Worship and Discussion
Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the Matter, where we do all we can to try and worship God in Spirit and in Truth. I’m your host, Shawn McCraney. Show 37 463, September 15th, 2015.
We’re halfway there! And we’re all still here! September 2015 – the end of the world or at least the beginning of the end of the world – or just another month in another year full of tragedy and blessing? Remember, on Friday, October 2nd – if we are still here, we are holding a party here at the studio/church and we’re calling it the THANK GOD JESUS DIDN’T COME BACK AND KILL US PARTY. Consider coming and rejoicing in the fact that God is good and has overcome all things through Christ Jesus.
Last week we had the blessing of having Dr. Don Preston here to address, from the Bible, why taking the Bible and reading the physical prophecies into our day and age and world is such a mistake. Dr. Don spoke to us on Friday night, on Saturday morning, and then he accepted an invitation from Pastor Jason Wallace to debate the topic of whether Jesus' return was in 70AD or if we are still waiting for this return today.
Reflections on Debate
I want to thank all of our staff and volunteers for their tireless efforts to make this event happen. I want to thank those of you who took the time out of your lives to participate and observe. Of course, I want to thank Dr. Preston, his wife Janice, and Pastor Jason Wallace who participated Saturday night in a debate with Dr. Preston.
People have wondered what I thought of the whole thing. Okay, I’ll tell you. First of all, I am NOT a fan of the term debate – especially in the Body. The reasons are more than numerous. No problem with discussion (obviously) I think discussion and teachings are VITAL to Christianity. But when two people stand up and point counterpoint each other the results are almost always fruitless. Why? Those who endorse one participant typically remain supporting that participant, those who remain neutral may slip toward one side or another but typically they remain just as confused.
Additionally, and I have said this many times before, because a person can out-debate another does NOT mean that that person's position or points are right. Remember Moses couldn’t debate his way out of a paper bag, and Aaron was the articulate one – so articulate that he got the children of Israel to make a golden idol while His brother was in the mount communicating with God. I say this because in some ways debating is an act of the flesh. It can be rehearsed or so well ingrained it seems like the polished are superior but this is misleading. They have just polished their schtick.
Debate Versus Discussion
Really good debaters remind me of really good wrestlers in high school. Why? Because the really good wrestlers in high school were always walking around and challenging people to wrestle. A good friend of mine was an All-American wrestler and one day he said, “Come on McCraney, you’re much bigger than me – let’s wrestle.” I said, I tell you what, “let’s first race by swimming around the Huntington Beach pier.” He smiled and said, “Okay, I get it.”
I used to get these invitations to debate people who were just chomping at the bit to show our viewing audience how well they could destroy me through their debating skill and style but in the end much of it is just skill and style while fully ignoring the bigger picture items that have to be thoughtfully considered rather than delivered in tasty sound bites. So again, just because people are able to out-debate or out-argue another does NOT mean their points are correct.
Obviously, I personally endorse the preterist view and learned so much from the insights of Dr. Preston who took the word, as a whole, and presented it in my estimation with honesty and clarity. I learned so very much from his teachings personally and think others did as well. At the same time, I am grateful to Pastor Wallace for sharing his thoughts on the subject. I think it was pretty obvious to all that there was no comparison between the presentations of the two men – that Dr. Preston is extremely skilled at what he does and this was not the forte of Pastor Wallace.
Subjective Christianity
Preston out debated Wallace I think he was correct in His assessments which is always a great bonus. But this much we can say – standing on the stage and sitting in the chairs were two men who, from what I could tell, love the Lord. They have both shown forth this love in the lives they lead and in the service they have given to God with their time on earth. Both men are conservative by nature and upbringing, both wore ties and jackets. Both men were polite. And in my estimation both men are great Christians. But we cannot ignore the fact that one of them was dead wrong. My opinion over which it was is irrelevant. Nevertheless, one of them had to be.
Both men believe their respective views on the subject are very important – so important that one man traveled hundreds of miles to be here to present his case and another stood up and tried to defend against what was being presented. I respect them both as sincere, but again, one was dead wrong and in the scope of what we have been trying to prove these past few years (LISTEN) it doesn’t matter which! Did you hear me? Ironically, both of our guests would probably disagree with me here but because both are saved Christians and both are doing their best to understand Jesus and His Word how could what they believed scripture says really matter?
The Debate's True Value
In my estimation, while I loved the content of Dr. Preston, the GREATEST benefit we got from the debate was not who won, nor who failed nor the information gleaned. The greatest benefit was this debate PROVED, in living color, the point of Subjective Christianity. Pretend that Jason and Don were debating another matter that night – instead of Preterism, let’s say the topic was “eternal punishment.” At the end of the night, we would have the same result – two men who both love Jesus and His word and two men who study the Word DISAGREEING. Suppose they had debated, Sola Scriptura,” the need or mode of water baptism, or even something as touchy as the Trinity. Suppose there were ten devout men on the stage arguing ten different points – the end result would be the SAME! . . .
Beyond Doctrinal Divisions
At the end of the night all men would walk out, believing what they entered in believing, and taking those who supported them from the heart with them, and all (or almost all) would continue to remain the Christians they chose to be. Suppose that after the debate last Saturday night, both Don and Jason died in their sleep? Would their views on Preterism mean ANYTHING then? Suppose that I, too, having my views presented at the debate died too? Would my views on these debatable subjects condemn or save me? I would suggest the only thing that will matter to any of us – to all of us – is that after this life we will be seen through our faith in the life, person and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and how and if we loved God and others.
Nothing more. I would also suggest that only God has the ability to access these matters in the heart of others and so therefore it’s not up to us to try and police or vet others. And in the interim we will love.
Before we go to the Word I do feel inclined to point something out I observed on the night of the debate. There was division in the room. Not necessarily between the contenders but more from those who were in the audience supporting each presenter. I noticed a reticence toward friendliness, an almost justification for keeping physically distant from those who saw things differently, there were refusals to smile or receive each other in full fellowship. I had people actually refuse to respond to my extended hand and greeting and where many readily partook of refreshments and a amenities provided them somehow some of them believed they pleased God more to exit the building without expressing thanks or gratitude but to maintain silence. This was the result of people allowing doctrine to divide them. It was the result of people thinking it okay to be rude in what they must feel is the cause of Christ. I don’t personally need thanks. Neither do others in this ministry. But Christians express thanks and a gentle and kind and welcoming and graciousness from the heart.
Subjective Christianity in 1st Thessalonians
Christ are entirely missing the point in my estimation. They have the right, and they are always welcome in our house, but the divisiveness expressed Saturday night only served to fortified my stance that doctrinal divisions must not justify division among those who love and follow the Lord. And with that, how about a moment from the Word.
Passages from 1st Thessalonians
We’ve been working through the New Testament to pull out passages that support the principles of Subjective Christianity. Tonight we find ourselves in 1st Thessalonians. In chapter one at verse 2 we read: 1 Thessalonians 1:2 “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” What was remembered? Their work of faith, and labor of love, and the patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. So simple. So good. So easy. No strife.
In chapter 2 verse 13 we read – 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Increasing in Love
In chapter 3 verse 12 Paul’s prayer to the Thessalonians was that the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” He was speaking to them about the COMING of the LORD Jesus Christ there. And his prayer was the Lord make them increase and about in LOVE toward each other and toward all men . . . Not striving with each other. Not attacking or accusing all men – but increasing in love.
1 Thessalonians 4:8-9 “He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.” We study to BE QUIET – NOT to get louder.
You know, before we get to the message tonight I have said this before and I will say it again, but I do not appreciate the term debate in the body. Let’s discuss, let’s present, let’s dialogue – but the idea of debating is pregnant with meaning, including: That someone must walk away “a winner.” And if a winner is expected or must be had, truth is often sacrificed and replaced with technique, strategy, tricks and methods by the participants. So we might end up with a winner in a debate but it doesn’t mean we have been presented with the truth.
Additionally, whenever – WHENEVER someone challenges another person to a debate the challenger must somehow believe that he or she can win or beat the other person being challenged – otherwise a challenge wouldn’t be extended, right? I would never challenge an electrical engineer to debate about electrical engineering but I would certainly challenge most of them to discuss Mormonism. It’s like being back in high school. Ever notice wrestlers ALWAYS want to wrestle you? Why? Because that’s what they do! That’s a skill they have honed.
There’s something . . . unhumble, something proud in the heart of a man who calls another and says: “I’d like to debate you – before a live audience.” It’s the equivalent of a pissing contest but with tools of rhetoric, presentation, schtick, comedy, feigned humility, and a love to beat another person down with words and be patted on the back as the victor.
Last week I explained all that we have done and have been doing on the show since the beginning. We explained our approach has NOT changed from the beginning. And after everything has been said and done I see our purpose looking something like this:
ILLUSTRATION HERE
Unity of the Faith
And examined most of the major themes in Christianity, the THEME . . . “the stated purpose and the Goal of Heart of the Matter” will be: “Till We All Come to a Unity of the Faith.” Got that? Heart of the Matter will continue until WE (believers) ALL (from wherever we are or come from) to a unity (a oneness) of the FAITH (in Christ Jesus). And so as we proceed we are welcoming any and all callers to call and dialogue on issues, matters, theologies, necessities, mandated doctrine and praxis. Let’s just talk, let’s reason together – no matter who you are. And having gone through all of this, having turned over every rock and really tried to level the playing field, I am now – beginning tonight, going back to examining Mormonism on each and every show.
Reevaluating Approaches to Mormonism
I think what we have done (though it has been remarkably difficult and painful with casualties to the left and right of us) was EXTREMELY important and necessary and served to put us in a place where, having been completely freed from false religious practice, doctrine, and history to truly speak with the LDS and not just speak AT them. Certainly the LDS institution has much to question but when we started out in ministry we approached them as if we stood on hallowed ground that was impervious to scrutiny not realizing that our positions, when truly examined, had as many issues as theirs.
Died in the wool evangelicals do not see things this way – which is one reason why the Mormon/Christian debate has never made any progress and has really only amounted to an exchange of members – with the Evangelicals garnering some LDS into their camp and the LDS winning some Evangelicals to theirs – and both sides holding their converts up as proof of historical and doctrinal and practical superiority. I’m telling you, if I was LDS, and I ran into the likes of some anti-Mormon character who was blasting me with ridicule and attacks I would hand them their head with no less viable information about what they tacitly represent to the world.
With subjective Christianity being the Only reasonable (and in my estimation, in light of proper eschatology the only biblical approach to the Faith) we are now in a position to reasonably respond to any counter-attack LDS apologists and defenders of that faith produce. And this brings us back to the very first question we asked on our very first show of the LDS – Take a look:
That is where we started, that was the name and focus of the first book and website and it remains today. Think about this: If God has either capriciously chosen a person to salvation or if a person chooses to believe and is filled with the Spirit as the result, the END result is the same, whether they are Catholic, Mormon, or any other denomination or group – “God has by His Spirit moved in to that individual and He is then in charge and command of them – not us. Having begun a good work in us HE will finish it. Not us.” We teach this, and say it, but if we really understood it we would not care about any other single question than: “Have you been born from above.” Once someone has, the work is to then “all come to a unity of the faith” – which is done through love and not strife.
Challenges to Rebirth
Now, HINDERING individual LDS people from experiencing rebirth are: Doctrines of Men; Practices of Men; Theologies of Men; And blindness and deafness and spiritual darkness as a result. And so our job – once again – is going to be to present which LDS presuppositions and doctrines and ways are serving to keep people in the dark and therefore from being born from above. This is really the obligation every Christian ministry has – to assist all people in being free from the trappings of Man and to tap more deeply into the spiritual ways and means and truths of God.
So beginning next week Heart of the Matter, with a new heart and new approaches, is going to now thresh through Mormonism. And we are going to use a very influential and important book of information to help us along (in addition to the Bible). It’s titled, “This is my Doctrine.” And it was written by Charles R Harrell, a BYU professor and very intelligent and affable man. I talked briefly with Charlie Harrell last week and
Examining the Development of Mormon Theology
He gave me permission to openly use the contents of his work on the Development of Mormon Theology. In my estimation, this approach will go a long way in helping LDS people today to see that the origins of the faith were not so far removed from most everything Christian, but that they are presently embracing a faith that erupted from the mind of a Man and is far afield from basic Christian teachings.
Martin Luther's Controversial Teachings
If Joseph Smith was a problem, Martin Luther is even more of a problem. What did Luther say on sin, free will, the Jews and the poor? Martin Luther: The man who is celebrated for calling into question the authority of an allegedly corrupt Church, for initiating religious freedom in an age of spiritual feudalism, etc… But how much Luther has the average Protestant read? Or even the average Protestant clergyman? I guess not much, because if people really know what Luther thought and taught, they would be appalled.
In order to avoid possible allegations that the excerpts quoted below are taken out of context, and therefore they cannot be trusted as accurate representations of Luther’s thought, I will provide a reference for where each excerpt can be found. You’ll find that not one of these passages mean anything apart from what appears here. Luther’s meanings are all too clear. A further objection is that other of Luther’s writings can be cited that contradict some of what you find here. We would reply that self-contradiction does not make an individual more reliable, but less.
Luther's Perspective on Sin and Good Works
Luther Said: ‘Be A Sinner’ “Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides… No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day.” (‘Let Your Sins Be Strong, from ‘The Wittenberg Project;’ ‘The Wartburg Segment’, translated by Erika Flores, from Dr. Martin Luther’s Saemmtliche Schriften, Letter No. 99, 1 Aug. 1521).
Luther is actually saying that our actions — even the most sinful actions imaginable — don’t matter! He is saying we can commit any sin we want — willfully, presumptuously, purposefully — and we will not offend God! After all, we require nothing more than “faith” to be saved. What we do is incidental. Of course, anyone familiar with Scripture will point out that this is not a Christian teaching. For throughout the Bible we are told that sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). No believer has a license to sin. Christians who willfully sin WILL be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 12:14; 1st Thessalonians 4:6).
Luther Said: Doing Good Is More Dangerous Than Sinning “Those pious souls who do good to gain the Kingdom of Heaven not only will never succeed, but they must even be reckoned among the impious; and it is more important to guard them against good works than against sin.” (Wittenberg, VI, 160, quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, p. 122.)
You must be thinking, “What? Could he possibly have written what I thought I just read? ‘It is more important to guard them against good works than against sin.'” Well okay, read it again, just to make sure. Luther cautions us against good and upright actions. He says, don’t worry about sin — Jesus will take care of it. But doing good — that you’d better watch out for. Especially if you think being kind and generous and loving will affect your outcome at the final judgment.
In his hubris, he ignores verse after verse of Scripture — New Testament and Old — where we are told that the way we live out our faith will be the criterion upon which we will be judged. As Paul makes eminently clear in Rom. 2: 5-11, “…the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works.” And again in 2 Cor. 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat… so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.” Luther was utterly and monumentally wrong — wrong for the ages. Luther Said:
The Concept of Free Will
“There Is No Free Will”
“…with regard to God, and in all that bears on salvation or damnation, (man) has no ‘free-will’, but is a captive, prisoner and bondslave, either to the will of God, or to the will of Satan.” (From the essay, ‘Bondage of the Will,’ ‘Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings, ed. by Dillenberger, Anchor Books, 1962 p. 190.) “…we do everything of necessity, and nothing by ‘free-will’; for the power of ‘free-will’ is nil…” (Ibid., p. 188.) “Man is like a horse. Does God leap into the saddle? The horse is obedient and accommodates itself to every movement of the rider and goes whither he wills it. Does God throw down the reins? Then Satan leaps upon the back of the animal, which bends, goes and submits to the spurs and caprices of its new rider… Therefore, necessity, not free will, is the controlling principle of our conduct. God is the author of what is evil as well as of what is good, and, as He bestows happiness on those who merit it not, so also does He damn others who deserve not their fate.” (‘De Servo Arbitrio’, 7, 113 seq., quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, pp. 266-267.) All these passages come from a tract Luther penned, titled, ‘De Servo Arbitrio,’ or ‘Bondage of the Will,’ in which the great reformer works hard to present the case that free will does not exist.
Scriptural Perspectives on Free Will
Scripture, of course, disagrees, in both word and spirit. In Sirach 15:11-20, we find: “Say not: ‘It was God’s doing that I fell away’: for what he hates he does not do. Say not: ‘It was he who set me astray’; For he has no need of wicked men… When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments… There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.” So you see, the scripture is quite clear on the matter: “When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice.” But, you object, Sirach is ‘apocryphal’ — Luther discarded it, questioning its canonicity. And no wonder, we respond, considering how directly it confutes his teachings. But we can also point to Deut. 30:19-20, in which God tells us: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.” So we see that man is more than simply free to choose; he is obliged to choose. And earlier yet, in Gen. 4:7, God speaks to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen? If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.” And, finally, in John 15:15, our Lord pronounces his love for us, his followers: “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends…” Hardly sounds like the words of a rider to his horse. As often happens, Paul has the final word: “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of Sin? Of course not!” (Gal. 2:17.) A more direct contradiction of Luther’s pronouncement, “God is the author of what is evil as well as of what is good,” is difficult to imagine.
The Implications of Luther’s Teachings
Luther’s position includes no accountability. No responsibility. No sense of learning or of being perfected through the course of our lives. No dignity even. Just the bleakest, most oppressive coercion which robs human life of any meaning whatsoever. What you do in your life — even the love you evidence toward your neighbors — means nothing, according to Luther. Your struggles, your suffering, your perseverance — none of it amounts to anything. Your will is not even in your own hands.
Luther Said: The Individual Christian Is Subject To No Authority
“…every Christian is by faith so exalted above all things that, by virtue of a spiritual power
Martin Luther's Controversial Teachings
Critique of Ecclesiastical Authority
“Injustice is done those words ‘priest,’ ‘cleric,’ ‘spiritual,’ ‘ecclesiastic,’ when they are transferred from all Christians to those few who are now by a mischievous usage called ‘ecclesiastics.'” Luther teaches that we don’t need anyone between us, the community of believers, and our Savior. So he objects to ecclesiastical authority — and the hierarchy which exercises it. God is with the entire congregation, he says, so why should we bother with a priest. Sounds great. Until you realize that this position echoes that of Moses’ sister, the prophetess Miriam, who protests in Numbers Chapter 12, “Is it through Moses alone that the Lord speaks? Does he not speak through us also?” For her rebellion against the authority established by God, she contracts leprosy. Thanks to Moses’ intercessory prayer, she is cleansed. And she is followed just a few chapters later by Korah, who incites the people against Moses and Aaron in the most disturbing words of all. They say, “Enough from you! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the Lord is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the Lord’s congregation?” Whereupon Korah and his followers were consumed by fire sent by the Lord. (Numbers 16.)
Views on Peasantry
Luther Said: Peasants Deserve Their Harsh Treatment “Like the mules who will not move unless you perpetually whip them with rods, so the civil powers must drive the common people, whip, choke, hang, burn, behead and torture them, that they may learn to fear the powers that be.” “A peasant is a hog, for when a hog is slaughtered it is dead, and in the same way the peasant does not think about the next life, for otherwise he would behave very differently.” Perhaps Luther’s darkest hour was his betrayal of the long-abused serfs during Münzer’s Peasants’ War of 1525. First, he naively fomented their unrest by publishing tracts such as ‘On Authority,’ in which he castigated the princely classes with invective such as, “People cannot, people will not, put up with your tyranny and caprice for any length of time.” And, “…the poor man, in excitement and grief on account of the damage he has suffered in his goods, his body and his soul, has been tried too much and has been oppressed by them beyond all measure, in the most perfidious manner. Henceforth he can and will no longer put up with such a state of things, and, moreover, he has ample reason to break forth with the flail and the club as Karsthans threatens to do.” Yet when the rebellion came, he turned coat, publishing the tract, ‘Against the Murderous and Rapacious Hordes of Peasants,’ which urged the ruling lords to “stab them secretly and openly, as they can, as one would kill a mad dog.” To underscore the coldness of the man, Luther was married on the heels of the tragic massacre that resulted. Erasmus, a contemporary, estimated that a hundred thousand peasants lost their lives.
Marriage and Biblical Interpretation
Luther Said: Polygamy Is Permissible “I confess that I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict the Scripture. If a man wishes to marry more than one wife he should be asked whether he is satisfied in his conscience that he may do so in accordance with the word of God. In such a case the civil authority has nothing to do in the matter.” ‘Sola scriptura’ has its consequences. Luther Said: The Bible Could Use Some Improvement “The history of Jonah is so monstrous that it is absolutely incredible.” “The book of Esther I toss into the Elbe. I am such an enemy to the book of Esther that I wish it did not exist, for it Judaizes too much and has in it a great deal of heathenish foolishness.” “Of very little worth is the Book of Baruch, whoever the worthy Baruch might be.” “…the epistle of St. James is an epistle full of straw, because it contains nothing evangelical.” “If nonsense is spoken anywhere, this is the very place. I pass over the fact that many have maintained, with much probability, that this epistle was not written by…”
Examination of Martin Luther's Teachings
Reading these words of Luther, it’s hard to imagine that he is the same man who so often claimed that he looked upon the Bible “as if God Himself spoke therein.” How could he have claimed to believe in the inspired Word of God as the ultimate authority on religious matters if he placed himself in judgment of Scripture? In doing so, he quite clearly set himself up as judge over God himself. Believe it or not, in his hubris Luther even presumed to rank the gospels: “John records but few of the works of Christ, but a great deal of his preaching, whereas the other three evangelists record many of His works, but few of His words. It follows that the gospel of John is unique in loveliness, and of a truth the principal gospel, far, far superior to the other three, and St. Paul and St. Peter are far in advance of the three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.” (‘Preface to Romans,’ ed. Dillenberger, pp. 18-19.) And he complained about the Book of Revelation: “to my mind it bears upon it no marks of an apostolic or prophetic character… Everyone may form his own judgment of this book; as for myself, I feel an aversion to it, and to me this is sufficient reason for rejecting it.” (Sammtliche Werke, 63, pp. 169-170, ‘The Facts About Luther,’ O’Hare, TAN Books, 1987, p. 203.) And finally, he admitted adding the word ‘alone’ to Rom. 3:28 of his own volition: “If your Papist annoys you with the word (‘alone’), tell him straightway, Dr. Martin Luther will have it so: Papist and ass are one and the same thing. Whoever will not have my translation, let him give it the go-by: the devil’s thanks to him who censures it without my will and knowledge. Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the doctors in Popedom.” (Amic. Discussion, 1, 127,’The Facts About Luther,’ O’Hare, TAN Books, 1987, p. 201.) Here he is condemned by his own mouth. For John, in Rev. 22: 18-19, declares anathema anyone who presumes to change even a single word of Scripture: “I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book.” Luther, of course, didn’t add or take away mere words, but entire passages and books.
Luther's Views on the Jewish People
“Jews are young devils damned to hell.” (‘Luther’s Works,’ Pelikan, Vol. XX, pp. 2230.) “Burn their synagogues. Forbid them all that I have mentioned above. Force them to work and treat them with every kind of severity, as Moses did in the desert and slew three thousand… If that is no use, we must drive them away like mad dogs, in order that we may not be partakers of their abominable blasphemy and of all their vices, and in order that we may not deserve the anger of God and be damned with them. I have done my duty. Let everyone see how he does his. I am excused.” (‘About the Jews and Their Lies,’ quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, p. 290.) It is very disturbing to contemplate the possible fruit born of the seeds of hatred sown by this man. If he was guided by any spirit, clearly it was not holy.
Conclusion
Luther’s teachings are not the teachings of Christ. But how is it so many people have followed the author of these dark, bleak teachings? There is only one explanation: They don’t realize what Luther — the real Luther — actually taught. If they did, they’d would see that many of the ideas of the Reformation father run counter to both Scripture and good sense. Protestant ministers concentrate more on the perceived errors of Catholicism than they do examining the writings of their own founders. If you doubt these passages, I urge you to go to the source. Finding Luther’s writings is not easy, but with diligence it can be done. May God bless those whose search for truth and lead them to sift with impartiality: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5.)
Closer to His Heart
created us all in his image bring us closer to his heart, where all truth is found.
