This article is brought to you compliments of:
HIS BOARD -- (805) 652-1478
Sysop: Bob Harris
THE STORY OF THE ALEXANDRIAN CULT
ARTICLE FOUR
As noted previously, "The road to hell is paved with
good intentions." Intentions to give a "more accurate
translation" or to "make the passage clearer" or to clear up
"obscure or archaic words" sound like beautiful INTENTIONS.
The road to hell is paved with beautiful intentions: There
isn't one NEGATIVE THING INVOLVED IN EVE'S FALL (Genesis
3:6). The "tree" is good on three counts and bad on none,
yet it damns the human race (Romans 5).
What I am saying is that no good, godly, "dedicated"
man who believed in the "verbal plenary inspiration of the
originals" is to be followed where the OLD NATURE in that man
is purposely leading others to SIN by LYING about authority.
No one should follow Simon Peter's example in Galatians Two,
although Peter was more "godly" than any Greek professor a
student ever sat under. Neither should anyone follow Paul's
example in Acts Twenty-one--he lost two years of his ministry
(Acts 24:27)--although he had a hold of more "verbally,
plenarily inspired originals" than any professor ever saw in
a lifetime. No one is to follow the advice of a saved man (1
Kings 13) simply because he SAYS that God said something when
He didn't say it.
1. The issue is not godliness or reputation.
2. The issue is not service or fruitfulness in the
ministry.
3. The issue is not the character of the witness.
4. The issue is not the reputation of the school or
faculty.
5. The issue has never been and never will be the
"fundamentals."
6. The issue has nothing to do with what anyone
THINKS.
7. The issue has nothing to do with grammar,
education, or talent.
The issue is FINAL AUTHORITY.
Where TWO FINAL AUTHORITIES are recommended (see any
correspondence on the matter of final authority by any
leading Fundamentalist in this century) the motive for
recommending them is that the "recommender" be accepted as
superior to EITHER. The motive is carnal and fleshy; it
comes from the old nature in the believer; and it is not to
be admired, respected, tolerated, or imitated.
When the Alexandrian Cult began the practice of
establishing dual authorities for the New Testament, they
began to develop the "curriculum" or "implications" which
survive to this day in the classrooms of Midwestern, Hyles-
Anderson, Fort Worth, Pensacola Christian College, Liberty,
and Springfield. This "curriculum" consists of a series of
facts or PARTIAL facts listed APART from their background and
future history, and spoken (or written) in as to produce the
maximum amount of INFIDELITY in the reader (or student) in
regard to absolute authority. I will list the most common of
these used by the faculty members of "Fundamental" or
"Orthodox" or "evangelical" schools (the cult controls all
three sufficiently well) to get the student to reject THE
AUTHORITY OF THE WORD OF GOD:
1. "King James was egotistical; therefore..."
2. "Erasmus was a Catholic; therefore..."
3. The AV does not match all of its editions word for
word; therefore..."
4. "Some words in the AV are archaic; therefore..."
5. "The TEXTUS RECEPTUS was printed after the AV;
therefore..."
6. "The AV translators didn't claim inspiration;
therefore..."
7. "We have found OLDER MANUSCRIPTS; therefore..."
8. "Westcott and Hort were `conservatives';
therefore..."
9. "The Russian and Chinese had no AV until 1800;
therefore..."
10. "The RSV and NEB were translated by Liberals;
therefore..."
11. "Godly men recommend the ASV and the New ASV;
therefore..."
12. "Over 36,000 changes in text didn't altar the
`fundamentals'; therefore..."
13. "If a Bible contains the `fundamentals,' it is
reliable; therefore..."
Observe in all this that the "facts" are presented to
produce implications. First of all, dual authorities were
recommended to water down and weaken absolute authority, and
then a curriculum was erected to get students not only to
take that authority lightly but eventually to ABANDON it.
This is how apostasy begins. This is the motive
behind Bible rejection, and it doesn't vary once in the
history of apostasy. All apostates begin with TWO
AUTHORITIES, and wind up with no authority but tradition and
their own opinion. Every UNSAVED LIBERAL AND LOST MODERNIST
in the National Council of Churches began his defection by
taking some man's word OVER THE AUTHORITY OF A BOOK WHICH HE
HAD IN HIS HAND AND WHICH HE COULD READ. There isn't one
unsaved liberal in the eighteeneth century (English Deism and
German Rationalism) who ever was concerned or upset with any
theory about how ANY Bible was written. When he rejected the
"fundamentals," he rejected them as they were found IN THE
BIBLE THAT HE READ.
Is THAT clear?
How is it then that Gaussen, Smith, Rice, Wuest,
Zodhiates, and the "World Congress of Fundamentalism" kidded
suckers into thinking the issue was the "ORIGINALS"? The
"originals" don't figure as the main issue one time in the
history of the church from 325 A.D. to 1900.
Someone is giving a "graffted act."
Now who could it be? (Genesis 3:1)
Origen and Clement accepted PHILOSOPHY as the
competing authority with the Bible they READ. Iraeneus and
Eusebius accepted TRADITION as the competing authority with
the Bible they READ. Augustine and Jerome accepted TRADITION
and the Church Fathers as the competing authority with the
Bible they READ. The Popes and Colleges of Cardinals
accepted TRADITION and SUPERSTITION as the competing
authority with the Bible they READ. Aquinas, Abelard,
Anselm, and Peter Lombard accepted PHILOSOPHY and TRADITION
as competing with the Bible they READ. No man in the list
worried two minutes about any unattainable "originals." No
heretic or apostate from 200 A.D. on, ever had to deny or
affirm "verbal inspiration of the original" to be a heretic
or an apostate. NEITHER HERESY NOR APOSTASY BEGIN THAT WAY.
They begin by denying what God said (Genesis 3:1) and by
accepting an equal authority as "reliable" because they
"prefer" it (Genesis 3:3-4).
Westcott and Hort accepted TRADITION and IMAGINATION
as competing authorities with the Bible they READ. Schaff
and A.T. Robertson accepted EDUCATION and GRAMMAR as
competing authorities with the Bible they READ. Joe Smith
accepted Moroni's "golden plates"; Mary Baker Eddy, the
"Key"; and Nestle and Metzger, DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM and
HALLUCINATIONS as equal authority with the Bible they READ.
And on it goes into the night.
Where a man recommends TWO AUTHORITIES, the purpose
he has in mind is to eliminate one or both of them. (See
Machiavelli's "The Prince".) "Divide and conquer." If the
two disagree (compare Acts 8 and 9 in any new "bible" with
the same chapters in the AV), the SCHOLAR or the SCHOOL or
the CHURCH (Rome has always acted as a final authority for
her followers) must decide which is right or tell the
follower to "MAKE UP HIS OWN MIND," in which case the
follower is indebted to the school or scholar for
"liberating" him FROM THE WRITTEN AUTHORITY OF GOD ALMIGHTY
AND FOR SETTING UP THE INDIVIDUAL AS HIS OWN GOD. Eve all
over again (Genesis 3).
Article number five will discuss the thirteen
misleading "facts" listed above and show the student the
MOTIVE behind their construction and the result of taking
them at face value without investigation (Proverbs 14:15).