Exposure of Anglicanism and "Eternal Evangelism"

I knew something was up with Anglicanism, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  So, I looked up reasons why Anglicanism is not Christian.  I came across a website called Eternal Evangelism which detailed why Anglicanism is false and leads to Hell.  Essentially, it's close to Catholicism in that it baptizes babies (who are not known to willingly believe, you must believe in Christ before you get baptised, suggests Acts 8:36), and they follow many traditions of men as religious doctrine (see Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7 etc.).  What's distinct about Anglicanism is, like the ABC-USA, they have women preachers, a violation or I Timothy 2:12.

OK, now, what about Eternal Evangelism itself?  They seem like they're in the Truth, given their emphasis on obedience to Christ (I John 5:3) and especially to helping the poor (Galatians 2:10 makes helping the poor a no-brainer).  Both these are in line with the Truth.

Yet, they also emphasize other things, saying that gambling is a sin (I don't recommend it, but Scripture never calls gambling itself a sin), watching college/pro sports is a sin, telling parents that if you send your kids to public schools, you're going to Hell, etc.  Now, I agree that all these things that they demonize are worthy of discouragement (You know I'm being earnest when I say that I, as a public school employee, don't recommend sending kids to public schools).  

I. But in many of these cases, as a first point of heresy, they are listing the things themselves as sins, which simply goes too far, according to Proverbs 30:6:

Pro 30:6  Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. 

"words" being God's words (v. 5).

II. A second point of heresy:  They affirm free will:

The truth is simple; REPENT and FORSAKE ALL YOUR SINS. And then get baptized. Through your free will and ability God has given to you, in repentance you die (to sin) with Christ and thus crucify “your” flesh;

and again here:

We believe that true Christians have the ability to backslide, depart from the faith, be cut off and/or fall away (this is commonly called “losing your salvation”) because they still have “free will” given to them by God.

Again, repentance is truth (Acts 17:30).  Forsaking sin is truth (Isaiah 55:7).  Baptism is truth (Acts 2:38).  Death to sin and crucifying your flesh is truth (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5, etc).  Backsliding is possible (just look at some of the churches in Revelation), departing from the faith is possible (Luke 8:4-15, 2 Timothy 4:10), and being cut off/falling away is possible (Romans 11:22, Hebrews 6:4-6).

Free will is not truth.  Do you suppose that Pharaoh had free will?  I think not:

Rom 9:14-18  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.  (15)  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  (16)  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.  (17)  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.  (18)  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

In fact, Paul continues this teaching on anti-free will:

Rom 9:19-23  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?  (20)  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?  (21)  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?  (22)  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:  (23)  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

As for believers backsliding or falling away, even that is outside a believer's control.  What about Peter?

Jesus declares in Matthew 26:34, Mark 14:30, Luke 22:32 ("when thou are converted"), and Luke 22:34 that Peter would deny Him three times; it was destined to happen.

Also, what about Judas?  Acts 1:16 declares that the fall of Judas was destined.  

III. A third point of heresy.  It's this common lie that there are "essentials" to the faith.  In EE's page "Our Beliefs", under the heading "Salvation", we get this subheading:

The Essentials that are without Compromise:

and then, a subheading under that:

Teachings Fundamental to Redemption:

Jesus reminded Satan of the following truth:

Luk 4:4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 

Which is from Deuteronomy 8:3:

Deu 8:3  And 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. 

EE, like many other "essentials" teachers, are suggesting that there are non-essential teachings in Scripture.  Now, it is true that there is such a thing as "disputable matters" that God doesn't teach or no longer requires of us under Grace (see Romans 14).  An example of a disputable matter is eating bacon.  Under the old covenant, eating bacon was forbidden, for it came from an animal that, albeit had split hooves, did not chew the cud, thus, it was unclean (Leviticus 11:7 is the literal example).  Under Grace:

"all things indeed are pure" --from Romans 14:20

However, to say that anything, say, from the Sermon on the Mount, is non-essential to believe to be saved, is downright heresy, and this is what EE is suggesting when they claim some doctrine as "essential".

Mark my words, EVERYTHING that the Bible teaches is essential to salvation.  I'm not saying you must know it all right away (I Corinthians 13:9), but what you do know is in the Bible, you must believe ALL OF IT.  If you don't, you don't believe in the Bible at all, you don't believe in Jesus (John 1:1, John 1:14, I John 1:1, I John 5:7, Revelation 19:13), and you're headed to Hell.

 

Now, are there other points of heresy in Eternal Evangelism?  It is likely.  However, these three points are given to the public (Ephesians 5:11) to warn them not to follow their ministry nor to contribute to their charity.  There is a multitude of other people among the "least of these" (Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 12:8).

A Rant About Game Shows

 Before I begin, I would like to share with you a poem, which is actually a parody of the 23rd Psalm.  There are a few variations, but nearly all of them are called "The 23rd Channel".  Here's one variation whose author is unknown posted on the Berean Bible Society:

The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want for entertainment.
It maketh me to lie down on the sofa.
It leadeth me away from the Scriptures.
It destroyeth my soul.
It leadeth me in the path of sex and violence for the sponsor’s sake.
Yea, though I walk in the shadow of my Christian responsibilities,
There will be no interruption,
For the TV is with me, its cable and remote, they control me.
It prepareth a commercial before me in the presence of worldliness;
It anointeth my head with humanism,
My coveting runneth over.
Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.

So my rant is about a recent TV watching experience that crosses international borders.  Every weeknight for a while, I have been watching Jeopardy after work.  Mom tapes it for me, and I watch; it's a nice 30-minute break until I start afternoon chores.  I don't fawn for the program, it's just there, and I wouldn't miss it if it suddenly got cancelled.  Anyway, one of the "answers" was about the title of an Australian guy named Sir Isaac Isaacs that starts with a "G". 

Hmm...I've seen this before.

Years ago, I came across a YouTube clip of the Australian version of Jeopardy in 1993.  In their final episode of that version of the program hosted by Tony Barber, the Final Jeopardy answer asked about the first Australian-born governor-general.  Anyway, watching today's Jeopardy USA episode, I responded with gleeful smile "Who is governor-general?", then explained to Mom the reason for the glee.  I admit that I've gotten really good at references and connections, probably too well.

As I'm writing this, I also remember the time a Jeopardy answer came up, asking about a king of Iraq.  My first thought was "Feisel!" (It was actually spelled 'Faisal', and I was actually wrong).  I remember the name of an Iraqi king (now, that's KING, not PRESIDENT) when in the 1994 movie Quiz Show, the character Charles Van Doren played by Ralph Fiennes was asked to name the kings of a list of countries.  One of them was Iraq, and Van Doren responded with Faisal.  A commenter of a Jeopardy message board praised my recall.

My recall of Governor-General Isaacs and Iraqi King Faisal bothers me, because it is rooted in a childhood love of game shows, and I admit that!  But as the Scripture saith:

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

Any love of the world leads to Hell.  Before coming across the Truth, I loved the world in many forms, game shows especially.  (Yes, there was a time when I was too scared to watch Jeopardy, but that was an isolated example; I later grew to love the show).

For the past few years, in the name of repentance, I have been trying to lose my excitement and love towards watching game shows, or any sort of fandom I used to claim, such as Star Trek (their newer shows, and some of their performers, have gotten more visually pleasing, so I must especially be careful)

Even when actively trying not to love the world, I still have an encyclopedic knowledge of game shows, and can likely tell you the names of at least fifty, that's FIVE-O "pricing games" of The Price Is Right, how to play them, what kinds of prizes can be won for each game, and winning strategies.  

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 

Now, I am not saying that it's a sin to watch game shows, or even television for that matter.  However, heed the following:

1Co 7:31  And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. 

This spirit I am, with God's help, trying to espouse.