The New Inquisition

[Heaven soon]

The New Inquisition
Dave Hunt

[Portions were taken from the April 1999 TBC article, "Islam and the Gospel."]

It was the year 1569, at the height of Catholicism's Spanish Inquisition in Holland. Dirk Willems, a humble and pious follower of Jesus Christ, lay in prison awaiting a fiery death at the stake. His crime? Having been rebaptized upon confession of faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The official town records stated that the prisoner, "...persisting obstinately in his opinion...shall be executed by fire, until death...."

One day, Dirk, finding his cell momentarily unguarded, took the opportunity to escape. Across the nearby frozen lake he fled. The alarm was quickly raised, however, and a "thief catcher" was summoned to pursue the fleeing man. Hearing the crack of ice behind him, Dirk turned to see his pursuer break through into the frigid water. Pausing only a moment, he returned to rescue his enemy from certain death. In deepest gratitude, his pursuer pleaded that Dirk might be allowed to go free. His plea was denied. Dirk's date with death was upheld. Official records, preserved to our day, tell us that "...a strong east wind blowing that day, the fire was driven away from the upper part of his body...in consequence of which this good man suffered a lingering death."

Do we see some reflection in this account of Christ's own suffering for us sinners? The Scripture declares that "God is love." Love is His very nature. God's handiwork in creating the perfect environment for man showed in exquisite detail His forethought on behalf of the coming recipients of His love, culminating in His plan for man's redemption after the Fall. The sacrificial lamb prefigured the ultimate sacrifice of God's only begotten Son, when, in the dark hours of Calvary, He poured out His wrath against the dearest object of His love. From the Cross came Jesus' cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus knew the answer to that question, though its reality was so agonizing. God's Son became sin itself and thus must suffer His Father's rejection (2 Cor 5:21).

Do we dare compare Dirk Willems's act of "redemption" with that of our Savior? Should we, as Christians, take that step beyond happily rejoicing in our salvation to that of also taking the role of sacrificial lamb, as Dirk Willems did, when the opportunity arises?

Let's enter another arena, far removed from the times of the Spanish Inquisition of the sixteenth century. We have another "inquisition" arising farther east and reaching alarming proportions in our day.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, there is a total blackout on anything Christian: one cannot carry a Bible on the street or have a Bible study in the privacy of one's own home. Even in our embassy, over which the American flag flies, Christian church services are banned. It is officially the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and some other Muslim countries (and enforced unofficially elsewhere) for a Muslim to convert to any other religion.

Only Muslims can be citizens of Saudi Arabia. Even in Arab countries where shari'a(Islamic law) is not enforced by the government, Islam's influence prevents freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, and of conscience. In PLO territories, Christian Arabs, who once had freedom under Israel, now suffer persecution, imprisonment, and death for their faith. Yet neither the UN nor our own government protests such oppression behind the Islamic curtain. Muslims build mosques and worship freely in the West, but in their own countries they deny such freedoms to others. Instead of reporting this hypocrisy, the world media covers it up.

Islam spread rapidly under Muhammad and his successors through jihad ("holy war"). Muhammad himself planned 65 campaigns and personally led 27 involving naked aggression and treachery. This incredible "evangelism" made "converts" by the millions at the point of a sword. At its peak, Islam had conquered all of North Africa and almost took over Europe.

Islam continues its conquest worldwide. Today's invaders are millions of immigrants who make converts to Islam through misrepresentation. One sees on TV well-coifed and fashionably dressed women who claim to be converts to Islam and testify to its joys and peace-loving ways. Yet in Saudi Arabia, they would have to be veiled with only their eyes showing, would have to wear plain, dark full-length robes, could not drive a car, could be one of four wives habitually mistreated by their husband, could be divorced by mere denunciation, and would be virtual slaves under shari'a.

Islam's earnest goal, set forth in the Qur'an (references given herein are from three versions) and Hadith (Islamic written tradition), remains the same: to bring all mankind into submission (that's what "Islam" means) and to kill or enslave all "infidels" (i.e., unbelievers in Allah and Muhammad his prophet--Surah 2:190-92; 4:76; 5:33; 9:5,29,41;47:4, etc.). Islam (in obedience to the Qur'an and Muhammad's example) is the driving force behind most terrorism today. According to the Hadith, Muhammad declared, "The last hour will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them."

Many Westerners naïvely accept Allah, who inspired Muhammad, as the God of the Bible. Yet Allah has no son and rejects the Trinity (4:171), is unknowable, and was the pagan idol/god of Muhammad's tribe before he was born. Allah tells Muslims, "Take not the Jews and Christians for friends...slay the idolaters [infidels] wherever ye find them....Fight against those who...believe not in Allah nor the Last Day" (5:51; 9:5,29,41). But the triune God of the Bible wants men to know Him (Jer 9:24), a knowledge essential to salvation (Jn 17:3). Jews are His "chosen people" (Ex 6:7; Lv 20:26; 1 Chr 16:13; Ps 105:6, etc.) and Christians are His dearly beloved children (Rom 8:16,21; Gal 3:26; Eph 1:5; 5:1, etc.).

Instead of conversion by force, Christ said that His disciples did not fight because His kingdom was not of this world (Jn 8:36). Indeed, He told His disciples, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you" (Mt 5:44).

Christ gave His life to save sinners, and His followers must be willing to lay down their lives to bring this good news to the world. Biblical salvation is a free gift paid for by the death of Christ, who said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). That command includes today's one billion Muslims. They present a tremendous (and inescapable) challenge to every Christian. But how can we bring the gospel to those who may be killed for believing it, or who may kill us for offering it to them? To die fighting infidels is the only sure way for a Muslim to gain Paradise. Yet Christ also died for Muslims, and His love compels us to share the Good News.

Attempts to evangelize Muslims have had little success for obvious reasons. Lately, however, a new and seemingly more fruitful approach is being adopted: using Muslim scriptures to present Christ. The Hadith attests to the virgin birth, sinless life, and miracles of Christ, who is called "the Word of Allah." Some portions of the Qur'an, too, speak highly of Christ: that He was born of the virgin Mary (Surah 3:45-47; 21:91, etc.); He is the highest example (43:57); and He alone is called "Isa," which means Savior (3:45). Whereas Muhammad was unable to perform miracles (17:90-96; 29:50-52, etc.), Christ did so (2:252-53, 3:49); and unlike others such as Moses, who did miracles at God's command, Jesus did miracles on His own initiative (26:63 etc), even raising the dead (3:49; 5:110; 36:78-79, etc.). Further, the Qur'an declares that Muhammad was a sinner (9:43; 40:55; 47:19; 48:2; 294:1-3, etc.), but Jesus was sinless (19:17-19). The Antichrist (Dajjal) is a major topic of the Hadith, which warns of his coming. He is called the "false Christ" who will deceive many near the end of time. The Hadith teaches that Jesus will return at the end to destroy the Dajjal. Belief in "the Last Day" is an essential part of the Muslim's faith (2:62).

In spite of the honor and reverence accorded Jesus, however, the Jesus of Islam is not the Jesus of the Bible but "another Jesus" (2 Cor 11:4). While the Qur'an in its early passages honors at least parts of the Bible as "the Book" and both Jews and Christians as "the people of the Book," it often contradicts the Bible: it denies that Jesus is God (3:59, 62; 4:171) and that He died on the Cross (4:157-58; 5:116-20) for our sins. Early tradition held that at Christ's request a look-alike disciple rescued Him from the Cross by dying in His place. Other passages, however, seem to declare that Christ did indeed die (3:33,55; 5:117; 19:33), and many Islamic scholars take that view today. The Qur'an denies that one person could die for another (17:13-15; 35:18). Actually, it says that no "soul laden [i.e., sinner] bears the load [sin] of another." Since Jesus was without sin, He would have to be an exception.

For the sinner to be righteously forgiven, Christ had to pay the penalty demanded by God's justice; but that concept is foreign to Islam. The Qur'an breeds uncertainty: "Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil in ignorance [and] then turn quickly [in repentance] to Allah....Lo! Allah pardoneth...all save [except] that to whom he will not..." (4:17,116). Neither "ignorance" nor "quickly" are defined nor why Allah forgives some and not others. Nor does repentance guarantee forgiveness.

In contrast, the Bible offers forgiveness to all. Christ even died to redeem those who hated Him and asked His Father to forgive those who crucified Him (Lk 23:34).

In real life, Allah's forgiveness never comes in time to prevent a hand, foot, or ear from being cut off as the penalty for stealing. Hundreds of Iraqis, mutilated by this inhumane Islamic decree, flee to camps bordering that country. Yet kidnapping requires no such mutilation because a person is not considered to be property. Fornication also requires no such mutilation, while petty thievery does.

The Qur'an's contradictions of the Bible are excused by claiming that the Bible was corrupted. But the Qur'an was sent to stand "as a guardian" over the Bible (5:48); therefore, if the Bible was corrupted, the Qur'an failed. The Muslim's Holy Book itself admits that much of its text is ambiguous (3:7); Muslims are even to ask "the People of the Book [Bible]" for enlightenment (21:7)!

The Qur'an also contradicts itself. Allah created everything "in the twinkling of an eye" (54:49,50), "in two Days" (41:9,12), "in four Days" (41:10), "in six Days" (7:54;10:4,32:4), "a Day," equaling "a thousand years" (70:4); Jesus is not the Son of God (4:171), yet He is (19:17-21), etc.

In quoting the Qur'an and Hadith, we must avoid the impression that we are endorsing these writings. Consider Paul's discussion with the philosophers on Mars Hill: "...as certain also of your own poets have said" (Acts 17:28). Paul was not suggesting that these writers were inspired of God--and he went beyond them to to present the gospel. Likewise, we must be careful to go beyond what the Qur'an and Hadith say about Jesus to present the true gospel; otherwise there is no basis for salvation.

For a Muslim to become a true Christian, he must renounce Islam's false God, Allah, and its false gospel of salvation by works. Unfortunately, the gospel is being compromised to make it appealing to Muslims. (In the West, it's being made appealing to nearly everyone.) Many "converts" have never understood the gospel and thus have not believed that which is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom 1:16). The gospel is definitely not in the Qur'an. Yet Muslims are supposedly being saved by heeding it. The author of Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam(NavPress, 1997) gives the testimony of a Muslim "converted" to Christianity in Pakistan (p. 27):

As I was listening to the Qur'an read on the radio day after day, I heard that Christ was highly honored...and near-stationed to God. I said to myself, "If I wanted someone to intercede for me to God, who would be better than someone like Christ...?" And so I prayed, "Lord Isa [Jesus], please come to my help. I want to devote myself to God through you. Since you are highly honored and sitting near Him, you can do it."

The author then comments, "After that, he felt like a changed man, much happier than before...."

This is a delusion similar to that of those who say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?...and in thy name done many wonderful works?" to whom the Lord responds, "I never knew you: depart from me..." (Mt 7:21-23). Asking Islam's Isa to intercede for oneself will not save. One must believe the gospel to be saved: "[H]ow that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:1-4); "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn 3:16). That gospel is not in the Qur'an, and there is nothing in this "convert's" testimony to indicate that he knew or believed it.

The same author declares that "60 percent of Muslims who are approached with the methods explained in this book put their trust in Christ...." Yet Christ and His apostles experienced no such percentage of converts. Jesus said that few would be saved (Mt 7:13-14). The author enthusiastically refers to Muslims converted to Christ "while remaining [for years] in the fold of their Islamic community...without becoming detestable to their own communities" (p. 10). But Jesus warned His disciples, "And ye shall be hated by all men for my name's sake..." (Mt 10:22; Jn 15:20). All men, except Muslims?

We want to be wise and not needlessly offend in our presentation of the gospel
(1 Cor 10:32), whether to Muslims or anyone else to whom the Lord gives us the grace to present the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8). But there is an unavoidable offense because of Christ (Mt 26:31; Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:8) and the Cross (Gal 5:11). We must be careful that we actually present the gospel, which one must believe to be saved. It will only damn souls if in our zeal to get the world to accept the gospel, we preach another gospel acceptable to the world.

Let us remember Dirk Willems, who, as Christ's representative on earth in another age, willingly embraced the Cross that his enemy might live. May we, too, minister life to Christ's enemies in our age, even as we see the followers of Allah minister death. The Cross proclaims that God is love, a love that conquers by the shedding of Christ's own precious blood for sinners:

In weakness like defeat He won the
     victor's crown;
Trod all His foes beneath His feet by
     being trodden down.

What a victory! TBC
 
Quotable

We cannot limit the extent to which God may use us as instruments in communicating blessing if we are willing to yield ourselves to Him and are careful to give Him all the glory.

   George Müller

Q&A

Question: An elderly man in my congregation is suffering from some physical ailments. He has been drawn to the Be in Health healing ministry headed by Henry Wright, whose book A More Excellent Way has influenced many Christians. I'm very suspicious about such ministries and wonder if Wright is at all biblical.

Response: Wright's premise is that if one only has enough faith--or is able to appropriate specific promises--one will never be sick, though he issues a disclaimer that nothing is guaranteed and that neither he nor his staff are professionals or healers (p. xv). Nevertheless, he claims that "God has honored this teaching" (p. 18) and says, "When you apply the principles that I have given you and you go before God and the Word, you will walk away from certain diseases just like you never had them" (pp. 61-62).

Wright says, "If someone is not healed, there is a spiritual root..." (p. 34). This parallels "word faith," positive-confession teachings and shows the influence of psychology, although Wright sometimes denounces the same (p. 70). Nevertheless, he says that many ailments are caused by a "lack of self esteem" (p. 67).

Mind science teaching is evident in the book: "If you were to create something...the first part of the concept would come from where? Your mind....The final stages should be what? Do it, create it, make it....That is God's very essence: He thought it, He spoke what He thought and He did it....If you are in fellowship with the Godhead and if you are in fellowship with God by His Word, you should be an extension of the will, the Word and the power as a way of life" (p. 57).

Beyond teaching "positive confession," Wright lists generational curses as one cause of disease: "If you do not deal with what has happened in your family tree...your children will inherit your curses...(p. 68). [W]e can break the power of sin and so genetically inherited diseases no longer exist" (p. 69). According to Scripture, however, "...the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin" (2 Kgs 14:6).

Wright claims that he has "documented evidence of genetic code changes" (Ibid.) after the "healing" of someone's "cursed DNA" has taken place. The book provides no such documentation.

He confidently asserts that he has identified the cause of many diseases. For example, his editor notes, "Henry Wright has identified a specific fear issue as a root for asthma. That root is fear of abandonment coupled with insecurity" (p. 209). Colon cancer is said to be "deeply rooted in bitterness and slander with the tongue....When you speak evil against someone, it is a curse and what you speak against another returns" (p. 231). Wright selects John 20:23 as a proof text: "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" (p. 231-32). He apparently believes this verse is applicable to someone "slandering" another.

Is it God's explicit will to heal all of our diseases every time? Wright says, "Yes. It says so in Psalm 103:3; 3 John 2; and 1 Thessalonians 5:23" (p. 131). Rather than looking at each verse, however, Wright engages in some freewheeling interpretation that places a person's healing primarily upon themselves. "You actually can choose your health and He will work with you" (Ibid.). So much for "if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us" (1 Jn 5:14). Wright handles "God's will" by insisting that healing is always His will.

On the other hand, Wright says that all healing is "conditional," the condition being the removal of sin. Thus, since Fanny Crosby never regained her sight, Joni Eareckson Tada has not had her spinal cord healed, or [see 5/10 TBC Extra] Paul Davis was never healed of rheumatoid arthritis, they (according to Wright) were hindered by unconfessed sin--their own, or perhaps from a generational curse. Scripture does not support these ideas.

Many were healed through the ministry of the Apostle Paul, but he told Timothy how to relieve the symptoms of his physical problem (1 Tm 5:23). Paul also said, "and Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick" (2 Tm 4:20). God still heals, but Scripture disagrees with the unbiblical theories of Wright, including the idea that all sickness is the result of personal sin. When the disciples of Jesus asked Him, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" the reply from the Lord was, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" (Jn 9:2-3).

Question: What can you tell me about End Time Delusion by Steve Wohlberg? A friend of mine read the book and says that all I have heard about the Rapture is wrong and that until 100 years ago the Rapture had never been taught. He gave the book to a pastor friend, who said it is true--he gave the book to other pastors, and now they have doubts or have changed their views of the Rapture. He also seems to be anti-Israel.

Response: End Time Delusions, by Seventh-day Adventist Steve Wohlberg is circulating, parroting the teachings of Ellen G. White, including Replacement Theology.

Wohlberg uses Margaret MacDonald as "the smoking gun" (End Time, p. 129) behind John Darby's pre-trib teaching on the Rapture. Wohlberg doesn't give the text of MacDonald's vision, otherwise one would see: "I saw the people of God in an awfully dangerous situation, surrounded by nets and entanglements, about to be tried, and many about to be deceived and fall. Now will THE WICKED be revealed, with all power and signs and lying wonders, so that if it were possible the very elect will be deceived....This is the fiery trial which is to try us....It will be for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus; but Oh! it will be a fiery trial. Every soul will be shaken to the very centre. The enemy will try to shake every thing we have believed-but the trial of real faith will be found to honour and praise and glory. Nothing but what is of God will stand" (Margaret MacDonald's revelation as published in The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets In the Catholic Apostolic Church, 1861). This is not a description of a pre-trib Rapture. Even preterists understand that Darby spoke of a pre-trib Rapture in 1827, three full years before MacDonald's "vision."

Regarding Replacement Theology, Ellen G. White prophesied, "The Jews have long ceased to have any significance." Consequently, she states, "Palestine will never become their home!" She goes on, "I was pointed to some who are in the great error of believing that it is their duty to go to Old Jerusalem; and think they have a work to do there before the Lord comes....I saw that Satan had greatly deceived some in this thing....I also saw that Old Jerusalem never would be built up; and Satan was doing his utmost to lead the minds of the children of the Lord into these things now in the gathering time" (Early Writings of Mrs. White, page 75).

White didn't see the reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948, but many of her followers certainly have. Wohlberg should take note and learn. It can't be pointed out too often that although Deuteronomy 28 lists the fearsome penalty for Israel's disobedience, the penalty is loss of residence (for a time) but not loss of ownership. In his writings, Wohlberg selectively quotes Scripture, saying "Zionism did not meet [the] spiritual condition in 1948." This "spiritual condition," in Wohlberg's opinion, is "if they return and obey His voice, then He will regather them." (Exploding the Israel Deception, p. 70). Scripture tells us that the Lord will bring Israel back into the land before their endtime national repentance (Jer 5:10, 5:18, 30:11; 46:28; Ezk 11:13, etc.). In Zechariah 14, the Lord returns to save Israel before their prophesied repentance. If the Lord returns to save Israel in the land, they must return prior to this event!

Wohlberg writes, "Because of today's global religious confusion, especially about Bible prophecy, millions of the Lord's people now believe false theories about the end of time" (Ibid, p. 101). Along with E. G. White, Wohlberg consistently implies that any who hold a differing view (i.e., futurists) are part of the "endtime system." Prophecy, although misinterpreted by White and Wohlberg, is nevertheless a recruiting tool for their "faithful remnant."

On page 74, Wohlberg quotes Dr. Henry Grattan Guinness, adding that he "was considered to be one of the three greatest preachers of his day...." Wohlberg, mind you, disagrees with much of what Guinness writes, yet he calls Irishman Guinness "the Northern Spurgeon" and "a deep student of prophecy." The quote Wohlberg uses from Guinness reads: "There is not, and cannot be, any Jewish Temple." This appears to support Wohlberg's replacement theology. The excerpt, however, is incomplete.

In truth, Guinness fully believed in the restoration of Israel to her land. "Guinness...measured off eras of 2,520 years from the many consecutive starting points in Biblical history when first Israel and then later Judah were swept away into captivity to Assyria and Babylon. On the strength of his findings, he confidently pointed ahead to the years 1917, 1923, and 1934 as bound to see movement relating to the restoration of Israel to her land" (Guinness Is Good for You: Memories of the Legacy of Rev. H. Grattan Guinness, D.D., F.R.A.S., Compiled by J. L. Haynes, "The Vision of the Seven Times of Daniel 4"). Interestingly, "1917" was the date that the Balfour Declaration was issued.

Finally, Wohlberg misuses history to support his theology. For example, he says that during the "time of Constantine, a large portion of the church compromised key Bible truths and decided to line up with the Roman State" (End Time, p. 88). Constantine was indeed detrimental to the early church (see 11/98 TBC). What Wohlberg seeks to prove, however, is that Constantine introduced Sunday worship, a key point for SDAs. On the contrary, Constantine's decree reads as follows: "On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed" (Constantine, March 7, 321. Codex Justinianus lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, p. 380, note 1). Constantine mandated a day off, not a day of worship. In choosing this day, however, he was probably influenced by those already meeting on Sunday, as Acts 20:7 documents. Much more could be said, but these points begin to show the problems of Wohlberg's book.

News Alert

LA TIMES 6/9/10 Excerpts: Claremont, CA (AP)--A rabbi, a minister and an imam walk into a classroom, and it's no joke.

The venerable Claremont School of Theology has taught Methodist ministers and theologians for more than a century, but in the fall they'll try an unorthodox approach: cross-training the nation's future Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in classrooms scattered around Southern California as they work toward their respective degrees.

The experimental approach launched Wednesday is intended to create U.S. religious leaders who not only preach tolerance in an era of religious strife, but who have lived it themselves by rubbing shoulders with those in other Abrahamic faiths. The idea has already met resistance from more conservative elements...[but] its architects say that only underscores the need for such an approach.

"Christians attend school with Christians, Jewish with Jewish and Muslims with Muslim," said Rev. Jerry Campbell, president of the Claremont School of Theology. "Educating people in a segregated environment is not a way to teach them to be peacemakers...."

Conceived in 2006, the University Project will allow seminary students at Claremont to cross-enroll in programs that train future Muslim and Jewish religious leaders while working toward their own degrees in Christian theology. Claremont already has chaplaincy programs for Muslims and Jews who ultimately work as counselors in institutional settings, but they don't have rabbinical and imam certification programs. Course topics will include inter-religious conflict resolution, scripture and ethics.

The exchange will also work in the other direction. Starting this fall, rabbinical students enrolled at the Academy of Jewish Religion's California chapter will be able to study at Claremont. And by next year, the project will include an Islamic program that aims to create a standard for training American imams by working with the LA-based Islamic Center of Southern California. Classes at the Islamic institute will be taught by Claremont professors and will also be open to seminarians and rabbinical students.

The collaborative effort among the seminary, Jewish academy and Islamic center is believed to be the first to integrate the three studies. Other Christian institutions, such as Connecticut's Hartford Seminary, offer an imam training program but don't incorporate rabbinical students. "It is our responsibility as religious leaders to show that religion can be a powerful force for unity and love in the world, instead of it being captured by a spirit of divisiveness, based on fear of the other and ignorance of the other," said Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, president and dean of the Academy of Jewish Religion's California chapter.

Claremont has already used an initial $10 million gift to hire the first Muslim and second Jewish faculty members. If the project takes off, its architects hope to add Hinduism and Buddhism and house the project under one roof. "It could be a breeding ground for conflict, but it should be a place where students can develop skills for a multi-faith environment and what better place to do it than with their education?" said Najeeba Syeed-Miller, the [female] Muslimprofessor. "When they're in practice, they have a tool box ready to respond to the conflicts that come up. To me, that's at the core of why it's unique and exciting."

The Islamic school will be incubated by the Christian seminary, piggybacking on Claremont's accreditation. Islam has the most to gain from the project because it remains the most misunderstood faith in the U.S., said Jihad Turk, an imam and religion director for the Islamic Center of Southern California. Traditionally, Muslims interested in being imams must return to the Middle East for their education, but find the more conservative approach is not compatible with the needs of Muslims in America.Turk, 38, said the project will cater to the hallmarks of Islam in America, which is more inclusive of women in leadership roles, involved in interfaith relations and has a higher degree of civic engagement. "This is a very American approach. It's an expression of American religion and American religious attitude," said Turk, a U.S.-born Muslim who himself studied to become an imam in Iran and Saudi Arabia. "It's better that they're getting their training in America if they're planning to work in America."

Jewish organizers are excited that the project will allow future rabbis and imams to study together for the first time--something that's increasingly important in a world where Muslim-Jewish conflict makes headlines almost every day.

"God is the God of all people, and we want to get back to the notion of treating people the way you'd want to be treated," Gottlieb said. "That is the basic principle of all religions, instead of an entity that divides people and creates friction and acrimony."

Letters
 
Dear Mr. Dave Hunt and Staff,
Thank you so much for continuing to preach the Word of God. Thank you for saying to me that the Holy Bible is our final authority! Last December I broke my hip and they replaced it with an artificial one. I am 80 years old. During those seemingly interminable times of pain I received your monthly The Berean Call. [It was] a glimmer of light that seeped through my darkness and I experienced joy. Mr. Dave, you have a divine mandate from God to extend grace to those in need! God bless you and yours and the staff. FC (IA)

Dear Folks at the Berean Call,
Thank you for your regular bulletins. Your recent [articles] on "The Value of Suffering" have been an encouragement. A major stroke four years ago robbed my husband of speech and movement down the right side of his body....He has required 24-hour nursing care since. Four years on, a book could be written on the Trials of Suffering but more importantly on "The Value of Suffering" and what the Lord has taught me--to be able to worship Him in the strangest of places, in the most trying of places, to honor and glorify Him even in the midst of suffering and adversities. "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth!"  CT (New Zealand)

Dear Berean Call and Dave Hunt,
I have loved your paper for years--and look forward to reading them all over and over! Whenever I need real help understanding difficult Scriptures or need the right answer for someone, I turn to you--all of you! I have saved every single issue for years, for understanding and my growth as a Christian. PS (WY)

Dear T. A. McMahon,
I got to know your ministry in the 1990s when somebody lent me a copy of The Seduction of Christianity [just as] a men's ministry started in our church and we became aware of strange teachings and influences. I felt so heavy inside when I read the book. It started me on a journey of a couple of years of studying and investigating God's Word....My faith in the Lord grew in leaps and bounds. I was fortunate to meet Dave when he visited...South Africa in the 1990s....I briefly spoke to Dave and shall always remember what he said to me: "Don't ever lose your spirit!" It has meant so much in my life over the years....Thank you for presenting the gospel so that even a child can understand....My partner in business told me that her husband got saved through reading Dave's book An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith and the Bible....What I appreciate of you [Tom] and Dave is that you speak the truth in love, and I could learn that from you. CH (South Africa)

Dear TBC Staff,
I just finished reading the April 2010 newsletter, and the article "The White Box" by Barbara Romine was very encouraging. Thank you, Barbara, for sharing your testimony about the Lord's faithfulness. I needed to be reminded about how deep and wide the grace of God is and how I need to lean on Him moment by moment in my trial. It is not a physical sickness, but it still hurts. FW (IL)

Hello Dave,
I just wanted to extend deep and sincere thanks for all of the work you do in the name of the Lord Jesus. You have edified and encouraged me greatly in the faith over the past five years. Although I was a Christian prior to first listening to you and T. A., I had become complacent. Your ministry has informed me greatly about events in the world and has prompted me to speak the truth in love by the Holy Spirit. SL (email)

Dear Dave,
Your April newsletter was the best ever--a pure and easy way to witness to others! Thanks, Dave. You and T. A. are in our prayers. JB (TX)

Dave and T. A.,
Thank you for all of your ambition for doing God's work in these last days. I used to go to a Vineyard church and cannot believe how deceived I was. You are such Godly men and great watchmen for people who lack discernment. I enjoy and completely look forward to your newsletters, website, and YouTube videos. I tell everyone I know about The Berean Call. TBC is one of the only sites I trust. I hope you both live to be at least 100 years old because men like you are very, very rare. You speak truth when nobody else will. NS (email)
 
TBC Notes

No Spoon-feeding!

We at TBC are thrilled that we can be a blessing to our many readers. Central to that blessing is encouraging believers to develop greater discernment in their lives so that they can please the Lord in everything they think and do.
Our primary task in that is to keep pointing our readers to the person of Jesus Christ and the instructions He gives in His Word. I hope we all know that each of us is personally accountable for our every thought, word, and deed (Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 Peter 1:17).

While we can provide valuable information regarding unbiblical trends influencing the church in these days of increasing apostasy, our hope and prayer is that each believer who is edified by what we communicate will become mature in the faith, fully able to "search the Scriptures daily" to discern what is biblical and what isn't.
If either we or our readers fall into a "spoon-feeding" mode regarding TBC's work or influence, then we are missing the mark of growing strong in the faith and in our relationship with the Lord.

Our prayer is that God our Shepherd will make us all mature "in every good work to do his will, working in [us] that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:21).

T. A. McMahon
Executive Director

TBC Extra

Saints Often Walk Alone
Excerpts from Man, the Dwelling Place of God by A. W. Tozer
 
In the morning of the world (or should we say, in that strange darkness that came soon after the dawn of man's creation) that pious soul, Enoch, walked with God and was not, for God took him; and while it is not stated in so many words, a fair inference is that Enoch walked a path quite apart from his contemporaries.

Another lonely man was Noah who, of all the antediluvians, found grace in the sight of God; and every shred of evidence points to the aloneness of his life even while surrounded by his people.

Again, Abraham had Sarah and Lot, as well as many servants and herdsmen, but who can read his story and the apostolic comment upon it without sensing instantly that he was a man "whose soul was alike a star and dwelt apart"? As far as we know not one word did God ever speak to him in the company of men. Face down he communed with his God, and the innate dignity of the man forbade that he assume this posture in the presence of others. How sweet and solemn was the scene that night of the sacrifice when he saw the lamps of fire moving between the pieces of offering. There alone, with a horror of great darkness upon him, he heard the voice of God and knew that he was a man marked for divine favor.

Moses also was a man apart. While yet attached to the court of Pharaoh he took long walks alone, and during one of these walks while far removed from the crowds he saw an Egyptian and a Hebrew fighting and came to the rescue of his countryman. After the resultant break with Egypt he dwelt in almost complete seclusion in the desert. There, while he watched his sheep alone, the wonder of the burning bush appeared to him, and later on the peak of Sinai he crouched alone to gaze in fascinated awe at the Presence, partly hidden, partly disclosed, within the cloud and fire.

The prophets of pre-Christian times differed widely from each other, but one mark they bore in common was their enforced loneliness. They loved their people and gloried in the religion of the fathers, but their loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their zeal for the welfare of the nation of Israel drove them away from the crowd and into long periods of heaviness. "I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children," cried one and unwittingly spoke for all the rest....

There are some things too sacred for any eye but God's to look upon. The curiosity, the clamor, the well-meant but blundering effort to help can only hinder the waiting soul and make unlikely if not impossible the communication of the secret message of God to the
worshiping heart.

Sometimes we react by a kind of religious reflex and repeat dutifully the proper words and phrases even though they fail to express our real feelings and lack the authenticity of personal experience. Right now is such a time. A certain conventional loyalty may lead some who hear this unfamiliar truth expressed for the first time to say brightly, "Oh, I am never lonely. Christ said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you,' and, 'Lo, I am with you alway.' How can I be lonely when Jesus is with me?"

Now I do not want to reflect on the sincerity of any Christian soul, but this stock testimony is too neat to be real. It is obviously what the speaker thinks should be true rather than what he has proved to be true by the test of experience. This cheerful denial of loneliness proves only that the speaker has never walked with God without the support and encouragement afforded him by society. The sense of companionship which he mistakenly attributes to the presence of Christ may, and probably does, arise from the presence of friendly people. Always remember: you cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him as a man apart. Society has turned against him; otherwise he would have no cross. No one is a friend to the man with a cross. "They all forsook him, and fled."

The pain of loneliness arises from the constitution of our nature. God made us for each other. The desire for human companionship is completely natural and right. The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honored but to see his Saviour glorified in the eyes of men. His joy is to see his Lord promoted and himself neglected. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else. He learns in inner solitude what he could not have learned in the crowd that Christ is All in All, that He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that in Him we have and possess life's summum bonum.

Two things remain to be said. One, that the lonely man of whom we speak is not a haughty man, nor is he the holier-than-thou, austere saint so bitterly satirized in popular literature. He is likely to feel that he is the least of all men and is sure to blame himself for his very loneliness. He wants to share his feelings with others and to open his heart to some like-minded soul who will understand him, but the spiritual climate around him does not encourage it, so he remains silent and tells his griefs to God alone.

The second thing is that the lonely saint is not the withdrawn man who hardens himself against human suffering and spends his days contemplating the heavens. Just the opposite is true. His loneliness makes him sympathetic to the approach of the broken-hearted and the fallen and the sin-bruised. Because he is detached from the world he is all the more able to help it....

The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful "adjustment" to unregenerate society they have lost their pilgrim character and become an essential part of the very moral order against which they are sent to protest. The world recognizes them and accepts them for what they are. And this is the saddest thing that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints.
 

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