This sub-christian counterfeit is holding on too well to be ignored. Robert Schuler says he has more comfort when gathered with Unitarians than he does with Fundamentalists. Unity is not only a cult of Christianity-- It is also a habitation of every filthy bird from the New AGe and Witchcraft. We start the page with a letter from a reader of The Watchman Journal.
A LETTER REGARDING UNITARIANISM
Return-Path: <timbarbaho@msn.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 97 02:12:45 UT
From: "Timothy Aho" <timbarbaho@msn.com>
To: "Timothy Aho" <timbarbaho@msn.com>
Subject: The Unitarian Creed
X-UIDL: 1d069e00e572b60c00ad0a343e1a5bea
Dear Watchmen,
At a recent meeting I spoke with a "Biblical" Unitarian minister who distinguished his creed from the Unitarian Universalist position, which believes in the universal salvation of mankind. The minister made the statement that the Bible contains neither a verse that Jesus Christ is God nor that God is a Trinity. I found in my King James, I Timothy 3:16 ("And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…") and I John 5:7, (For there are three which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.). These verses, however, he declared to be mistranslations.
Referring to his New Testament Greek Text (the Westcott-Hort Greek Text underlying modern versions), the minister explained the true Greek translations of these verses: I Timothy 3:16 should read "He who" instead of "God" and I John 5:7 was not in the "original manuscripts." (The church fathers were not Trinitarians, he said.) I shared with him my research on Westcott and Hort as to their involvement in occult societies, which he agreed was abhorrent. However, this conflict of interest did not discourage him from continuing to advance Unitarian doctrines using the Westcott-Hort Greek Text.
I learned that, in the Unitarian view, being the "Son" of God does not qualify Jesus as "God," that Jesus was not the "eternally begotten" Son but born in TIME, and that the Spirit of God is an "emanation" from God rather than a "Person." I expressed my opinion that his theology seemed to be a reflection of the corrupted Greek New Testament which he was reading.
This minister had left the Worldwide Church of God (which recently abandoned its Unitarian doctrines for orthodox Christian doctrine) and now belongs to the Church of God General Conference which maintains the Unitarian position. He directs a Bible College in Atlanta, hosts a call-in radio program, and maintains a web site: <http://www.mindspring.com/~anthonybuzzard> This web site mentions that the minister was a nominee for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. John Templeton is a New Age millionaire who gives $1 million dollars annually at the Parliament of World Religions to an individual distinguished for promoting the unification of world religions. Other recipients of this ecumenical apiano coversd are blip (1982), Charles Colson (1993) and Bill Bright (1996). On March 23, 1996, the Fundamental Baptist New Service issued a report which named other recipients:
"The Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion never honors those who are standing uncompromisingly for the Faith once delivered to the saints. It apiano coversds apostasy, paganism, and ecumenism. Mother Teresa won the first Templeton Prize in 1973. Catholic Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens was apiano coversded the prize in 1976. The founder of the world's largest Buddhist lay organization, Nikkyo Niwano, was the 1979 winner. The 1985 Templeton Prize went to marine biologist Alister Hardy, who believes religion is an advantage in the evolutionary survival of the human species. Modernist James McCord, retired president of Princeton Seminary, received the prize in 1986.
In 1987 the winner was Dr. Stanley Jaki, a Roman Catholic priest who was cited for his attempts to bridge the gap between faith and religion. Other winners have included Unitarian Ralph Burhoe; the Dalai Lama; pacifist United States blip Mark Hatfield; Dr. Inamullah Khan, secretary-general of the World Muslim Congress; Chiara Lubich, the Italian Roman Catholic who founded the Focolare Movement; and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former president of India, who was apiano coversded for his contribution to Hinduism."
The Committee for the 1881 English Revised Version included a Unitarian whom B.F. Westcott invited to a communion service at Westminster Abbey. The presence of Dr. G. Vance Smith occasioned the resignation of the committee chairman and undoubtedly influenced the translation of the English Revised Version to support Unitarian doctrine. B.F. Westcott also founded a Theological College, Westcott House, for the training of Anglican priests in the ecumenical tradition. This college which welcomes all religious traditions can be found on the Internet at: http://www.ely.anglican.org/westcott/index.html
My recent experience with the Unitarian minister confirmed that the alteration of verses containing doctrine in the Westcott and Hort Greek Text was for the purpose of producing ecumenical translations which would replace the KJV -- which contains doctrinally narrow and exclusive verses such as I Tim. 3:16 and I John 5:7.
Another minister at the meeting -- Rev. Jack Cascione from the Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod -- spoke on the increasing pressure on denominations to discard the exclusive doctrines of Christianity. He expressed great frustration over an invasion of Fuller Theological Seminary graduates, whose designs it would seem are to remove from Lutheran churches the hymn books, prayer and worship books, doctrinal creeds and even the denominational name.
Instead of traditional hymn books which contain much Bible doctrine, local churches are urged to worship using the generic, non-doctrinal praise choruses. Lutheran churches are also encouraged to drop their denominational name (which might deter people from attending) and adopt the more general "Community Church" or "People's Church," which stands for no particular set of beliefs.
The most outrageous attempt to sabotage sound doctrine was the introduction by one minister in Rev. Cascione's Michigan district of a "new creed," which omitted references to the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Trinity -- the very doctrines I noted were rejected by the Unitarian minister. Rev. Cascione refused to sign this new creed or to partake of a communion service following the signing by many ministers. Instead he sent this modernized creed to the hierarchy of the Mormon church with a letter inquiring as to whether the two churches might enjoy fellowship based upon such a creed. He received a piano coversm reply that fellowship was indeed possible and desirable on the basis of this ecumenical creed. However, the Mormon leaders stated they would never consent to fellowship on the basis of the previously held Nicene Creed, whose central doctrines are the divinity of Jesus Christ and Person of the Holy Spirit.
"I believe the Bible" is probably the most often repeated confession which is heard in the church today. However, it is not a confession of faith which separates a true Christian from a Unitarian, Mormon or Jehovah Witness who says the same thing but means something entirely different -- as did the "Biblical" Unitarian minister mentioned earlier. It is true that the Nicene Creed, which is reprinted below as it appears in the Lutheran Book of Worship, was a product of the 4th century ecumenical councils. However, the fact that even these basic doctrines are being removed from 20th century church creeds, and in many churches all creeds are discarded, indicates a major shift away from sound doctrine. The apostle Paul prophesied such an apostasy in I Timothy 4:3 -- "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine..."
Blessings in Christ,
Barbara Aho
Watch Unto Prayer
timbarbaho@msn.com
http://watch.pair.com/pray.html
The Nicene Creed, ICET Translation
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
By the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.