Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The New ECT
...the Evangelical Culture of Tolerance

With the passing of John Paul II occurred there has emerged an avalanche of praise for the pontiff from almost every facet of evangelicalism for his culture of life convictions. I do understand, as a Christian, that under God’s common grace we can thank the Lord for anyone in society who favors the family, protects unborn children, stands up for the right to life for the elderly and mentally handicapped, battles Communism and desires to uphold morality (what a difference from Barack Obama's liberal agenda). We all can agree with those things—Christian or not. But as good as those things are in terms of human dignity, rights and civility, none of those things define nor support rightly the gospel of Jesus Christ. I.e. someone may be a good moral person by human standards, a religious leader of sorts, but have no hope of eternal life because of rejecting the true gospel of grace. As the Apostle has said, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;” and that “by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

In today’s politically correct climate, evangelical leaders have capitulated “to the new social gospel” of moral values and neo-conservative political convictions. It is the now acceptable common ground for “ministry” to the culture (work together at all costs as long as there is solidarity on an agreed upon cultural malady in need of reform), but yielding fruit not worthy of the gospel. Temporal urgencies have eclipsed the eternal importance of men’s souls. Political capital is the new currency that evangelicals are craving to earn, inherit, lottery, and spend.

Embracing John Paul’s “Gospel of Life” is fine humanitarily, but it now seems to be the new qualifier for the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ. Question for you: has political activism become the new common ground to which evangelicals are willing to ignore blatant differences on the gospel and become unequally yoked with unbelievers in fighting the culture wars that clearly have denied salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone? I call this sea change, “The New ECT – The Evangelical Culture of Tolerance.”

To further illustrate the point, could you imagine Martin Luther under the reign of Pope Leo X saying,

“I know that an edict has been issued against me for burning the Papal Bull calling for my excommunication and execution; but listen, the Pope is such a nice man who stands for family values and a culture of life.”
This is unthinkable! Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul and the other apostles would have never entertained such frivolous thinking.

On October 16, 1555, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were being burned at the stake under the ruthless hand of “Bloody Mary” because of their failure to affirm the heretical doctrine of transubstantiation (the false Romanist teaching that claims the communion wafer and the wine actually turn into the physical body and blood of Christ.) When the flames became intense and much of their lower extremities had been burned away, Ridley began to scream for mercy. Latimer, also in tremendous pain, called out to his friend and said these now infamous words, “Mr. Ridley, play the man; for today we begin to live as Christians. May we ignite a flame that will spread throughout all of England that can never be quenched.”

When will some of our most popular and well respected evangelical leaders “play the man.” We need to say to them in undiminished tones, “Play the man; follow Christ; the cross waves higher than the flag; today let’s begin to live as Christians; let’s ignite a flame that will sweep through America and never be burned out; let’s not love our lives even unto death; PLAY THE MAN!”

Here are some of the disappointing statements made by some of our most popular and listened to leadership in Christianity. They don’t speak for me any longer… do they speak for you?

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship:
“As Baptist Christians we give thanks to God for the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II. His devotion to Jesus Christ has inspired and challenged multitudes....In this hour of loss, those of us in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship offer our prayers for our sisters and brothers in the Catholic Church. We also offer our hand of Christian fellowship in serving Christ’s Kingdom.”

Pat Robertson (CBN Founder and 700 Club Host):
"I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward. John Paul II has been the most beloved religious leader of our age – far surpassing in popular admiration the leader of any faith. He has been a man of great warmth, profound understanding, deep spirituality, and indefatigable vigor... He has been a steady bridge in the transition of Eastern Europe from communism to freedom. His personal magnetism brought together all Christians in new bonds of understanding. I pray for the Cardinals of the Catholic Church that they might have God-given wisdom in selecting the successor to this great man. Their task will not be easy, but with God all things are possible."

Billy Graham:
"It was my privilege to meet with him at the Vatican on various occasions, and I will always remember his personal warmth to me and his deep interest in our ministry. In his own way, he saw himself as an evangelist, traveling far more than any other Pope to rally the faithful and call non-believers to commitment. He was convinced that the complex problems of our world are ultimately moral and spiritual in nature, and only Christ can set us free from the shackles of sin and greed and violence. His courage and perseverance in the face of advancing age and illness were an inspiration to millions - including me. Pope John Paul II is 'the world's greatest evangelist. I've found that my beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics."

Franklin Graham:
“The world, and not just the Catholic world, has lost a leader and a servant like few it has ever seen. Pope John Paul II modeled faith, courage and forgiveness."

Wheaton College's Former Professor, Mark Noll (who now teaches at Notre Dame):
“evangelicals had doctrinal differences with John Paul II, like the pope's Marian devotion. But the pope's theology as articulated in his encyclicals and pronouncements were deep and biblical. People who've taken the time to read these should come away impressed with his classically orthodox Christian stance."

Dr. James Dobson:
“Today's passing of Pope John Paul II is an immeasurable loss — not only to our friends of the Roman Catholic faith, but to the entire world. We found common cause with him and with the 'culture of life' he espoused so eloquently; the legacy he left us is to be cherished. While we grieve the profound loss of this remarkable man, we celebrate his life, his ministry, and his undeniable impact on the world. During his time as leader of the Catholic Church, he embodied the belief that freedom is a gift from God that should not be infringed by any government; that all life is precious and should be protected; and that dying is part of living and should not be feared nor hastened artificially. Pope John Paul was an uncompromising voice on the sanctity of life—in fact, his was one of the greatest contributions of the 20th century to that cause. The 'culture of life' will forever be indebted to the man who championed the value of all human life, even to his last breath."

Mark Bailey (President, Dallas Theological Seminary):
When posited the question "does the Pope have a place in eternity?" - he responded by saying, “Some people can find themselves part of a tradition that holds to certain doctrine, but they themselves have come to a personal faith in Christ and are dependent only on Christ for their salvation through what he did on the Cross. Our prayer, obviously, is that this pope had come to that conclusion. And the next pope, we would hope, will place the authority in Scripture and will see the exclusivity of Jesus as the only possibility of salvation, and that the death of Christ and not our works is the absolute provision given by a gracious God for our sin.” (This is a very naive position for a seminary president to hold. To clarify, no one can embrace the traditions and truth claims of Romanism and at the same time have a genuine personal faith in Christ Jesus for salvation. Those are two mutually exclusive conflicting worlds that have nothing in common (cf, 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).

The Evangelical Alliance:
“Still, on issues of how we relate to each other as humans—issues of politics, social justices, life ethics peace, ecology, governmental structures, forgiveness, evangelization—evangelicals and Pope John Paul II stood united. Evangelical Alliance recognizes that John Paul was committed, as we are, to creedal Christianity. As such, in many instances he offered a welcome corrective to the forces of skepticism, secularism, and theological liberalism, which threaten to undermine both the integrity of the church and the effectiveness of its mission in the world.”

Charles Colson:
“In the last weeks and months of his life, the Pope sent a message, even when he couldn’t speak, about his greatest contribution: that is, advancing the “Gospel of Life.” In his encyclical by that same name, he described the way that “cultural, economic and political currents . . . encourage an [excessive concern] with efficiency.” The pope was a prophet. Just look at the recent FOX poll that found a majority of Americans regarded the removal of Terri Shiavo’s feeding tube as an “act of mercy.” In this, as in so many other things, John Paul II saw the handwriting on the wall and was able to tell us what it said.”

Fred Barnes (Executive Editor, The Weekly Standard, and an evangelical Episcopalian)
“He was the world's greatest defender of orthodox, Bible-based Christianity. … Important differences remained between Protestants and Catholics, but John Paul II made them seem small. He was pro-life, pro-family, anti-totalitarian, and quite a lot more that conservative evangelicals identified with. … John Paul was bold and unswerving in proclaiming salvation through belief in Jesus Christ. He did this all over the world, despite declining health and personal risk. … Catholics have lost a great and wonderful leader. And so have evangelicals.”

Timothy George (Is Dean of Beeson Divinity School, says Pope John Paul II authored theological masterpieces that will be studied for centuries, and fostered a climate that led to historic Catholic-evangelical dialogue. George spoke with CT assistant editor Collin Hansen):
"Billy Graham made the comment that the pope was the most significant Christian leader in the last hundred years. I think he's absolutely right. And what the pope has been able to do is offer a visible, articulate, winsome, attractive, embracing face to world Christianity. The only other person I think that you would say is anywhere close to the pope in influence would be Billy Graham. And many of the same things that we would say of the pope you'd say of Billy Graham. From an evangelical base he's tried to reach out and be embracing and yet be faithful to the gospel. And you put those two together, Billy Graham and the pope, you have there the winsome, visible face of world Christianity in the last half century.

This is the first pope that most evangelicals have actually known who he was. Almost anybody in the world who is semi-intelligent now knows the face of John Paul II, and they know he's the pope. If you had asked people in 1965, Who is the pope, they wouldn't know and probably wouldn't care. John Paul II has become a world figure and certainly within the Christian world in a way that evangelicals know him, appreciate his stand on many, many issues, resonate with his piety and spirituality, and know he's a man of prayer and deep faith—even though we can't follow him all the way into his Marian devotion. There's still a resonance there that connects to evangelicals in a way that no other pope has."

All of these statements made from the above evangelical leadership was for the one who denied the gospel of sola fide, rejected solus Christus, embraced the fifth Marian Dogma (co-redemptrix, co-mediatrix) the treasury of merit (and not the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ); prayers for the dead; penance; papal infallibility; denied sola Scriptura; preached Purgatorial cleansing; and upheld faith + works, grace + merit, Christ + a Roman surrogate church for salvation.

Warren isn't far behind... Where do you stand?

Semper Fidelis,
Steven Camp
2 Cor. 4:5-7


21 comments:

SJ Camp said...

As with any bible teacher we need to be faithful Bereans examining what one may say by the standard of the Word of God (Acts 17:9-11). That applies to all of us--Colson being no exception to the rule of Faith.

Though Colson's worldview on politicals is not biblically rooted; his material may have some merit on other issues. I would take him issue by issue rather than accept all that he's done or reject it all.

Thanks for your encouraging words.
SJ Camp
Col. 1:9-14

Alexander M. Jordan said...

Hi Steve:

I have written about Billy Graham over at my blog-- Jordan's View-- in regard to the issue of his uncritical acceptance and promotion of Roman Catholicism.

Watching an old crusade telecast recently, I admired Graham's strong and clear gospel preaching. In light of his consistent Protestant message calling people to repentance and to faith in Jesus alone, I couldn't understand why it became the policy of his organization (BGEA) to send converts even to Roman Catholic churches, if that was their background.

But it seems Graham went beyond even some others in embracing the gospel of Roman Catholicism, with his uncritical acceptance of the Pope and his downplaying of doctrinal differences.

You might want to read my posts Billy Graham's Last Stand or A Soft Gospel of Love.

On a related topic, your blog has rattled my thinking on the issue of evangelical co-belligerance. Regarding that issue, I find myself really paying attention to your warnings, yet at the same time, I also fear evangelical retreat or non-engagement with urgent issues of our day. I think it certainly is biblical for individual Christians to try to influence laws and politics to promote a climate in which we can practice our faith and preach the gospel. Christian of various callings can engage our culture with thinking that is sharp and biblical, challenging false ideas that hinder reception of the gospel. The question you have raised in my mind is whether teaming up with those who you may have fundamental differences with theologically is detrimental to that goal--whether this must always lead to compromise.

I admit I'm not fully decided about whether the co-belligerence approach is completely wrong, but your warnings seem validated by some aspects of the recent Jutice Sunday II event (http://jordansview.blogspot.com/2005/08/
scorecard-on-justice-sunday-ii.html.

Thanks for being a bold voice and for pointing to Scripture as our authority.

Blessings,

Alex

SJ Camp said...

Thank you Alexander for your article(s) and thoughts about this issue--and the Graham insights, really good! I would recommend others on this blog to check it out.

Grace and peace to you,
Steve

AuthenticTruth said...

The ecumenical attitude so prevalent today in Evangelicalism is extremely dangerous. I commented about this issue on my blog awhile back.("The Fallout From Ecumenical Compromise" & "Ecumenical Danger") The Catholic Church does not want to merely partner with evangelicals to battle the culture war. The general intention of the Catholic Church is to win evangelicals back into the Catholic Church.

Chris Meirose said...

I already know what I believe on the following question, but would like to hear your take on it Campi.

Is being Christian and Catholic mutually exclusive? Could PJII have been saved in spite of his beliefs/teachings?

Big Chris
Because I said so blog

Ted M. Gossard said...

I saw a book of Pope John Paul II that stated very clearly and in language reminiscient of earlier church fathers I would think, of Christ being the one mediator for us to God.

I am sorry. I just can't buy the idea that Roman Catholicism is a false Christianity.

I studied it for awhile with the thought of possibly considering becoming one. But I am just not there theologically, with their additions in tradition and with reference to the eucharist.

We put the worst case scenario on their teaching. Instead we need to listen to them carefully and weigh their interpretations of Scripture. Scripture is from where they get their belief of the authority Christ has given to the church.

Oftentimes people talk past each other. Even Calvin acknowledged that there was a true church within the false Roman church.

I know Catholics that are vibrant in their faith in Christ and love for all of God's people. On the other hand I know Protestants and fundamentalist/evangelicals of whom I couldn't say that.

SJ Camp said...

The entire foundation for salvation in Romanism is based upon human achievement rather than divine accomplishment. Could JPII have taught, affirmed, written, preached, etc. a false gospel all of his life, but then believed privately the genuine gospel and be a Christian? No way.

You know these verses well, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed" -Gal. 1:6-8.

Paul puts this in the context of preaching a false gospel; defecting from Christ; disserting grace; and distorting the true gospel.

Galatians, in principial form, is confronting Romanism at its core: grace vs. merit; faith vs. works; Christ alone vs. Christ plus...

Romanism is Satan's best accomplishment on this earth--his greatest masterpiece. It is Matthew 7:21-23 personified. It is a false church, preaching a false gospel, led by a false pastor, asserting false authority. That is why throughout church history Romanism has been referred to as An Angel of Light; The Whore of Babylon; and the Pope, as antichrist.

Sola Fide,
SJ Camp
Matthew 16:24

Ted M. Gossard said...

Thanks for your comment, Campi.

I will note that they (RCC) say grace underlies all human effort which is in response to that grace.

Augustine himself believed we could do meritorious works both for ourselves and others. But he believed this could be done only on the basis of God's grace in Christ.

I would agree that this is poor theology and does not properly reflect the biblical teaching concerning rewards to be given for believers' works (e.g., 1 Cor 3:14).

Bhedr said...

Campi said: Romanism is Satan's best accomplishment on this earth--his greatest masterpiece.

Preach it!

Peter D. Williams said...

*Sigh*

I really do feel very sorry for the lot of you. Not just because you can't seem to see the rather obvious difference between Ebionist/Judaizing/Gnostic heresies and the teaching of the Catholic church, but because you clearly haven't bothered even to look at what the Church REALLY believes.

No, we don't believe in 'works righteousness', and neither do the Eastern Orthodox. We don't believe that you 'earn your salvation'. Thus, Galatians has NOTHING to do with a critique of Roman Catholicism. Neither do we worship Mary, or Saints, or statues, or ANYTHING other than God Himself.

Thank God for Billy Graham and others who are able to remove the ideological blinkers and see other Christians despite their theological disagreements. Perhaps if you met more devout, lovingly Christian Catholics, you wouldn't have such a distorted mythological view of who we are, and what we believe.

Please don't be happy just to snipe at a straw man - search for the truth - do some proper research - and you'll realise that all this anti-ecumenical nonsense is just Satan's way of dividing the Body of Christ.

And that's the real tragedy here.

I'll simply pray to Our Lord Jesus Christ, that He reveals to you the truth, and gives you the discernment to see your Christian brothers and sisters, where you currently, wrongly, see only an enemy.

Peace be with you,

The Cavalier

Jim Crigler said...

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was originally founded in the mid-1970's (or so) by folks who were loyal to the Southern Baptist hierarchy rather than the churches. (To paraphrase Will Rogers: I don't belong to an organized denomination; I'm a Southern Baptist.) What has become apparent in the ensuing years is that the denominational hierarchy had already been taken over by those we euphemistically call "moderates", and so the conservative "rebellion" of the 1980's was actually a return of the Southern Baptist Convention to the hands of the churches. So it's no surprise to me, a lifelong Southern Baptist, that the CBF would take this kind of stand regarding the now-deceased Roman Catholic Bishop of Rome.

Momo said...

Steve, great post. I guess the one who confuses me most is Timothy George. I met him personally once and he is a very gracious man. He sent me a couple of books and from them and from his commentary on Galatians it is evident that he is a committed Calvinist. How can someone so doctrinally sound be so, well, seemingly willing to compromise?

I looked at his statement and a lot of it is technically true, but, why not tell the rest of the story as well? I read Dr. George's entire commentary on Galatians and, imo, it is the best one I have. Tremendous insight! I wondered at the time how the author of that commentary could have signed the ECT. It seems as if some of his statements and actions are contrary to his comments on the Judaizing controversy in Galatians.

I have deep respect for the man, it's just that I wonder about him too.

Ted M. Gossard said...

Timothy George's book, "Theology of the Reformers", I think (though I don't think I've read it entirely), is outstanding- and he continues to write well today. He is a scholar to be reckoned with.

Good scholars and people do disagree on some of these matters.

It does us all well to go back to Scripture- for sure, and also to really grapple with trying to understand the interpretations of scriptural passages by those on the other side.

Bhedr said...

You said:*Sigh*

I really do feel very sorry for the lot of you.
--------------------
Thank you for your great patience and longsuffering:-)And your pity.

I agree that we must love one another but I challenge you to look deeper into the full extent of Graham's ministry. I appreciate his witness and love for others, but i cannot turn a blind eye to over 1000 years of history as well as Revelation 17 and 18.Is there not a cause? Should David have been pitied? Was he trying to divide Israel or save it? How about Elijah whom Ahab accused for troubling Israel? Truly Graham is a popular evangelist and loved by many, but can we turn a blind eye to the ones who lost their life for the gospel?Men like Jeremiah who were accused and killed for YHVH? I encourage you to read: 50 years in the Church of Rome by Father Chiniquay. This was once a very important book in our nation but since the ecumenical movement it has been swept under the rug. There are quotes from Abraham Lincoln in the book. My friend, I know you mean well but the true Gospel of Yeshua should not be a small matter to us. The apostle Paul spent 3 years warning as well as his last words to Timothy on this subject matter. Please don't be trifle with what Paul lost his head over.

donsands said...

Great post. It's the gospel that is our highest treasure. And the gospel is Christ.

There was a man who sought fine pearls. And he found one of great price. He then went and sold ALL he had to buy this one pearl!

This pearl is the gospel, which is Christ Himself.

The Catholic Church does have a good works gospel.
It's not faith alone.

I had a prof/priest from Notre Dame tell me I was in error when I sang the song, "Nothing But the Blood"; the gospel is more than just His blood.

Thanks for the encouragement, and edification to "play the man".
I was very humbled by reading about Latimer & Ridley.

Anonymous said...

Great post. The new ECT is the new line being drawn in the sand. There are only two "religions." Man-based and God-based, sola scripture, etc.

JPII and the others fall into religion #1. JPII believed and preached Mary as a co-redeemer.

It's really not that complicated. Either you are in #1 or #2.

Mike Ratliff said...

As I read the portion of this post about the execution of brothers Ridley and Latimer at the hands of Bloody Mary I thought of the hundreds of other martyrs such as William Tyndale who paid the ultimate price for standing against the false doctrines of the R.C. I find it very interesting that when we look closely at their surviving words we see a common thread of Christlikeness, and the determination to live lives of sacrifice even unto death. They could do this because they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey God naturally.

I find it tragic that the list of "Christian" leaders you listed seem to ignore that Pope JP was a Roman Catholic doctrinally and that means he was opposed to the doctrine of Justification by Faith alone. His was a doctrine Justification by good works.

Thanks for posting this Steve. It may not be a popular thing to tell the truth about someone as well-liked as the late Pope John Paul II, but it is something that all whose hearts are bound to the truth of Sacred Scripture will do as the Spirit leads them.

In Christ

Mike Ratliff

REM said...

Al Mohler wrote an insightful article on what an Evangelical's view of the Roman Church should be and what the corresponding relationship with Rome should look like in light of that.

http://touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-06-070-f

REM said...

Steve,
Greetings. A lot of what you said here is warranted. However, Franklin Graham's entire USA Today article intuitively mocked the framework of the RC works by salvation gospel. The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend, but he sure looks like he's a friend of yours in this instance. Futhermore, I don't see a huge difference between your general praise of an unidentified moral person and the actual praise of identified moral person by Franklin Graham, who didn't let the fact that a man was pope stop him from doing what you merely talked about. Don't join the ranks of the overly sensitive who tag any kind word cast in the general direction of a RC as a flawless equation toward total gospel compromise. Thanks.

SJ Camp said...

rem:

Thank you for your comment.

I don't consider Franklin Graham "an enemy" if that was your inference. However, the BGEA has a long-standing relationship with the Roman Catholic Church in their crusades (remember, this was THE issue that separated D. M. Lloyd Jones with Billy in not being able to support his Harringay crusade in London--1954).

I know there are many fine Roman humanitarians, i.e. Mother Teresa, who denied the gospel of sola fide in Jesus Christ, but yet did fine work for the poor. Pope John Paul II would fit that as well. I don't deny that he stood for some good and moral values; but he also believed a different gospel than what the Scriptures teach--which is no gospel at all (Gal. 1:6-9).

It would have been refreshing to hear an evangelical leader publicly make that distinction.

Grace and peace,
Steve
2 Cor. 4:5-7

REM said...

Steve,

Thanks for the write back and the astute reminder regarding MLJ and BG.

Regarding Evangelical leaders, what think you of Mohler regarding this? I realize his article wasn't exactly in the wake of PJP's death, seeing that anyone's comments at or near that time would create unecessary love fests and witch hunts. At a minimum, Mohler seems to spearhead the problem with precision, something I think he has a gift for. Thanks, man.