We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Friday, February 1, 2008

The Episcopal Church is Apostate

My weekly e-mail news update from Understanding the Times ministry just started my day off: the Episcopal Church is at it again.

The Episcopal Church (and it’s Anglican leadership) has been in apostasy, and even heresy, for a very, very long time and I am still at a loss as to why anyone who is truly a Christian would remain in that denomination. Previously we have had the following problems in this denomination:

1. Bishop John Shelby Spong. One of the worst heretics in the world and he was never defrocked or excommunicated. He is certainly not a Christian since what he teaches demonstrates he believes nothing of the fundamental Christian doctrines.

2. The ordaining of homosexuals as bishops and pastors.

3. The ordaining of women pastors and bishops (whether this is apostate can be debated; not everyone agrees that the Bible says women should not be in church leadership over men).

4. The support and promotion of homosexual activism and behavior and same-sex “marriage,” as well as attacking those who speak against homosexual behavior. The claim is that homosexuality is not a sin.

5. The continuance in office of Bishop Charles Bennison, who claims the Church wrote the Bible, denies the resurrection of Jesus, and teaches that Jesus sinned.

6. The continuance in office of homosexual bishop Gene Robinson who also teaches heresy.

7. The continuance in office of Bishop John Chane who claims God gave the Koran to Muhammad.

8. A 1967 resolution adopted by the Episcopal Church in America that “heresy is out of date.”

9. The promotion of Freemasonry in the church.

10. Archbishop Rowan Williams’ support of “As Good As New” version of the Bible, which teaches fornication as proper (by the way it “translates” 1 Cor. 7).

11. The continuance in office of Bishop J. Jon Bruno who says Jesus is not the only way to God, which is actually supported by Archbishop Rowan Williams’ claim that non-Christians can go to heaven.

12. A “Women’s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine” in Texas wherein the liturgy was a pagan celebration based on the Da Vince Code. Church leadership found nothing wrong with the service.

13. A Denver, CO church hired a Muslim cleric as part of their staff as a “bridge builder.”

14. Support of abortion.

15. No discipline for an Oklahoma pastor’s ecumenical service that included pagan American Indian ceremonies.

16. A study showing that 38% of Anglican clergy deny the virgin birth.

17. Archbishop Williams’ rejection of creation in favor of evolution, and actively denying the Genesis account. Other bishops have supported this teaching and even claim that creationists “harm religion.”

18. Church of England leaders claim that calling God “He” encourages men to beat wives.

Okay, is that enough to call the Episcopal church heretical and apostate? Well, if the following web page is still available, you can get the full story of what I will next discuss. http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7535

An Episcopal Church in Los Angeles had a joint service with members of the Hare Krishna cult as they celebrated an “Indian Rite Mass.” What ever possessed this church to participate in the joining of Hinduism in a Christian service?!?!? The description of the service, which merged Hindu and Christian liturgy, left me in total wonderment and disgust. The Krishna group even partook of communion! In the sermon, the Rev. Karen MacQueen said that in both Hinduism and Christianity devotees believe that “the Divine Presence” illuminates the whole world. The local bishop even extended an apology for proselytizing Hindus in the past, and said that they will restrain from doing so in the future!

Well, the Bible does indeed warn us that as we near the time of Christ’s return the church will fall into apostasy. The Anglican/Episcopal Church is a prime example.

3 comments:

Barbara said...

You know, I was an Episcopalian at one time and for a lot of years...but God led me away from that. The more I read about them and the direction they're going, the more I see why and the more thankful I am to Him for doing so (oh, let me not be like that Pharisee in saying this, I do have plenty of my own thorns). But when a church apologizes for following what Jesus clearly said, I shake my head at it. They've so clearly intellectualized spirituality in a way to try to make it fit with the world that one has to wonder whether anything positively spiritual ever happens there at all. I'm sure individual congregations are holding fast to their biblical principles and I applaud those. The rest, including much of the high-profile leadership, I can only pray for.

I've heard the American church referred to as Laodiceans, but in many respects I'm inclined to look at the passages regarding the churches of Pergamum and Thyatira as well.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I am new here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading your articles. Are there any resources on Roman Catholicism and atheism that you would recommend for research?

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Anonymous,

There are some excellent books examining Roman Catholicism from all sorts of angles. Here are titles of books in my library:
A View of Rome, by John H. Armstrong
A Woman Rides the Beast, by Dave Hunt
Another Jesus? by Roger Oakland
Babylon Connection? by Ralph Woodrow
Bad Popes, The, by E.R. Chamberlin
Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, The
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Cult of the Virgin, The, by Elliot Miller and Kenneth R. Samples
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, by Dr. Ludwig Ott
Gospel According to Rome, The, by James G. McCarthy
Letters Between a Catholic and an Evangelical, by Fr. John R. Waiss and James G. McCarthy
Mary - Another Redeemer? by James R. White
Quite Contrary: A Biblical Reconsideration of the Apparitions of Mary , by Timothy F. Kauffman
Reasoning From the Scriptures with Catholics, by Ron Rhodes
Roman Catholic Tradition: Claims and Contradictions, by William Webster
Roman Catholicism: Transcripts of a series of televised programs prepared by the John Ankerberg Show.

There are also many sites on the 'net which have excellent resources; these are in my "favorites" list:
http://www.aomin.org
https://www.thebereancall.org
https://carm.org
http://www.letusreason.org
http://ronrhodes.org

I don't have any ideas about atheism -- I've never bothered studying it because it runs the gamut of beliefs, none of which are logical.