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Dawkins recognizes that what he is saying contradicts our normal feelings when we behold the beauty of nature. This is a damning admission for atheists. It ought to be embarrassing that the theory of evolution is what Dawkins admits is counterintuitive. How could that be? He is confessing that there is something inside us that can act contrary to our genes. Thankfully, genes aren’t as important as Dawkins made them out to be in his first book, The Selfish Gene. We’re not, after all, just flesh and bone bags that our genes use to advance their agenda, as Francis Crick incredibly believes.

Dawkins’s life and career are devoted to destroying any belief in any god, especially the God of the Bible, for whom he reserves a special hatred. He admits that “All of us share a kind of religious reverence for the beauty of the universe, for the complexity of life, for the sheer magnitude of geological time. It’s so tempting to believe that living things . . . or that stars or mountains or rivers have all been made by something. It was a supreme achievement of the human intellect to realize that there is a better explanation . . . that these things can come about by purely natural causes. . . .”

In Hebrews:10:25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
See All..., the writer makes a cautionary statement:

“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Gathering together in community is important as it comments us in physical, spiritual and emotional ways. Both Christians and atheists these days are concerned about the decline of society they are witnessing. In Quitting Church, Americans Gave Up More Than They’d Bargained For Paul Prather, who identifies as a "Pentecostal pastor in Kentucky," points out that atheist, Derek Thompson, a staff writer at The Atlantic, is deeply concerned at the consequences of the nearly 40 million leaving "Organized religion”:

“But I wonder if, in forgoing organized religion, an isolated country has discarded an old and proven source of ritual at a time when we most need it,” he added. “Making friends as an adult can be hard; it’s especially hard without a scheduled weekly reunion of congregants. Finding meaning in the world is hard too; it’s especially difficult if the oldest systems of meaning-making hold less and less appeal. It took decades for Americans to lose religion. It might take decades to understand the entirety of what we lost.”

While young adults are "deconstructing" from the faith, atheists, and agnostics are raising the alarm over the decline of having meaning to life and the decline of culture. Perhaps, discipling churches to disciple culture would be a step in the right direction.

https://mailchi.mp/f67528fae5fb/what-is-spiritual-aids?e=169825fd77

Richard Dawkins boldly and frequently says that Darwin explained life and everything about it, including consciousness and morals. Of course, anyone who thinks clearly knows that isn’t true. What is life, and how does it animate matter? No one knows. “Never mind,” says the atheist, “the solution to that problem will eventually be reached.”

"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such..." — Definition of genocide, The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, December 9, 1948.

The Iran-backed, officially designated terrorist group Hamas -- along with other groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- on October 7, 2023, committed genocide in Israel.

Jews were murdered because they were the Jews. Israelis were murdered because they were Israelis. People were murdered because they were presumed to be the Jews or Israeli sympathizers with Jews. The decision to invade, murder, torture and kidnap was made by the Hamas leadership and reportedly "managed and planned" by Iran's Quds Force.

Captured Hamas members, under interrogation, said about their actions in Israeli communities:

    • "The plan was to go from home to home, from room to room, to throw grenades and kill everyone, including women and children"; "Hamas ordered us to crush their heads and cut them off, [and] to cut their legs";

    • "Hamas's orders were to kill young men" and to "kidnap the elderly, women and children".

Many of those hostages, taken against Article 34 of Geneva IV, are still in the hands of Hamas.

One of the Hamas terrorists…called his parents after having murdered 10 Jews in Kibbutz Mefalsim near the Gaza border: "Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!... Mom, your son is a hero!" There are many reports like that….

Israel, of necessity, responded to this massacre. Israel's goals…are "returning hostages from Gaza, eliminating Hamas' military and governing capabilities, ensuring that Gaza will not constitute a threat against Israel and also returning displaced Israeli residents securely to their homes in both the south and the north."

Israel's goal is not to destroy the Palestinians, Arabs or Gazan civilians. Unfortunately, there are innocent victims in every war. If Hamas chooses to fight in dense urban areas, among its own civilians, there will be even more civilian casualties. Israel, which always goes out of its out of its way to prevent civilian casualties among its opponents, is always nevertheless blamed for them…

"Israel Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Nation in History," wrote the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, John Spencer; and, "Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare: Why Will No One Admit it?"

To minimize casualties in its reaction to October 7, the Israeli military sent approximately 15 million text messages, 12 million recorded phone messages and made more than 40,000 personal phone calls to residents of Gaza, informing them when and where to evacuate from areas in which they might be endangered.

By contrast, Hamas was broadcasting from mosques with orders for Gazans to stay put; blocking roads leading to safety (here and here), and even shooting its own citizens to keep them from fleeing…

The situation of displaced Gazans -- temporary evacuations are allowed by Geneva IV, Article 49 -- is certainly unfortunate; however, the main problem is the aggressive nature of Iran's and Hamas's totalitarian regimes. That is what has led to the October 7 massacre and is the seminal reason for the war and the Gazan casualties.

Moreover, in the Hamas covenants, there is no room for an Israel or for any "Zionist project". The result of literal, systematic and historical interpretations of the Hamas Covenants of both 1988 and 2017 leads one to conclude that Iran and Hamas want to murder Jews and wipe Israel off the map.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20810/hamas-and-genocide-in-israel

[This view is becoming more prevalent, as seen in U.S. colleges. This is all leading up to a last, overwhelming attempt at genocide. The Lord, however, has this covered, “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zechariah:12:3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
See All...).]

On our website: https://www.thebereancall.org/content/question-how-could-god-allow-such-cruel-things-happen
More question and answer: https://www.thebereancall.org/questionanswer

Question: How could God allow such cruelty to befall mankind, such as the ignorant millions in India suffering starvation, pain, disease, etc., and brainwashed into a false religion?

Response: I sense the pain of your heart. There are some key words in your important question; the first is “allow.” This is not the world as God wants it to be or made it to be; it is the world that man has made in his rebellion and that God has allowed.

Why would God “allow” sin, suffering, idolatry, etc., all of which will lead to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire? The biblical answer is clear: He has given man the power of choice. Without free will, we could neither love one another, nor God, nor respond to His love for us. Love is the highest expression of God’s character and image in the man whom He created. Obviously, love must come from the heart, or it is not love. The ability to love would be meaningless without the ability not to love and even to hate: obedience is meaningless unless one has the option and ability to disobey.

Rejecting free will, the Calvinist says that this evil world is exactly as God predestined and brings to pass. But the very conscience God has given us will not allow such a wicked charge against God who “is love” (1 John:4:8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
See All...,16), who is “good to all: and his tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm:145:9The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
See All...), and who desires “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy:2:4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
See All...). That many will suffer in the Lake of Fire for eternity is not what God desires for anyone!

Your next key word is “ignorant.” On the contrary, God has given each person the witness of creation and conscience. No matter at what time in history or in what place and society anyone is raised (even in the pagan Far East, like India or China, where one-third of earth’s population lives), the Bible says that “they are without excuse” (Romans:1:19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
See All...,20). No one is totally “ignorant”—and to those who obey the light God has given them, more light and grace will be given. But those who reject the light of creation and conscience that God has given to all are given up by God to their own willful perversions.

Your third key word is “brainwashed.” In fact, no one is a pawn of Satan without first having rejected the light God has given them in creation and conscience. Even then, Satan may need to do little, because “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James:1:14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
See All...).

The world in Noah’s day was so far from what God desired it to be that “it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” to such an extent that He said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth...” (Genesis:6:6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
See All...,7). Indeed, God destroyed everyone except one man and his family, Noah, who “found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (v 8).

Jesus said that in the last days just before His return, conditions on the earth would be as they were “in the days of Noah [and] in the days of Lot” (Matthew:24:37-39 [37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, [39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
See All...; Luke:17:26-30 [26] And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. [27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. [28] Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; [29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. [30] Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
See All...). So we know that the world of sin and suffering you describe is not God’s doing. Has He allowed it? Yes. But the only other alternative would have been to destroy mankind. We are glad that He did not, because many, like Noah, have found grace by accepting salvation in Christ Jesus—and there is a new universe coming, entirely without sin or suffering!

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In preparing for a talk, I was struck by what took place at the cross. Jesus, hanging naked and scourged and beaten, was being publicly executed between two thieves. Consider the narrative from the Gospel of Luke, “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise’.” 

Specifically, it was what was missing that caught my attention. 

Notice that Jesus did not tell the man he would be saved by doing good works – in fact, the thief was dying because of his crimes. Good works were out of the question. Nor did He say to the thief, “Find a technical or scientific solution to your problem of death.” Neither did He say to join the priesthood, or follow temple obligations, or start a charity, or go to church, or even be baptized. There was no eight-point path to enlightenment, no constructing “Heaven on Earth,” no postures for liberation, no chants or spells or rituals. The thief was being executed now and could do nothing practical.

And this returns us to our present state-of-affairs. Like the thief, there is nothing technical to be done on our part. For us, the problem is positional. Just as one man’s act of disobedience to God, Adam in the Garden, became representative of the human race, condemning us to death without our say in the matter, so our salvation could only come through one Man being obedient, without guilt, having the ability to overcome death – without our say in the matter.

This would require none other than the Author of Life to directly intervene. It would have to be His perfecting act given as a gift. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” The implication is clear: plusses are not going to work. It cannot be Jesus Christ plus technology plus politics plus religious rites and obligations, plus, plus, plus. The plusses are never ending and never good enough.

In John:14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
See All... we read the words of Jesus: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There may be some temporary good in the plusses, but they are incapable of saving. The real question is this: Will we trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation? 

Belief and trust in Jesus Christ was all the robber had left, and that the thief recognized his own sin demonstrates a contrite heart. Belief opens the door to relationship, repentance to forgiveness, trust to expectant hope. Jesus Christ said to him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” For it would be Christ, by the power in Himself, in God the Father and the Holy Spirit – the Deity-in-trinity – through which death would be conquered three-days later. As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the early Christians, Jesus Christ is the “firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

For those who, like the thief, admit our inability to save ourselves – who believe and repent, entering into a relationship of trust with the Author of Life – a New Man is born.

Redeemed in the position of Christ, the person is now spiritually aware and awake. The ancient letter to the church in Ephesus illustrates what this looks like: to no longer walk in the futility of a darkened understanding, a person alienated from God, living a life of self-gratification and greed. Instead, walking in the truth of Jesus Christ, to discard our former conduct, “the old man which grows corrupt” and to renew the spirit of our mind, “that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

The character of the New Man is to be established on the image of God, graced with tender mercies, kindness and humility, expressing power with reservation and gentleness – the meaning of meekness – to be longsuffering, “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.” The New Man is to put on love, “which is the bond of perfection” and to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” We are to be thankful to God, acknowledging Jesus Christ in our words and actions.

—Carl Teichrib (Author of Game of Gods, Conference Speaker).

If thoughts do not arise from the matter of which our bodies are made, whether from the brain or the liver or a kidney, who, or what, is forming conceptual ideas and expressing them in speech? Who is this thinker inside each of us? If it isn’t part of the physical body, does “it” survive death Could that be the person I really am, living temporarily in a physical body? Now there’s a question to ponder that carries serious consequences! Where did life come from that animates our bodies for a time, then leaves us at the moment of death? How did life come to fill the earth and manifest itself in such a variety of creatures? Science cannot tell us. “Never mind,” says Richard Dawkins, as he sees the sandy foundation of atheism eroding around him, “we’re working on that.”

Is the Pope Catholic? This humorous rhetorical device has long been used to answer a question with an emphatic “yes!” But after comments made by Pope Francis during a recent 60 Minutes interview, a lot of people are now asking the question for real.

“We are all fundamentally good,” Pope Francis told Norah O’Donnell during their exchange. “Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”

A snippet of the interview captioned with the pontiff’s controversial claim went viral on X earlier this month, though additional context was later added by users to indicate a slight mistranslation by 60 Minutes. The community note explained: "Pope Francis said ‘somos un poco pícaros y pecadores’, meaning literally ‘we are a little bit rogue and sinners,’ speaking to some sinfulness within each of us. This is not the same as saying ‘there are some rogues and sinners’."

So, are all humans “fundamentally good”? Is the heart itself good? Are we just a “little bit” rogue and sinful?

Not according to the prophet Jeremiah, who said: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Or King Solomon, who mourned, “The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live” (Ecclesiastes 9:3).

Or Jesus, who explained that “it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark 7:21–22).

Or the apostle Paul, who quoted the Psalms to emphasize his point: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one’ ” (Romans 3:10–12).

[Scripture teaches that], all humans have inherited a sin nature as a result of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden. As a result, we are born with a propensity towards sin, are estranged from God, and are in desperate need of salvation.

As early as the fifth century…a British monk called Pelagius denied original sin. He taught that the fall of Adam did not cause all humanity to inherit a sin nature, and he stressed that humans were fundamentally free to live good lives without the intervention of divine grace.

But a secular argument can also be made that the Pope erred on the fundamental nature of humanity. We need look no further than the collectivist political projects of last century—communism especially.

The belief that humans are inherently good allowed men like Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot to put forth—and put into action—their ideas that a harmonious society could be achieved if only the right social conditions were created. But eliminating existing class structures did just the opposite, creating a vacuum that was quickly filled by tyranny, oppression, and mass atrocities.

Ironically, the old systems these leaders did away with, while not perfect, had been honed over the centuries to take into account the fallenness of man. Still today, the safest and most prosperous nations on earth are those that properly account for deep human fallibility through their provision of robust checks and balances.

Thus, while the idea of original sin might sound jarring today, it remains one of the most important political insights in history. Its logic is counterintuitive. When humans assume we are fundamentally good, we end up unleashing the most unspeakable evil. But when we are humble enough to admit our fallenness and sin, prudence urges us to create the social conditions fit for human flourishing.

After all, the Christian gospel message is not that we are good, but that despite our sin, Jesus Christ is good, and that he has come to save us.

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2024/05/pope-human-heart-fundamentally-good/

Our brains make us very intelligent, so we imagine, separating us from all other creatures. But our brains are just matter—and as we will continue to remind readers, matter cannot think. The truth is that something other than the brain makes the difference, something that is not in our genes and that could not possibly be the product of evolution and natural selection. This intangible, nonphysical part of man that is not shared by lower creatures has also been described by religious people as the soul and spirit—but what are we talking about? Mortimer J. Adler, co-founder of the Great Books of the Western World program, served on the Board of Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica from its inception in 1949 and became its chairman in 1974. He also held the position of director of editorial planning for the fifteenth edition of Britannica and was instrumental in completely reorganizing much that was embodied in that edition. He pointed out long ago in his groundbreaking book, The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes, that there is a nonphysical barrier between man and all other living things, which evolution did no and could not cause and which it cannot cross. Working on the latter book was instrumental in bringing Adler to the acceptance of Christianity.

Science knows nothing of justice, ethics, morals, love, and so much else that is far more important than energy or matter. Science can’t even tell us why this universe about us is so beautiful, as even Dawkins admits. Tragically, in spite of much good that it has done, science has produced a race of nuclear giants who remain moral midgets. This is an extremely dangerous situation that science created but can never help to solve. There hangs over our heads the double-edged nuclear and economical Sword of Damocles. Science cannot help us because the only solution is not scientific but moral, and the two occupy different realms.

New Testaments to Israel

The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent rise of anti-Semitism in Western countries seems to have had an interesting result. More Israelis requesting copies of the New Testament after Oct. 7, Messianic Jewish group says:   

The faith-based nonprofit Jews for Jesus, an organization that shares the Gospel with people of the Jewish faith, says it has seen an increase in the number of New Testament orders from Israelis since the war between Israel and Hamas began last October.

At this point, it is anyone's guess how far this seeking will go, but it is something to pray about and keep an eye on.

https://mailchi.mp/1ec1f927284c/the-dangers-of-false-bible-attribution?e=169825fd77

Question: What about the growing "spiritual warfare" teaching that by "binding" in the name of the Lord the "territorial spirit" controlling a city Christians can take over that city for God?

Response: Such an idea has no biblical basis, either by precept or example. Yes, "the prince of the kingdom of Persia” prevented the angel Gabriel for three weeks from coming to Daniel (Dn 10:12-13). Daniel, however, was seeking prophetic insight—not to "bind" the "territorial spirit" over Persia. Nor did Gabriel instruct him to wage such warfare. Gabriel's mission was to inform Daniel of last-days events affecting Israel (v 14)—information which the "prince of Persia" tried to hinder. There is no hint that "binding" this demon would have delivered Persia from Satanic influence or that Gabriel's victory over this demon (with the help of Michael the Archangel) had any effect upon the spiritual climate in Persia or aided in the salvation of Persians.

Paul never tried to "bind territorial spirits" in bringing the gospel to the world of his day, so why should we? And although the apostles "turned the world upside down," there is no hint that a single city was ever "taken for God," as Wimber, Paulk, Hayford, Frangipane, Lea, and so many others are promising. In Corinth, for example, where Paul spent 18 months, God gave him special protection and blessing because He had "much people in this city" (Acts:18:9-10 [9] Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: [10] For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
See All...). The issue was not to deliver Corinth, but to call a company of believers out of it. Nor did Paul's success change the destiny of Corinth—or of any other city or nation.

Question: I was very upset by the answer from you about the reason you prefer the KJV.... I need you to please send me several examples of what you consider "serious" errors [in modern translations]. I would also be very appreciative of some reading material that the lay person can understand...or names of some sources....

Response: Thank you for your recent letter challenging me regarding my support of the KJV. This question is too complex to deal with in a brief letter, but let me try once again. You asked for sources.

The best case against "KJV only" is presented by D. A. Carson in The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism. He points out, in "eight key Christological verses (Jn:1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
See All...,18; Acts:20:28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
See All...; Rom:9:5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
See All...; 2 Thes:1:12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
See All..., Tts 2:13; Heb:1:8But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
See All...; 2 Pet:1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
See All...)... the KJV fails to underscore the deity of Christ in four." Most modern translations do as well or better. The NIV scores in seven of the eight. Even Thomas M. Strouse, though strongly criticizing Carson, admits these four KJV failures (Jn:1:18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
See All...; 2 Thes:1:12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
See All...; Tts 2:13; 2 Pet:1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
See All...) and explains them as "a textual problem (Jn:1:18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
See All...) and the other three are translational problems." Even its defenders must admit to some flaws in the KJV.

Critics fault the KJV because it comes from a Greek New Testament which was put together by Erasmus in 1516, later improved by Theodore Beza and Robert Stephanus. The latter's fourth edition in 1551 is "substantially the Textus Receptus," according to Jasper James Ray, one of its most fervent defenders. Too late in time, say the critics, and too few manuscripts as its source. Yet this was basically the Greek text that had been accepted by the Greek church in the East for centuries (the Roman Catholic Church in the West used the Latin Vulgate), earlier manuscripts from which the Greek Bible came having been worn out and discarded. Modern translations (some are worse than others, the RSV in particular) come from a Greek text developed by Westcott and Hort (two scholarly heretics) based largely upon Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, which, though older, are clearly corrupted.

In God Wrote Only One Bible, Jasper James Ray cites more than 200 differences between the KJV and "44 new version Bibles"—some minor, some serious. How do we know who is right without learning Greek and poring over thousands of ancient manuscripts? In checking out the differences Ray cites, not only logic but the testimony of the rest of Scripture and the Holy Spirit come down solidly on the side of the KJV. You wanted examples. Here are a few.

In Revelation:1:11Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
See All..., RSV, NAS (and others, but I can't list them all) leave out "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." Not only is this a key claim to deity stated in a special way to show that Jesus is Jahweh (see Is 44:6), but it seems logical that the speaker would immediately identify Himself. It is more likely to have been deleted than added.

In John:9:35Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
See All... modern translations change "Son of God" to “Son of man," which not only denigrates Jesus but makes no sense in this context. Yes, Jesus often called Himself "Son of man," but in His general teaching to the multitude where He used veiled language. Here He is introducing Himself to someone who never heard of Him or heard His teaching, and "Son of man" wouldn't mean anything.

In Luke:2:33And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
See All... "Joseph" is changed to "father" and in verse 43 "Joseph and his mother" are changed to "his parents." All of the above (and others) deny His deity. Though Christ's deity is clear in other places in most modern translations, these and other verses send the opposite signal, thus causing confusion.

In Colossians:1:14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
See All..., "through his blood" is left out in RSV, NAS, etc., though they include it in Ephesians:1:7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
See All.... I don't think Paul omitted it. In 1 John:4:3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
See All..., "Christ is come in the flesh" is missing, though this phrase was a key in combatting gnostic cults and now the New Age. In Luke:4:8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
See All..., "Get thee behind me, Satan" is omitted, though it seems appropriate. In Luke:4:4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
See All..., "but by every word of God" is missing, making it an improper quote of Deuteronomy:8:3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
See All... and weakening it. In each case deletion seems more likely to have occurred than addition.

There are several cases where direct reference to Old Testament prophecies seems very appropriate yet is left out of RSV, NAS, etc., such as Matthew:27:35And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
See All..., "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet"; Mark:13:14But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
See All..., "spoken of by Daniel the prophet"; Mark:15:28And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
See All..., "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith," etc. Again, the text seems weakened by the loss.

Question: Psalm:137:9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
See All... is a verse which has bothered me for years: “Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.” How can Christians oppose abortion, yet believe in a God who encouraged Israel to slaughter infants and to rejoice in doing it? I’ve had non-Christians throw this verse at me and I can’t give them a good answer.

Response: I, too, puzzled over this verse for years. Then one day I realized what should have been obvious: it was not God’s people who committed this horrible atrocity. Israel never conquered Babylon. It was the Medes and Persians who did so. The psalmist is not condoning such barbarous behavior. He is simply warning Babylon that she will be crushed by invaders—and that just as she rejoiced in destroying Jerusalem, so her conquerors will rejoice in destroying her, including her innocent infants.

*Our purpose in this section is to simply show what kind of feedback we receive. We may respond to some of them in private whether or not we agree with their views. 

Dear TBC,

Hello and God bless everyone at The Berean Call. I'm engaging in a bit of overkill since I called the automated subscription line and said that I wanted to keep receiving the newsletter, but just to make sure it heard me correctly, yes, absolutely I would like to continue receiving the newsletter. As a side note, can't tell you how much I've benefited from reading Dave Hunts' books. He was such a great student of the Word and had such a logical mind. Thanks for sending out the newsletter—may God continue to bless all at the Berean Call. DW (email)

Dear TBC,

I watched a religion program on TV last night, the praying of the rosary at Lourdes. The only thing that kept running through my mind was the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Do not pray as the heathen, with a multitude of vain repetitions.” Even though a portion of the repetitions were actually part of the Lord's prayer, most of it was praying to Mary, and though it was hard to make it out very well, they seemed to be stating that Mary was conceived without sin.

They were not praying to the Father…but rather asking (praying) for Mary to pray for them. It was spooky, and there was no joy among them that I could see; they were merely droning out a repetitive formula. It seemed dead, and merely a rote ceremony, and nothing to indicate our salvation through grace by faith in the sacrifice of the blood atonement of Jesus Christ our Lord. SM (email)

Dear TBC,

I watched one episode of The Chosen...I said to my husband this is dangerous and gave him several reasons…. He didn't agree. We watched a second part which made me even more uneasy...that night while praying, every time I said “Jesus” the actor’s face came to mind…. The next evening I told him I won't be watching this again and I told him what happened—that gave him a shock and we never watched it again. Carol Matrisciana did a teaching on images of Jesus...that came to mind afterwards. How many people watch this and then when praying see the actors face? Anon. (email)

Dear TBC,

The eucharist Christ is being pushed by Marian apparitions and the Catholics are eating it up. Also, many half-hearted “evangelicals” are falling for this nonsense. It’s so sad…I have been saying for a while now, “The great falling away isn’t coming…it IS here.” Galatians:1:8-9 [8] But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. [9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
See All... is clear: “Let them be accursed who knowingly mislead the people.” God bless all the disciples. Jesus dying, and finishing it, on the cross is what takes away sin, not transubstantiation. Scripture IS clear Jesus died once and for all for sin and was raised up to the right hand of God where He IS today. OM (email)

Dear TBC,

I recently remembered Dave Hunt. I used to listen to him all the time when I was in my early 20s. Now I am about 40 and have found him on YouTube, yay! So grateful for these uploads. Maranatha! JG (email)

Dear TBC,

Thank you very much, The Berean Call, for such a valuable teaching to be able to know and understand the deception that is operating in so many places. You are true watchmen of God, and I ask that God bless you and that you continue to be faithful defenders of the most holy Word of God. Anon. (Translated from Spanish)

Are You “Continuing Stedfastly”?

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts:2:42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
See All...)

If I were to pick one verse from God's Word that packs it all in for me, it's definitely Acts:2:42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
See All.... I'm exhorted and convicted by practically every word. Here's the way it challenges me: Am I continuing “stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine”? “Steadfastly” (modern spelling) means that I am recognizing that it's the Word of God (not the word of men) which the apostles were given by the Holy Spirit and instructed to teach. That's biblical doctrine which I need to know in order to obey!

My favorite time of fellowship is primarily participating in Bible studies, whether it’s a Saturday men's study or a Zoom meeting get-together with the TBC staff four days a week. I consider the breaking of bread as having meals with my brothers and sisters in Christ as well as remembering the Lord's sacrifice, which our church does on a monthly basis.

All the above must be submitted and sustained through prayer (and that “without ceasing”—1 Thessalonians:5:16-18 [16] Rejoice evermore. [17] Pray without ceasing. [18] In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
See All...). Our Thursday Zoom meeting is dedicated to praying for those who contact us through emails and calls requesting prayers for themselves and others.

T. A. McMahon

Executive Director

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble. —Andrew Murray

FrontPageMag.com, 5/23/24, “College Presidents Tell Congress They’ve Done Nothing About Antisemitism” [Excerpts]:The House held its latest batch of hearings on antisemitism to the frustration of the Democrats because the folks being dragged in front of the cameras, university presidents, shine a light on their party’s hate.

This time around, the focus was on the pro-Hamas encampments and university presidents dodged the issues (this time around they also avoided saying that they weren’t sure if calls to kill all the Jews were wrong) by refusing to discuss actions by faculty and students, and pledging only to have commissions on antisemitism.

The bottom line is that if the KKK had set up encampments on college campuses, they would have been booted not in days or weeks, but hours at the longest.

Instead, pro-Israel faculty members have been more likely to be barred from campuses than pro-Hamas ones.

Administrators claimed that they didn’t want to call the police because it would undermine “student safety,” while allowing harassment and attacks on Jewish students did not threaten anyone’s safety. Or anyone who mattered.

https://bit.ly/4ePiWwd

Creation.com, 5/23/24, “Dinosaurs are almost certainly extinct” [Excerpts]: Since biblical creationists are already held to a double standard, we should seek to find the best arguments. At the same time, we must be free to allow older, outdated arguments to wither on the vine, when we find them. Science changes, but the Bible does not. Thus, we deny that the Bible is a scientific textbook, since textbooks always contain mistakes and always become outdated! But when the Bible does touch on scientific aspects, it is always accurate, because the One who inspired it knows all the science that there is to know.

And the Bible has depictions of some fascinating creatures such as the behemoth in Job:40:15Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
See All...–18, which seems to fit the description of a sauropod dinosaur, such as Dreadnoughtus. No living creature has a tail that could be compared to the cedar, the largest tree in the Middle-East.

The evidence is strong that they lived in the post-Flood era, and there is nothing that categorically tells us they must be extinct, so the idea that they might still be alive is tantalizing.

Due to the tension between the verbal reports and the absence of hard evidence, we hesitate to simply throw everything out. But our position is no longer “wait and see.” Instead, it is time to say that living dinosaurs no longer exist unless there is proven evidence to the contrary….

This does not mean we reject the idea that dinosaurs previously lived with man, only that they are extremely unlikely to be living today, and there are strong creationist scientific reasons for saying so.

https://bit.ly/3RZeT6u

MidwestOutreach.org, 5/23/24, “The Thing About Jordan Peterson is...” [Excerpts]: Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson is a favorite among conservatives, Christian and non-Christian alike. He is no-nonsense in his refutation of Wokeism, politically correct, and Progressivism in general. He uses and “teaches” the Bible and, although being a moralist, is not, at least at this point, a Christian.

[Author Larry Taunton] suggested that “Peterson’s belief is of the Jeffersonian à la carte variety: I’ll take some Jesus as a teacher of ethics and exemplar of self-sacrifice, hold the creation story and resurrection.”

As would be expected, this shows up in Peterson’s heretical theology. Taunton points out: “Peterson’s theology, as well-known pastor and theologian Doug Wilson put it, sits on a ‘cracked and crooked foundation.’ Like me, Wilson appreciates much of what Peterson has to say. He also knows a thing or two about celebrities who flirt with Christian conversion and readily recognizes that the whole trajectory of Peterson’s God-talk hits wide of the mark because he rejects the central premise of Christianity: the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Peterson says he finds the possibility of a historic Jesus who was God in the flesh ‘too terrifying a reality to really believe.’ As a result, the theological errors begin early and often.”

Will Jordan Peterson come to the faith? That is anybody’s guess, and we should be praying for his salvation. In the meantime, if we listen with discernment, he has some interesting things to say.

https://bit.ly/4eTRugG

Originally published June 1, 1993

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me.... And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

—Exodus:20:24-26 [24] An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. [25] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. [26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
See All...

...[L]et us build us a city and a tower [of Babel], whose top may reach unto heaven….

—Genesis:11:4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
See All...

No two tenets of faith could be more opposed to one another than those presented above. On the one hand, we have God's rejection of any human effort to buy salvation or His favor. If man is to come to God, it must be solely by His grace and His provision, not by any human work. On the other hand, we see man's flagrant repudiation of God's prohibition against self-effort, and his arrogant attempt to build a tower that would enable him to climb by steps of his own making into heaven itself.

God's instructions were explicit. If the ground was too rocky to gather up a mound of earth for an altar, stones could be heaped together—but they could not be cut, fashioned or polished with a tool. Nor could the altar be elevated. Not one step must be climbed to reach it. There must be no illusion that man could contribute anything by his own efforts to his salvation. God himself is the only One who can save man, and salvation must be a gift of His grace. Such is the gospel consistently presented from Genesis to Revelation. Consider the following: 

I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour (Isa:43:11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
See All...); For unto us a child [the Messiah] is born...[He is] The mighty God, The everlasting Father… (Isa:9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
See All...); ...thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Mat:1:21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
See All...); ...they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom:8:8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
See All...). For by grace are ye saved... Not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph:2:8-9 [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
See All...); Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus:3:5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
See All...); Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom:3:24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
See All...); And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work (Rom:11:6And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
See All...).

It was the incredible act of rebellion in Eden against the Almighty that separated man from his Creator. No less astonishing is the fact that man continues his defiance in his very attempts to be reconciled to God, and so persists in his self-righteous resolve to contribute something toward his salvation. Thus, amazingly, man's rebellion against God is seen most clearly in his religions, all of which are but mirror images of Babel—ingenious and persistent attempts to "climb up some other way" (Jn:10:1Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
See All...) instead of entering through the door (Christ) which God has provided.

Babel may be traced from ancient paganism, to the "high places" (elevated altars) of heathen worship adopted by Israel (Lev:26:30And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
See All...; 1 Kgs 11:7; 2 Kgs 23:15; Ezek:16:24-39 [24] That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. [25] Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. [26] Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. [27] Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. [28] Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. [29] Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. [30] How weak is thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; [31] In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; [32] But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! [33] They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. [34] And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. [35] Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: [36] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; [37] Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. [38] And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. [39] And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.
See All..., etc.) and on to every religion on earth today. The ornate temples or mosques and elaborate ceremonies found in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism and other cults and the occult are obvious continuations of Babel. So are the magnificent cathedrals, lofty steeples, exalted and gilded altars, luxurious vestments and impressive rituals of today's "high church" Anglican, Orthodox, Catholic and other denominations. Such pomp turns off many non-Christians who rightly want nothing to do with a "God" who is influenced by fleshly enhancements.

Was not Solomon's temple most magnificent? Yes, but it was uniquely designed and commanded by God. Both the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple which succeeded it were "a figure [picture]...of good things to come [i.e., of Christ and heaven]" (Heb:9:9-11 [9] Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [10] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. [11] But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
See All...). God said to Moses, "See to it that thou make all things according to the pattern which I showed to thee on the mount [Sinai]" (Heb:8:5Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
See All...). No such pattern or approval was given by God for any other religious structure.

Protestantism retained some Catholic heresies, such as the error of attaching virtue (or evil) and power to physical objects and rituals. While Protestants reject relics, statues and icons, they often refer to their places of worship as "sanctuaries," as though God dwells there. In fact, God inhabits the Christian's body ("your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit"—1 Cor:3:17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
See All...; 6:19), which is therefore to be kept holy. Paul reminded the Athenians,

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things... (Acts:17:24-25 [24] God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; [25] Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
See All...).

Jesus explained that God does, indeed, desire our worship—but it must be "in spirit and in truth" (Jn:4:23-24 [23] But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. [24] God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
See All...). Affectations, whether in physical adornments, props, or ceremonies, appeal to the flesh and, far from enhancing worship, deny both the truth and the Spirit, by which it alone can be offered to the God who created and redeemed us. Sacramentalism, which is the heart of Roman Catholicism—the belief that liturgy's form and formulas transmit spiritual power and that salvation comes through the sacraments—too readily creeps into Protestant thinking as well. (Many Protestants still believe that baptism saves, taking the bread and cup brings life, etc.) Alas, we are all Eve's children by nature and still prone to follow the ways of Cain and Babel.

Every place of worship, Catholic or Protestant, which has been adorned for the purpose of hallowing it or gaining God's favor or making worship more acceptable, violates Exodus:20:24-26 [24] An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. [25] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. [26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
See All... as well as the rest of Scripture. All such "sanctuaries" are monuments to man's rebellion and his proud and perverted religion of self-effort. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to fall into the error of imagining that belonging to a church and periodically "worshiping" in its "sanctuary" makes one a Christian and compensates for one's lack of consistent, personal holiness.

Of course, no one [today] is under the illusion that one can climb a physical tower to heaven. Yet the folly of today's religions is every bit as monumental, and the anarchy against God which motivates those beliefs is just as obscene, as was the Tower of Babel. Billions continue, in the spirit of Babel, to pursue equally futile do-good and positive-thinking, self-help religious programs to earn their way to heaven.

Norman Vincent Peale's "positive thinking" and Robert Schuller's "possibility thinking" replace truth. It doesn't matter what or in whom one believes, but only that one be positive. Biblical doctrine, Schuller argues, may have communicated to people in the past, but to our generation it seems so "negative" and offensive that it turns people off. What is needed now is a "positive" gospel that everyone can accept. In a [past] article in The Orange County Register, Schuller berated preachers "who spew forth their angry, hate-filled sermons of fire and brimstone." (Isn't he judging hearts? Didn't God create hell? Didn't Jesus repeatedly warn about hell?) Explaining that the way to "tell the good religion from the bad religion" is whether it is "positive," Schuller exhorted "religious leaders...whatever their theology...to articulate their faith in positive terms." He then called for a "massive, united effort by leaders of all religions" to proclaim "the positive power...of world-community-building religious values." (Emphasis added) Antichrist himself couldn't improve on that New Age, one-world-religion doubletalk!

Sadly, for Schuller and Peale, et al., "faith" is a power of the mind and "God" is merely a placebo that helps one "believe" and thereby activate this mind power. "Prayer is communicating with the deep unconscious.... Your unconscious mind...[has a] power that turns wishes into realities," writes Peale. On an Amway tape, Schuller exults, "You don't know the power you have within you! ...You make the world into anything you choose." It is Babel again in a more sophisticated form. The power of "thinking" becomes the magic stairway that leads to the paradise where all one's wishes can be fulfilled.

Similar to the above is the "positive confession" of Hagin, Copeland, Cho, Hinn, et al., which is embraced by much of the charismatic movement. Kenneth Hagin, Jr. calls God "the greatest Positive Thinker that ever was!" To these "faith teachers," faith is a mind power which even God uses—a force contained in words and released when one speaks forth "the word of faith." Cho writes, "By the spoken word we create our universe...you create the presence of Jesus with your mouth...through visualization and dreaming you can incubate your future and hatch the results." Here we have an evangelical form of Christian Science or Science of Mind! On TBN, with Paul and Jan Crouch nodding approval, Copeland declared, "Faith is a force just like electricity or gravity...we are a class of gods."

Many Christians have unwittingly believed a similar lie. They imagine that faith is believing that what they are praying for will happen. Of course, if believing something will happen causes it to happen, then who needs God? Men have become gods themselves. The power of belief becomes one's tower of Babel, the magic steps by which one climbs to that "state of mind called heaven."

Biblical faith, however, is believing that God will answer one's prayer. That changes everything! I could never truly believe a prayer would be answered—nor would I want it to be—unless I were certain it was God's will. Faith is not a magic power we aim at God to get Him to bless our plans, but "the obedience of faith" (Acts:6:7And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
See All...; Rom:1:5By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
See All...; 16:26; 2 Thes:1:8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
See All..., etc.) brings us into submission to Him as the instruments of His will. Yet Benny Hinn says, "Never, ever, ever, go to the Lord and say, 'If it be thy will....' Don't allow such faith-destroying words to be spoken from your mouth." Why? Because "man was created on terms of equality with God," says Hagin. Behold Christianized humanism!

Humanists also have their Babel-like, do-it-yourself religion. They call it science. It, too, reflects man's continued rebellion. Modern man hopes to conquer the atom, space, and all disease, and thus to become immortal master of the universe. The materialist's "heaven" is a peaceful cosmos populated by highly evolved, space-traveling civilizations which have restored paradise through super technology. Such was the dream ("to join a community of galactic civilizations...[is] our hope in a vast and awesome universe") which President Carter, a professing Christian, expressed to anticipated extraterrestrial contactees on the gold record carried into space by Voyager in 1977.

Pure materialism leaves the soul empty, but adding a touch of religion to science seems to fill the void while keeping faith "rational." There is no more deadly delusion than a scientific religion. It is the delusion of Babel all over again, with advancing knowledge building the steps that both lead man to "heaven" and open to him the very powers of God. One of Christian psychology's major appeals to evangelicals is its false claim to being scientific. It fails, however, the litmus test of Exodus:20:24-26 [24] An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. [25] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. [26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
See All.... Its altars are built of the cut and polished stones of human wisdom; its rituals are not found in Scripture; and self rather than God is the object of worship. Moreover, on its altars burns the strange fire (Lev:10:1And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
See All...; Num:3:4And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.
See All...) of humanistic theories unacceptable to God.

Religious science is a major element in the environmental movement, where the earth is increasingly viewed as sacred. Ecotheology, says Georgetown University professor Victor Ferkiss, "starts with the premise that the Universe is God." Carl Sagan exemplifies today's scientific paganism. "If we must worship a power greater than ourselves," intones this high priest of cosmos worship, "does it not make sense to revere the Sun and stars?" Here we go again! To draw closer to, and thus better observe and worship, the heavenly bodies was a major purpose of the Tower of Babel. The environmental movement is a humanistic attempt to restore the lost paradise of Eden without repenting of rebellion against the Creator.

Such is the message that is being seductively presented to America's children in the public schools. Lamar Alexander, former governor of Tennessee, was appointed by President Bush as US Secretary of Education. He says the book that most influenced his thinking in the last 10 years was A God Within by René Dubos. In it Dubos declares that a "truly ecological view of the world has religious overtones....Our salvation depends upon our ability to create a religion of nature...suited to the needs and knowledge of modern man." That's New Age.

That religion is being purposefully promoted in the public schools through such programs as America 2000, initiated by the [George H. W.] Bush administration. Under [former President] Clinton’s governorship of Arkansas, he initiated a school reform which had little to do with academic excellence and much to do with remolding the students into planetary citizens alienated from parents. Former students at the "Governor's School" testify that foul language was encouraged as part of a brainwashing procedure designed to strip students of biblical morals. There was blatant promotion of gay lifestyles, free sex, rebellion, and New Age beliefs and practices, including the worship of self and the universe as God.

Exodus:20:24-26 [24] An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. [25] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. [26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
See All... is a foundational passage which makes it clear that the earth is neither to be honored nor worshiped, but to be used as an altar. Sin brought a curse upon the earth, a curse which could only be removed through the shedding of blood (Lev:17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
See All...). Animals were sacrificed upon an altar of earth in anticipation of the Lamb of God who would, "by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb:9:26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
See All...), once and for all obtain "eternal redemption for us" (v 12).

It is for man's own good that God visits sin with death. How horrible it would be for mankind to continue forever in its state of rebellion, thus perpetuating ever increasing evil, sickness, suffering, sorrow, and death. Only out of death in payment of the full penalty for sin comes resurrection (not reincarnation's amoral recycling of evil) and a whole new universe into which sin and suffering can never enter. Such is God's desire and provision for all mankind. Those who reject the free gift of eternal life offered by His grace will experience eternal regret.

The "gospel of God," as we have seen, is very specific and must be believed for one to be saved. "[S]trait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Mat:7:14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
See All...). That "narrow-minded" statement was not the invention of some dogmatic fundamentalist, but came from our Lord himself. "The faith" for which we must "earnestly contend" (Jude 3) has definite moral and doctrinal content and must be believed for salvation. All else is Babel.

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