NINE HALF TRUTHS ON HEALING is an article in Eternity for May, 1983 by William C. Moore. He discusses nine teachings often heard on the radio and TV. and found in charismatic literature to the effect that God doesn’t want his children to be ill and all sickness can be cured by a strong enough faith. Since there are several programs which preach these half-truths also in Western Michigan many of our people are confronted with them. The author gives sound Biblical answers that could prove helpful to someone tempted to succumb to attractive, but dangerous, teaching about “faith healing.”
THE PERSECUTED CHURCH. The April 1, 1983 issue of Moody Monthly also contains a series of articles on the sufferings of Christians in the world today. There is a brief overview of conditions in Eastern Europe, Russia, The Middle East, Southeast Asia, Central America and Africa. The author (Dick Bohrer) describes conditions in many countries in these regions, giving many statistics on the numbers of believers and the forces that oppose the gospel. There is also an article on “What Suffering Has Wrought In China” by an anonymous writer who reports on impressions from personal observation in China. Only too often we fail to remember the grim facts rehearsed in these articles. They should lead to appreciation of our freedom and fervent prayer for our suffering brothers and sisters.
ROBERT SCHULLER RANKS HIGHEST in size of TV audience among popular religious broadcasters according to a report in The Evangelical Newsletter (3/4/83). According to the new Arbitron ratings the audience size for the five most listened to preachers is:
Schuller’s “Hour of Power” 2,667 ,000; Jimmy Swaggert, 2,653,000; Oral Roberts, 2.4 million; Rex Humbard with 1.8 million and Jerry Falwell with 1.4 million.
A STUDY OF LEADING TELEVISION WRITERS AND HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVES reveals some startling facts as reported in Eternity for May. Researchers Lichter, Rothman and Lichter polled 104 Hollywood professionals and discovered among other facts that 80 percent do not object to homosexual relations, 97 percent favored abortion as a personal choice, and 93 percent do not attend a religious service in a typical month. Two thirds of the group have incomes above $200,000. Religions represented were Jewish (59%), Protestant (25%) and Catholic (12%), but 45% concede they have no present religion. Most serious of all is the fact that 66% believe that TV should be a major force in social reform. The researchers conclude, “According to television’s creators, they are not in it just for the money. They also seek to move their audiences toward their vision of the good society.”
A CONTINENT OF DISCONTENT is the title of an article in Eternity (May/1983) by Mildred Tengbom, a former missionary in Africa and India. She writes about conditions she found in several African countries on a recent trip. On the positive side she reports rapid growth in the number of believers. Ghana is considered at least 40 percent Christian; the Lutheran Church in Tanzania grew from 400,000 in 1967 to nearly a million today. During the past ten years an average of 6.2 million have been joining the Church each year throughout Africa. Over against this she reports the disturbing fact that “vocal Christians in government positions have frequently been found guilty of corruption” and in other ways Christianity has fallen into disrepute. She gives examples of how economic and political fabric of many African countries is rapidly falling apart. Her concluding paragraph is sobering: “Though some expressed· to us the hope that they were only passing through a temporary time of difficulty, one seasoned observer of African politics ventured a different opinion. As Ghana has been a forerunner on the continent in education and technological development, so he wondered if now it was foreshadowing the decay of Africa (and the world?) inevitable when greed and immorality consume a people. Whether or not his prophecy is accurate only time will tell. ”
QUESTIONS FOR ROBERT SCHULER is the title of an article by John MacArthur, Jr. in Moody Monthly for April, 1983. It is an analysis of Schuler’s book Self Esteem –The New Reformation. Before writing this article the author had a telephone conversation with Dr. Schuler and in this connection he reports: “He (Schuler) wanted me to say that he could sign the reformed statement including the doctrine of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.” MacArthur’s reaction to this is: “It is difficult to understand such a claim because he gives only token service to that position (chapter 7) while repeatedly denying it by affirming several mystical, psychological views of salvation. He presents another gospel.” He also says that Schuler told him he does not believe in a verbally inspired or inerrant Scripture, but does affirm it as the basis of conduct. He also asked that he not make final judgments but ask questions. This is what MacArthur does and on the basis of many Scriptural references quite successfully demonstrates how Schuler in his book departs from Biblical truth. The article concludes by quoting from Charles Finney’s famous article titled “Mastering the Art of Preaching so as to Convert Nobody” to show that that is exactly what the popular RCA minister is doing.
COMPANY LOSES TAX EXEMPTION. In its News section Moody Monthly (May/1983) reports that Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., which for. many years bas operated as a non-profit enterprise in the interest of publishing conservative Christian books,. bas lost its tax-exempt status as the result of suit filed by the IRS. This will probably set a precedent that will also affect other non–profit publishers. “The Presbyterian Journal quoted David Netlands, a retired IRS agent, as saying after he reviewed the case, ‘I am now convinced that no publishing company can qualify for the tax exempt status.’”
SPEAKING OF STATISTICS, an item in Christian Renewal (317 /83) informs us that almost half of the population of the Netherlands is unchurched. More than 44% of people there over 16 do not belong to any church and only 22% attend church at least once a week. Members of the Reformed (Hervormde) Church reported that 50% attend less frequently than once a month; 84% of the Gereformeerde Kerken members and 58% of Roman Catholics attend at least once a month. People with the most education tend to be the least faithful in attending church. In Amsterdam 68% of the people are unchurched, while in the center of (largely Roman Catholic) Limburg province the figure is 16%.
THE STATE OF THE CHURCH. In Christian Herald, March, 1983, Warner A. Hutchinson bas a review of the World Christian Encyclopedia edited by Dr. David B. Varrett. In this comprehensive survey of the world-wide Christian Church there are some surprising statistics. One is t hat the church in the Soviet Union tops the church in the United States in percentage of growth. Christians now comprise 32.8 percent of the world’s population of 4.3 billion, for a total of 1,432,700,000. There are 20,000 distinct denominations in at least 150 major traditions! The percentage of Christians to the total world population has declined from 34.4 in 1900 when it reached its peak. While there has been growth in Africa and other continents, in Western Europe and America about three million people a year defect to non-religion and drop out of the church. About half of the Christians are white, but at present trends by 2000 less than 40 percent will be white. There is a known radio listening audience to Christian broadcasts in Russia of 20 million.
A NEW BIBLE? Various magazines have reported the project of a United Methodist task force to revise the Bible and eliminate racist, sexist and ageist language. They recommend that the names “Lord” and “King” be dropped when referring to God because they imply male characteristics. The ten member group suggests that “Father” be replaced by the Aramaic abba which is used sometimes in the New Testament.
ON PREDESTINATION, REPROBATION, AND THE LOVE OF GOD, A POLEMIC is tbe title of an article in The Reformed Journal for February, 1983, by Thomas Talbott, a professor of philosophy at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. In the article he states that he is a member of the Christian Reformed Church . He calls the Calvinistic doctrines about predestination “a form of theological blasphemy,” and defines blasphemy as attributing Satanic qualities to God. He says, “The God of Calvin is a God who chooses not to redeem some he could have redeemed.” The main thrust of his argument is that God commands us to do what he ·does not do himself, namely, to love our enemies. He finds it psychologically impossible to love a God who might not love someone whom he loves as would be the case, for example, if one of his children would be non-elect or a reprobate. The line of thought is reflected in his dosing sentence: “Of this much Cam convinced: When the racist learns, as we all must, to love his neighbor as himself, he will then discover that he is no longer a racist; and, similarly, when t he Calvinist learns to love his neighbor as himself—when John Calvin learns to love Servetus even as he loves himself-he will then discover that he is no longer a Calvinist.”
JIMMY CARTER: MY PERSONAL FAITH IN GOD is the title of a feature article in Christianity Today (3/4/83). The former President has recently written a book entitled Keeping Faith in which he tells some things about his religious commitment. In this interview with a reporter who has written two books about Carter he goes into some detail about his experiences and his witness to prominent world leaders including Edward Gierek of Poland, President P ark of Korea, and Vice President Deng Xiaoping of China. Mr . Carter tells about his spiritual life and his activity in t he Southern Baptist denomination . He has been and still is a Sunday School teacher. Although he is very familiar with the Bible, the theologians he mentioned as having had most influence in his thin king are neo-orthodox such as Reinhold Niebuhr, Barth and Bonhoeffer. He makes some very interesting comments about Begin and Sadat with whom he negotiated the Camp David agreement. He states that Begin is very firm in his belief that Palestine is for the Jews and has no intention of giving non-Jews equal rights in Israel. Carter regarded the presidency as an opportunity to be a servant of the people for Christ’s sake.