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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
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NEWS
FROM THE FRONT
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March 2007
"Be not afraid or dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but God's" (2nd Chronicles 20v15)
The quotation that I gave in our December newsletter from the article
at the front of our gift Study Bible provoked some very favourable feedback and
also stirred memories of some lines that tell of how God’s Word is like an
anvil that over the centuries has resisted the hammers of error. These lines,
written by someone unknown [but not to God] go as follows -
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door and
heard the anvil ring the vesper chime:
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor old hammers, worn with beating years of
time.
"How many anvils have you had," said I,
"to wear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eye, "the anvil
wears the hammers out,
you know."
And so, thought I, the anvil of God's word, for ages
sceptic blows have beat upon;
Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard, the anvil is unharmed . . .
the hammer's gone.
One friend also shared these lines from the front of her father’s Bible
–
Prove all things by the Word of God....all ministers, all
teaching, all preaching,
all opinions,
all practices -- prove all by the Word of God.
Measure all by the measure of the Bible. Test all in the crucible of the Bible.
That which can abide the fire of the Bible receive, hold, believe and obey.
That which
cannot abide the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse,
repudiate and cast away.
If professing
Christians were more knowledgeable of ‘the anvil’ and used it to “prove
all things” there would a lot less need for the cry of ‘Take Heed’ to
go up. But the need is still there and so we do value your love and support of
us.
Your servant for Christ
CECIL ANDREWS
Has Jonathan Edwards’ “dream” turned into a
“nightmare”?
In our
June 1993 NEWS FROM THE FRONT I wrote a short article entitled ‘Daydream
Believer’ telling how the British athlete and professing
Christian, Jonathan Edwards, had done a u-turn on not competing on Sundays. Up
until then, rather like Eric Liddell whose similar decision had featured in the
movie ‘Chariots of Fire’ Jonathan Edwards had shunned Sunday competition.
However through a dream that a ‘3rd party’ had had and which was
then interpreted by another ‘3rd party’ Jonathan was convinced that
God was now telling him to compete on Sundays. In his own words he was to take ‘a
leap of faith’ and to ‘serve God by competing on Sunday’.
Part of my assessment of this decision stated ‘I am concerned to see that he
has bowed to the authority and “interpretation” of a dream rather than
listening to…the Word of God...which according to the Psalmist is “a lamp unto
my feet and a light unto my path” [Psalm 119:105].
Jonathan
Edwards went on to win Olympic Gold medals and World Championship titles, many
of which took place on Sundays. After he retired, the BBC employed him in a
variety of roles, some sporting but also as a presenter of their Sunday ‘Songs
of Praise’ programme. An article in the Daily Mail of 3 February was headed ‘Edwards
jumps job after crisis of faith’ and stated ‘Olympic gold
medallist Jonathan Edwards, whose devout Christian beliefs prevented him
competing on Sundays early in his career has lost God in his life to the extent
that he is to stop presenting the BBC’s Songs of Praise…he told corporation
bosses that the loss of his previously super-strong Christian faith meant he no
longer felt comfortable fronting the show or any similar output…He once said
“My relationship with Jesus and God is fundamental to everything I do. I have
made a commitment and dedication in that relationship to serve God in every
area of my life”. But Edwards is understood to have re-evaluated his Christian
beliefs last summer. The family man used to tell friends he objected whenever
his work kept him away from his wife and two sons on Tyneside – but he now
spends a lot of time in London where he has a flat. His commitments in the
capital include being the athlete’s representative on the London [Olympic] 2012
organising committee and an adviser to sports communications company Vero’.
In the
wake of this article 2 scriptures came to mind – “Demas hath forsaken me,
having loved this present world, and is departed unto…” [2 Timothy 4:10] and
“what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world [Olympic &
World titles] and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?” [Matthew 16:26].
In recent
years there had been a number of ‘alarm bells’ ringing for me regarding the
professed ‘faith’ of Jonathan Edwards. Working from memory, and I stand ready
to be corrected if wrong, my recollection is that the closing event of a
youth-targeted ecumenical initiative in the year 2000 called ‘History Makers’
was held in Belfast’s Kings Hall and it featured leading figures from the ‘4
main churches’, including Roman Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady and sharing a
platform with them was Jonathan Edwards.
Then in
2005 Jonathan presented on BBC television a series of programmes called ‘Spirituality
Shopper’. In these programmes he basically ‘shopped around’ for
‘spirituality’ in places like a Carmelite Monastery and
a food distributing Sikh Temple. He also ‘sampled’ Yoga,
Tai Chi, Islamic prayer and Pagan Drumming. I, as a
Christian could not personally, in conscience and in the light of my
understanding of God’s Word, either ‘sample’ or promote in a favourable light
[as Jonathan often did during the series] these systems and practices that are
often condemned by and stand in opposition to the God of the Bible.
How do I
now assess what has happened to Jonathan Edwards? When I read the Daily Mail
article I was drawn to the expression of how in times past Jonathan Edwards had
stated ‘’I have made a commitment and dedication in that relationship
[with Jesus and God] to serve God’. This statement reminded me of a
challenging little leaflet that I came across early in my own Christian life
and I will close this article with these extracts from it –
‘150 years
ago Britain was a respected nation pleased to be called a Christian country.
Satan could not allow this to continue, he determined to distract the people of
God from the vital task of preaching the gospel. The central theme of
forgiveness of sin through the substitutionary death of Christ had to be
sidetracked. Words like repentance, atonement, justification and salvation had
to be phased out. What was needed was something that appealed to the natural
desires of men and yet appeared to be super-spiritual, a substitute for
“conversion”. Satan’s masterstroke was to introduce into the Christian
vocabulary “commitment”. Commitment sounds very spiritual but in fact is a
subtle change of emphasis from “grace” to “works”. Commitment is not “faith”.
Faith places all confidence in God’s ability to uphold the believer. Commitment
is the opposite as it emphasises man’s duty to hold on to God by his own effort
[and sadly that can fail as we currently see in the life of
Jonathan Edwards]. Commitment is not “perseverance”. The Biblical doctrine
of “The perseverance of the Saints” is centred on God and not man. Commitment
is not “conversion”. The increasing “fellowship” between Protestants and Roman
Catholics is not on the basis of “conversion” but on the basis of “commitment”
to the Lordship of Christ. Commitment is the common denominator with all the
modern cults. It is used to bring “believers” into bondage if they will commit
themselves to the total authority of men “false brethren unawares brought in
secretly to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might
bring us into bondage” [Galatians 2:4]. Are you trusting in the finished work
of Christ or in your own commitment?’
Perhaps
the answer to that last question might help explain the current sad
circumstances, from a Christian perspective, in the life of Jonathan Edwards.
“This he said …because he…had the bag” John 12:6
The
Biblical track record of the spirituality of those charged with the
responsibility for handling ‘communal finances’ is not always
good as we read in this incident in John 12: 1-8 in the life of Judas
Iscariot. This ‘keeper of the purse’ would ultimately
betray the Lord Himself. I thought of this as I read this report from the Roman
Catholic Zenit News Agency
VATICAN CITY:
9 February 2007: (Zenit.org). Britain's Treasury chief, Gordon
Brown, extended a personal invitation for Benedict XVI to visit the United
Kingdom. Brown made the offer today during an audience with the Pope in the
Vatican, where he participated in the launch of a project to provide vaccines
to millions of children in the developing world, reported the British newspaper
Website the Guardian Unlimited. The site reported a Treasury spokesman saying
that Brown spoke privately with the Holy Father. The chancellor gave him
a book of collected sermons by his father, John -- a Church of Scotland
minister, and received a Vatican medal.
Gordon Brown hopes in the next few months to succeed Tony Blair and
become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. By extending an invite to the
Papal Antichrist to visit the UK he is betraying Christ every bit as much as a
former financially motivated “son of perdition” [John 17:12].
In the
hard-copy issue of one of our 2004 NEWS FROM THE FRONT newsletters you
would be able to go back and look at a short article headed ‘Campaigning for
Creation’ in which I reproduced a short item that appeared in the January
2004 issue of Evangelical Times. That item gave details of an
organisation that had been set up called ‘Truth in Science’ and their
stated aim was ‘to compliment the work of existing Creation groups by targeting
education in particular’.
Last year ‘Truth
in Science’ sent literature and other materials to many schools outlining
the case for ‘Intelligent Design’. This sparked a furious reaction from
evolutionists and others opposed to the idea of a Creator and in the vanguard
of opposition was unsurprisingly Professor Richard Dawkins whose book ‘The God
Delusion’ was a bestseller in the run-up to Christmas 2006.
One of the
‘Truth in Science’ men listed in my previous article was Professor Andy
McIntosh and the local Sunday Sequence programme broadcast by Radio Ulster
devoted its entire programme on 10 December 2006 to a debate between professors
Andy McIntosh and Richard Dawkins [This was surprising as
earlier in the year I had seen Richard Dawkins say basically in a television
programme that no evolutionist should waste their time debating with
creationists on what for him was a total ‘non-issue’].
I will make reference to this debate later in this article.
What
is the BCSE?
The
British Centre for Science Education is a single issue pressure group dedicated
solely to keeping creationism and intelligent design out of the science
classroom in publicly-funded schools in the United Kingdom.
Who
is behind the BCSE?
BCSE
is a co-operative, with a formal constitution, of like-minded people. It is run
by a committee elected by its members. The seven committee members at present
are:
Michael
Brass is a published archaeologist, holding archaeology
and history degrees from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and an
archaeology Masters degree from University College London. He has a web site
and lives in Cambridge.
Roger
Stanyard is a management consultant
working in the satellite communications and broadcasting sector. He lives in
Winchester. He has a BSc joint honours degree in
economics and geography (University College, London) and an MBA (Cranfield).
Ian
Lowe is an IT consultant and a former company director
working in IT within the Education sector. Ian holds a BSc
in General Science from Strathclyde University. He lives in Glasgow.
Alan
Bellis is an entrepreneur who lives in Middlesborough. He
is active in criticising academy schools and has a web site.
Dr
Brian Jordan BSc
(Hons), MSc (Distinction) PhD
who lives in Yorkshire, is a retired clinical biochemist. He studied chemistry
and chemical engineering and worked as a development engineer. He has been a
school PTA chairman, parent governor, scout committee chairman and chairman of
a branch of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Tim
Chase is a software engineer resident in Seattle in the
USA. He holds a BA Philosophy from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA, and
an MA (MALA) (Great Books Program) from St. Johns College, Santa Fe, New
Mexico, USA.
John
Germain is a businessman and member of MENSA who lives and
works in Jersey in the Channel Islands.
I
then went to the ‘WHO IS WHO’ page of their website and downloaded what
they said about me. Rather than reproduce that I will now include the text of a
detailed, corrective email letter that I sent by way of response to each member
of the committee of the BCSE.
Dear
Mr
As a member of the committee of BCSE I am sure you would
not wish to be a party to anything posted to the group’s website that is
inaccurate or that could be construed as being there purely for the purposes of
demeaning and insulting someone. I’m sure like myself you want only to deal in
facts as far as they can be positively known. It has been drawn to my attention
that on the BCSE website there is an item under ‘Who is Who’ relating to
myself and it is certainly inaccurate in several places and in others it does
give the impression of being demeaning and insulting purely for those purposes.
In the opening line of the article I am described as
being both ‘hardline’ and ‘fundamentalist’. If these adjectives
are there merely to demean and insult me then they should be removed. However
if ‘hardline’ is there to indicate that my ‘line’ of thinking on
‘origins’ is fixed [hard] and not for reshaping, in a similar fashion that
Richard Dawkins’ thinking on ‘origins’ is fixed [hard] and not for reshaping,
then that is fine. If ‘fundamentalist’ is there to indicate that I view
the teachings of my source of ‘truth’ on ‘origins’, namely the written Word of
God, as being accurate and trustworthy, in the same way that Richard Dawkins
views the teachings of his source of truth on ‘origins’, namely the writings of
Charles Darwin, as being accurate and trustworthy, then that is fine.
In paragraph 2, mention is made of me possibly having
worked for an estate agency – I have never worked for such a business. As to my
‘theological qualifications’ - they fall into the same category as for example
those possessed by the Apostles Peter and John following the Lord’s ascension
to heaven – regenerated and indwelt by our teacher, God the Holy Spirit who,
according to the Lord Jesus Christ in John 16:13 guides into all truth.
In paragraph 3, the article states about my ministry
that “This appears, loosely to be an independent Baptist ministry stuck
somewhere in the 17th century”. Being factually inaccurate on 2 counts one
is left with the impression that the purpose of this statement falls mostly
into the ‘demeaning and insulting’ category. We are not a ‘Baptist’
ministry nor are we “stuck somewhere in the 17th century” as
we are dealing very much with live, 21st century issues, some of
which have of course been around since the dawn of creation.
This same paragraph also states “Andrews has
pointed out that he is not anti-Catholic but anti-Catholicism but it is hard to
see what the difference is”. Just at this point I do have to ask myself why
such a statement is included on the website of a group that is seeking to
refute belief in Biblical Creation and to promote Darwinian Evolution – is it
there purely as a personal, demeaning and insulting attack upon the individual
in question, namely myself? That aside, whilst I am most certainly opposed to
the false teachings of Roman Catholicism, if I were also ‘anti-Catholic’ then
I would not be seeking to rescue Roman Catholics from going to hell by exposing
them to the true, saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A little further into the article we read, “It
appears that even the protestant Belfast Telegraph finds Andrews to be
extreme”. I have to confess that I really did smile when I read the
expression “the PROTESTANT Belfast Telegraph”. On this link [website
link quoted] you read the following - ‘Independent News &
Media PLC ("IN&M") has received formal clearance for the purchase
of the Belfast Telegraph titles ("BTNL") from Trinity Mirror plc. The
consent of Britain's Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Stephen Byers
MP, was received today; the clearance of the Irish Minister for Enterprise,
Trade and Employment, Tanaiste Mary Harney TD, had already been received’
The
leading figure in ‘Independent News & Media’ is former Irish Rugby
player [Sir] Anthony O’Reilly and on this link [website link quoted] we read -
“Sir Anthony "Tony" [born 7 May 1936] is a Dublin born billionaire who holds
both British and Irish nationality. He is best known through his chairmanship
of the Dublin-based Independent News & Media Group (INM)… Anthony Joseph
Francis O'Reilly was born in Dublin. He was educated at the JESUIT-RUN Belvedere
College,” So much for “the
PROTESTANT Belfast Telegraph”.
In the same paragraph your article
states “In one letter he wrote to it Andrews claims that
Christians should not allow Catholics to be in a position of leadership”. Whilst your article does
then give a quote from the letter in question that helps to clarify what I meant
by “leadership” – namely a “leadership” role in worship services
organised by Evangelical Christians – anyone reading the first statement and
not bothering to read the letter would be left with the impression that I
oppose any and every form of “leadership” by Catholics and that would be
grossly untrue.
As for me being “blacklisted” by the paper,
what appears to have happened is that they seem to have taken a decision to
radically change the nature of the letters published in their Saturday night
edition [where letters on religious matters normally appeared] and so not only
I but also others from a Roman Catholic perspective are no longer given
column-inch space. The paper itself has a clear ‘liberal/ecumenical’ ethos and
agenda that is reflected in the writings of its Religion Correspondent, Alf
McCreary and also in the writings of the ecumenical-friendly writers of the
weekly ‘Thought For The Weekend’.
In relation to the creation videos that were sent to
all MPs your article states, “By Andrews’ own account, nearly all of them
appear to have ignored it”. This is totally inaccurate and this is actually
what I wrote - ‘Feedback’ from MP’s in relation to the video has been minimal…
perhaps humanly speaking it might have been nice to receive greater ‘feedback’
from more MP’s but I am content to leave this matter in the hands of the Lord’. NOWHERE did I state that ‘nearly
all of them appear to have ignored it’ – I was merely commenting upon actual
responses to me – the fact that these were few is no indicator that
recipients “ignored” the videos sent to them.
Towards the close of the article, reference is made
to an audiotape outreach to Roman Catholic priests in Ireland made by the
ministry back in 1997. Again I do have to question the motive for including
this section on the website of your
group that is seeking to refute belief in Biblical Creation and to promote
Darwinian Evolution – is it there purely as a personal, demeaning and insulting
attack upon myself?
That aside, the newspaper article quoted was grossly
inaccurate in some of the assertions made in its article and in consequence,
perhaps for the sake of factual accuracy, you should remove it from the BCSE
website. To find out just how wrong their article was I would encourage you to
go to this link [website link quoted] and you can listen to 5 Irish radio interviews
that I gave in December 1997 as the outreach was drawing to a close.
In closing, let me say I count it a special honour to
be listed on your ‘Who is Who’ website, for the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself said to me in Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you
and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake”.
I’m so glad that my eternal salvation did not depend
upon my IQ but rather as we read in 1st Corinthians 1:21-27
“In the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God [but rather]
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe…because the foolishness of God is wiser than men…God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise”.
In closing I commend to you the only Saviour of
sinful men, the One who created all things as we read in John 1:3, the
One who was “made flesh and dwelt amongst us” [John 1:14] – I refer of
course to the Lord Jesus Christ before whom, in a coming day, “every knee
shall bow…and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God,
the Father” [Philippians 2:10-11].
I am your servant for His sake
Cecil Andrews - ‘Take Heed’ Ministries
Following
my sending of the email to the committee members I received the following
gracious response from one of them - Alan Bellis.
Hi Cecil,
Thanks for taking the time to e-mail me with your concerns,
it is a little late for me to investigate this issue fully, I think the best
bet is to pass your e-mail across to Roger, as I believe he is the author of
the report you are taking issue with. As far as I am concerned, any
inaccuracies should be put right immediately.
Best Wishes, Alan. [Bellis]
Upon
visiting the BCSE ‘Who is Who’ website page on 23rd December
I noted that following my email they had slightly altered the entry about
myself and they had also posted my email in its entirety. The changes to their
entry make for interesting reading as this little table shows.
Original
Wording
|
New Wording
|
Cecil’s comments
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‘He is
understood to have either worked for a building society or an estate agency
before becoming involved in religion’. |
This sentence has been completely
omitted from the revised BSCE ‘Who is Who’ article. |
I was working as a Building
Society Branch Manager in Portadown when I was converted to Christ in 1984.
Shortly thereafter I moved to manage a Building Society Branch Office in
Belfast City Centre until I left in 1989 and subsequently established ‘Take
Heed’ Ministries in 1990. |
|
‘This
appears, loosely to be an independent Baptist ministry stuck somewhere in the
17th century’. |
‘This
appears, loosely, to be an independent Baptist ministry (1) stuck somewhere
(like much of the rest of Northern Ireland) in the 17th century’. (1)
Cecil Andrews has close connections with the Crich Baptist Church in
Derbyshire. |
Despite my advising that our
ministry is not ‘an independent Baptist ministry’ they have persisted
with this ‘label’ and in an effort to justify it have cited ‘close
connections’ with Crich Baptist Church. I spoke on a number of occasions
in Crich Baptist but last year I also spoke in Presbyterian, Congregational,
Independent Methodist, Free Presbyterian Churches so how do
these square up with the ‘independent Baptist’ label? Having decided
to retain the insulting ‘stuck somewhere in the 17th century’ jibe
about ‘Take Heed’, BSCE have now seen fit to extend the insult to ‘much of
the rest of Northern Ireland’ – this particular insult appears to be evolving
rather rapidly, |
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No previous reference |
‘Here is
an article where Andrews takes exception to John Paul II being described as a
"fine Christian man"’ |
This sentence has been inserted
following my statement that I am ‘anti-Catholicism but not anti-Catholic’
– and it would appear the link to this article has been inserted to ‘prove’
that I am in fact ‘anti-Catholic’. I hope people will go to the
article for in it I challenge the description of the late Pope John Paul II
made in my presence by J I Packer when he described him as ‘a fine
Christian man’ - and I do so on purely doctrinal [‘anti-Catholicism’]
grounds. PS Could this BCSE statement ‘Belief in creationism is rampant amongst Northern Ireland Protestants’ possibly be construed as ‘anti-Protestant’? |
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‘It
appears that even the protestant Belfast Telegraph finds
Andrews to be extreme’ |
‘It
appears that the mildly unionist Belfast Telegraph finds
Andrews to be extreme’ |
When
BSCE first labelled the Belfast Telegraph as ‘protestant’ their
intent was clear – it was to convey the impression that this ‘protestant’,
Cecil Andrews, was even too extreme for a ‘protestant’ newspaper to handle.
Having identified the foolishness of their ‘protestant Belfast Telegraph’
label in my email, BSCE have now resorted to applying a ‘political’ label to
the Belfast Telegraph – I simply ask why they feel it necessary to apply any
‘label’ to the Belfast Telegraph in view of the fact that its change in
strategy about publishing letters on religious matters appears to apply
equally to Protestants like myself and also to Roman Catholics. I sincerely
hope BSCE are not now trying to attach some ‘political’ label to Cecil
Andrews and ‘Take Heed’ Ministries for our ministry and motivation have
absolutely no political attachment or agenda. |
Overall this BSCE article has a ‘Richard Dawkins ring’ to it. What do I mean by that? Well as I mentioned earlier, on Sunday 10 December 2006 Mr Dawkins took part in a ‘Creation v Evolution’ debate with Professor Andy McIntosh on the Radio Ulster programme ‘Sunday Sequence’. My reaction to Mr Dawkins’ performance was summed up as follows in an email that I sent to the local CALEB Evangelical Group
"I thought the
debate went very well from a Biblical Creation point of view - Dawkins was
pitiful - reduced to personal attacks on Andy McIntosh and
openly admitting that he hasn't discovered yet how 'life' came into
being - once it did come into being then according to him evolution 'kicked in' but whatever 'sparked'
life, as far as he is concerned, it wasn't God and that atheistic view colours
ALL his thinking."
The reference to ‘personal attacks’ by
Richard Dawkins against Andy McIntosh is where this BSCE article about myself
seems to have a ‘Richard Dawkins ring’ to it. In both cases, Richard Dawkins
[where Andy McIntosh is concerned] and BSCE [where Cecil Andrews is concerned]
appear to have adopted the approach of ‘I don’t like the message so I’ll
shoot the messenger’. If no evolutionist [including Richard
Dawkins by his own admission] knows how life originated then on what
scientific grounds is a Creator God totally ruled out of the equation? Perhaps this quotation [p 25] from Pastor
John MacArthur’s book ‘The Battle For The Beginning’ may shed some
heavenly light on the issue
‘To put it simply,
evolution was invented in order to eliminate the God of Genesis and thereby to
oust the Lawgiver and obliterate the inviolability of His law. Evolution is
simply the latest means our fallen race has devised in order to suppress our
innate knowledge and the biblical testimony that there is a God and that we are
accountable to Him [see Romans 1:28]. By embracing evolution, modern society
aims to do away with morality, responsibility and guilt. Society has embraced
evolution with such enthusiasm because people imagine that it eliminates the
Judge and leaves them free to do whatever they want without guilt and without
consequences’.
The
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is an ‘antidote’ to the problem caused by sin
when it entered this world through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden –
countless millions of Christians down through the centuries have been and are
living proof of that visible reality that they have become “new creations” in
Christ [see 2 Corinthians 5:17]. The Gospel of Christ offers real
life-changing answers to the sinful and soul-damning woes of this world that
are everywhere evident and that have increased in line with the truths in the
quote above. In contrast what does atheistic evolution offer? – answers on a
postcard please! Earlier I gave a quote from John MacArthur’s book ‘The
Battle For The Beginning’ – the 19 January 2007 issue of the British
Church Newspaper included a review of this book and part of that review
said –
‘Just at the very time
when evolution is coming under renewed pressure from discoveries in
biochemistry and the inescapable conclusion of “Intelligent Design” [unless one
is spiritually purblind] it is a little sad and ironic that so many in
evangelical circles seem ripe to ditch their forefathers’ heroic battle for the
truth and accuracy of scripture. It is this threat to the integrity of
evangelical witness that MacArthur is concerned to expose and counter in his
book…The result is a splendid and elegantly written insight into the wonderful
world of science…interwoven with a stimulating exegesis of the creation account
in Genesis. This book will give plenty of ammunition to those seeking to expose
the inconsistencies of the evolutionist/old earth ‘creationist’
views…Evolutionists detest a young earth scenario and wilfully resist evidence
for design as these topple them towards theistic conclusions. MacArthur is one
of evangelicalism’s most impressive spokesmen with many stimulating insights…a
book well worth investing in.
Another
disturbing matter that arose from the broadcast radio debate was a contribution
made to it by Professor
Robert Keay, a
lecturer at the Belfast Bible College. In a circulated email the local
CALEB Evangelical Group wrote – ‘What was most
disappointing in the debate was the attitude of the Belfast Bible College lecturer,
Professor Robert Keay… Mr Keay…indicated that he believes in evolution,
(William Crawley [presenter of the programme] remarked - An
'evangelical Christian' arguing that Creationists are misreading the
Bible!) and was completely confused when David McConaghie [assisting Professor Andy McIntosh] quoted Romans
5:12…! Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, obviously believed in a literal six-day creation and a young
earth!… Confronted by the implications of the text, Keay tried to 'spiritualise
it' away! Now, we must ask ourselves, "What on earth are they
teaching at Belfast Bible College?" Is it really an evangelical
establishment, or has it fallen from its previous standards, following the lure
of academic acclaim? I intend to ask!’
Dear Belfast Bible
College,
During the 'Creation v
Evolution' debate broadcast on Radio Ulster on Sunday 10 December 2006 there
was a contribution made by one of your members of staff, namely Professor Robert Keay. A brief
summary of 2 points that Professor
Keay made would be as follows -
1.
Creationists [those who accept 6-day Creation as affirmed by God Himself in
Exodus 20:11] have 'misread'
the Bible in relation to Genesis 1 & 2 where God Himself outlines His
work of creation.
2. Paul's
statement in Romans 5:12 teaches that the result of sin was merely 'spiritual' separation from God and
not also physical death.
In the light of your
published 'Doctrinal Basis'
that states - 'The guilt and depravity
of human nature in consequence of the Fall' my question is
simply this - are these expressed views of Professor Keay fully compatible with your 'Doctrinal Basis'?
I look forward to
hearing from you.
Cecil Andrews - 'Take
Heed' Ministries
On 1st
February 2007, [having previously sent a
reminder] I eventually received a response from David
Shepherd, Principal of Belfast Bible College. Herewith are some extracts from
that email –
Dear Cecil (if I may),
Thank you
for your email. While I myself might take a different position than Dr. Keay
with respect to the best way to read the opening chapters of Genesis, I am
satisfied that his position falls within the breadth of evangelical thinking on
the subject [no mention of the College Doctrinal Basis]…
I've asked Dr. Keay to elaborate on his position and include his response
below. Dr. Keay writes:
‘I am in full and hearty
agreement with the doctrinal basis of Belfast Bible College. My views on
Genesis and creation are typical of mainstream and historic Evangelical
thought, as is represented by many Evangelical works and commentaries on
Genesis...[There then followed quite a lot of academic comments
that did nothing to address the points raised in my email]…I consider it
a blessing to be serving the Lord at Belfast Bible College, an Evangelical
institution that recognizes that no one denomination or movement owns
the truth’. In a further email to the
College on 2nd February I wrote –
I have received your
response for which I thank you. I'm just heading over to England but
perhaps I could meantime ask this further question -
Your ‘Doctrinal Basis’ makes reference
to 'The guilt etc in consequence of THE
FALL' - can you please explain the College position on how and when 'THE FALL' occurred - was it as God's
Word states after He had created all things in 6 days or have those who take
this meaning from God's Word 'misread' what appears to be a clear
narrative?
It's a fairly simple
question and I look forward to your clarification of your ‘Doctrinal Basis’.
To date I have not received a reply to this email. This incident just compounds another worry that a student at the College alerted me to and that was his own concern about a lecture given by the ‘trendy’ Presbyterian Chaplain at Queens University, Steve Stockman who was endorsing favourably the ‘spiritual walk’ of rock-band U2 whose lead singer is the well-known Bono. In an interview Bono commented on the Roman Catholic Church and a meeting he had with the late Pope and he said – ‘Let's not get too hard on the Holy Roman Church here. The Church has its problems, but the older I get, the more comfort I find there…The Pontiff was about to make an important statement… During the preamble, he seemed to be staring at me. I wondered. Was it the fact that I was wearing my blue fly-shades? So I took them off in case I was causing some offence. When I was introduced to him, he was still staring at them. He kept looking at them in my hand, so I offered them to him as a gift in return for the rosary he had just given me. Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine. He was a comedian’.
The papal
Antichrist is many things but not ‘a comedian’.
In the light of these incidents and also the platform given at the
College [February] to Eddie Gibbs of Fuller Theological Seminary to promote his
views of ‘Emerging Churches’ true evangelical concerns about Belfast Bible
College are well-grounded and fully justified.