thousands of Catholics out of the
church!" The solution, according to Catholic Answers, is to financially
support a new Roman Catholic radio talk show entitled "Catholic Answers Live."
Catholics are urged to support the new program because over 100,000 Catholics leave the
Roman Catholic Church annually to join Protestant churches. The letter says, "When
uninformed Catholics listen to these Protestant radio programs, they're defenseless
against the well rehearsed attacks of the anti-Catholic hosts who do this for a living ...
You know how painful it can be to see folks leave the Church founded by Jesus Christ
himself and go to a Protestant religion that denies many important Christian
teachings-such as the Eucharist, the priesthood, confession, the Mass, the complete
understanding of justification, Marian doctrines, and so much more." Catholic
Answers claims to be the largest Catholic apologetics and evangelization organization
in North America and is strongly and actively opposed to Evangelicalism and
Fundamentalism. While many religious liberals and professing evangelicals are perpetrating
the idea that unity between Catholics and Protestants is possible and that Protestant and
Catholic theology can be harmonized, those who actually know Roman Catholic dogma and are
well-read in the doctrines of the Catholic Church realize that Protestant and Catholic
theology drastically differ. The Bible-believing Fundamentalist must separate not only
from the Roman Catholic Church, but also from those liberals and New Evangelicals who
teach that Roman Catholic dogma has changed and is now similar to the teachings of
Protestants. Believers also need to be aware of groups like Catholic Answers that
attempt to arm Catholics with doctrines that will blind them from the complete Truth
as revealed in the Bible.
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Catholic Politicians Who
Support Laws Defending Abortion Jeopardize Their Own Salvation
CATHOLIC POLITICIANS WHO SUPPORT LAWS DEFENDING ABORTION
JEOPARDIZE THEIR OWN SALVATION according to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The October 29, 1998 Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, "Catholic politicians
are being warned that they endanger their eternal salvation by supporting laws
permitting abortion." Seven U.S. cardinals developed a statement which will soon be
presented to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. They released the
document early to the Plain Dealer. It said, "Catholic public officials who
disregard church teaching on the dignity of the human person indirectly collude in the
taking of innocent life. In doing so, they jeopardize their own salvation, erode the
community of faith and give scandal to the faithful."
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Chosen Women, A
Female Counterpart To The Promise Keepers Movement
Chosen Women, a female counterpart to the Promise
Keepers movement, is not as highly visible or lucrative as Promise
Keepers, but nevertheless, it is influencing thousands of women. Over 10,000 women
assembled in Fresno, California at Bulldog Stadium May 2930 to attend this conference that
united women in joint fellowship, praise and repentance. Speakers included Anne Graham
Lotz, Bunny Wilson, Alaina Reed-Hall, founder Susan Kimes and Kay Arthur via videotape.
One of the speakers gave an altar call, inviting ladies who had abortions or miscarriages
to raise up their hands and, in effect, give their deceased babies to the Lord.
Undoubtedly, this stirred up much emotion within the crowd, but such an action has
absolutely no biblical basis. Chosen Women, like Promise Keepers, focuses heavily upon
humanistic psychology, emotionalism and ungodly ecumenicity rather than fidelity to
biblical doctrine. Believers must avoid and warn others of this new women's movement.
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Dutch Theologian Harry Kuitert,
Most Widely Read In Netherlands, Rejects Deity of Jesus Christ
DUTCH THEOLOGIAN HARRY KUITERT, CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST WIDELY READ CONTEMPORARY
THEOLOGIAN IN THE NETHERLANDS, has rejected the deity of
Jesus Christ in his latest book Jesus, the Inheritance of Christianity. An October
5, 1998, Ecumenical News International (ENI) release reported that Kuitert's book declares
that to pray to Jesus is a "gross heresy" since Jesus "only points back to
God." Kuitert, a retired minister of the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands (GKN),
calls Jesus a Jew who followed Jewish faith, but not God Himself. "Jesus supported
the Jewish view of God, so he never saw himself as God on earth. He is not a Second God,
nor the Second Person of the Holy Trinity," Kuitert declared in his book. The ENI
article also reported that the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in The Netherlands and The Netherlands Reformed Church have organized a
special meeting in order to discuss the question "Who is the real Jesus?" The
churches issued a statement saying it was vital to discuss the matter since it is at the
very heart of the Christian faith. The fact that these "Christian" churches even
need to gather and dialogue concerning the matter of Who Jesus really is certainly reveals
the worldwide apostasy of professing Christendom today.
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Episcopal Bishop Spong's Latest Book Rejects
Christian Fundamentals
The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong, the Episcopal bishop of
Newark, N. J., recently released his latest book Why Christianity Must Change or
Die in which he calls for a "New Reformation" that includes the rejection of
all fundamentals of the Christian faith. Spong describes himself as a
"God-intoxicated human being" who feels as though he "breathes the very air
of God." However, even a cursory reading of his book is enough to inform any
Bible-believing reader that Spong is a Christ-rejecting heretic who completely rejects the
scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible. On a recent television interview, Spong
said the idea of Jesus as Redeemer "has got to go." Spong rejects the Apostle's
Creed and Nicene Creed, saying, "If the God I worship must be identified with these
ancient creedal words in any literal sense, God would become for me not just unbelievable,
but in fact no longer worthy of being the subject of my devotion." Asserting that
Christianity today is misrepresented due to the cultural boundaries and limitations placed
on it for the past 2000 years, Spong believes that science has proven the Bible to be both
untrue and inaccurate. In fact, those who believe in the literal, historical and
scientific accuracy of the Bible are deemed "idolatrous" by Spong. Hundreds of
utterly blasphemous statements in Spong's latest book could readily be noted, but
believers must simply be mindful that this kind of rampant unbelief exists in America's
mainline denominations today.
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God's Will For Every Believer According
to TBN
DEBT CANCELLATION AND FINANCIAL PROSPERITY IS GOD'S WILL
FOR EVERY BELIEVER ACCORDING TO PAUL CROUCH, JOHN AVANZINI AND BENNY HINN. The
October 1998 Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) newsletter Praise the Lord says God
wants the believer "to be rich in every way." The lead article criticizes those
modern "Pharisees" who say health, wealth and prosperity is not always God's
will. The article said, "Yes, God still
wants to prosper us and bring us out of debt." Why?
So the believer can be used to "establish God's covenant (kingdom) in all the
earth." Crouch, Hinn, Avinzini and others misinterpret many Scripture passages in
order to further their agendas. The newsletter stated, "The glorious good news is
simply when we obey God's plan of prosperity, we are blessed, healed and brought out of
debt." How is debt relief, healing and prosperity accomplished? By pledging money to
TBN. "You can enter into this blessing by joining the TBN family for another great
week of Revival Praise-A-Thon," the newsletter continued. A pledge card was enclosed
with the newsletter. Millions of naive, susceptible individuals are supporting the false
doctrines perpetrated by TBN by listening to the outlandish claims of Crouch, Hinn and
others and financially supporting the network.
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Growing Number Of Ministries Hoping
To Thrive On The Millennium Bug (Y2K)
A GROWING NUMBER OF MINISTRIES ARE HOPING TO THRIVE AS A
RESULT OF THE MILLENNIUM BUG BY CAPITALIZING ON THE Y2K SCARE. Many Christian
ministries are devoting a large amount of time to pure speculation as to the extent of the
Y2K "millennial bug" and are selling thousands of books, videotapes, magazines
and even "Y2K Preparedness Packs" to believers who are frightened by the
prospect of worldwide chaos. A subscription to one magazine which claims to guide the
believer through the turn of the millennium costs $190 a year! Others, speculating that
the beginning of the new millennium will mark the beginning of the Great Tribulation and
saying the church will not be raptured prior to the Tribulation, are often discovered to
be distributors for canned food or water filtration systems. Many are going to become rich
by exploiting fears and deceiving those who are not grounded in proper theology and
biblical prophecy.
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"Heaven's Gate, Hell's
Flames" Is Popular Religious Drama Being Embraced By Many Churches
"HEAVEN'S GATES, HELL'S FLAMES" IS THE TITLE OF
A POPULAR RELIGIOUS DRAMA THAT IS BEING EMBRACED BY MANY CHURCHES. However, not
only are the advertising techniques questionable due to the effort to lure the
"unchurched" to the show, but the theological content of the production is quite
poor, if not blasphemous. During one scene, all those who have died stand at the gates of
heaven and are either ushered into heaven by Jesus or dragged into hell by demons. In
another scene, Jesus is crucified and then descends into hell where He is mocked and
physically abused by Satan and his hoard of demons. The Word of God is silent as to what
happened to the Spirit of the Lord when it left His body by His own will. No biblical
foundation exists for the teaching that Satan and his host were in hell with Christ. This
drama is yet another attempt to distort the Scriptures in order to entertain a crowd who
does not desire the "preaching of the word." This production strives to produce
an emotional guilt designed to lead to repentance, but God says the preaching of His Word
alone is sufficient.
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Jerry Falwell Participates in the 1998 Southern
Baptist Convention
Dr. Jerry Falwell, once considered a major leader of the
fundamentalist movement, showed just how far he is continuing to depart from his
original Fundamentalist stance by participating in the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention
meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Falwell and seven members of his church attended the
annual SBC meeting as voting messengers. Falwell first became identified with the SBC in
1996 when Thomas Road Baptist Church, Falwell's congregation, decided to contribute $1,000
to the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV). The SBCV, a conservative
offshoot of the liberal Baptist General Association of Virginia, is a recognized state
convention affiliate of the SBC. One Baptist Press report stated, "Fifty percent of
that contribution went to the SBC and made the church a cooperating Southern Baptist
congregation, although Falwell said at the time in at least one reported newspaper
interview that he had no interest in participating in SBC annual meetings." Falwell
believes his change of heart and change in actions are justified because he contends the
SBC is being rescued from theological liberalism. While it is true that the SBC has
attempted to root out theological liberals in some key positions, the SBC is strongly New
Evangelical in attitude and association. For example, it continues to be a major part of
the apostate Baptist World Alliance, and several key Southern Baptist leaders are speakers
at ecumenical gatherings such as Promise Keepers. Yet Bible believing Christians should
not be surprised by Falwell's recent decisions. For many years, he has comfortably
associated himself with New Evangelicals and Charismatics such as Benny Hinn, Richard
Roberts, Pat Robertson and Kenneth Hagin, Jr. Believers must realize that Falwell, and the
SBC, refuses to separate from unbelief and compromise, and believers should pray that
Falwell will return to his original Fundamentalist position.
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James Dobson Addresses the 1998 Southern Baptist
Convention
Dr. James Dobson, a "Christian Psychologist" and
founder of Focus On The Family, addressed the closing session of the 1998 Southern Baptist
Convention meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 11. Dobson, a member of the Church of
the Nazarene in Colorado Springs, Colorado, praised the SBC for its strong political
conservatism. A June 12 Baptist Press report stated that "James Dobson challenged
Southern Baptists to continue to address society's moral decay as they have in the stances
taken this year and last." Dobson focused on society's moral ills and lack of values,
especially concerning abortion, homosexuality and pornography, and "urged churches
and Christians to use their American right to influence governmental actions,"
Baptist Press reported. His message was continually interrupted with enthusiastic applause
from those attending. "I have enormous respect for your movement and your love for
the Lord," Dobson said. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Southern
Baptist." Without question, homosexuality, pornography and abortion are wrong and
condemned in the Bible. God's Word commands the believer to uphold moral, biblical
principles of sexual purity. However, the platform upon Which believers should rally and
unite is sound doctrine as well as moral purity. Today's cry for activism and ecumenical
unity for the cause of political awareness completely disregards the need for doctrinal
purity. Millions of conservatives, New Evangelicals and even moderates and some liberals
can easily rally around a political platform that renounces homosexuality, abortion and
pornography. But such a mixture cannot unite on the grounds of doctrinal purity.
Holiness-separation from anything that is contrary to the Word of God-is extremely
important to the Lord, and those who exercise political unity at the expense of doctrinal
purity are disobeying the clear teaching of Scripture. By featuring Dobson as a key
speaker at the convention meeting, the SBC continues to show its disregard for biblical
separation and its acceptance of false doctrine and "Christian" psychology.
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New Version Of The Bible To Satisfy
Churchgoers & Comic Book Fans"
A NEW VERSION OF THE BIBLE TO SATISFY CHURCHGOERS AND
COMIC BOOK FANS hit the consumer market in London, England. The 256-page Lion Graphic
Bible is written in a comic-strip format and was released in Great Britain in October.
Ecumenical News International CENI) noted that the Lion Graphic Bible "has already
been hailed by publishers and church officials as a means of finding new audiences for the
world's best-selling but often highly unread book." The phenomenal task of
illustrating the Bible in comic book format fell upon the shoulders of Jeff Anderson.
Scriptwriter Mike Maddox, who has worked for DC Comics, was responsible for finding the
words to fit into the cartoon "speech bubbles." ENI said Maddox "had looked
at pretty well every version of the Bible in English before preparing the text." In
an attempt to tone down sex and violence, the Lion Graphic Bible completely deletes the
account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and refuses to detail the Israelites'
slaughter of the Canaanites. The editor of the European Christian Bookstore Journal, Peter
Leeming said the Lion Graphic Bible "makes the people of the Bible come alive."
He added, "It lets their stories, and the main story behind their stories, become
vivid for the reader, without having to plough through a sheer weight of words." U.
S. publisher Broadman & Holman plans to publish the Bible next year.
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Robert Schuller Joined David Yonggi Cho in
Sicily, Visits Pope En-Route
Dr. Robert Schuller joined David Yonggi Cho in Sicily for
the country's first church growth conference in March 1998, visiting Pope John Paul
II en route to the conference. The May 1998 issue of Powerlines, Robert Schuller's
monthly newsletter, highlights his church growth conference with Cho and his meeting with
Pope John Paul II in Rome. According to the newsletter, "it was the fourth time Dr.
Schuller and the Pope had met, hand-to-hand, heart-to-heart at the Vatican." The
article also added a brief note concerning the discussion between the Pope and Schuller:
"When the Schullers met Pope John Paul II in March, the Pope expressed interest in
how our churches could work together to take part in the Vatican's preparations for the
Jubilee celebrations of Christianity's third millennium in the year 2000." Pope John
Paul II also blessed Mrs. Schuller, an act which Robert Schuller said may have caused his
wife to be healed five days later when Mrs. Schuller suffered a mild heart attack.
"How could Arvella help but be healed when the Crystal Cathedral Congregation is
praying for her, and after she had received private blessings from the Pope and a special
visit from the pastor of the largest Protestant church in the world, David Yonggi
Cho," Schuller said. Both the Pope and David Yonggi Cho are leading millions of
people astray by the false doctrines they propagate, and Schuller is perfectly comfortable
commending these men as servants of God. Believers must be aware that Schuller's gospel is
not the Gospel as found in the Word of God, and his associations with Roman Catholics and
apostate Protestants are dangerous to the cause of Christ. Why? Because so many people are
deceived by Schuller's positive-only messages and warm demeanor, and they cannot imagine
why anyone or any organization would be opposed to his ministry. However, God commands
fidelity to His Word and His Gospel, and any who preach a false gospel or refuse to
separate from apostasy or unbelief are under His curse (Galatians 1:6-10).
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Top 25 List of Religious Figures Who Have
Influenced Religion In The United States
A LIST OF THE TOP-25 RELIGIOUS FIGURES WHO HAVE INFLUENCED THE UNITED STATES seems to reveal why our nation is so void of biblical truth. Religion
& Ethics News Weekly, a Public Broadcasting Service television program, compiled
and presented the list of 25 names on September 4, 1998. Many news reports since the
release of the list have observed that both the list itself and the reactions by the
American citizens "give a revealing snapshot of the diversity of religious life in
the United States at the end of the century" (ENI 10-9-98). Sadly, this observation
is certainly true. Several liberal theologians appeared on the list including Karl Barth,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr and Albert Schweitzer. Pope John Paul II, Pope John
Paul XXIII, Gustavo Gutierrez, (the "Father of Liberation Theology"), Walter
Rauschenbusch (the"Father of the Social Gospel"), Norman Vincent Peale, Mary
Baker Eddy, C. S. Lewis and the Ayatollah Khomeini also appeared on the list along with
several Jewish rabbis and even the 14th Dalai Lama. How sad it is to see our nation be
"most influenced" by those who completely deny salvation by grace through faith
alone in Jesus Christ.
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World Council Of Churches
(WCC) Will Hold Its Eighth Assembly In Harare, Zimbabwe
The World Council Of Churches (WCC) will hold its eighth
assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in December 1998. As the world's leading ecumenical
organization, the WCC is instrumental in bringing together apostate churches that not only
preach a false gospel but also actively promote many liberal political and social agendas.
Leaders of more than 330 WCC member churches have been invited to the assembly in order to
recommit themselves to the work and the goals of the WCC. According to an Ecumenical News
International (ENI) wire report, the leaders, which include heads of Protestant, Anglican
and Orthodox churches, will "bring a cross to exchange during the service with the
head of another church to symbolize the recommitment which will be made, and the
relationships which the WCC makes possible." The ENI report also mentions that the
1998 WCC assembly will contain a special plenary session that will evaluate the results of
the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women. This program was launched in
1988 to encourage churches to review their structures, their teachings and their practices
to promote the full participation of women." The WCC disregards the Lord's will
concerning a woman's role in the church and instead draws churches even further from God's
commands by promoting a strongly feminist agenda. No true believer should support or be a
member of any church that either holds membership in the WCC or accepts its goals and
agendas.
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Related Resources:
1997 News and Views
1999 News and Views
2000 News and Views
Watchman's Trumpet - 1997
Watchman's Trumpet - 1998
Watchman's Trumpet - 1999
Watchman's Trumpet - 2000
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