Page 424 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

NEW EVANGELICAL

hide the deception, chicanery, and immorality of its Because of the deceptive nature of false teachers, it is
leaders. not wise simply to ask them to state their doctrine and
The example of Seventh-day Adventism then accept what they are saying at face value, as
It has modified its history, hiding the fact that early dialogue requires. One must analyze what they are
Adventists were anti-Trinitarian, hiding Ellen White’s saying carefully and be willing to expose fraud, which
nervous disorder, hiding her false prophecies and her makes a fruitful dialogue impossible!
use of the “prophetic gift” to manipulate the everyday Seventh, dialogue results in weakening of biblical
lives of her followers, even “prophesying” that Adventist convictions. The Bible warns, “Be not deceived: evil
women had to wear a certain type of dress, etc. communications corrupt good manners” (1 Co. 15:33).
It hides its heresy under a re-definition of theological Close association with sin and error corrupts godly
terms. I have an SDA pamphlet entitled “Saved by thinking and living. Just as a good apple cannot raise
Grace,” but it actually teaches salvation by grace plus the standard of a barrel of bad apples, a true Christian
law. cannot raise the standard of an apostate or deeply
It has tried to hide its identity when conducting compromised church or association. Contrariwise, it is
the man or woman of God that will always be
evangelistic campaigns. I visited an SDA prophecy corrupted.
conference in Tennessee and the only way one would
know that it was sponsored by the SDA was the Look at Billy Graham. When he first began his
presence of Ellen White’s literature. ecumenical ventures, he claimed that he wanted to use
It often downplays its stranger doctrines, such as “the ecumenism to get the gospel to more people and that
the liberals and Roman Catholics needed the gospel. It
spirit of prophecy” (Ellen White’s role as a prophetess) wasn’t long before his thinking had changed entirely
and Investigative Judgment. In the 1970s I took some and was saying that the liberals and Roman Catholics
correspondence courses offered by the Seventh-day are fine like they are. In a May 30, 1997, interview with
Adventists. In a course designed for the general public, David Frost, Graham said: “I feel I belong to all the
these things were glossed over; whereas in courses churches. I’M EQUALLY AT HOME IN AN ANGLICAN OR
designed for Adventists, they were highlighted. BAPTIST OR A BRETHREN ASSEMBLY OR A ROMAN
The example of the Mormons CATHOLIC CHURCH. ... And the bishops and
The Mormons have whitewashed their early history, archbishops and the Pope are our friends” (David Frost,
hiding the true character of Joseph Smith, his conviction Billy Graham in Conversation, pp. 68, 143). It is Graham
in a court of law for deceiving people with a “peek who has been converted by the dialogue process. He
stone” that he claimed could locate hidden treasure, his admitted, “The ecumenical movement has broadened
adultery, his violence, his false claim that he could read my viewpoint” (Curtis Mitchell, Billy Graham Saint or
ancient languages, etc. Sinner, p. 272).
The Mormons have gotten rid of inconvenient The same is true for Graham’s co-workers. When an
doctrines --such as that which said black people are evangelist said that he did not believe that Catholics are
inferior (they were not allowed into the Mormon true Christians, Graham’s co-laborer “Grady” T.W.
priesthood) and polygamy --by means of new Wilson exclaimed that this is “absolutely wrong”; he
“prophecies.” continued, “...to say they are not Christians--man alive!
The example of the Roman Catholic Church Anybody that receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Rome has re-written its history so that most Catholics Saviour is converted! They’re born again. I believe the
do not know the truth about such things as the brutality Pope is a converted man. I believe a lot of these
and extent of the Inquisition, Rome’s persecution of the wonderful Catholics are Christians” (William Martin, A
Jews, Rome’s curses against Bible believers, and the Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story, p. 461).
moral vileness and greed surrounding the papacy. It has Obviously, Wilson is not asking any hard questions
also downplayed doctrines such as purgatory and about what a person means by believing in Jesus as
indulgences and Mariolatry. “Lord and Saviour.”
Rome adapts itself to any given situation. Today it is This same thing will happen with those who are
becoming more “evangelical” and more “charismatic” dialoguing with Mormons. Do not Mormons also believe
for ecumenical purposes. on Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Of course they do, but
Rome redefines terms, speaking of salvation by only if we allow them to define these things by their
grace, for example, but meaning salvation through own heretical dictionary
sacraments. The ecumenical crowd, which has been busy
dialoguing for half a century and more, has been so
weakened that they can’t even speak out about salvation

424 Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity