In the February 2001 issue of the popular local glossy magazine ‘Ulster Tatler’ an article on page 94 headed ‘Pause For Thought’ told the story of Jim Donnan and part of the heading to the article stated

‘Jim is the full time General Director of Scripture Union in the Republic of Ireland and chairman of the Evangelical Catholic Initiative. He has been involved in leading Alpha Bible study courses in his local Catholic parish’.

This article turned out to be an edited version of Jim Donnan’s ‘testimony’ that featured in the book ‘Adventures in Reconciliation – 29 Catholic Testimonies’. This book, funded in part by the European Fund for Peace and Reconciliation’ was edited by Paddy Monaghan and Eugene Boyle who are also heavily involved in the Evangelical Catholic Initiative. An appraisal of this book was included in my booklet ‘The Myth of Evangelicals and Catholics Together in Ireland’.

Jim Donnan’s ‘testimony’ is a confusing mixture that will only serve to undermine the work of true, biblical evangelism. He speaks of having ‘a complete assurance that my sins were forgiven’ [p94] – the problem is this - does he mean this in the EVANGELICAL understanding of ‘complete and permanent justification at conversion’ [this evangelical belief is denied by Roman Catholicism and is classified as the ‘mortal’ sin of presumption] or does he mean it in the ROMAN CATHOLIC understanding of ‘a state of grace until the next major sin comes along’.

If Jim Donnan is being consistent and honest we can only conclude that he understands it in ROMAN CATHOLIC terms for 2 reasons. Firstly in his ‘testimony’ he went on to write

‘While most of my friends started attending various fellowships and subsequently left the Catholic Church, I sensed a strong call to remain. I started attending a charismatic prayer meeting in the Quaker Meeting House in Eustace Street. It was a very exciting time to be a young Christian as, week after week the building was packed with over 700 people of all denominations, including Spirit-filled priests and nuns…Along the way I developed a friendship with a man called Paddy Monaghan which eventually led to the establishment of the Evangelical Catholic Initiative (ECI)…More recently our focus has centred on running Alpha Courses in the local [RC] parish…It is an amazing tool for evangelisation and has been warmly commended by leaders in the Catholic Church’ [p94&96]

Then secondly, in the June 1992 leaflet published by the Evangelical Catholic Initiative and called ‘What Is An Evangelical Catholic’? Jim Donnan is listed [along with amongst others 13 Roman Catholic priests] as one of the ‘publishers’. Part of the leaflet stated as follows

‘Evangelical Catholics are committed to 'A respect for and obedience to the teaching authority of the Pope and Bishops of the Catholic Church unless that obedience goes against one’s conscience as enlightened by Scripture and Church teaching.'

The first point to make is that this statement is totally meaningless because it does NOT allow for EVANGELICAL private interpretation of the Scriptures but still keeps Evangelical Catholic consciences subject to the supreme ROMAN CATHOLIC authority, which is ‘Church teaching’ as formulated by the Magisterium of the ‘Pope and Bishops of the Catholic Church’.

That being the case Evangelical Catholics are still subject to the official ROMAN CATHOLIC ‘FAITH’ as set out for example in the 1994 ‘Catechism of the Catholic Church’.

In the ‘Foreword’ written by Pope John Paul 2^nd, under the heading

‘The Doctrinal Value of the Text’

the Pope wrote

‘The Catechism of the Catholic Church which I approved 25 June last…is a statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium.

I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith’

Let me reiterate again, a Roman Catholic cannot be a ‘conscientious objector’ where ’faith and …catholic doctrine’ are concerned. To do so would lead to the following action as outlined by

The Council of Trent [4^th Session], which dealt with The Canonical Scriptures

‘no one relying on his own judgment shall, in matters of faith and morals…presume to interpret them contrary to that sense which holy mother Church, to whom it belongs to judge of their true sense and interpretation, has held and folds…Those who act contrary to this shall be made known by the ordinaries

and punished in accordance with the penalties prescribed by the law’.

Pope Paul V1 in an Apostolic Letter in 1971 wrote

‘Even though [scriptural] scholars must pursue their studies in accordance with recent scientific method, they know nevertheless that God has entrusted the Scriptures not to the private judgment of learned people but to his church. The Scriptures, therefore, must always necessarily be interpreted according to the norms of Christian tradition and hermeneutics, under the guardianship and protection of the church’s magisterium’.

The notion of a ‘free-thinking’, scripture-interpreting Evangelical Catholic is a total non-starter where the Roman Catholic Church is concerned and those floating such an idea are in the words of

2 Timothy 3:13 "deceiving and being deceived".

In the light of the above, Jim Donnan, by his continued involvement with the Roman Catholic Church, is it would appear to any right thinking person committed to their false ‘sacramental/Judaising gospel’ where for instance the

I finish by asking 2 questions.

E-MAIL SENT TO SCRIPTURE UNION ON 8 AUGUST 2001

Dear Scripture Union,

In your stated AIMS you affirm your desire to 'make God's GOOD NEWS known to children, young people and families'.

In your STATEMENT OF BELIEF you add detail to this GOOD NEWS by stating that you 'confess Jesus Christ...as only Mediator and Saviour, dying on the cross in our place, representing us to God, redeeming us from the grip, guilt and punishment of sin'

In your WORKING PRINCIPLES you state 'We agree that while we are involved in Scripture Union activities we will handle controversial issues such as baptism, spiritual gifts and church order in ways that promote harmony'.

Our own ministry would adopt such a 'WORKING PRINCIPLE' approach provided that the promotion of 'HARMONY' is not at the expense of the truth of the gospel - the GOOD NEWS.

It is with great alarm therefore that I have learned that the Director of Scripture Union in the Republic of Ireland, Jim Donnan, is a Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism denies the biblical truth stated in the section I quoted from your STATEMENT OF BELIEF namely that our Lord Jesus has redeemed us from the punishment of sin. Paragraph 1473 of the 1994 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' states - 'The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains'.

'Temporal punishment' is defined in the 'Pocket Catholic Dictionary' by Jesuit John A Hardon [it carries full Roman Catholic doctrinal approval] as 'The penalty that God in his justice inflicts either on earth or in Purgatory for sins, even though already forgiven as to guilt'. This is not the GOOD NEWS of the true biblical gospel, which assures forgiven believers that "there is therefore now no condemnation" [Romans 8:1. See also John 5:24 & Psalm 103:12].

As I said earlier our ministry co-operates with those who hold differing views on 'baptism' [eg Baptists and Presbyterians] provided that their beliefs on the subject do not constitute a false gospel. The Roman Catholic teaching on 'baptism' does constitute a 'false - Judaising gospel' as it makes 'baptism' essential to salvation [1994 Catholic Catechism - paragraph 1129 states 'The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation' & Paragraph 1992 states 'Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy'. This is a denial of the 'imputed' righteousness of Christ to every believer - see Romans 3:22 & Romans 4:5] and such false teaching is anathematised by God in His Word in Galatians 1:6-9.

Any professing Roman Catholic who does not accept Rome's teaching on 'baptism' is anathematised by the Roman Catholic Church and in reality is not a Roman Catholic and should neither style themselves as one [evangelical or otherwise] nor worship and fellowship in a church that preaches such a false gospel. Just one 'anathema' example will suffice - Council of Trent, Session 7, Canon 5 'If anyone [eg Scripture Union] says that baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation, let him be anathema'.

If Scripture Union is to remain faithful to its AIMS, STATEMENT OF BELIEF and WORKING PRINCIPLES then either Jim Donnan must publicly acknowledge that the Roman Catholic church does not faithfully proclaim the GOOD NEWS and he must formally leave it and join himself to a church that is faithful to the message of the GOOD NEWS or if not then Scripture Union must terminate Mr Donnan's employment with them. To continue the present arrangement is to disobey the clear teaching of the Word of God as found in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 & Ephesians 5:11.

I await your reply.

Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews
"Take Heed" Ministries
www.takeheed.co.uk

Dear Mr Andrews,

Thank you for your letter, forwarded to me by David Bruce on behalf of the Britain and Ireland Region of Scripture Union.

In appointing a General Director in the Republic, the Council sought a candidate who would be in full personal agreemenmt with the published"Aims, Belief and Working Principles" of the worldwide movement. In Jim Donnan, the Council is entirely satisfied that such a candidate was appointed.

Yours sincerely,

Basil Good

Chairman,

SU Ireland Council.

Dear Mr Good,

Thank you for your email response to my inquiry sent to Scripture Union on 8 August.

However I would ask for clarification on firstly the point of 'forgiveness' that was raised in my original inquiry. Does Mr Donnan hold to the 'Evangelical' [Biblical] understanding of forgiveness, which I assume is the Scripture Union 'belief' on the subject, that the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed his people from the punishment [ALL] of sin and that Mr Donnan does not hold to the erroneous Roman Catholic teaching that even though forgiven, a person is still subject to 'temporal punishment' for that 'forgiven' sin and that they themselves must discharge that punishment either here on earth or in purgatory before they can qualify for heaven.

Then secondly can you confirm that Scripture Union does not believe that the observance of 'sacraments' is necessary for a person to be saved and can you confirm that Mr Donnan holds to this view and does not hold to the Roman Catholic teaching of paragraph 1129 of the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church ['The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation'] - a teaching that brings the Roman Catholic 'gospel' under God's anathema as outlined in Galatians 1:6-9.

And finally can you confirm that Scripture Union believes that when a person is 'justified' it is a perfect, unalterable 'justification' based solely on the perfection of Christ and His redeeming work and it is not 'preserved or increased' by an individual's own 'good works' as is falsely taught by the Council of Trent [Session 6: Canon 24]. Can you confirm that Mr Donnan rejects this teaching by Trent?

I look forward to your detailed response.

Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews
"Take Heed" Ministries

Dear Mr Andrews,

Thank you for your e mail of 26th September.

I understand from your previous correspondence that you have seen and read a copy of Scripture Unions 'Aims, Belief and Working Principles’.  These are the internationally accepted working principles for Scripture Union worldwide.

Once again I would like to point out that the Council of Scripture Union in the Republic of Ireland sought a candidate who would be in full personal agreement with these principles and in Jim Donnan the Council is entirely satisfied that such a candidate was appointed.

Since Mr Donnans appointment as General Director we have been encouraged to see a growing number of young people brought to a personal faith in Jesus Christ and we praise God for how He is continuing to bless the work of Scripture Union under Mr Donnans directorship.

Yours sincerely,

Basil Good

Dear Mr Good,

I thank you for your e-mail of 30 September.

Your failure and perhaps unwillingness to address the doctrinal matters on which I sought clarification is to say the least disappointing.

It is very worrying that an organisation, claiming to be scripturally faithful, is prepared to employ someone who by their own self-styled description of 'Evangelical Catholic' is actually claiming to believe two opposing doctrinal positions at the same time.

Scripture has someting to say on this issue - "A double-minded [two-faced] man is unstable in all his ways" [James 1:8]. Lest you think I am being harsh I am attaching herewith a document called 'Oxymoron' - a study of the term 'Roman Catholic Christian'. It was written earlier this year by my brother in Christ, Mike Gendron who stayed with us in March. Mike was for 37 years a devout Roman Catholic until the Lord truly saved him. I invite you to consider it carefully and prayerfully.

Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews
"Take Heed" Ministries

Is a Roman Catholic truly a Christian or should the combination of the words “Roman Catholic Christian” be considered an oxymoron? Webster defines an oxymoron as “a combination of contradictory words.” So if we define a “Christian” as one who believes the Gospel and a “Roman Catholic” as one who believes the official teachings and traditions of Roman Catholicism, we must conclude a “Roman Catholic Christian” is indeed an oxymoron.

It is utterly impossible to believe two opposing views simultaneously. Biblical Christianity and Roman Catholicism stand in opposition to one another as seen by the following contrasts. (Paragraph numbers, in parenthesis, are from the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, San Francisco, Ca: Ignatius Press, 1994).

A Christian believes Scripture has authority over the church. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

A Roman Catholic is taught its church has authority over Scripture. The manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God (119).

A Christian is born again by the Word of God and the Spirit of God For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God…so is everyone who is born of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:23; 3:8).

A Roman Catholic is born again by water. The water of baptism truly signifies our birth into the divine life (694).

A Christian is eternally justified once through faith in Jesus Christ. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness (Rom. 4:5).

A Roman Catholic must be justified repeatedly by works and sacraments because “mortal” sins bring condemnation. Those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell (1035). The sacrament of penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification (1446).

A Christian is saved by God’s unmerited grace. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Eph. 2:8-9).

A Roman Catholic is saved by meriting the graces needed for salvation. We can merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for the attainment of eternal life (2010).

A Christian is saved for good works. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10).

A Roman Catholic is saved by good works. A treasury of prayers and good works makes it possible for Catholics to attain their own salvation and at the same time cooperate in saving their brothers (1477).

A Christian believes salvation is in Jesus Christ. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7).

A Roman Catholic believes salvation is in the Roman Catholic Church. The Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation. Anyone refusing to enter it or remain in it cannot be saved (846).

A Christian is purified only by the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus… purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

A Roman Catholic is purified by the fires of Purgatory. They undergo purification in Purgatory, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven (1030-31).

A Christian believes the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ’s finished work. Do this in remembrance of Me (1 Cor. 11:24-25).

A Roman Catholic believes the Lord’s Supper is a sacrifice of Christ that continues the work of redemption. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice…the same Christ who offered Himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner…for the sins of the living and the dead (1367, 1414).

A Christian receives Jesus permanently, spiritually in the heart. God…put His spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22).

A Roman Catholic receives Jesus frequently, physically in the stomach. The body and blood...soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ…is truly, really and substantially contained in the Eucharist (!374-78).

A Christian is a priest and a saint. (You are…a royal priesthood…a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him that called you out of darkness in to His marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9; Eph. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1)

A Roman Catholic needs a priest and is not a saint unless canonized by the pope. In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ…wills to use…to efface our sins and give us the grace of justification (987).

A Christian is condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. The Councils of Trent and Vatican II pronounced over 100 anathemas that are still in effect today.

A Roman Catholic is condemned by God’s word. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings, has One who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him on the last day (John 12:48). If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9).

In conclusion, it is clear that a Christian, who has believed God’s word, has the assurance of eternal life. A Roman Catholic, who has rejected God’s word in favor of the teachings of men, has only a false hope of being saved from God’s wrath.

While there may be born-again Christians who worship in the Roman Catholic Church - by definition, they are no longer Roman Catholics.

Eventually the Spirit of Truth will lead them out when they begin discerning truth from error and worship from idolatry. It is our prayer that God may grant Roman Catholics repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth, that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

Mike Gendron – Director ‘Proclaiming The Gospel’ – March 2001

[For 37 years Mike was a devout Roman Catholic until truly ‘born again’]