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For the Love of God and Man
When Paul called the elders of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus for a final opportunity of fellowship and instruction, he warned them of serious problems that would emerge in the church. “I know,” he said, “that after my departure …Read More
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Intolerable Tolerance
One of my seminary professors had a true story that he would tell in order to illustrate the false humility of postmodern relativism. While he was a professor at a state university, he had a student who was an evangelical …Read More
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Cults ‘R’ Us
There are any number of ways that cultural confusion always walks down the aisle with relativism. Divorce, in this instance, isn’t an option. If, for instance, we all agree that there is no such thing as right and wrong …Read More
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Angels of Darkness
Christ warned His disciples, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 15–16a). Like every word uttered by the mouth of the …Read More
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Modern Cultic Tendencies
Since the nineteenth century, the U.S. has proven to have a cultural soil that is particularly well-suited to the growth and spread of diverse cultic movements. The nineteenth century alone witnessed the rise of numerous small cults as well …Read More
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The Cult of Personality
Religious liberty is one aspect of American life that almost every citizen of the United States cherishes. Common is the pastoral prayer in any Protestant congregation that includes gratitude for the liberties that Christians enjoy, which permits them to worship …Read More
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Sects of Seduction
From time to time I get a knock on the door from two exuberant representatives of one of the local cult chapters. Although such visits have become less frequent in recent years, it is generally my practice to step outside …Read More
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God’s Holy Love
The notion of retributive justice — which has been the hallmark of human law since premodern times — has been under assault for many years in Western cultures. Led by utilitarian philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, many modern …Read More
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Confusing Truth and Fiction
If you do much witnessing to people these days, you have probably run into this phenomenon: You tell them about Jesus, and they say something like, “Well, the church has twisted around what Jesus really said.” You press them on …Read More
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We Wrestle Not with Flesh and Blood
It was the coldest day of the winter as I trudged through the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the young man, nicely dressed, approach the young lady as she …Read More
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The Cults as Theological Judgment
Writing early in the last century, J. K. Van Baalen argued that “the cults are the unpaid bills of the church.” Van Baalen’s influential work, The Chaos of the Cults, represented one of the first comprehensive efforts to evaluate …Read More
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The National Denier: Fiction Stranger than the Truth!
It is strange, is it not, that perfectly rational, even brilliant people should believe the most untenable of fables but disbelieve the most believable of historical events? No, it is beyond strange: it is downright tragic, because to deny this …Read More
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None Dare Call It Heresy
Is the flamboyant faith healer Benny Hinn a heretic? He was so branded by Hank Hanegraaff, the “Bible Answer Man,” in his recent book Christianity in Crisis. Hanegraaff’s Charge resulted in a radical outburst of indignant cries directed not …Read More
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Heresy in the Early Church
“There is nothing new under the sun,” the Preacher wrote (Eccl. 1:9). According to Professor Klaus Haacker of Wuppertal, Germany, one of the primary sources of error in theology is the desire to say something new. As a teacher …Read More
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Heresy and Those Who Fought It
“To murder the soul is worse than murdering the body, so the teaching of heresy should be punishable by death.” I have never forgotten this statement made to me 40 years ago by a monk in the Trappist monastery of …Read More
