10.31.2003
Gamaliel for this Week
I’m going to take a pause and give Gamaliel the week off. Normally he would go on about all the pagan celebrations taking place this week on that High Unholy Day of witchcraft – Halloween. Since most of you are already familiar with the arguments against celebrating Halloween, I’m going to give the concern a new twist. This week I will be spoofing those who get all up in arms about Halloween, Easter, Christmas and all the other things in our culture that have pagan roots (the “Peace” symbol, ankh or looped cross, rabbit’s foot, four leaf clover, etc.) The outline for this week’s piece can be found at http://www.llano.net/baptist/pbc9610.htm but the application may be a little different than what you are accustomed to. I hope you enjoy this week’s departure from the usual Gamaliel fare.
rick
Calendars: The Devil's Toolbox
(Satan’s Plot to Infuse Christianity with Paganism)
By Dr. I. M. Zealous
The Calendar's Origin
The current calendar we are now using is an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Church and was forced on society by Pope Gregory – hence its name, the Gregorian Calendar. It was implemented to replace the Julian Calendar but retained all of its pagan elements intact. The roots of our modern calendar go all the way back to Nimrod, the Tower of Babel and astrological worship of the heavens.
The Calendar - The Devil's Tool
Because the calendar is so much a part of our daily lives we tend to take it for granted. What we don’t realize is that it is a subtle way for Satan to fill every facet of our lives with pagan influences. Most Christians are so complacent about the calendar that they don’t even know they are using Satan’s tool for worshipping pagan deities every time they use one. Ignorance, however, is no excuse that God will accept in the Day of Judgment when he calls us to account. Every idle word is going to be brought forth, including every calendaric reference to pagan deities.
The Months of the Year
Let us begin our study by looking at the months of the year and the origins of their names:
• January – named after the Roman god Janus, a two-faced deity of “beginnings” with faces looking forward and backward
• February – also known as the month of expiation from the Roman festival of purification that occurred on the 15th
• March – named after the Roman god of war, Mars
• April, September, October, November & December – all named after their place in the ancient Roman calendar being respectively Second, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth by Roman reckoning
• May – named after the earth goddess Maia
• June – named after the queen of the gods, Juno
• July, August – named after Roman emperors Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus
Simply put, there is not a month in our calendar that does not have some godless pagan origin. This is a clear case for Christians to never use a calendar because every time they do they celebrate the filthy pagan deities of Rome. But it only gets worse from here.
The Days of the Week
Did you ever wonder where we got the names of the days of the week? Every single one of them is an homage to one vile deity or another. Just look at the list:
• Sunday – worship of the Sun god
• Monday – worship of the Moon goddess
• Tuesday – worship of Tiu, god of war & sky
• Wednesday – worship of Wodin (Odin), king of the gods
• Thursday – worship of Thor, god of thunder
• Friday – worship of Frigg, queen mother goddess of fertility
• Saturday – worship of Saturn, god of agriculture and fertility
So you can see that every single day of the week is named in honor of a pagan god. Every time we name a day of the week, we invoke the name of one of these heathen deities. Spiritual Christians should avoid ever mentioning any day of the week by name. Only call them by number except for Sunday, I mean the first day of the week, which can also be called The Lord’s Day.
Conspiracy and the Calendar
It should be plain by now to any conscientious Christian that Satan has been plotting since time immemorial to snare unsuspecting believers any way he can. The Romish plot to force Christians to adopt a pagan calendar system was propagated in the very pits of hell and is now so deeply ingrained in our culture that there is no way for us to escape it. We can protest it however through some practical cautions:
• Never buy a calendar
• Never display a calendar at home, work or anywhere else
• Refuse to watch TV shows which refer to the calendar or use the days of the week in conversation
• Don’t listen to radio stations that prominently feature the use of the calender as part of their programming
• Take all references to the calendar from your church signs, literature, Bibles, and anything associated with things Christian.
• Refuse to associate with people who fail to take any of the above cautions.
“But What Is The Harm?”
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)
"Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
"When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deuteronomy 18:9-12) This Scriptural injunction in Deuteronomy 18 strictly forbade the people of Israel from having anything to do with the Satanic practices of their Canaanite neighbors. This is a Scriptural principle to follow.
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:31)
"And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18-19)
[rick’s note: Oops. I forgot to change the above paragraph in any way from its original.]
Conclusion
It is my conviction that true Bible-loving Christians should not be a part of the evils and wickedness of Satanic things. We must realize that Halloween every time we worship on “Sunday” we are not worshiping the God of Heaven when we do so. We are actually worshipping a god in the heavens, even if we don’t mean to. True worship must be on “The Lord’s Day” instead of “Sunday.” Otherwise it will be an offering to the Sun god, not the Son of God. Christians need to be warned and enlightened about the Satanic origins of the calendar.
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because they are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Titus 3: 9-11 (NIV)
For those of you who want to read about the pagan origins of Halloween you may go to any of the links below (but you won’t find any similar warnings about the calendar – I don’t know why not since it is clearly just as pagan):
http://www.freechurch.org/oldrec/oldrect.html
http://logosresourcepages.org/h_origins.htm
http://www.anabaptists.org/tracts/hallow.html
www.biblehelps.us/download/doc/318.doc
http://www.dalecitybaptist.org/resources/halloween.html
http://www.kingdombaptist.org/article677.cfm
http://www.stjohndc.org/homilies/homhalwn.htm
I’m going to take a pause and give Gamaliel the week off. Normally he would go on about all the pagan celebrations taking place this week on that High Unholy Day of witchcraft – Halloween. Since most of you are already familiar with the arguments against celebrating Halloween, I’m going to give the concern a new twist. This week I will be spoofing those who get all up in arms about Halloween, Easter, Christmas and all the other things in our culture that have pagan roots (the “Peace” symbol, ankh or looped cross, rabbit’s foot, four leaf clover, etc.) The outline for this week’s piece can be found at http://www.llano.net/baptist/pbc9610.htm but the application may be a little different than what you are accustomed to. I hope you enjoy this week’s departure from the usual Gamaliel fare.
rick
Calendars: The Devil's Toolbox
(Satan’s Plot to Infuse Christianity with Paganism)
By Dr. I. M. Zealous
The Calendar's Origin
The current calendar we are now using is an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Church and was forced on society by Pope Gregory – hence its name, the Gregorian Calendar. It was implemented to replace the Julian Calendar but retained all of its pagan elements intact. The roots of our modern calendar go all the way back to Nimrod, the Tower of Babel and astrological worship of the heavens.
The Calendar - The Devil's Tool
Because the calendar is so much a part of our daily lives we tend to take it for granted. What we don’t realize is that it is a subtle way for Satan to fill every facet of our lives with pagan influences. Most Christians are so complacent about the calendar that they don’t even know they are using Satan’s tool for worshipping pagan deities every time they use one. Ignorance, however, is no excuse that God will accept in the Day of Judgment when he calls us to account. Every idle word is going to be brought forth, including every calendaric reference to pagan deities.
The Months of the Year
Let us begin our study by looking at the months of the year and the origins of their names:
• January – named after the Roman god Janus, a two-faced deity of “beginnings” with faces looking forward and backward
• February – also known as the month of expiation from the Roman festival of purification that occurred on the 15th
• March – named after the Roman god of war, Mars
• April, September, October, November & December – all named after their place in the ancient Roman calendar being respectively Second, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth by Roman reckoning
• May – named after the earth goddess Maia
• June – named after the queen of the gods, Juno
• July, August – named after Roman emperors Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus
Simply put, there is not a month in our calendar that does not have some godless pagan origin. This is a clear case for Christians to never use a calendar because every time they do they celebrate the filthy pagan deities of Rome. But it only gets worse from here.
The Days of the Week
Did you ever wonder where we got the names of the days of the week? Every single one of them is an homage to one vile deity or another. Just look at the list:
• Sunday – worship of the Sun god
• Monday – worship of the Moon goddess
• Tuesday – worship of Tiu, god of war & sky
• Wednesday – worship of Wodin (Odin), king of the gods
• Thursday – worship of Thor, god of thunder
• Friday – worship of Frigg, queen mother goddess of fertility
• Saturday – worship of Saturn, god of agriculture and fertility
So you can see that every single day of the week is named in honor of a pagan god. Every time we name a day of the week, we invoke the name of one of these heathen deities. Spiritual Christians should avoid ever mentioning any day of the week by name. Only call them by number except for Sunday, I mean the first day of the week, which can also be called The Lord’s Day.
Conspiracy and the Calendar
It should be plain by now to any conscientious Christian that Satan has been plotting since time immemorial to snare unsuspecting believers any way he can. The Romish plot to force Christians to adopt a pagan calendar system was propagated in the very pits of hell and is now so deeply ingrained in our culture that there is no way for us to escape it. We can protest it however through some practical cautions:
• Never buy a calendar
• Never display a calendar at home, work or anywhere else
• Refuse to watch TV shows which refer to the calendar or use the days of the week in conversation
• Don’t listen to radio stations that prominently feature the use of the calender as part of their programming
• Take all references to the calendar from your church signs, literature, Bibles, and anything associated with things Christian.
• Refuse to associate with people who fail to take any of the above cautions.
“But What Is The Harm?”
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)
"Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
"When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deuteronomy 18:9-12) This Scriptural injunction in Deuteronomy 18 strictly forbade the people of Israel from having anything to do with the Satanic practices of their Canaanite neighbors. This is a Scriptural principle to follow.
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:31)
"And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18-19)
[rick’s note: Oops. I forgot to change the above paragraph in any way from its original.]
Conclusion
It is my conviction that true Bible-loving Christians should not be a part of the evils and wickedness of Satanic things. We must realize that Halloween every time we worship on “Sunday” we are not worshiping the God of Heaven when we do so. We are actually worshipping a god in the heavens, even if we don’t mean to. True worship must be on “The Lord’s Day” instead of “Sunday.” Otherwise it will be an offering to the Sun god, not the Son of God. Christians need to be warned and enlightened about the Satanic origins of the calendar.
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because they are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Titus 3: 9-11 (NIV)
For those of you who want to read about the pagan origins of Halloween you may go to any of the links below (but you won’t find any similar warnings about the calendar – I don’t know why not since it is clearly just as pagan):
http://www.freechurch.org/oldrec/oldrect.html
http://logosresourcepages.org/h_origins.htm
http://www.anabaptists.org/tracts/hallow.html
www.biblehelps.us/download/doc/318.doc
http://www.dalecitybaptist.org/resources/halloween.html
http://www.kingdombaptist.org/article677.cfm
http://www.stjohndc.org/homilies/homhalwn.htm
10.28.2003
On Procrastination
It's been one of those sets of weeks. Had a job interview last Monday. This allowed me to make great progress through The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Made for great mass transit reading on the plane, the metro and the bus.
Stephen Shields picked me up Sunday night at Baltimore and we snacked out at Eggspectations (one of only 4 in the world!). I want to thank Stephen for the good time and fellowship. It was wonderful getting some f2f time in with the moderator at faithmaps on Yahoo! Groups.
As for my employement status - still dunno. I would be working from home for the Drew Institute as an Instructional Designer but I haven't got the offer yet. Still waiting.....waiting.....waiting.....
and nail biting.
It's been one of those sets of weeks. Had a job interview last Monday. This allowed me to make great progress through The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Made for great mass transit reading on the plane, the metro and the bus.
Stephen Shields picked me up Sunday night at Baltimore and we snacked out at Eggspectations (one of only 4 in the world!). I want to thank Stephen for the good time and fellowship. It was wonderful getting some f2f time in with the moderator at faithmaps on Yahoo! Groups.
As for my employement status - still dunno. I would be working from home for the Drew Institute as an Instructional Designer but I haven't got the offer yet. Still waiting.....waiting.....waiting.....
and nail biting.
10.23.2003
More on being ENFP
Got this Myers-Briggs stuff from Dave Blakeslee:
[The following comes partially from the archetype, but mostly from my own dealings with ENFPs.]
General: ENFPs are both "idea"-people and "people"-people, who see everyone and everything as part of an often bizarre cosmic whole.
They want to both help (at least, their own definition of "help") and be liked and admired by other people, on both an individual and a humanitarian level. They are interested in new ideas on principle, but ultimately discard most of them for one reason or another.
Social/Personal Relationships: ENFPs have a great deal of zany charm, which can ingratiate them to the more stodgy types in spite of their unconventionality. They are outgoing, fun, and genuinely like people. As SOs/mates they are warm, affectionate (lots of PDA), and disconcertingly spontaneous. However, attention span in
relationships can be short; ENFPs are easily intrigued and distracted by new friends and acquaintances, forgetting about the older ones for long stretches at a time. Less mature ENFPs may need to feel they are the center of attention all the time, to reassure them that everyone thinks they're a wonderful and fascinating
person.
ENFPs often have strong, if unconvential, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; this sometimes results in their neglecting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the
world.
Work Environment: ENFPs are pleasant, easygoing, and usually fun to work with. They come up with great ideas, and are a major asset in brainstorming sessions. Followthrough tends to be a problem, however; they tend to get bored quickly, especially if a newer, more
interesting project comes along. They also tend to be
procrastinators, both about meeting hard deadlines and about performing any small, uninteresting tasks that they've been assigned. ENFPs are at their most useful when working in a group with a J or two to take up the slack.
ENFPs hate bureaucracy, both in principle and in practice; they will always make a point of launching one of their crusades against some aspect of it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt
ENFPs are friendly folks. Most are really enjoyable people. Some of the most soft-hearted people are ENFPs.
ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be
intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD, the scourge of the swimming pool, ticklers par excellence. Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is
flipped.
One study has shown that ENFPs are significantly overrepresented in psychodrama. Most have a natural propensity for role-playing and acting.
ENFPs like to tell funny stories, especially about their friends. This penchant may be why many are attracted to journalism. I kid one of my ENFP friends that if I want the sixth fleet to know something, I'll just tell him.
ENFPs are global learners. Close enough is satisfactory to the ENFP, which may unnerve more precise thinking types, especially with such things as piano practice ("three quarter notes or four ... what's the difference?") Amazingly, some ENFPs are adept at exacting disciplines such as mathematics.
Friends are what life is about to ENFPs, moreso even than the other NFs. They hold up their end of the relationship, sometimes being victimized by less caring individuals. ENFPs are energized by being around people. Some have real difficulty being alone , especially on
a regular basis.
One ENFP colleague, a social worker, had such tremendous interpersonal skills that she put her interviewers at ease during her own job interview. She had the ability to make strangers feel like old friends.
ENFPs sometimes can be blindsided by their secondary Feeling function. Hasty decisions based on deeply felt values may boil over with unpredictable results. More than one ENFP has abruptly quit a job in such a moment.
Got this Myers-Briggs stuff from Dave Blakeslee:
[The following comes partially from the archetype, but mostly from my own dealings with ENFPs.]
General: ENFPs are both "idea"-people and "people"-people, who see everyone and everything as part of an often bizarre cosmic whole.
They want to both help (at least, their own definition of "help") and be liked and admired by other people, on both an individual and a humanitarian level. They are interested in new ideas on principle, but ultimately discard most of them for one reason or another.
Social/Personal Relationships: ENFPs have a great deal of zany charm, which can ingratiate them to the more stodgy types in spite of their unconventionality. They are outgoing, fun, and genuinely like people. As SOs/mates they are warm, affectionate (lots of PDA), and disconcertingly spontaneous. However, attention span in
relationships can be short; ENFPs are easily intrigued and distracted by new friends and acquaintances, forgetting about the older ones for long stretches at a time. Less mature ENFPs may need to feel they are the center of attention all the time, to reassure them that everyone thinks they're a wonderful and fascinating
person.
ENFPs often have strong, if unconvential, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; this sometimes results in their neglecting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the
world.
Work Environment: ENFPs are pleasant, easygoing, and usually fun to work with. They come up with great ideas, and are a major asset in brainstorming sessions. Followthrough tends to be a problem, however; they tend to get bored quickly, especially if a newer, more
interesting project comes along. They also tend to be
procrastinators, both about meeting hard deadlines and about performing any small, uninteresting tasks that they've been assigned. ENFPs are at their most useful when working in a group with a J or two to take up the slack.
ENFPs hate bureaucracy, both in principle and in practice; they will always make a point of launching one of their crusades against some aspect of it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt
ENFPs are friendly folks. Most are really enjoyable people. Some of the most soft-hearted people are ENFPs.
ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be
intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD, the scourge of the swimming pool, ticklers par excellence. Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is
flipped.
One study has shown that ENFPs are significantly overrepresented in psychodrama. Most have a natural propensity for role-playing and acting.
ENFPs like to tell funny stories, especially about their friends. This penchant may be why many are attracted to journalism. I kid one of my ENFP friends that if I want the sixth fleet to know something, I'll just tell him.
ENFPs are global learners. Close enough is satisfactory to the ENFP, which may unnerve more precise thinking types, especially with such things as piano practice ("three quarter notes or four ... what's the difference?") Amazingly, some ENFPs are adept at exacting disciplines such as mathematics.
Friends are what life is about to ENFPs, moreso even than the other NFs. They hold up their end of the relationship, sometimes being victimized by less caring individuals. ENFPs are energized by being around people. Some have real difficulty being alone , especially on
a regular basis.
One ENFP colleague, a social worker, had such tremendous interpersonal skills that she put her interviewers at ease during her own job interview. She had the ability to make strangers feel like old friends.
ENFPs sometimes can be blindsided by their secondary Feeling function. Hasty decisions based on deeply felt values may boil over with unpredictable results. More than one ENFP has abruptly quit a job in such a moment.
10.17.2003
It's been a whirlwind two weeks.
I'm sitting in Front Page class at the moment.
I'm headed for Washington DC for a job interview on Monday.
I have GOT to find time to post.
Help!
I'm sitting in Front Page class at the moment.
I'm headed for Washington DC for a job interview on Monday.
I have GOT to find time to post.
Help!
10.03.2003
From the Desk of Gamaliel
RE: Pharisee Positives
I have been accused by certain liberal types of being known more for what I’m against than what I am for. They must have gotten this idea from Robert Webber who lumps evangelicals and fundamentalists (such as myself) together in his book The Younger Evangelicals. Webber says that we are characterized by what we are against and then lists the things to which we are opposed. Let me state first of all that he is right in listing what we are against. Every good Pharisee should be against the things he lists. But he is wrong when he says that we are not “for” things. Every thing we are against represents an opposite of what we are for.
What I would like to do in this week’s column is to take his points and show why being against one thing is really a way of being for its opposite. If you don’t own the book (and you probably shouldn’t), you can read a review of it by Len Hjalmarson, a known postmodern Christian (as if one could possibly be both postmodern and Christian), at http://www.next-wave.org/jan03/younger.htm on the web. Keep in mind that if the book is something Postmoderns like, by definition, Pharisees should dislike it.
Anti-Intellectualism
Webber claims that we are anti-intellectual. This is typical of his misunderstanding of what we stand for. Simply because we are justified in blasting liberal seminaries for perverting the tender minds of young Pharisee preachers, he thinks we are anti-intellectual. This is manifestly not true because I am on of the most intellectual people I know. My associates are an intellectual band of fellow Pharisees who are quite capable of debating the finer points of Pharisee church history, the Calvinist/Arminian debate and why the King James Bible is the verbally inspired translation approved by God in the English language.
Seminaries make young preacher boys (and young “preacher girls” even though this is clearly a violation of the Word of God) waste a lot of time studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew in order to undermine their trust in the King James Bible. They also fill their heads with the philosophical writings of non-Pharisee philosophers including many that are not even Christian. By contrast, a good Pharisee preacher will not waste his time and valuable brain cells with worldly philosophy. Instead we devote ourselves to reading only Pharisee writers and studying doctrine we already know to be true. So we are not against the intellect; we are for using it to study the Truth instead of error.
Anti-Ecumenical
If Webber means by this that we have no desire to be a part of a group that supports the coming One World Religion and One World Government of the Beast prophesied in Revelation, then he is right. So if we are against ecumenicalism, then what are we for? We are firmly in support of Christian unity. Denominations have flourished simply because most people refuse, in their fallen state as sinners, to agree with the Truth that is proclaimed in most Pharisee churches today. This is unfortunate because it unnecessarily divides the body of Christ. While I admit that there may be Christians who are genuinely children of God scattered here and there in other denominations, this doesn’t mean that we should unite with these heretical sects.
Webber misses the point that we are not the ones who are against ecumenicalism. We are all for Christian unity. The difficulty is that the other denominations refuse to accept the truth of God’s word as we preach it in the Pharisee church. By refusing to accept the Truth of God’s Word, they make it impossible for us to fellowship with them. Amos asks, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” We would be all for ecumenicalism if other denominations would be willing to accept the Truth. How can Webber fault us for refusing to compromise the Truth for the sake of a unity that would be in name only?
Anti Social Action
This is the grossest mischaracterization of all. We are not against social action. In fact I am all for it. This is what Government is for. Social action is why we have welfare, food stamps and FEMA. Our commission as a church, however, is to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe all of Christ’s commands (Matthew 28:19-20). Anything that distracts us from this vital set of tasks is a triviality that needs to be relegated to some other group. This allows us to focus our time on our “core competency” or our main mission. It is not the mission of the church to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless or take in widows and orphans. It is our job to preach the gospel. Let other do-gooder organizations and government agencies focus on meeting temporal needs while we meet eternal spiritual needs.
In all fairness to Weber, he had a good start but has come under the evil influence of liberalizing seminaries such as Wheaton. I’m convinced that he may be sincere in his beliefs and may even mean well by his book, but he is leading many astray. I have even discovered an online discussion of this book at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TYE/ but would advise against anyone joining it. The moderators have clearly come under the influence of Postmodernity and should be avoided.
Gamaliel
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."
Luke 11:42 (NIV)
RE: Pharisee Positives
I have been accused by certain liberal types of being known more for what I’m against than what I am for. They must have gotten this idea from Robert Webber who lumps evangelicals and fundamentalists (such as myself) together in his book The Younger Evangelicals. Webber says that we are characterized by what we are against and then lists the things to which we are opposed. Let me state first of all that he is right in listing what we are against. Every good Pharisee should be against the things he lists. But he is wrong when he says that we are not “for” things. Every thing we are against represents an opposite of what we are for.
What I would like to do in this week’s column is to take his points and show why being against one thing is really a way of being for its opposite. If you don’t own the book (and you probably shouldn’t), you can read a review of it by Len Hjalmarson, a known postmodern Christian (as if one could possibly be both postmodern and Christian), at http://www.next-wave.org/jan03/younger.htm on the web. Keep in mind that if the book is something Postmoderns like, by definition, Pharisees should dislike it.
Anti-Intellectualism
Webber claims that we are anti-intellectual. This is typical of his misunderstanding of what we stand for. Simply because we are justified in blasting liberal seminaries for perverting the tender minds of young Pharisee preachers, he thinks we are anti-intellectual. This is manifestly not true because I am on of the most intellectual people I know. My associates are an intellectual band of fellow Pharisees who are quite capable of debating the finer points of Pharisee church history, the Calvinist/Arminian debate and why the King James Bible is the verbally inspired translation approved by God in the English language.
Seminaries make young preacher boys (and young “preacher girls” even though this is clearly a violation of the Word of God) waste a lot of time studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew in order to undermine their trust in the King James Bible. They also fill their heads with the philosophical writings of non-Pharisee philosophers including many that are not even Christian. By contrast, a good Pharisee preacher will not waste his time and valuable brain cells with worldly philosophy. Instead we devote ourselves to reading only Pharisee writers and studying doctrine we already know to be true. So we are not against the intellect; we are for using it to study the Truth instead of error.
Anti-Ecumenical
If Webber means by this that we have no desire to be a part of a group that supports the coming One World Religion and One World Government of the Beast prophesied in Revelation, then he is right. So if we are against ecumenicalism, then what are we for? We are firmly in support of Christian unity. Denominations have flourished simply because most people refuse, in their fallen state as sinners, to agree with the Truth that is proclaimed in most Pharisee churches today. This is unfortunate because it unnecessarily divides the body of Christ. While I admit that there may be Christians who are genuinely children of God scattered here and there in other denominations, this doesn’t mean that we should unite with these heretical sects.
Webber misses the point that we are not the ones who are against ecumenicalism. We are all for Christian unity. The difficulty is that the other denominations refuse to accept the truth of God’s word as we preach it in the Pharisee church. By refusing to accept the Truth of God’s Word, they make it impossible for us to fellowship with them. Amos asks, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” We would be all for ecumenicalism if other denominations would be willing to accept the Truth. How can Webber fault us for refusing to compromise the Truth for the sake of a unity that would be in name only?
Anti Social Action
This is the grossest mischaracterization of all. We are not against social action. In fact I am all for it. This is what Government is for. Social action is why we have welfare, food stamps and FEMA. Our commission as a church, however, is to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe all of Christ’s commands (Matthew 28:19-20). Anything that distracts us from this vital set of tasks is a triviality that needs to be relegated to some other group. This allows us to focus our time on our “core competency” or our main mission. It is not the mission of the church to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless or take in widows and orphans. It is our job to preach the gospel. Let other do-gooder organizations and government agencies focus on meeting temporal needs while we meet eternal spiritual needs.
In all fairness to Weber, he had a good start but has come under the evil influence of liberalizing seminaries such as Wheaton. I’m convinced that he may be sincere in his beliefs and may even mean well by his book, but he is leading many astray. I have even discovered an online discussion of this book at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TYE/ but would advise against anyone joining it. The moderators have clearly come under the influence of Postmodernity and should be avoided.
Gamaliel
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."
Luke 11:42 (NIV)
