Heretics of Heretics: Female Episcopal Priest is Also a Muslim

"I am both Muslim and Christian"

By Janet I. Tu Seattle Times religion reporter STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding attends the Sunday morning service at St. Clement's of Rome Episcopal Church in Seattle. Redding has been an Episcopal priest for 20 years and a Muslim for 15 months. JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Redding, at right, prays with other members of the Al-Islam Center recently at the Yesler Community Center. JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, right, gets a hug from Ayesha Anderson at the end of a service recently with members of the Al-Islam Center in Seattle. Redding is a Christian who is also a practicing Muslim, and she worships with members of both faiths. STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Redding talks with 4-year-old Celia Connor before the start of the service at St. Clement's of Rome Episcopal Church in Seattle. On Sundays, Redding often prays at St. Clement's. On Fridays, she prays with the Al-Islam Center. Relate Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.

On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.
She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim. Redding, who until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for more than 20 years. Now she's ready to tell people that, for the last 15 months, she's also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved. Her announcement has provoked surprise and bewilderment in many, raising an obvious question: How can someone be both a Christian and a Muslim? But it has drawn other reactions too. Friends generally say they support her, while religious scholars are mixed: Some say that, depending on how one interprets the tenets of the two faiths, it is, indeed, possible to be both. Others consider the two faiths mutually exclusive.

"There are tenets of the faiths that are very, very different," said Kurt Fredrickson, director of the doctor of ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "The most basic would be: What do you do with Jesus?" Christianity has historically regarded Jesus as the son of God and God incarnate, both fully human and fully divine. Muslims, though they regard Jesus as a great prophet, do not see him as divine and do not consider him the son of God. "I don't think it's possible" to be both, Fredrickson said, just like "you can't be a Republican and a Democrat." Redding, who will begin teaching the New Testament as a visiting assistant professor at Seattle University this fall, has a different analogy: "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both." Redding doesn't feel she has to resolve all the contradictions. People within one religion can't even agree on all the details, she said. "So why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam? "At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need." She says she felt an inexplicable call to become Muslim, and to surrender to God — the meaning of the word "Islam."

"It wasn't about intellect," she said. "All I know is the calling of my heart to Islam was very much something about my identity and who I am supposed to be. "I could not not be a Muslim." Redding's situation is highly unusual. Officials at the national Episcopal Church headquarters said they are not aware of any other instance in which a priest has also been a believer in another faith. They said it's up to the local bishop to decide whether such a priest could continue in that role. Redding's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, says he accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, and that he finds the interfaith possibilities exciting. Her announcement, first made through a story in her diocese's newspaper, hasn't caused much controversy yet, he said.
Some local Muslim leaders are perplexed.
Being both Muslim and Christian — "I don't know how that works," said Hisham Farajallah,
president of the Islamic Center of Washington.
But Redding has been embraced by leaders at the Al-Islam Center of Seattle, the Muslim group she prays with. "Islam doesn't say if you're a Christian, you're not a Muslim," said programming director Ayesha Anderson. "Islam doesn't lay it out like that." Redding believes telling her story can help ease religious tensions, and she hopes it can be a step toward her dream of creating an institute to study Judaism, Christianity and Islam. "I think this thing that's happened to me can be a sign of hope," she said. Finding a religion that fit
Redding is 55 and single, with deep brown eyes, dreadlocks and a voice that becomes easily impassioned when talking about faith.

She's also a classically trained singer, and has sung at jazz nights at St. Mark's.
The oldest of three girls, Redding grew up in Pennsylvania in a high-achieving, intellectual family. Her father was one of the lawyers who argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that desegregated the nation's public schools. Her mother was in the first class of Fulbright scholars. Though her parents weren't particularly religious, they had her baptized and sent her to an Episcopal Sunday school. She has always sensed that God existed and God loved her, even when things got bleak — which they did. She experienced racism in schools, was sexually abused and, by the time she was a young adult, was struggling with alcohol addiction; she's been in recovery for 20 years. Despite those difficulties, she graduated from Brown University, earned master's degrees from two seminaries and received her Ph.D. in New Testament from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She felt called to the priesthood and was ordained in 1984.

As much as she loves her church, she has always challenged it. She calls Christianity the "world religion of privilege." She has never believed in original sin. And for years she struggled with the nature of Jesus' divinity.

She found a good fit at St. Mark's, coming to the flagship of the Episcopal Church in Western Washington in 2001. She was in charge of programs to form and deepen people's faith until March this year when she was one of three employees laid off for budget reasons. The dean of the cathedral said Redding's exploration of Islam had nothing to do with her layoff. Ironically, it was at St. Mark's that she first became drawn to Islam.
In fall 2005, a local Muslim leader gave a talk at the cathedral, then prayed before those attending. Redding was moved. As he dropped to his knees and stretched forward against the floor, it seemed to her that his whole body was involved in surrendering to God. Then in the spring, at a St. Mark's interfaith class, another Muslim leader taught a chanted prayer and led a meditation on opening one's heart. The chanting appealed to the singer in Redding; the meditation spoke to her heart. She began saying the prayer daily. Around that time, her mother died, and then "I was in a situation that I could not handle by any other means, other than a total surrender to God," she said.

She still doesn't know why that meant she had to become a Muslim. All she knows is "when God gives you an invitation, you don't turn it down."

In March 2006, she said her shahada — the profession of faith — testifying that there is only one God and that Mohammed is his messenger. She became a Muslim.

Before she took the shahada, she read a lot about Islam. Afterward, she learned from local Muslim leaders, including those in Islam's largest denomination — Sunni — and those in the Sufi mystical tradition of Islam. She began praying with the Al-Islam Center, a Sunni group that is predominantly African-American.

There were moments when practicing Islam seemed like coming home. In Seattle's Episcopal circles, Redding had mixed largely with white people. "To walk into Al-Islam and be reminded that there are more people of color in the world than white people, that in itself is a relief," she said.

She found the discipline of praying five times a day — one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims are supposed to follow — gave her the deep sense of connection with God that she yearned for.

It came from "knowing at all times I'm in between prayers." She likens it to being in love, constantly looking forward to having "all these dates with God. ... Living a life where you're remembering God intentionally, consciously, just changes everything." Friends who didn't know she was practicing Islam told her she glowed.

Aside from the established sets of prayers she recites in Arabic fives times each day, Redding says her prayers are neither uniquely Islamic nor Christian. They're simply her private talks with God or Allah — she uses both names interchangeably. "It's the same person, praying to the same God." In many ways, she says, "coming to Islam was like coming into a family with whom I'd been estranged. We have not only the same God, but the same ancestor with Abraham." A shared beginning Indeed, Islam, Christianity and Judaism trace their roots to Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism who is also considered the spiritual father of all three faiths.

They share a common belief in one God, and there are certain similar stories in their holy texts. But there are many significant differences, too. Muslims regard the Quran as the unadulterated word of God, delivered through the angel Gabriel to Mohammed. While they believe the Torah and the Gospels include revelations from God, they believe those revelations have been misinterpreted or mishandled by humans. Most significantly, Muslims and Christians disagree over the divinity of Jesus. Muslims generally believe in Jesus' virgin birth, that he was a messenger of God, that he ascended to heaven alive and that he will come back at the end of time to destroy evil. They do not believe in the Trinity, in the divinity of Jesus or in his death and resurrection. For Christians, belief in Jesus' divinity, and that he died on the cross and was resurrected, lie at the heart of the faith, as does the belief that there is one God who consists of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Redding's views, even before she embraced Islam, were more interpretive than literal. She believes the Trinity is an idea about God and cannot be taken literally. She does not believe Jesus and God are the same, but rather that God is more than Jesus. She believes Jesus is the son of God insofar as all humans are the children of God, and that Jesus is divine, just as all humans are divine — because God dwells in all humans. What makes Jesus unique, she believes, is that out of all humans, he most embodied being filled with God and identifying completely with God's will. She does believe that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected, and acknowledges those beliefs conflict with the teachings of the Quran. "That's something I'll find a challenge the rest of my life," she said. She considers Jesus her savior. At times of despair, because she knows Jesus suffered and overcame suffering, "he has connected me with God," she said. That's not to say she couldn't develop as deep a relationship with Mohammed. "I'm still getting to know him," she said. Matter of interpretation Some religious scholars understand Redding's thinking. While the popular Christian view is that Jesus is God and that he came to Earth and took on a human body, other Christians believe his divinity means that he embodied the spirit of God in his life and work, said Eugene Webb, professor emeritus of comparative religion at the University of Washington. Webb says it's possible to be both Muslim and Christian: "It's a matter of interpretation. But a lot of people on both sides do not believe in interpretation. " Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky, agrees with Webb, and adds that Islam tends to be a little more flexible. Muslims can have faith in Jesus, he said, as long as they believe in Mohammed's message. Other scholars are skeptical. "The theological beliefs are irreconcilable," said Mahmoud Ayoub, professor of Islamic studies and comparative religion at Temple University in Philadelphia. Islam holds that God is one, unique, indivisible. "For Muslims to say Jesus is God would be blasphemy." Frank Spina, an Episcopal priest and also a professor of Old Testament and biblical theology at Seattle Pacific University, puts it bluntly. "I just do not think this sort of thing works," he said. "I think you have to give up what is essential to Christianity to make the moves that she has done. "The essence of Christianity was not that Jesus was a great rabbi or even a great prophet, but that he is the very incarnation of the God that created the world....

Christianity stands or falls on who Jesus is." Spina also says that as priests, he and Redding have taken vows of commitment to the doctrines of the church. "That means none of us get to work out what we think all by ourselves." Redding knows there are many Christians and Muslims who will not accept her as both. "I don't care," she says. "They can't take away my baptism." And as she understands it, once she's made her profession of faith to become a Muslim, no one can say she isn't that, either. While she doesn't rule out that one day she may choose one or the other, it's more likely "that I'm going to be 100 percent Christian and 100 percent Muslim when I die." Deepened spirituality These days, Redding usually carries a headscarf with her wherever she goes so she can pray five times a day. On Fridays, she prays with about 20 others at the Al-Islam Center. On Sundays, she prays in church, usually at St. Clement's of Rome in the Mount Baker neighborhood. One thing she prays for every day: "I pray not to cause scandal or bring shame upon either of my traditions." Being Muslim has given her insights into Christianity, she said. For instance, because Islam regards Jesus as human, not divine, it reinforces for her that "we can be like Jesus. There are no excuses."

Doug Thorpe, who served on St. Mark's faith-formation committee with Redding, said he's trying to understand all the dimensions of her faith choices. But he saw how it deepened her spirituality. And it spurred him to read the Quran and think more deeply about his own faith. He believes Redding is being called. She is, "by her very presence, a bridge person," Thorpe said. "And we desperately need those bridge persons." In Redding's car, she has hung up a cross she made of clear crystal beads. Next to it, she has dangled a heart-shaped leather object etched with the Arabic symbol for Allah. "For me, that symbolizes who I am," Redding said. "I look through Jesus and I see Allah."

The False Gospel of Oprah Winfrey

America's Greatest False Prophet is the Queen of Day Time Television

"Test the spirits, for many false prophets have gone out into the world"

(1 John 4:1).

Recently Oprah Winfrey had on her show as a guest, a man who abandoned his family and his God ordained responsibilities to "come out" as a "transgendered"woman. Ultimately, Winfrey praised this stupid and wretchedly deceived man for renouncing his manhood and undergoing self-mutilation via the abomination of so called "sexual reassignment surgery", wherein his male anatomical parts were castrated.

On another episode, Winfrey featured a program where a young UCLA College student was supported as she came out openly as a homosexual.



While she may be an American icon and fixture on day time television, increasingly, billionaire African American talk show host Oprah Winfrey is promoting anti-Christian social and ethical views contrary to the Judeo-Christian heritage must now be seen as an enemy of God, the Bible and American Evangelicalism due to her aggressive advocating of homosexuality, promiscuity, transgenderism and seemingly every other liberal political position and deviant social behavior known to Western Civilization. For a woman who started out in a Baptist Church community only to emerge as the postmodern diva of ethical and societal relativism, Winfrey has fallen far, far from her historic Christian heritage and roots.

While her show appears to be a harmless and sanguine television venue, upon careful review, Winfrey's enormously popular, five-day a week program is doing much to undermine the traditional family unit and is ultimately hostile to the Christian faith.

Since the vast majority of the people in her audience are women, it is of paramount importance that American Evangelical women reject the anti-biblical womanhood model of social liberalism that Winfrey preaches so nicely on her stupid and worthless show and see at once that wittingly or unwittingly, Winfrey has become a false prophetess of wickedness and rebellion against Almighty God, whose politically correct message of acceptance and tolerance of all varieties of evil, must be rejected by the Christian Church at once.

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a shame to every people" (Proverbs 14:34).





Evidence that Oprah Winfrey is a false teacheer and false prophet: please click on to this You Tube video of her show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lc5QBBLZAo

Why I Believe in the Trinity

“And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Historic Christianity is inherently a Biblical and propositional religious faith made up of certain inalterable and nonnegotiable doctrinal tenets that carefully articulate the specific beliefs of the Christian Church. It is this objective and immutable body of theological beliefs that coherently delineates, permanently, for time memorial, the cognitive doctrinal specifics of Biblical revelation and simultaneously and decisively differentiates and sets true Christianity apart from all other non-Christian religious, philosophical and ideological alternative contemporarily vying for the intellectual, religious and volitional acquiescence, allegiance and adherence of humanity.

Throughout the annals of Church history the Christian Church has universally stood for certain quintessential and definitive doctrines that are absolutely essential to every true believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. These authoritative Biblical theological teachings make up the cognitive essence of orthodox Biblical Christianity and thus are of paramount and singular importance to every Christian. One such nonnegotiable doctrine of historic Christendom that every true Christian should be able to articulate and at once defend, is the all important doctrine of the Trinity, or Tri-unity of God which sets forth the orthodox Christian belief that within the one true and living God, simultaneously exists three distinct divine, indivisible, immutable, co-eternal and co-equal persons who share the same transcendent and inviolable attributes and spiritual essence, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20 and 2 Corinthians 13:14).

Contrary to the charge of polytheism and tri-theism leveled against orthodox Christianity by many of it’s Islamic and Unitarian detractors who argue that we believe in more than one God, Biblical Christianity, like it’s ancestral cousin, Mosaic Judaism, is strictly and exclusively a Monotheistic religion, in that we, the true Church of Jesus Christ avowedly believe, without compromise and exception, that there exists only one true and living God, yet in the singular, eternal and indissoluble nature of God, concurrently exists three distinct, distinguishable and sentient persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who possess the same spiritual nature and inherent stature of equality.

Equally forthright, in our devout Trinitarian Monotheistic belief is the wholesale and adamant and outright renunciation and decisive rejection of any form of Sabellianism, Dynamic Monarchism or Modalism which espouses the radically heterodox view that within the nature of God there exists simply one singular person who at times takes on a different mode of being, at times expressing himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprit, thus denying the distinct individual personhood of the three members of the godhead and instead collapses all three into one person. Contrary to these heresies, the Bible is clear that there is one true and living God and in God exists three distinct persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The word "Trinity" comes from "Trinitas", a Latin abstract noun that means "three-ness," "the property of occurring three at once" or "three are one." The Greek term used for the Christian Trinity, "Τριάς" ("Trias," gen. "Triados") means "a set of three" or "the number three, and has given the English word triad. The first recorded use of the word in Christian theology was in about 180 AD by Theophilus of Antioch who used it of "God, his Word, and his Wisdom (To Autolycus, II.XV ) In about 200 AD Tertullian used it of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. " In this way also, that they are all of the one, namely by unity of substance, while nonetheless is guarded the mystery of that economy which disposes the unity into trinity, setting forth Father and Son and Spirit as three, three however not in quality but in sequence, not (three) in substance but in aspect, not in power but in its manifestation, yet of one substance and one quality and one power..." Tertullian, Against Praxeas" section 2,)

The following easy to follow deductive line of argumentation conclusively demonstrates the truthfulness of the Doctrine of the Trinity from the Biblical record.

I. There is but one God

II. There is a plurality of persons within the godhead.

III. The Bible calls the Father, “God”

IV. The Bible calls the Son, “God”

V. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit “God”

VI. The Bible teaches that within the one God exists three distinct, co-eternal, co-equal and indivisible persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.



1. Christianity is Exclusively Monotheistic (There is but one God)

Deuteronomy 4:35-36, 6:4, 1 Kings 8:60, Isaiah 43:10, 44:5-8, 45:5, Jeremiah 10:10, Mark 12:29-32, John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 and 1 Timothy 2:5.



2. There is a plurality of individuals within God

Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, Genesis 11:6-7, Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:26, 2 Corinthians 13:14.


3. The Bible calls the Father “God” or “God the Father”

John 6:27, Romans 1:7, 1 Cor 1:3, 2 Cor 1:2,
Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:3,
1 Thess. 1:1, 2 Thess. 1:2, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2,
Titus 1:4, Philemon 1:3, 1 Peter 1:2.

John 1:33, John 1:34, John 5:36, John 5:37, John 8:18, John 10:37, John 10:38, John 11:42, John 15:24; Psalms 2:7, Psalms 40:7; Isaiah 11:1-3, Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 61:1-3; Matt. 3:17, Matt. 17:5; Mark 1:11, Mark 9:7; Luke 3:22; Luke 4:18-21, Luke 9:35; Acts 2:22, Acts 10:38; 2Peter 1:17.

4. The Bible calls Jesus Christ God.

Isaiah 7:14. 9:6-7, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 28:19-20, John 1:1-3, 14, 18, 30, 5:18-23, 8:55-58, 10:30-38, 14:1-14, 20:28, Acts 20:28, Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:15-18, 2:8-9, 1 Timothy 3:16, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:1-8, 2 Peter 1:1, 1 John 5:20, Revelation 1:6-8, 18, 21:6

Also Jesus is worshipped as God (Matthew 1:18-23, John 9, 20:28, Hebrews 1:6-9 contrast this with in Revelation 1 and 21 where the
Angel told John not to worship him, but in Hebrews 1:6-9, wise men, Matt 1 they worshipped Christ as God, Blind man who was healed worshipped Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:18 says “angel worship” is false. Revelation 19:10, 22:8, 22:9)


1. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit God

Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 5:3-5,

The Holy Spirit is a person who speaks, and directs
According to His will: John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13.
Acts 13:1-4, Acts 20:23-28, 1 Corinthians 12:11,
Hebrews 9:14 (Spirit is eternal).


Isa.11:2, Isa. 42:1, Isa. 59:21, Isa. 61:1; Luke 3:22; John 1:31-34, John 3:34; Col.1:18, Col.1:19.

An Open Letter to Hunger Truth

A Letter from:

Lee Edward Enochs

Chairman,

The Evangelical Debate Society




Christ-Centered and Biblical Evangelical Apologetics

1 Peter 3:15


June 21, 2007


Dan, Patrick and Hunger Truth,


I am writing you to inform you that I have discussed the matter of the Evangelical Debate Societies continued debate with Patrick Navas, Dan Mages, Steve Scianni and Hunger Truth and have decided that my debate with Steve Scianni on July 16th will be our last act of public debate and dialog with your organization and I would like to ask Patrick Navas to remove my various e-mail addresses from his server list.

I personally have not been pleased by many of the actions and tactics Mr. Navas has used on line to continue our debate and I concur with Pastor Gene Cook's assessment of Mr. Navas' spiritual condition before God and feel that it is now unscriptural for us to continue our debate with Mr. Navas and Hunger Truth. I am mindful of the Scripture which says,


"Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him"

Titus 3:10



After a lot of reflection and discussion with my ministry associates at the Evangelical Debate Society, we believe Patrick Navas quintessentially fulfills the characteristics of the factious person Paul warns the true Church against further contact with and have decided as a group to discontinue our public debate with him and his affiliate organization Hunger Truth.

We feel that after six public debates we have adequately attempted to engage in serious intellectual debate and dialog with Dan, Patrick, Steve and Hunger Truth over the last two years and do not see the profit in rehashing the same arguments over and over again to no avail. It seems that we are going nowhere in our debates and it is time for us as a ministry to move on to other issues and debates on our horizon. It is our express desire that Patrick, Dan and Steve return back to the Evangelical Faith they have abandoned and wish you God's Sovereign mercy in the hope that God's goodness leads you to repentance before the impending judgment of God.

Again, I will honor my word and be there at Hunger Truth for my debate on the existence of God with Steve Scianni as God wills on July 16th but that will be our last public debate with any of the members of Hunger Truth.


Sincerely in Jesus Christ,

Lee Edward "Ed" Enochs

Chairman,

The Evangelical Debate Society

Emilio Ramos' Reflects on John Murray's Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

From Mongergism.com

Redemption Accomplished and Applied

by John Murray

One of the best, most concise, theologically sound and helpful expositions of the atonement ever produced. John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied should be required reading for every Christian. At just under 200 pages, Murray offers page after page of devotional and scholarly study that is nearly unparalleled in its clarity, usefulness and theological depth. Read this book, re-read this book and keep it close at hand.

Reflections and Notes on Chapter One.

“The love of God from which the atonement springs is not a distinctionless love; it is a love that elects and predestinates.” p. 10.

Quoting from Eph. 1. 4ff, Murray draws our attention to this point quoted above. The atonement which was made on behalf of God’s elect had God’s elect in mind all along. Therefore, in agreement with Murray is the notion that God’s work of atonement in the sending of the Son to die for the ‘sin of the world’ is rooted in a very distinct love; the love He had for the elect.

So many today have lost sight of the inter-connectedness of the various aspects of salvation. The components which make up this multifaceted diamond of God’s grace has for too long been erroneously compartmentalized. Murray does an excellent job of drawing us back to the fact that the atonement just like “glorification” has a specific group in mind and that this group i.e. the elect, receives a very special gracious and superior love than those of the non-elect.

The implications of this is massive indeed for it reveals the nature of two things. First it displays the generality of that grace which is truthfully and accurately called “common grace”. Secondly, it displays the greatness of that specific grace which is also accurately called “special grace”. It is the Arminian misunderstanding which confuses the two, thinking that God is obligated to love all in the same general or special way. Murray continues,

“It is necessary to underline that concept of sovereign love. Truly God is love. Love is not something adventitious; it is not something that God may choose to be or choose not to be. He is love, and that necessarily, inherently, and eternally. As God is spirit, as He is light, so He is love. Yet it belongs to the very essence of electing love to recognize that it is not inherently necessary to that love which God necessarily and eternally is that He should set such love as issues in redemption and adoption upon utterly undesirable and hell-deserving objects. It was of the free and sovereign good pleasure of His will, a good pleasure that emanated from the depth of His own goodness, that He chose a people to be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. The reason resides wholly in Himself and proceeds from determinations that are peculiarly His as the “I am that I am”. The atonement does not win or constrain the love of God. The love of God constrains to the atonement as the means of accomplishing love’s determinate purpose.” p. 10.

How true this is, many have made the atonement that which constrains God. Thus, if a person erroneously concludes the extent of the atonement, one might also conclude the extent and nature of the love of God as it relates to the atonement. It is no wonder that people conclude with a universal and indiscriminate love of God since they view the nature of the atonement in much the same way. But as Murray says, “The atonement does not win or constrain the love of God.”

The person believing in ‘distinctionless’ love and or atonement of God must conclude that God has finally failed one way or the other. Either God failed in that though He loved all in the exact same way, yet all those whom He loved did not receive the benefit of God’s atonement thereby suffering the frustration of His own loving intentions. Also, if one believes that God atoned for all in the very same way without any distinction then God failed in that, once again His efforts to atone for the sins of all people in a universal fashion has suffered frustration as to the atonements intended extent.

“So, while God could save without an atonement, yet, in accordance with His sovereign decree, He actually does not”. p.12.

I draw our attention to this point in Murray’s argument because of the subsequent queries that the former points on the nature of atonement provoke namely, as to the necessity of such an atonement as is actually accomplished.

Murray’s third chapter is entitled, “the perfection of the atonement”, which gave rise to the point which we seek to make here. The term perfection becomes increasingly relevant as we seek to understand what was indeed accomplished on the cross and why. Murray asks the questions, “why did Go become man? Why, having become man, did He die? Why, having died, did He die the accursed death of the cross?” p.11. These question then lead to the conclusion which Murray calls the “hypothetical necessity” view in which Jesus dies this type of death ultimately because in essence it is the best of all possible worlds. That is, that though God in His omnipotence could atone for the ‘sin of the world’ He finally did that which was must conducive to His own sovereign and perfect wisdom resulting in the highest good of any choice available to Him, no doubt an amount exclusively known to God.

The point of the quote from page 12 above is that God chose the course of the atonement to be particular and non-universal in the strictest sense of the word according to His unquestionable sovereign, all wise, and perfect decrees. The perfection of God therefore is brought to the forefront of the issues surrounding the atonement.

God is perfect and thus, whatever shape the atonement of His Son finally takes is part of His perfect and flawless decrees. On this point Scripture is unambiguous as it displays God in all of His variegated perfections. Hence he is said to be incorruptible, Rom. 1:23; immortal and invisible, I Tim. 1:17.; 'He only hath immortality,' 1 Tim. 6:16.; He is an infinite spirit; and it can be said of none but Him, that 'His understanding is Infinite,' Psal. 147:5.; And says the prophet, To whom will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him ? ' Isa. 40:18.; Acts 17:29; for God swears by Himself, Heb. 6:19; yet He swears by His holiness, Amos 4:2.*; Also God is infinite, 'Can any man hide Himself in secret places, that I shall not see him ? saith the Lord: do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord,' Jer. 23:24.; God is unsearchable and infinite in His existence 'nor can the number of His years be searched out,' Job 36:26.; "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out !' Rom. 11:33.

His perfect knowledge of all things past. His knowledge is called "book of remembrance," Mal. 3:16; 'His greatness is unsearchable,' Psal. 145: 3. Psal. 90:2 declares, 'From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' Hence He is said to "know all things," John 21:17. and to be "God only wise," Rom. 16:27. The essence of God’s nature is glorious and it is holy thus He is describes as, "glorious in holiness," Exod. 15:11. "He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity," Hab. 1:13. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all," 1 John 1:5. Not only is God these things in His nature but in His actions, "The Lord is holy in all His works," Psal. 145:17. 1 Sam. 6:20. "Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God ?' Deut. 32:4. "Just and right is He." All that God does is right and just, He can only do right, good, and perfect things, Neh. 9:33. "Thou art just in all that is brought upon us." Rev. 16. 5-7. “true and just are Your Judgments”. He is good and He does good, “Thou art good, and dost good, says the Psalmist, Ps. 119:68. He is true in Himself, Deut. 32:4. "A God of truth, and without iniquity."; Therefore when God judges nothing about His wrath and judgment is unrighteous, Rom. 2:2. "We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things."

We see therefore that God is described as being infinite in all of His perfections and all of His perfections are infinite. Holiness must hold a particular place among the attributes of God for it speaks of God being incapable of defect or soil or blemish among other things. Concerning this greatest of all God’s attributes as much as one can elevate one of His attributes above the rest 17th century theologian and puritan divine Stephen Charnock comments,

“The nature of God cannot rationally be conceived with out it [i.e. holiness]. Though the power of God be the first rational conclusion, drawn from the sight of His works, wisdom the next, from the order and connexion of His works, purity must result from the beauty of His works: that God cannot be deformed by evil, who hath made every thing so beautiful in its time. The notion of a God cannot be entertained without separating from Him whatsoever is impure and bespotting both in His essence and actions. Though we conceive Him infinite in Majesty, infinite in essence, eternal in duration, mighty in power, and wise and immutable in His counsels; merciful in His proceeding with men, and whatsoever other perfections may dignify so sovereign a Being, yet if we conceive Him destitute of this excellent perfection, and imagine Him possessed with the least contagion of evil, we make Him but an infinite monster, and sully all those perfections we ascribed to Him before; we rather own Him a devil than a God.” (The Existence and Attributes of God, vol. II, p. 111; Stephen Charnock).

The atonement is therefore one of the works of God which display His perfection for it is a work of His and all of God’s works are perfect. The need for Jesus to die in this way is therefore do to the perfection of the way in which He paid for sinners at the cross. Jesus had to die the death of the cross because there was no greater and better way to redeem mankind and no other way was to be conducive to the highest degree of good and greatest display of His glory.

The atonement was not according to human wisdom, it was not what Jesus as a man even desired, but in His divinity which was in perfect communion with God cried out, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will”. (Lk. 26.39).

In the end the atonement will be one of God most magnificent and perfect woks. All those for whom the atonement will ultimately benefit will see God’s perfect work in all of salvation. All of God’s judgments of God are true, whether in terms of the destruction and judgment of the wicked as a perfect display of His justice, power, and wrath. Or in displaying upon the vessels of mercy infinite mercy and grace which all things considered comes to us in the most impeccable and infinitely perfect decree.

The End Times Debate (Saturday July 7th)

Calling all Evangelical Christians!

The Evangelical Debate Society is pleased to announce to you that we are hosting a special

"In House"Believer's Only Eschatology Debate at Pastor Gabe Colangelo's

House for the Month of July

Reformation Fellowship

Saturday July 7th, 2007

For More Info, e-mail:

edwardenochs@yahoo.com

Does God Exist?

A Debate on the Existence of God

Ed Enochs
vs.
Steve Scianni



@ Hunger Truth


(First Congregational Church of Riverside,
3504 Mission Inn Avenue at Lemon Street.)



Monday: July 16th@ 7:00pm

Christianity Reloaded

The Cross of Jesus Christ

Recovering the Heart and Essence

of Biblical Christianity

"For God made Him who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him"

2 Corinthians 5:21

Revolution in Christian Apologetics!

The Revolt Against Unbiblical Christianity Begins!

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."

(John 17:17)


"So then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ."

(Romans 10:17)

"And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

(2 Timothy 3:15-17)

"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."

(2 Timothy 4:2)



"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God For it is written: “ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

(1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Biblically Reforming the Way American Evangelicals Defend the Historic Christian Faith Against the Challenges of the Postmodern and Secular Age

by Lee Edward Enochs
Chairman,
The Evangelical Debate Society

In Defense of the Historic Evangelical Christian Faith

On October 31, 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther, in opposition to serious heresies being taught in the Roman Catholic Church, nailed his 95 "thesis"on the door of Wittenburg Cathedral and on that very day the cataclysmic and global spiritual revolution known as the Protestant Reformation was born.

A few years later, at the important Diet of Worms, (Diet" meaning a formal meeting, not a weight-loss plan, and Worms being a city south of Frankfurt), under the heated threat of excommunication and execution at the hands of the evil Roman Catholic hierarchy, Martin Luther was forcefully commanded to recant his teachings and obey without question the Roman Catholic heresies against the authority of Scripture and Justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, Martin Luther refused to bow his knee in unscriptural submission and subservience to the wicked and ungodly Romans Catholic leaders.

In April 1521, Luther appeared before Emperor Charles V to defend what he had taught and written. He said in his famous speech at Worms, that he could not recant or go against his conscience and the Word of God and at the end of his famous speech, the he spoke the famous words, 'Here I stand; I can do no other, so help me God.'

Today, I am standing with Martin Luther and standing against false teaching in American Christianity. This false teaching is in the area of Evangelism and Christian Apologetics. I have attended some of American Evangelicalism's most prestigious Churches, Universities, Colleges and Seminaries and I have seen a very unbiblical trend transpire, where American Evangelicals are being sold a deceptive and fraudulent bill of goods and are being told by pastors and professors that the Bible is not sufficient and is not to be used in sharing our faith and defending the faith.

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In an exceedingly hostile postmodern and post-Christian era of American Civilization wherein the insidious and irreligious forces of godless secularism threaten to eviscerate and castigate the cultural viability of Evangelicalism in contemporary society, the historic Evangelical Christian Church currently residing within the North American Hemisphere, must resist, at all costs, the tendency towards assimilation, apostasy, synergistic compromise and gallantly arise to the challenge of boldly proclaiming and defending the glorious saving Gospel of Jesus Christ is a rapidly declining culture slouching towards Gomorrah and teetering near the brink of catastrophic destruction.

Despite this seemingly insurmountable challenge and the atheistic forces of unbelief that threaten to destroy the Christian Church in America, we, Bible believing Evangelical Christians, have been given a Scriptural mandate by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to preach and teach His Gospel to all humanity irrespective of hardship and the possibility of perceived detrimental consequences by the secular state.

Ominous dark clouds of rancor and hostility presently loom on the cultural horizon for contemporary Evangelicalism, as ethical and religious relativists, with a blinding hatred towards Biblical Christianity, are working overtime at concocting local and national legislation that would force Evangelical Christians to legitimize false, perilous and inherently anti-democratic religions such as militant Islam and embrace without question, sinful "alternative lifestyles" such as homosexuality, transgenderism and other grotesque paradigms of promiscuity.

Instead of disengaging from contemporary society and amusing ourselves to death via the ever increasing onslaught of technology driven entertainment, being desensitized to the state of the Church in America by burying our heads in the sand like the proverbial oblivious ostrich, contemporary American Evangelicals must at once take notice of the current climate of hostility towards us and arise to meet the enemy in the realm of ideas and public discourse. The Evangelical Christian Church in America needs coherent, Biblically based defenders of the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). This is where the discipline of Christian Apologetics comes in.

In our exceedingly hostile secular world, it is of paramount importance, the we Evangelical Christians equip ourselves for the task of defending the Christian faith in a coherent, culturally relevant and Biblical manner. The science and discipline of defending the Christian faith is known as Apologetics, the field of Christian study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. Someone who engages in apologetics is called an apologist or an "apologete". According to the seminal Oxford English Dictionary, "The term comes from the Greek word apologia, meaning defense of a position against an attack."

The Apostle Peter summed up our mandate to defend the Christian faith in secular society when he wrote,

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense for the hope that lies within you, yet with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15).

The Apostle Jude also exhorted us to engage in the practice of defending the Christian faith when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

Repeatedly throughout the ministry of the Apostle Paul he had to engage in the task of defending the legitimacy of his ministry and the veracity of the Christian faith as the following verses clearly illustrate,

"Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now" (Acts 22:2).

"Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself" (Acts 24:10).

"Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!(Acts 26:24).

"My defense to those who examine me is this" (1 Corinthians 9:3).

"Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace" (Philippians 1:7).

"But the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel" (Philippians 1:17).

"At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them" (2 Timothy 4:16).

Thus, we find in the infallible Scriptures, a Biblical mandate given by God to defend the Christian faith against the false charges and false doctrines of non-Christians and to present a positive case for the truthfulness of the Christian faith in order that the lost might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Hence, Christian Apologetics, like Missions, is ultimately an extension of the Great Commission the Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave to all Christians to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:44-47, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8).

The Apostle Paul also stressed the importance of Evangelism when he wrote,

"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:9-15).

" For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).

"But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5).

This mandate to reach the world with God's self-revelation of Himself and His saving message is not limited only to the pages of the New Testament Canon of Scripture, but we see God's passion for the glory and fame of His great name replete throughout the Old Testament record as well, as the following Scriptures clearly indicate,

"that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other" (1 Kings 8:60).

"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, The LORD reigns" (1 Chronicles 16:31).

"Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You" (Psalm 51: 12-13).

"The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah 60:3).


Thus, we see in Scripture that Apologetics, the task of defending the Christian faith is directly related to the Biblical mandate of global evangelization. Apologetics is seen in Scripture in direct correlation with evangelism and world missions. The ultimate goal in defending the Christian faith is to testify to the veracity of Christianity in order that all the peoples of the earth might repent of their sins and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Thus, just as "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:20), any attempt to engage in defending and upholding the truthfulness of Christianity that is detached and unrelated to spreading the fame of God's great name here and abroad, is utterly deficient and meaningless. The Christian task of apologetics is not an esoteric activity meant only for "Christian intellectuals", but defending the faith is meant for all Christians, irrespective of their sociological framework, for the explicit purpose of reaching this lost world with the saving message of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again from the dead in order to give eternal life to all those who sincerely repent of their sins and believe in His great name.

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31).

Throughout the annals of Christian history, the Lord has raised up godly Apologists, to defend and proclaim the truthfulness of Biblical Christianity as evidenced by the defense of the faith given by Christ's Apostles and early disciples in the first century, New Testament period, the Ante and Post Nicean Patristic Church Fathers such as Tertullian

However, throughout the annals of Church history some Christians have unfortunately utilized

When Almighty God spoke His divine Word from heaven, it was complete and lacking nothing. The Bible, God's exclusively authoritative, inspired, infallible and inerrant Word, is entirely self-sufficient and self- authenticating in every respect and needs no external and autonomous man-made verification. The veracity of the Christian faith and the methodology of demonstrating Christianity's inherent truthfulness is self-contained within the Scriptures themselves and God's inspired Word absolutely needs no historical, archealogical, scientific attestation and confirmation by mere mortal, blinded and fallen men. The Word of God is absolutely perfect and entirely truthful in every respect and will efficaciously peform without exception or fail, percisely the intended means by which God sovereignly ordained it. As the Scriptures majestically declare,

"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).

Evangelicals need not employ natural theology in their defense of Christianity, since the Bible is self-sufficent and needs no rational defense. The Bible is true because God has spoken from heaven and revealed the knowledge of Himself through the wonder of creation and human conscience.

In a Postmodern and Anti-Christian World, Evangelical Christians Need to Reject Using Naturalistic Arguments in Defending the Faith Against Oppostion and Employ the Biblically Based Apologetics Approach Known as Presuppostionalism to Refute the Errors of the Wicked and Uphold the Truth Revealed in the Word of God. It is inherently more Biblical than the Thomistic and Natural Theology Apologetical approach postulated by JP Moreland, William Lane Craig, that is essentially a Evangelical spin on the thought of the Greek Philosopher Aristotle that came into the Evangelical Church through the backdoor via the mass embracing of the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. Natural Theology proponents within American Evangelicalism such as Frank Beckwith, Moreland, William Lane Craig and Norman Geisler, have in adopting a Thomistic view of epistemology have subsequently appropriated a Thomistic and Roman Catholic view of the Noetic effects of sin on the fallen will of humanity which is utterly incongruent with the Protestant Reformation's view of the "Bondage of the Will" Thomistic Apologetics often leads to an adoption of Roman Catholic views of the Fall, Orginal Sin, Human Depravity, the Grace of God and Justification.

If the will is not utterly fallen via the Fall and mankind has not been plunged into absolute epistemological and volitional darkness as Calvin and Luther postulated, then the Catholic position known as "Synergism" naturally (no pun intended) follows. Many Evangelical and Calvinistic Protestants throughout America were not a bit suprised that one from the Thomistic Club of Natural Law and Molinist Natural Theology proponents whould go over to Rome, since they have essentially been espousing Roman Catholic views of theology for a long time now anyways. The worst thing about Frank Beckwith's so called "conversion" to Roman Catholicism (he was already there in his theological and philosophical system) is the timing. One would expect that Beckwith would have more integrity than renounce his Evangelicalism mid-way through his tenure of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Throughout many leading Evangelical Churches, Bible colleges, Universities and Seminaries this very unbiblical naturalistic approach to sharing the Gospel and defending the faith is being used as the normative standard of Christian Evangelism and Apologetical methodology and it is very, very sad indeed to see so many Evangelical abandoning the historic Evangelical and Reformed Faith and adopting a pagan system based more in Aristotle than in the Christ of Biblical Christianity.

We must revolt against this nonsense and unscriptural subjegation of the Evangelical Christian faith and return to the Bible alone as our only authority under the reign of the One Sovereign King, our Lord Jesus Christ who was sent by God the Father to die on the cross and rise again from the dead to offer eternal life to all those who will sincerely repent and believe in the Good News!

Have you repented of your sins and placed your faith in Jesus Christ?

Are you a Christian who has been using unbiblical methods in your evangelism and apologetics? The time is now to return to Jesus Christ and the Bible alone to preach the Gospel and defend the faith once and for all given to the Saints (Jude 3).

Why We Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ

"But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8).