EDITORIAL — Denominationalism Additional Compromises

By Cecil Willis

Like our digressive brethren, denominationalism continually moves further and further away from the truth as it is in Christ. In recent weeks, the Quadrennial United Methodist General Conference was held in Atlanta. The purpose was to rewrite their creed, which is ordinarily done every four years. But at this Conference, drastic changes were being made. One writer described the final form of the creed as “the first major overhaul of the denominations theological guidelines in 150 years.

For some time before the Conference, it was known that drastic changes were going to be made in the formulation of Methodisms doctrinal stance. Time magazine (May 8, 1972) stated: “Methodism) once a movement that leaped like a brush fire along the nineteenth- century frontier, has suffered a net loss of 518,000 members in the past four years-the 6; biggest of any church in U.S. history.” James DeForest Murch stated: “Methodist Sunday school attendance has slipped by one fourth, missionary forces by one-fifth, and church attendance by still larger percentages” (Christian Standard, June 25, 1972).

One of- the most important reports considered by the Conference was the “Report of the Theological Study Commission on Doctrine and Doctrinal Standards.” Modernism has eaten ever deeper into the clergy ranks of the Methodist Church. Ohio Bishop F. Gerald Ensley who delivered the major address at Atlanta, admitted that the denomination contained many “wistful skeptics,” including some among its clergy. Murch stated, “A recent poll confirming the bishops view shows that only 49 percent of the Methodist clergy believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.”

The committee that worked on the “Report of the Theological Study Commission on Doctrine and Doctrinal Standards” admitted that it faced “a bewildering spectrum of doctrinal diversity.” Modernism, in nearly every possible form, had appeared in official literature, various public pronouncements, and in the seminaries and pulpits. The Committee had to reckon with “black theologies,” “womens liberation theology,” “third world theology … process theology,” “development theology,” “linguistic analysis,” “existentialism,” “special-interest theologies in current fashion such as the theologies of hope, ecology, and the Jesus movement.”

What could the Commission do when faced with such a wide diversity of theological perspectives? It condemned nothing at all as heresies, but simply rejoiced in the “doctrinal pluralism” and “doctrinal diversity-in-Christological-unity” which are tolerated in Methodism. They were proud of the fact that Methodism lets men think for themselves and as they please. The Commissions report sounds as though our Brother Carl Ketcherside may have been a prominent member of the Committee. He also could rejoice in “doctrinal pluralism” and be satisfied with “doctrinal diversity-in-Christological-unity.”

The Committees report was accepted by a vote of 925-17! Some of the dissidents felt that “the new Statement has pulled the teeth out of the doctrine of the church and allows Methodists to believe, practice, and preach anything they like from atheism to ultra-fundamentalism without risking a violation of Methodist standards.”

Another important report was that of the “Report of Christian Social Concerns.” With so little emphasis upon doctrine, it is obvious that this typical modernistic denomination was mainly interested in social concerns. With their social gospel impetus, they created a whole new “Social Creed,” dealing with ecology, the right of private property which they declared to be “A trusteeship under God and is limited by the overriding needs of society,” drug misuse, war, etc.

Ethical Relativism

With-so much theological latitude granted, one should not be surprised to learn that the Methodists also conceded comparable latitude on moral or ethical issues. Murch, armed with what he called “a complete file of the Daily Christian Advocate published by the Atlanta General Conference,” reported “The marriage institution was lauded but different standards for men and women were condemned. Broad permissive divorce was endorsed with the right of all divorced persons to remarry. Homosexuals were welcomed to the church as persons of sacred worth.” Yet the apostle Paid said “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (I Co. 6:9, 10, New American Standard Version)

Having compromised the truth of God, denominationalism has no grounds upon which to make absolute ethical judgments. Hence, some denominationalists are willing to compromise on nearly any ethical point. A report prepared for an Episcopal Convention stated: “There is no scriptural command requiring total abstinence for the God-fearing man . . . a Christian who drinks moderately with due respect for the feelings and needs of his brothers and with a conscientious care for the claims of God can drink with thanksgiving to Him for these blessings.” Yet Solomon declared: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler: And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise” (Prov. 20:1).

On nearly every moral issue, there are among the denominationalists the ethical relativists. Time magazine defined situation ethics, which many call the “emerging contemporary Christian Conscience,” like this: “As to sexual morality, the traditional rules are giving way to situation ethics — meaning that nothing is inherently right or wrong, but must be judged in context on the spur of the moment” (April 22, 1966, p. 42).

Joseph Fletchers book Situation Ethics could be called the Bible of the situationist. Fletcher is now Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Virginia Medical School, and was formerly Professor of Christian Social Ethics at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge Massachusetts. On the subject of abortion, Fletcher says, “Situationists would favor abortion for the sake of the victims self respect or happiness or simply on the ground that no unwanted or unintended baby should ever be born.” (p. 39) His rationalistic justification for this position is that the embryo is an “aggressor” or an “unwelcome invader,” and therefore may be forcibly expelled in self defense!

Fletcher also would, under some circumstances, justify premarital sex. He asks, “Does any girl who has relations . . . outside of marriage automatically become a prostitute? Is it always, regardless of what she accomplishes for herself and others — is she always wrong? Is extra-marital sex inherently evil, or can it be a good thing in some situations?” (pp. 17, 18)

Pageant magazine a few years ago quoted the Chaplain of a famous all-girls college as giving the following advice to the girls there: “Sex is fun … there are no laws attached to sex. I repeat absolutely no laws. There is nothing which you ought to do or ought not to doThere are no rules of the game … we all ought to relax and stop feeling guilty about our sexual activities, thoughts, and desires… The good news of the gospel which has been delivered me is that we have been freed from such laws as evaluative codes of behavior.” (Oct. 1965, p. 47) Fletcher even goes so far as to make the following statement: “. . . any act — even lying, premarital sex, abortion, adultery, and murder — could be right, depending on the circumstances.” (Quoted from the back cover of Situation Ethics)

Once a man cuts himself loose from the Law of God as a basis for moral conduct, he is at sea without chart or compass. When one becomes a doctrinal relativist, he is well on his way to ethical relativism as well. If some of our brethren are ready to accept “doctrinal pluralism, or “doctrinal diversity-in-Christological-unity,” they are logically committed to a defense of ethical relativism. And I might add, one brother among us (Leroy Garrett) already has written a lengthy treatise in defense of situation ethics. And there is not a “unity-in-diversity” brother who can answer him. Either Gods Word is the basis for both doctrine and practice, or there is no absolute basis at all, and one must retreat into doctrinal and ethical relativism.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 38, pp. 3-5
August 3, 1972

Set for the Defense — Jerusalem A Sponsoring Church?

By Larry Hafley

Various men “at sundry times and divers manners” have attempted to establish authority for a “sponsoring church.” (One that oversees the funds and function of other churches in a work to which all have equal responsibility is designated a “sponsoring church.”) Not a few of these efforts have ranged from the preposterous to the ridiculous, from the inane to the absurd. All have been unsuccessful and unscriptural. The latest of these endeavors was made by Brother Gordon Brewer, preacher for the church in Streator, Illinois.

While taking advantage of the open pulpit of the Plano church on March 7, 1971, Brother Brewer set about to find scriptural authority for a diocesan eldership. He reasoned thusly:

(1) Antioch sent relief to the brethren in Judea (Acts 11: 21-36).

(2) Rom. 15:25-27. 31; 1 Co. 16:1-3; 2 Co. 8 & 9 show relief was sent to Jerusalem.

(3) CONCLUSION: The Jerusalem elders were the overseeing, sponsoring church for the aid sent to Judea.

His argument is based on the false assumption and assertion: that the incident in Acts 11: 27-30 is the same as the one in Rom. 15, 1 Co. 16, and 2 Co. 8 & 9. “They twain shall be one.” In this manner, the Jerusalem church would become the (“sponsoring”) elders referred to in Acts 11:30.

Not the Same

The occurrences are not one event they refer to two totally separate incidents.

I. Different Needy:

A. “Brethren . . . in Judaea” (Acts 11:29).

B. “Poor saints… at Jerusalem” (Rom. 15:25, 26).

CONCLUSION: Antioch sent to the Judean province, to the elders of the churches there, while the churches of Galatia, Macedonia, and Corinth sent relief “for Jerusalem” in particular, hence, two different circumstances.

II. Different Messengers:

A. “Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 11:30).

B. Paul, Titus and others (2 Co. 8:1623; 1 Co. 16:3).

NOTE, Paul and Barnabas were no longer working together as they were in Acts 11. A sharp contention separated them (Acts 15:36-40).

CONCLUSION: Different deliverers reveal two occasions (Cf. Acts 12:25).

III. Different Times:

A. Acts 11:27-30 (about 45 A.D.) (Acts 11:18, 26, 28)

B. Rom. 15, 1 Co. 16, and 2 Co. 8 & 9 (about 58 A.D.) (Acts 20:22, 23; 21:10-15)

CONCLUSION: A casual reading of the book of Acts reveals two separate events in time (Acts 12:25, 21:17).

IV. Different Senders:

A. Antioch sent relief (Acts 11:27-36).

B. Corinth sent relief with others (I Co. 16:3).

But: The Corinthian church did not exist when relief was sent by Antioch! Corinth could not have sent relief when Antioch did, for there was no church at that time!

CONCLUSION: Different sending churches equals separate events.

There is little excuse for shallow, superficial dealing with the Scriptures as engaged in by our friend and brother, Gordon Brewer. Beware lest misguided love and zeal provide nonexistent Scriptures for unscriptural schemes.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 38, p. 2
August 3, 1972

Set for the Defense — Baptists, Baptism, and the Bible

By Larry Hafley

The Baptist doctrine on baptism as expressed by Baptist preachers says, “Is baptism necessary for salvation? I dont beat about the bush about it at all. I come out with a plain, definite, NO! No, baptism doesnt save, doesnt help save, and Ill go even further to say that it doesnt have anything in this world to do with the saving of a soul!” (From “Good News,” Mar. 2, 1972)

Baptists say, Baptism Doth Also Not Save US.

The Bible says, “Baptism Doth Also Now Save Us” (I Pet. 3:21).

The difference between the word of God and the word of men is one letter. Merely change the “w” to a “t” and you have altered the meaning, but you cannot truly change the word of the Lord. Regardless of Baptist teaching which says, “Baptism doesnt save,” the Bible says, “baptism doth also now save us” (I Pet. 3:21).

If baptism “doesnt have anything in this world to do with the saving Of a soul, ” then being a Baptist does not have anything to do with the saving of a soul, for it takes baptism to make or constitute one a Baptist. So, being a Baptist does not help save, “and Ill go even further to say that it doesnt have anything in this world to do with the saving of a soul!” “I dont beat about the bush about it at all.”

Yes, Baptists are “plain” and “definite” when they say “baptism doesnt save.” But the word of God, a rather plain and definite book, says “baptism doth also now save us.” One is “commanded” to be baptized “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38), and yet we are told that it “doesnt help save.” Well, we are commanded to repent “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). I wonder if Baptists would say that repentance “doesnt help save?” Both baptism and repentance are commanded for the remission of sins. Would Baptists say that repentance “doesnt have anything in this world to do with the saving of a soul?” What is true of one is true of the other, and it is a poor rule that will not work both ways.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 37, p. 13
July 27, 1972

A Report on the Philippine Work (II)

By Dudley R. Spears

From all the information we were able to gather, the months of April and May are the best times of the year to go to the Philippines for a short tour of teaching and preaching. Therefore, we left Orlando airport on April 2 at 3:45 p.m. Living in the same metropolitan area has greatly helped brother Needham and me. We have been able to save much money and time communicating with each other and coordinating our trip plans. A large group of brethren from both the Palm Springs congregation where Needham preaches and the Par Ave. congregation where I preach were on hand to bid us “Bon Voyage.”

Our first stop was Dallas, Texas where we landed for only about 15 minutes and then flew to Los Angeles. We arrived there around 7:00 p.m. and by pre-arrangement met the elders of the Sepulveda church. Brother Jady Copeland was there also and we discussed the work they are supporting in Baguio City. Brother Copeland is one of those responsible for helping some of the Philippine preachers learn the truth on the institutional question. He and the other elders discussed with us the feasibility of the four of them going to the Islands to get a first hand look at the work they are supporting. It is possible that such a trip will be made in the future. Personally, I think it is a fine idea.

The flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu is a long one in flying time, though it is short on clock time, as one keeps setting the clock backwards. We arrived in Honolulu at near midnight and were met by brother Ronald Howes, local preacher for the Waipahu church. We met with the church there on Monday night and engaged in Bible study with them. We left Honolulu at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. The plane was scheduled to depart at 11: 55 p.m. Monday, but as we learned about the Filipino people, starting somewhere on time does not mean too much. We flew Philippine Air Lines to Manila on the longest air leg of our journey, taking 13 hours and 40 minutes of non-stop flight. It was about 7:00 a.m. when we taxied up the ramp to the burned out international air terminal in Manila. After clearing customs, we were met by a delegation of some thirty or forty Christians from the Manila area. What a welcome sight that “Welcome Needham and Spears” banner was!

We were taken to our hotel and after some refreshing we went to the meeting house of the Pasay congregation. Brother Victorio Tibayan is one of the preachers for this group. The first day was spent largely in orientation, getting acquainted with the brethren and trying to organize ourselves after a sleepless night. Brother Needham and I passed out information sheets for the purpose of getting better acquainted with the brethren there who are being supported by churches here. On these sheets we asked for certain matters of their family size, needs, etc. Also we asked them to supply us with a list of the books they now have and of those they think they might need in the future. This is the procedure we followed in the entire trip. We received over 130 information sheets on Filipino preachers that will enable us to help them more in the future.

Brother Needham delivered a series of lessons on the problems of preachers and their work of preaching. These were delivered everywhere we went. Following each class there was a question and answer session that often proved very lively. It is quite evident that the brethren who preach in the Philippines are well read for the most part and quite able. My part of the daily lessons dealt with denominational doctrines, such as Catholicism, Pentecostalism, Calvinism and specific matters pertaining to the Holy Spirit. The brethren in the Philippines have to deal with the issue of Manaloism. It is the doctrine that relegates Jesus to nothing more than a man. They take passages like I Tim. 2:5; “one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus . . .” and emphasize “the man” part of the verse. Like those who affirm that man is justified by “faith only,” they ignore all those verses which affirm the deity of Christ. I found myself the student in many instances while we studied this question for I had never heard of the doctrine before. However, most of the same arguments made by some of the Pentecostals here in this country are identical with the Manaloist view.

We preached each evening in the auditorium of the Philippine Christian College, a denominational school in Manila. As a result of the preaching there, and the work of several preachers, 7 souls were added to the Lord by baptism. It is a rather unique experience to baptize people in Manila. There is no heated baptistery available. We walked well over a mile from the meeting place to the Manila Bay. Out behind the very beautiful Cultural Center, we walked on a jetty about 100 yards long and from there waded out over 306 yards into the bay to find water deep enough to immerse in. The bay is filled with sediment, raw sewerage and oil spills. It was a thrill, however, to see people obey the Lord in baptism late at night, having gone through that much just to get to water. I thought of many who are unwilling to obey Christ when all they must do is take a few steps forward and then go down into a heated baptistery in clean water with clean clothing.

The first Sunday we spent in the Philippines saw brother Needham going to Angeles City while I went first to Pasay and then to a small village called Baliwag. Jim spent Saturday night with an American airman, Brother Granke, who is stationed at Clark Air Force Base. He has been a great help to the native congregation in Angeles City. Brother Castorio Gamit is one of the preachers in Angeles where Jim preached that Sunday. There were four baptized as a result of the work there. Incidentally, one of the interesting points about the baptisms there is that Jim baptized in the only baptistery we saw during our visit to the Philippines. A brother had constructed it in his back yard. A picture of it is found elsewhere in this article. The church in Angeles City has a good future. While they are only about 50 or 60 in number, they have an abundance of talent and a very fertile field in which to work. Any American servicemen who are about to be stationed at Clark AFB should contact either Brother Needham or me for the address of the ones to contact in order to worship and work with the conservative brethren there. If you know of Americans stationed there, we can put them in contact with someone who will direct them where to worship.

While Jim was preaching in Angeles City, I preached at Pasay in the morning and then rode a bus up to a place called Baliwag. We went to die city proper by bus and from there rode a “tricycle” to a farm house about 4 or 5 kilometers outside the main part of the town. I preached and brother Tibayan interpreted what I said because many of those in attendance did not understand English. There were seven baptized that afternoon in an irrigation ditch. After a long bus ride back to Manila, Jim and I were together again, having finished our work in Manila and the surrounding areas.

Our next series of lessons were delivered at Baguio City in northern Luzon. Baguio City is the summer capital of the Philippines. It is a resort city of around 90,000 people and beyond doubt, one of the most beautiful parts of the Philippines. The surrounding area is very mountainous and the mountains seem to be carpeted by the finest greenery. The trip is a rather long one over very crooked roads which, for the most part, are very bumpy. We took with us a group of brethren from Manila so that they could attend the lectures in Baguio City and keep us from getting lost.

On the way to Baguio City we stopped in a small place called Bagbag of the barrio Bauang. Here we both spoke in the back yard of the house of Brother Joseph Cruz. Brother Castorio Gamit also spoke, summarizing what we both had said and spoke in Tagalog, the native language for most on Luzon. We had to leave around 3:30 p.m. in order to get to Baguio before darkness came, but there were five baptized there in the South China Sea that afternoon. While we were there we learned that there are a few churches in the area of Bagbag that are not accessible by car, jeep or whatever.

Brother Cruz and another preacher both walked back across the hills for an hour and a half to get to a place they called Santa Monica. They do this each week and report that the church there is sound and that people are receptive to the word.

The trip to Baguio was a very difficult one. The bus was packed to the limit. The roads were extremely narrow, winding and rough. The bus driver drove as fast as he could get the antiquated machine to travel. I saw a breath taking scene behind us of the sun setting over the China Sea. As hard as I tried, I was not able to get a suitable picture of it with my camera because of the roughness of the road and the swiftness of our bus. We arrived in Baguio just after sunset and were greeted by several of the brethren. We went to our hotel for the night. Our series of lessons began the next morning in the rented basement of the meeting house owned by the United Church of Christ in the

Philippines. In the next installment I will report on the events that took place in Baguio City.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 37, pp. 8-10
July 27, 1972