A Worldly “Church” Emerging

Quotes compiled by Sandy Simpson:

WYCLIFFE (Bible Translation Mission): “From the outset one has to deal with identifying the name for the Supreme Being, God. This can be difficult and potentially divisive. However, each language and culture appears to have within it a ‘ “homing instinct” for God – deeply buried by the sin and corruption that affects all cultures, yet still there’ (Williams, 2004: n.p.). Each religion has a different understanding of deity that is based upon how the Supreme Being is defined (Thomas, 2001: 305). The characteristics of the local deity must be identified so that it can be determined how these will impact the understanding of God. Is it possible for any language to totally explain the meaning of God? Or is there a need to add further definition or explanation? The challenge is to identify what intrinsic capacity exists within the language that helps provide the meaning of God. (Theological and Cultural issues in Bible Translation, A lay person’s guide to a basic understanding of what is important, Article by Kirk Franklin, Executive Director Wycliffe Australia, http://www.wycliffe.org.au/html/missiological_articles/missiological_article007.htm)

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE (Bible Translation Society) “There is an unwarranted skepticism towards the heathens’ possession, if at all, of a very limited and low knowledge of the divine from the so-called “natural/native religion.” The adoption of a local name for the universal God will facilitate mutual transformation of both Christianity and the native religion and culture.” (God’s Asian Names: Rendering the Biblical God in Chinese, Archie C. C. Lee, SBL Web Site, http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=456)

LEON SIU (Aloha Ke Akua): “So these are clues that we felt God had left (the Hawaiian people) and evidence that He’s left as well as processes He has left in which our Hawaiian people can respond in a very natural way to God and really set things right between them and God. … A few years ago some friends and I were contemplating how we would be able to reach indigenous peoples and we thought that what was prevalent at that time was a misconception among, within the church of God’s presence here in the islands. The misconceptions that, as was expressed earlier, was that God didn’t arrive until the missionaries arrived. You know, and so when we started to look at this we started to look into our culture and see what things within our culture what God had originally intended for this particular group of people, Hawaiians.” (Leon Siu, Aloha Ke Akua, Word to the World with host Danny Lehmann, KLHT, 2001, show #544)

TERRY LEBLANC (World Vision Canada): “There’s a myth that we have labored under for centuries in indigenous communities and the myth is that we are a godless heathen people. … “And yet all brings glory to God in its own special way, and that’s true of human beings and cultures as well. …“God is now calling forth from among the indigenous communities of the world that good deposit which He has made in them of their cultures, their languages, their musical expressions and all that sort of thing … as an expression of praise and worship unto Himself.” ” (Terry LeBlanc, World Vision Canada, Word to the World with host Danny Lehmann, KLHT, 2001, show #542)

RICHARD TWISS (President of Wiconi International), keynote speaker at the 2001 conference, said the land restitution is “the fruit of following traditional indigenous protocol in presenting the redemptive message of faith and hope in Jesus Christ as Healer, Great Spirit and Chief Shepherd of all tribes and nations.” (Richard Twiss, Charisma Magazine, October 2004, http://www.charismamag.com/a.php?ArticleID=9744) Richard Twiss was on the 700 Club show with Gordon Robertson (Pat Robertson’s son) and in an interview he told Gordon that the Great Spirit of the Indians is the same as the Holy Spirit. Robertson heartily agreed. The problem with this idea is that the Great Spirit has no son, and without the son there is no redemption. The Great Spirit required human sacrifices and other atrocities.(http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lehmann2.html)

DANIEL KIKAWA (Aloha Ke Akua): So by finding the native name of God which in, in Japan we found that name Ameno mi-naka-nushi which means the God in the glorious center of heaven and he is their creator God who created everything. And so we found this name of this creator God there, and it immediately says he’s a Japanese God and he loves them.” (Word to the World interview with Daniel Kikawa, Feb. 16, 2006 #9) It is time that Christians reclaimed the many beautiful names of the One Creator God in native languages instead of falling into Satan’s trap and destroying them. We should reclaim those names and wash the dung of corruption off of them instead of giving them up to Satan. We must cast off the corruption that Satan has thrown on the many beautiful names of God in native languages.” … “Instead of destroying and ridiculing the native names of the Creator God, we should help preserve them as a legacy for these peoples. It is their legacy of God’s enduring interest, involvement and care for their culture and people! Christians should cease representing Jesus as the Son of the foreign God of a foreign people, especially if these foreigners had never shown concern for nor had any involvement in the lives or culture of the natives. We should instead introduce Jesus as the Son of their creator God. God lovingly created them in the beginning never left them without a witness and, in his great love for them, even sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for them! (Daniel Kikawa, Perpetuated In Righteousness, pp.26-27 4th ed.)

BILLY GRAHAM (Billy Graham Evangelism Association): They (the heathen) may not even know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in heaven" (Billy Graham, Straightway, September, 1997. The entire article may be received from the author upon request, http://www.foundations.edu/online_material/straightway/1997/vol25_no9.htm). “I used to think that pagans in far-off countries were lost–were going to hell–if they did not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them. I no longer believe that. … I believe there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God–through nature, for instance–and plenty of other opportunities, therefore, of saying yes to God.” (Billy Graham, McCall’s Magazine, 1978)

RICK WARREN (Saddleback Church): (Talking about Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women whom he trains in his seminars) "I’m not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won’t try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?" he asks, citing as his model Billy Graham, "a statesman for Christ ministering across barriers." (Rick Warren in "This evangelist has a ‘Purpose’", by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY, 7/21/2003, http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-07-21-rick-warren_x.htm) “God accepts us unconditionally.” (Rick Warren, Learn to Love Yourself, Ladies Home Journal, March 2005, 36.) Warren cites Henri Nouwen, though the quote does not present anything to be uneasy about, he is not a good source to quote. We find Nouwen is a promoter of contemplative prayer and is a universalist (Purpose Driven Life page 269). On his website “My wife, Kay, recommends this book! In it, Nouwen divides the life of ministry into five categories: teaching, preaching, pastoral care, organizing, and celebrating” (Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey Creative Ministry, http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac23.htm) Rick Warren told an interfaith audience at the 2005 UN Prayer Breakfast that God didn’t care what religion they were, they just needed to add Jesus to their lives, what he meant was that you can stay Hindu, or Buddhist, or Muslim, but you need Jesus. It’s called the New Missiology. It promotes the following ideas: 1. You can keep your own religion – Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism – you just need to add Jesus to the equation. Then you become complete. You become a Buddhist with Jesus, a Hindu with Jesus, a Muslim with Jesus and so on. 2. You can throw out the term Christianity and still be a follower of Jesus. 3. In fact, you can throw out the term Christian too. In some countries, you could be persecuted for calling yourself a Christian, and there is no need for that. Just ask Jesus into your heart, you don’t have to identify yourself as a Christian. (Rick Warren, UN Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, referenced http://simplyagape.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html)

HENRY NOUWEN (Christian/New Age author) “Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God” (Henri Nouwen’s last book p.51, Sabbatical Journey Crossroad publishing Co., New York, 1998, Quoted in a Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac23.htm)

TONY CAMPOLO (The Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education): On a recent edition of CNN’s Crossfire, Tony Campolo refused to say Jesus is the only way to heaven. The panel was discussing events at the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta. Campolo would not answer the question directly but said, "The Apostle Paul says that there are people who have light that is not Christian light, and they will be judged on that basis." In an earlier appearance on PBS’s Charlie Rose, Campolo muddied theological waters by stating, "I am saying that there is no salvation apart from Jesus; that’s my evangelical mindset. However, I am not convinced that Jesus only lives in Christians" (National Liberty Journal, 8/99). CNV News Service, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/campolo.html) “We want to convince the whole human race that there is a God who established the infinite value of every person, who mystically dwells in each person …” (A Reasonable Faith: Responding to Secularism, p. 59). “I do not mean that others represent Jesus for us. I mean that Jesus actually is present in each other person” (ibid. p. 192).

YWAM (Youth With A Mission): The Charisma article noted: "Messianic Muslims, who continue to read the Koran, visit the mosque and say their daily prayers but accept Christ as their Savior, are the products of the strategy which is being tried in several countries." A YWAM staff writer wrote: "They continue a life of following the Islamic requirements, including mosque attendance, fasting and Koranic reading, besides getting together as a fellowship of Muslims who acknowledge Christ as the source of God’s mercy for them… YWAM is also adopting this approach in India, where a team is working with a Hindu holy man." (YWAM in Foundation, May/June 2000, p. 39)

VICTOR KAZANIIAN JR (Episcopal priest): He wrote in Episcopal life Forum, “ We walk side by side, fellow travelers on life’s pathways. I speak of being awakened to the wonder and mystery of the world, using words that reflect my window to the divine, the one whom I call my Lord and my God, Jesus, the Risen Christ. You, too, speak of being awakened to the wonder and mystery of the world, using words that reflect your window, to the divine through the teachings of the Buddha, of Baha’u'llah, of Lord Mahavir, of Muhammad, teachings from the Torah, the Guru Granth Sahib and the Vedas. As I hear you speak and as I look into your eyes, I see God. I feel God. I experience God in you, not just a partial reflection of my Christian God, but the creator, the divine spirit in wham we all live and move and have our being. How magnificent is this divine force that it should appear across the Earth like the flowers of a garden in so many different shapes and hues.” “It is not simply so-called “religious fundamentalists” who practice this exclusivism. No, there is a kind of tolerance of difference preached by liberal church folk, which still clings to a Christocentric world view and becomes apparent when we proclaim our faith using language that devalues the faith of others.” “There is no place for religious exclusivism in Christianity. It has been arguably the single greatest source of human misery during the past two millenniums. It must be replaced by an understanding of the interwovenness of all life, of all religious traditions” (Episcopal life Forum p.20, June 1998)

RODNEY R. ROMNEY (Pastor of Seattle’s First Baptist Church): “He [Jesus] meant to establish a world religion that would embrace every soul and synthesize every creed, and his work will not be consummated until he has done just that.” (Rodney R. Romney Pastor of Seattle’s First Baptist Church. Romney Journey, p. 31.)

MOTHER THERESA (Deceased missionary to India): “I love all religions. … If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there.” She upheld that there are many ways to God’: “All is God–Buddists, Hindus, Christians, etc., all have access to the same God.” (12/4/89 Time, pp. 11, 13)

PETER KREEFT (professor of philosophy at Boston College): “We can and should investigate and learn from the wisdom in other religions” (Peter Kreeft Ecumenical Jihad p.79). “Allah is not another God…we worship the same God”(Peter Kreeft Ecumenical Jihad p.30). “The same God! The very same God we worship in Christ is the God the Jews-and the Muslims-worship.” (Ibid. p. 160)

ROBERT SCHULLER (Crystal Cathedral): “We know the things the major faiths can agree on. We try to focus on those without offending those with different viewpoints, or without compromising the integrity of my own Christian commitment” (USA Today, March 23, 1989.) “It’s time for Protestants to go to the shepherd [Pope]. Schuller has stated “if he came back in 100 years and found his descendants Muslims, it wouldn’t bother him….” (Robert Schuller, comments on the Papal visit, LA, 1987) "The Christ Spirit dwells in every human being, whether the person knows it or not." (Robert Schuller, Possibilities Magazine, Summer 1986, pg.12)

CHUNG HYUN-KYUNG (World Council of Churches leader): She exalted pagan concepts of God (at the WCC Assembly). Of the Holy Spirit Chung said, “Don’t bother the Spirit by calling her all the time. She is working hard with us.” Eighteen times Chung summoned the spirits of the dead who have suffered injustices in the past and claimed that “without hearing the cries of these spirits, we cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.” After calling on the spirits of the dead, Chung said, “I hope the presence of all our ancestors’ spirits here with us shall not make you uncomfortable.” She also summoned “the spirit of Earth, Air, and Water.” (WCC’s Seventh General Assembly that took place in Canberra)

POPE JOHN PAUL II (Deceased pope of the RCC): “He welcomed snake worshipers, fire worshipers, spiritists, animists, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and shamans, was supported and attended by representatives of the World Council of Churches and even evangelicals. Represented there were the YWCA and YMCA, the Mennonite World Conference, the Baptist World Alliance (which includes the Southern Baptist Convention), the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Lutheran World Federation.” (1986 Gathering For Prayer At Assisi, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/jp2.htm)

GEORGE OTIS, JR. (The Sentinel Group – Transformations) “If we accept the premise that Jesus literally purchased, that He literally purchased our salvation with His blood… and He paid the Father… then this approach, first of all portrays God the Father as being vindictive and bloodthirsty and totally incompatible with biblical forgiveness. It also presents another grave difficulty. If Jesus literally paid for our sins with His blood, and a paid debt is no longer a debt, and He died for the sins of the whole world, then we can only come to one conclusion and the theological word for that is Universalism – which means that everybody will be saved” (George Otis Jr., Lecture to YWAM DTS, 1981:lecture 4).

BRIAN MCLAREN (Emerging Church leader): "Jesus seems to say, ‘The kingdom of God doesn’t need to wait until something else happens. No, it is available and among you now…. Invite people of all nations, races, classes, and religions to participate in this network of dynamic, interactive relationships with God and all God’s creation!" … the kingdom of God will be radically, scandalously inclusive. As we’ve seen, Jesus enjoys table fellowship with prostitutes and drunks…. He affirms and responds to the faith of Gentiles—Romans and Syrophonecians and Samaritans." (Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that could change everything (Nashville: Thomas Nelson’s W Publishing Group, 1006), page 74 & 94).) “Universalism is not as bankrupt of biblical support as some suggest,” (Brian McLaren, The Last Word and the Word After That, ( San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), pp. 103 (cf. pp. 182-183) But without question McLaren does hold to the doctrine of inclusivism which teaches that while salvation has been made possible by Jesus Christ, it is not necessary to know who Jesus is or the precise nature of what He has done. (Brian McLaren, The Last Word and the Word After That, ( San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), pp. 103 (cf. pp. 182-183) "It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts,"… "Is our religion the only one that understands the true meaning of life? Or does God place his truth in others too? … The gospel is not our gospel, but the gospel of the kingdom of God, and what belongs to the kingdom of God cannot be hijacked by Christianity" (p. 194). (Brian McLaren, An Emergent Manifesto, Baker Books, referenced http://simplyagape.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html)

BISHOP SPONG (retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark): He is against evangelism and missionary enterprises, the latter being "base-born, rejecting, negative, and yes, I would even say evil" (p. 178). This shocking redefinition of missions as "evil" is associated with his universalism and epistemology that "we possess neither certainty nor eternal truth" (p. 179). (John Shelby Spong, A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being Born, San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2001)

REV. JAMES MORTON (former dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and founder of the Interfaith Center of New York) Mr. Morton, who described himself as “anti-boundaries,” urged the audience to be “the best Muslim, Jew, Buddhist that you can be,” but to explore other religions and cultures as they might explore foreign cuisines. They won’t lose their identities, he said, but “become richer.” (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/an990301.html#26)

JOHN HICKS (former teacher of philosophy at the University of Birmingham) “I now no longer find it possible to proceed as a Christian theologian as though Christianity were the only religion in the world. Surely our thinking must be undertaken, in the “one world” of today and tomorrow, on a more open and global basis” (John Hicks, God and the Universe of Faiths, p. 102.)

WILLIAM SHANNON (Author or Silence On Fire) "[T]here is a oneness in God that unites all women and men … The goal of all true spirituality is to achieve an awareness of our oneness with God and with all of God’s creation." (A Time of Departing, p. 87)

ALAN JONES (Author of Reimagining Christianity) "The Church’s fixation on the death of Jesus as the universal saving act must end, and the place of the cross must be reimagined in Christian faith. Why? Because of the cult of suffering and the vindictive God behind it" (Alan Jones, Reimaging Christianity, p. 132).

NEALE DONALD WALSCH (Christian/New Age author) “There is only one message that can change the course of human history forever, end the torture, and bring you back to God. That message is The New Gospel: WE ARE ALL ONE.” (Neale Donald Walsch, Friendship with God, an uncommon dialogue, 1999 p. 373) “There are a thousand paths to God, and every one gets you there” (Neale Donald Walsch, Friendship with God, an uncommon dialogue 1999, p. 357)

WILLIAM BARCLEY (Christian Universalist) “I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love of God.” (William Barcley, I Am A Convinced Universalist, http://www.tentmaker.org/biographies/barclay.htm)

GREGORY MACDONALD (Author of "The Evangelical Universalist?") “Can an evangelical be a universalist?” In other words, could someone be an evangelical and also believe that one day all people will be saved? If I asked that question of almost any evangelical I know the answer would be a clear and unequivocal, “No!” … So it is with some fear and trepidation that I choose to turn my little fishy nose against the stream and head off in the opposite direction from the majority of my fellow evangeli-fish. I will suggest that the answer to my opening question is actually, “Yes! It is possible to be an evangelical universalist.” Oh, “and would you like to be my friend?”

LEONARD SWEET (Author of Quantum Spirituality and Emerging Church leader) Sweet calls this the Theory of Everything. This theory not only says that all creation is connected but that it is all inhabited with Divinity (God). (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, comment by Tim Wirth, http://simplyagape.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html)

There are many more quotes that could be added to this article and I intend to continue to update it as I discover more. Suffice it to say that Universalism is taking over the churches through movements like the World Gathering on Indigenous People and many leaders in Christianity today.

It is simple to put the notion that Jesus Christ is going to save Jews or Gentiles because they pray to some supreme being to rest according to Scripture. Those who have never known God have no way to have a relationship with Him and cannot be saved unless the Gospel is preached to them. The Bible is clear that Gentiles do not know God, are without God and without hope, are on their way to eternal destruction, and cannot know God until the Gospel is preached to them.

Ac 4:12 Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Joh 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.

1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Ga 4:8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.

2 Thes. 1:8-9: “ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”

Eph. 2:11-13: “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”

Rom. 10:14-15: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"