ISLAM: What The West Needs To Know

Please sit back, relax, and click on the title above to watch and listen to this 98-minute, documentary film about Islam as a religious/political system.  I cannot recommend this film too highly. Hopefully, you will also be shocked by the astounding similarities between Islam and many religious cults in our society today (perhaps you belong to one now or have in the past). This interesting, factual film will answer most of the following questions and many more:

• What is the literal meaning of the word "Jihad"?
• Why are there frequently more Muslim volunteers to go on a Jihad than electronic equipment, explosives, backpacks, and vests available? Does going on a Jihad prove one's ultimate devotion and loyalty to Islam?
• Does Islam allow or encourage lying, under certain circumstances, about their belief system?  How subtle is their deception?
• What is the only possible way (in Islamic teaching) for any Muslim to have complete assurance of his or her salvation?  Is the "martyred"Jihadist's instant paradise of a sensual nature?
• Why do American and European political leaders rally around Islam by frequently calling it a "peace-loving" religion?
• Why do our politicians (of every party and stripe) refer to Christ-followers as a "misdirected" and even "dangerous" people if they do not appreciate and extol the Islamic religion?
• What were the seven "Crusades"  about from 1095-1291 AD? Why did Muslims close off Christian holy sites for pilgrimages to Palestine in the first place?
• How did northern Africa, a bastion of  early Christianity, become overwhelmingly Muslim?
• How moral or ethical was Mohammad in his personal life?  Is he worthy of adoration and emulation today as Islam teaches?
• Does so-called "multiculturalism" and "interculturalism" require the extolling of the Islamic religious/political system to avoid the label of bigotry or religious intolerance? 
• Is the Muslim god the same as the Christian God? Answer: The Muslim god is not the triune God that Christians worship, and their Jesus (a prophet only) did not die upon the cross as our Savior and Substitute. Truly, they do not love and worship the same God that Christians do.
• Why does Islam treat its women so badly?
• Do Islamic countries enter into peace treaties with the "infidels"?  If so, under what conditions?
• What  is the difference between the Islamic Koran and Hadith?
• What does Islam teach about the treatment of "infidels" and "Jews"?
• Is the only way to have lasting peace with Muslims to convert to their religion?  Is the threat and reality of death an option in Islamic conquest?
• Are the many contradictory statements of Mohammad (as with Ellen White) settled by simply believing in the later directives? Do the latter statements somehow negate and overrule the earlier ones?  If so, how does this interpretative model compare with Scripture?  Answer:  Yes, supposedly, in the case of Mohammad, but Ellen White's earliest visions and written words reportedly came directly from the throne of God. Thus, she did not have the same  luxury of maturing in her belief system as other religious writers did. She claimed her earliest writings were just as "inspired" as her later ones. Moreover, the writings attributed to Ellen White and Mohammad cannot be compared to Scripture in any way because they are not inspired (meaning "God-breathed").  In his excellent book, entitled Explaining Inerrancy, Dr. R. C. Sproul adds: "What is overcome or overridden by inspiration is not human personality, style or literary structure, but human tendencies to distortion, falsehood, and error."
• Did both Ellen White, the SDA prophetess, and the Prophet Mohammad predict that in the latter days their writings would be exposed and no longer believed by many of their devotees?  Answer:  Yes!  Apparently, they shared the same spirit guide.
• Does both Islam and Seventh-day Adventism have a similar "health message"?  If so, why do Muslims dislike Adventists so intensely? Answer:  Due to their observance of the Jewish Sabbath, Muslims think of them as "Christian Jews." (simply click on title to hear this factual presentation)

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

THE URANTIA BOOK

A Critique by Dennis Fischer

Throughout its controversial history, Seventh-day Adventism has fathered numerous, unsavory offspring (i.e., the infamous Branch Davidians, the Shepherd's Rod, the Pilgrim's Rest, Strong City, etc.). However, it is most likely that you have never read The Urantia Book (click title above) nor heard of the Urantia Foundation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois USA.  This quasi-religious organization seems to appeal largely to the intellectual, unchurched community.  Thus, the far-reaching tentacles of Adventism continue to subtly confuse and deceive the world.  Moreover, it is not surprising to find the basic tenets of Arminianism, in stark contrast to Calvinism, taught in The Urantia Book.


It is claimed that The Urantia Book was assembled and prepared for publication, in the early 1950s, by a select closed group (called "revelators") who took a vow of secrecy in regard to its authorship. The Urantia Foundation, like the SDA White Estate, serves as an apologist, custodian, copyright holder, and publisher. They insist that "student visitors" or "celestial beings" while enroute from one universe and planet to another, visited our planet and miraculously inspired and/or wrote various papers that later became The Urantia Book. This lack of forthright disclosure is akin to no author being listed for the articles found in Watchtower magazines as well. Not knowing the names of the authors in a book or magazine creates a sense of mystery and suspense that enthralls many readers.


The subject matter of The Urantia Book is much like the content in the writings attributed to Ellen G. White, the Seventh-day Adventist messenger and prophetess. The Urantia Book deals with unbiblical views like a person can overcome evil by simply choosing to do good (an Arminian and/or Semi-Pelagian stance common in Adventist dogma), Jesus is not the Eternal Son, making Jesus primarily an Exemplar instead of a Substitute, sensational commentary about  the so-called "lost years" of Jesus' life, supposed additional "insights" into many Bible stories, alleged extensive travel destinations of Jesus while on earth, etc. This book reads a lot like something Ellen White would have said. While researching The Urantia Book, I was constantly reminded of Ellen White, the SDA visionary.


Although denied by the Urantia Foundation, it is no secret that Dr. William S. Sadler (1875-1969), a friend and colleague of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943), a health food salesman, the author of 42 books, a winsome orator/lecturer, and an employee (beginning at the age of 14) of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, initially wrote and directed the overall content of The Urantia Book. Apparently, Dr. Sadler was convinced that he could compete with the religious fiction of Ellen White. Raised in an Adventist home and later becoming an ordained professor at a SDA theological school in San Francisco, Dr. Sadler developed a dim view of Ellen White's alleged gift of prophecy. 


Also, Dr. William Sadler married Dr. John Kellogg's neice, Lena Celestia Kellogg. For its devotees,The Urantia Book is also available in a luxurious, genuine-leather binding. Various groups of people (study groups) around the world still meet together to discuss, ponder, and teach the "Urantia papers." A new online study course is also available (click the title above for a closer look at the Urantia Foundation). Lena and William Sadler, both physicians, had lengthy and well-respected medical careers in the city of Chicago--often helping the underprivileged. Dr. Sadler, as a psychiatrist, taught pastoral counseling to theology students at the McCormick Theological Seminary for 25 years, and he was also a faculty member of the University of Chicago. 


All in all, the content of The Urantia Book is most bizarre and unbiblical, and it is translated into many languages. It is not astounding to discover that its strange, extra-biblical revelations from so-called "superhumans" are the direct consequence of its initial link to Seventh-day Adventism. After Dr. Sadler crossed swords with Ellen White, he launched his own career into writing religious fiction. Obviously, two wrongs do not make a right. The core problem is the fact that both Sadler and White vigorously denied teaching a false gospel. Many sincere people are sincerely wrong, and sincerity itself does not denote biblical truth.


Someone aptly stated that "man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true." This is why the inspired writers of the New Testament spent so much time and effort in exposing the heresies of their day and those yet looming in the future. In Galatians 1:8-9, the Apostle Paul twice pronounced a curse upon those who preach anything contrary to the Gospel that he preached. There is a notable and recognizable common thread that weaves together all cultic organizations. Satan has many, clever ways in an attempt to mislead every segment of humanity. Truly, those who are intent upon accurate answers will no longer identify themselves with a toxic-faith system.

courtesy of 

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

NO ONE WILL BE BORN OR DIE IN SAMOA THIS FRIDAY

www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/28/144385201/there-will-be-no-friday-this-week-in-samoa?ps=cprs

www.fijitimes.com/print.aspx?id=189586

www.jta.org/news/article/2011/12/30/3090969/samoa-calendar-change-impacts-sabbath-but-affects-few

What a major challenge for Samoan Seventh-day Adventists who may belong to the same Sabbath School class but live on opposite sides of the man-made International Date Line!  They will be required, only hours from now, to choose between two different "sabbaths" (Saturday or Sunday). Interestingly, as the second link above reports, Samoan Adventists will now have two Sabbaths.  This unique dilemma confirms yet again that the Mosaic Sabbath was intended to be observed only in the region of Palestine.


Moreover, in northern Alaska, Norway, Russia, and many other Polar areas the weekly Sabbath cannot be observed from sunset to sunset.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the SDA Church finds it impossible to publish a weekly sunset calendar for those regions. Oh yes, don't forget to read Rabbi Heber's advice (click on third link above) about the Sabbath (Shabbat) dilemma in Samoa and neighboring Tokelau. 


Interestingly, both Ellen White and Rabbi Heber agree that people should not live in areas of the world where weekly Sabbath observance is impossible.  Rabbi Heber even recommends that Sabbath-observant Jews should avoid traveling to these island nations. With this unique turn of events, the latest polls indicate that the vast majority of Samoan Seventh-day Adventists will transition to Sunday as their new day of worship. However, there are a few dissenters who have organized an independent movement.  This development is somewhat akin to the SDA underground movement that existed in the former Soviet Union.


Unlike the festal, weekly Sabbath that is impossible to observe in many regions of the world, an authentic "moral" law can be properly obeyed anywhere on this planet (24/7), every nanosecond of time, and not merely once a year, season, month, or week. Truly, God's righteous standards are not applicable or binding in merely an occasional or sporadic manner.  Moreover, God's righteous standards can be faithfully obeyed on a space station and even by an astronaut orbiting the earth.


With Samoan Adventists and non-Adventists finally worshiping on the same day, how will this impact SDA evangelism? Will their "Sabbath School" be renamed as Sunday School? Will so-called "Sunday-keepers" no longer be derided as the "whores of Babylon" and as "apostate Protestants"?  Will the "Mark of the Beast" still be inflicted upon those who worship on the Lord's day? Truly, those who still insist upon observing any shadow, pointing to the Redeemer, are actually diminishing the glory, majesty, and reality of Jesus Christ, the true Sabbath Rest (Matthew 11:28-30).  When Jesus died, the Sabbath died (Colossians 2:16-17).


Resting in Him,


Dennis Fischer

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com

CALCULATING CHRISTMAS: The Story Behind December 25

by William J. Tighe
Associate Professor of History 
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, Pennsylvania USA


This informative, five-page article first appeared in the December 2003 issue of Touchstone magazine (click on title above to read). In regard of this article, the following three examples verify anew the zealous strategies of non-Christians in striving to compete with Christmas, Christian academia, and a Christ-centered dating system:


1.  BC-AD versus BCE-CE: As an anti-historical act, the ultimate purpose of a BCE-CE (meaning "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era" respectively) alternative dating system is an attempt to make chronological dates more palatable to non-Christians.  This competing dating system is confusing at best. Moreover, it is promoted to appeal largely to the egos of the intellectual community as an "in-house" vocabulary.  They further argue that only 1 in 3 persons on this planet is a Christian, so they don't deserve a majority view. 


However, since there is no so-called "Common Era" in history, Common dating does not exist.  All in all, their dating system attempts to diminish the glory and majesty that belongs to Jesus Christ. Thus, with such an alternative, non-Christians supposedly do not even have to think about or be reminded of God the Son when dealing with historical time frames.  Such proponents, however, fail to realize or to give credit to Christianity for establishing the university and hospital systems that we highly appreciate and respect today. Therefore, Christians are not uninformed nor ignorant crackpots after all.


Truly, Christianity has transformed civilization, and Satan is not pleased with the results.  Alvin Schmidt, in his excellent book entitled "Under the Influence," correctly stated that, "Unlike the leaders of so many other religious movements, Jesus was no political figure; he had no connection with Herod or the Sanhedrin; he took no political action; his disciples were relatively uneducated.  Yet he conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Mohammed, and Napoleon put together.  It all happened because his message and his physical resurrection transformed his early followers, who did not pick up the sword to defend themselves even during brutal persecutions, but rather went about spreading his love and the need for his forgiveness by word and deed to all--regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, poverty, or wealth."


2.  Feast of Dedication:  The apostle John, in John 10:22-39,  indicates that Jesus attended a Hanukkah (meaning "dedication" in Hebrew) festival of lights in Jerusalem. This festival is based upon Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrating the Temple in numerous ways and even requiring that pigs be sacrificed to Zeus, by a Hellenistic priest, upon the altar as an utter insult against Judaism. Moreover, under the oppression of Antiochus IV, Jews were forced to eat unclean animals, scrolls of the Torah were destroyed, weekly Sabbath observance was halted, Temple gold was stolen, and male circumcision was forbidden. When the Temple was restored and rededicated, after three years of intensive abomination and desolation, there was only one flask of untainted oil left for the large menorah candelabrum to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days. This miracle gave them the additional time to provide a fresh supply of pure olive oil.


It is traditional for Jews to eat foods fried or baked in oil (preferably olive oil) during those festive days to highlight the oil miracle.  Unfortunately, SDA apologists desperately try to overlook the importance of this festival due to their faulty interpretation of Daniel 8:14.  Truly, it is safe to say that if William Miller had known biblical Hebrew there would never have been a Seventh-day Adventist.  Although Hanukkah has nothing to do with gift exchanging, but due to Jewish children being jealous of Christian children, many Jewish families now exchange gifts to somewhat compete with the grandeur of Christmas.


3. Kwanzaa: A Swahali term that denotes a week-long celebration that has become the newest attempt to mimic or replace Christmas.  Starting the very next day after Christmas, this latest celebration consists of carefully arranging mats, altars, lights, and fruit to honor a distinctive African culture.  Indeed, Christmas has an ever-increasing competition from an assortment of events that attempt to mimic its traditions.   The ultimate result, whether intentional or unintentional,  diminishes  the glory and majesty that belongs to Jesus Christ.  With these contemporary examples, it should not surprise us to learn that non-Christians have utilized similar strategies many centuries ago in regard to Christmas.  This fact is just opposite of what Seventh-day Adventism teaches about this festive season and the origin of the Lord's Day (Resurrection Sunday).


Feliz Navidad!  During this special time of the year, you can appreciate anew the dynamic voices of  the Three Tenors; namely, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavorotti that are easily accessible online.  I want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS (Froliche Weihnachten) from the bottom of my heart. In spite of all the commercialization and the non-Christian competing factors of Christmas, Jesus Christ is still the reason for this festive season around the world. Indeed, this world is a better and brighter place as a result of Christmas. Wise men still adore Him! George W. Truett aptly stated: "Christ was born in the first century, yet He belongs to all centuries.  He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races.  He was born in Bethlehem, yet He belongs to all countries." Soli Deo Gloria!


--Dennis Fischer 

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

GEMS OF GRACE

Man's original capacities included both the power not  to sin and the power to sin (posse non peccare et posse peccare).  In Adam's original sin, man lost the "posse non peccare" (the power not to sin) and retained the "posse peccare" (the power to sin) which he continues to exercise.  In the fulfillment of grace, man will have the "posse peccare" taken away and receive the highest of all, the power not to sin (non posse peccare).  This highest state, in itself, is worthy of our eager anticipation. The ultimate reward of the saints is not a so-called "Eden restored" where  temptation toward disobedience existed,  but rather eternal bliss without the ability to sin.


The late Martyn Lloyd-Jones aptly stated that "Many are in trouble simply because they do not realize the truth concerning the new birth...Nothing is more glorious than the doctrine of the rebirth; and this is obviously the work of God in us through the Spirit.  We do not give birth to ourselves, we are not born because we believe.  We believe because we are reborn."  Moreover, our awesome God never unadopts us from His wonderful family.  Once reborn, we cannot become unreborn (John 10:27-29). Thankfully, His elect are never treated like foster children who worry about being forsaken at any moment.


Due to our fallen state, we are not merely partly or mostly dependent upon Christ for our conversion but totally dependent upon Him.  The state of original sin leaves us in the wretched condition of being unable to refrain from sinning.  We are still able to choose what we desire, but our desires remain chained by our evil impulses. Thus, in the flesh, we are free only to sin, a hollow freedom indeed. It is a freedom without liberty, a real moral bondage.  True liberty can only come from without, from the work of God on the soul.  All in all, we are not partly or mostly dependent upon His saving grace for our conversion (regeneration) but totally dependent upon grace. It's all about Him!  Soli Deo gloria!


In awe of the guilt-removing, sin-atoning sacrifice of Jesus,




Dennis Fischer, Web Chaplain
E-mail: dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF JAMES

Various Bible students are somewhat puzzled with key passages found in the letter of James (notably in chapters 1 and 2). James' phrase "faith without works is dead" is not contrasting two methods of salvation (faith versus works).  Instead, James is contrasting two kinds of faith: living faith that saves and dead faith that does not.  James' teaching perfectly complements Paul's writings. The spiritual fruit that James talks about simply demonstrates the true faith of which Paul wrote. Indeed, salvation is determined by faith alone (Eph. 2:8, 9) and demonstrated by faithfulness to obey God's will alone (Eph. 2:10). Just as professed compassion without action is phony, the kind of faith  that is without works is empty profession, not genuine saving faith.


The Law of God is not a series of detached injunctions but a basic unity that requires perfect love of Him and neighbors (Matt. 22:36-40). Although all sins are not equally damaging or heinous, they all shatter that unity and render people transgressors, much like hitting a window with a hammer at only one point will shatter and destroy the whole window.  James' phrase "guilty of all" (James 2:10) is not in the sense of having violated every  command, but in the sense of having violated the Law's unity.  One transgression makes fulfilling the Law's most basic commands--to love God perfectly and to love one's neighbor as oneself--impossible. James is thereby referring to the injunction (Great Commandment) of Jesus and the Shema found in Matthew 22 and Deuteronomy 6 respectively.  


What is the "royal law" (James 2:8) and "the perfect law, the law of liberty" (James 1:25; 2:12)?  The phrase "royal law" translates better as "sovereign law." The idea is that this law is supreme and binding. The context of James 2 clearly indicates that James is referring to God's righteous standards as expressed in His Law (verses 8, 11). It is important to understand that not all of the 613 laws of the Torah had the same importance, purpose, and weight. These 613 laws have been historically categorized as containing moral, ceremonial, judicial, civic, and agricultural injunctions (the latter four are passe, the first category still applies as verified repeatedly in the NT). In other words, the ethics of the Old Testament Law are the same as those of the New Testament Gospel. The "law of  Christ" (Gal. 6:2) is the law of love which fulfills the entire law (love toward God and neighbors).


The Apostle Paul affirms that the Law is "holy and righteous and good" as God Himself is. Again, the context of Romans 7 clearly refers to the ethical or moral injunctions of the Decalogue (verse 7). Since the Ten Commandments are considered a basic summary of the 613 laws of the Torah or Pentateuch, it should not surprise anyone to find a ceremonial or ritual law in the mix (i.e., the Fourth Commandment with its weekly showbread and extra sacrificing requirements). Indeed, without any ritual elements, the Decalogue would not be a representative summation of the entire Law. It is noteworthy that the other nine commandments are in effect 24/7 (every nanosecond of  time) and not merely once a week. Moreover, God's ethical (moral) standards are not  in force  just  intermittently or sporadically.  


Let us, like David and Paul,  delight in God's Law with our "inner being" (verse 22) or spirit.  After all, what is there not to like about God's righteous standards?  Even without a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, God's revealed will in His Word would still be best for our lives. The fact that the law reveals, arouses, and condemns sin, bringing death to the sinner, does not mean that the law is evil.  Rather, the law is a perfect reflection of God's holy character and the standard for believers to please Him.  In contrast to the claims of SDA apologists, the Bible nowhere implies nor teaches that only ethical or moral directives are found in the Decalogue.   


Unfortunately, some former Adventists and others have developed an aversion to God's Law due to their intense abuse from legalism. Legalism, which is the misuse of the law,  messes up a lot of people. Consequently, they sometimes embrace so-called "Christ-centered" or "Spirit-led" antinomianism (read the concise article by J. I. Packer entitled "Antinomianism" in this blog).  In the truest sense, all exhortations in Scripture are a form of law. Two wrongs never make a right.   In this information age, there has been a dramatic upswing in biblical literacy throughout the world. Soli Deo Gloria!


It is not an overstatement to say that Seventh-day Adventism has not prepared us to accurately and  biblically decipher the religious landscape surrounding us. The result is too often akin to leaping from one frying pan into yet another one. However, in the miracle of regeneration, God opens our hearts (like happened to Lydia, the seller of purple) and gives us a teachable spirit that corrects our past errors. It takes a lot of humility to admit being wrong about the most important things in life--especially to one's adult children who were taught a false gospel from early childhood. Indeed, saving faith has the important element of obedience. James aptly depicts the obedience of faith.  Getting the Gospel right should be our top priority. Moreover, teaching "sound doctrine" is a biblical mandate (Titus 2).  Satan doesn't mind our leaving a cult or a false gospel if we join yet another one or create our own.

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com

CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

Are you puzzled about buying meaningful Christmas gifts for your friends and family? Since books are like friends, we can't have too many good ones.  Take a look at the vast array of Christian books (including children's books) available at www.monergismbooks.com at reasonable prices. It may be time to get yourself and others a new Bible as well. God walked down the staircase of heaven with a Baby in His arms.  How awesome to reflect anew upon our incarnate God during this season of the year!


When I visit this online Christian bookstore, it makes me feel like a child walking through a candy store. You deserve the same experience. Admittedly, I have an insatiable appetite to obtain and read more books--especially solid Christian ones. Books are ideal gifts for any occasion.  Moreover, Christian books help us to avoid packing up  the true spirit of Christmas when we put away the decorations. Wishing a blessed and joyous Christmas to all!


Dennis Fischer

WHY THE LAW WAS GIVEN

by John Piper, Pastor for Preaching  
Bethlehem Baptist Church
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA


Simply click on the sermon title above to hear or read this excellent, Bible-based sermon on an important topic that is often misunderstood. Just because the Law is not a way to salvation does not extinguish its sanctifying purpose as an ethical guide for Christian conduct. In Romans 7:12, the Apostle Paul affirms that the Law is holy, righteous, and good as God Himself is. In the truest sense, all exhortations in Scripture are a form of law.  Since the Bible is God's voice speaking to us, the indwelling Spirit always enables, exalts, extols, and promotes the written, revealed will of God for our lives.


Obviously, not all of the 613 laws of the Torah have the same importance, purpose, and weight. Ethical or moral laws are those in effect 24/7 (every nanosecond), that transcend covenants and time frames, and not those merely in effect once in a lifetime, year, season, month, or week. Since the Christian has been given and forgiven much, there is absolutely nothing not to like or appreciate about God's righteous standards as mandated repeatedly throughout the entire Bible.  Let us exclaim, like David, to love, meditate and delight in God's divine precepts all day long. "Your word a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105 ESV).


A special blessing awaits you in reading and/or listening to this informative and inspiring sermon.  


--Dennis Fischer

UPDATE (10-12-2012):  Due to the exceptional impact of a series of sermons by Pastor John Piper on the law and the gospel (new covenant versus old covenant), several readers of this blog have requested links to his other sermons in this category listed below.  Also, serious Bible students may want to read a separate post entitled "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law" that was published on Nov. 5, 2011. Getting the Gospel right should be our top priority.

DEAD TO THE LAW: SERVING IN THE SPIRIT

LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW

THE LAW DOES NOT ANNUL THE PROMISE

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries

ELLEN WHITE'S LOW VIEW OF BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

"The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God's mode of thought and expression.  It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented.  Men will often say such an expression is not like God.  But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on  trial in the Bible.  The writers of the Bible were God's penmen, not His  pen."  (Selected Messages, Vol. 1, Chapter One "The Inspiration of the Prophetic Writers")  Seventh-day Adventism teaches merely thought inspiration instead of verbal inspiration of the Bible.  Thus, their weak stance on biblical inspiration makes provision for the many errors found in the writings attributed to Ellen White.


In stark contrast to the preceding quotation, The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, adopted at a meeting of more than two hundred evangelical leaders in October, 1978, rightly affirms that "the authority of Scriptures is a key issue for the Christian church in this and every age."  The authority of the Bible is based on its being the written Word of God, and because the Bible is the Word of God and the God of the Bible is truth and speaks truthfully, authority is linked to inerrancy.  If the Bible is the Word of God, and if God is a God of truth, then the Bible must be inerrant--not merely in some of its parts, as some modern theologians are saying, but totally, as the church for the most part has said down through the ages of its history.


The human writers were not machines and ought not be conceived of as being without personality.  What is overcome or overridden by  inspiration is not human personality, style or literary structure, but human tendencies to distortion, falsehood, and  error. If the original text were errant, the church would have the option of rejecting the teachings of that errant text.  If the original text is inerrant (and the science of textual criticism must be depended upon to reconstruct that inerrant text), we have no legitimate basis for disobeying a mandate of Scripture where the text is not in doubt.  The Bible is God's voice speaking to us.


Indeed, "All Scripture is inspired [literally meaning "God-breathed"] by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16 NASB).  There is a technical difference between "infallible" and "inerrant."  But anything that is infallible, that is, incapable of erring, cannot at the same time err.  For if it errs, it proves that it is capable of erring and therefore is not infallible. In fact, however, the term infallible in its original and technical meaning is a higher term than the term inerrant. But that which is infallible could not theoretically be at the same time errant.


Since the mid-1950s, Seventh-day Adventists have had a deep yearning to appear as authentic evangelical Protestants.  A highly controversial book entitled "Questions on Doctrine" was published in 1957 by a select group of SDA administrators, editors, and teachers in response to a challenge from the  late Dr. Walter Martin, a professional cult watcher.  This 720-page book serves as a prime example of their desperate strategy to disguise themselves as fully embracing biblical Christianity and to thereby long for the day when their shameful stigma as a cult would be somehow lessened or even removed. Since then, however, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has officially replaced and deleted key words in some doctrinal statements (e.g., the words "all-sufficient" and "unerring" were removed from their statement on the authority of Scripture).  This action allowed room for the extra-biblical writings attributed to their revered messenger and prophetess, Ellen G. White.


CREDIT:  Selected excerpts taken from Explaining Inerrancy by Dr. R. C. Sproul; Ligonier Ministries, 1980.

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com

THE INFALLIBLE INTERPRETER

by Dennis J. Fischer

The following statements should forever settle the issue of whether Ellen G. White is considered the infallible interpreter of Scripture in Seventh-day Adventist circles:


"We believe the revelation and inspiration of both the Bible and Ellen White's writings to be of equal quality.  The superintendence of the Holy Spirit was just as careful and thorough in one case as in the other."  (Ministry magazine, October, 1981)


"It is from the standpoint of the light that has come through the Spirit of Prophecy (Mrs. White's writings) that the question will be considered, believing as we do that the Spirit of Prophecy is the only infallible interpreter of Bible principles, since it is that Christ, through this agency, giving real meaning of his own words."
(Excerpt from the tract "The Mark of the Beast," page 1; G. A. Irwin, former president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists; emphasis supplied)


The preceding quotations clearly affirm yet another reason why Seventh-day Adventism is outside the pale of evangelical Protestantism and biblical Christianity. Moreover, official SDA dogma (approved by the 1980 GC Session in Dallas,Texas USA) declares that the writings attributed to Ellen White are a "continuing and authoritative source of truth."

When hard pressed, it is not unusual to hear a devout Adventist insist that the SDA Church does not believe that Ellen White is their infallible interpreter of Scripture.  At this point in a dialogue, it would be most appropriate to ask our Seventh-day Adventist friend(s), "What part of Ellen White's writings do you not believe in?"  After all, there is no current SDA dogma that Ellen White did not create or endorse. In this information age, it is very encouraging to observe that more and more Adventists do not believe that the writings attributed to Ellen White are inspired.

courtesy of

DENNIS FISCHER MINISTRIES

Worldwide Chaplaincy Services

E-mail:  dfministries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfministries