July/August 2001
Strange Things
Why do so many Christians seem
to have so many strange ideas?
by Monte Wolverton
Did you know that the dimensions of the Washington monument total 666? Some arrive at this number by adding its height (555 feet) and the width of its base (55.5 feet) and the length of its base (55.5 feet). Unfortunately, these are not exact measurements. Each side at the base is 55 feet, 1 1/2 inches. So the Washington Monument does not really total 666. Still, precise measurements don't stop people from associating the Washington Monument with the apocalyptic 666.
Did you know that by adding 19 in front of each chapter of the book of Psalms -- which is the 19th book of the Bible -- the chapters will correspond with the years of the 20th century; that is, Psalm 1=1901; Psalm 17=1917; Psalm 48=1948, etc? So, Psalms 17:8 "Hide me in the shadow of your wings," supposedly describes the British airplanes that flew over Jerusalem when General Allenby captured the city from Turkish hands in 1917. You get the idea, don't you?
Psalms 39 to 45 describe the plight of Jews in World War II. The rapture and resurrection is described in Psalms 88:10, which says: "Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?" Unfortunately the resurrection did not occur in 1988. That does not stop people from continuing to believe the "expert" who devised this theory, since he continues to be a popular featured speaker at prophecy seminars.
Did you know that some people don't want to use any postal ZIP codes -- not just a zip code with 666, like the one for Topeka, Kansas? They superstitiously suppose the zip code is part of the "Beast" system.
| Some of the strange things that Christians accept
make otherwise intelligent people say, "Christianity? No thank you
-- I think I'll become an atheist." |
Speaking of the Beast, did you know that a huge computer called the "Beast" has been operating in Brussels, Belgium, for decades at the European Common Market headquarters? It is ready to assign a number, a laser tattoo, to every person in the world. Never mind that this story came from a fictional book, Behold, a Pale Horse, written by author Joe Musser. People continue to regard the story as actual fact, believing it to be truth that is suppressed by the "secular media."
Did you know that the Israeli government has ordered 60,000 tons of the finest Bedford stone from Bedford, Indiana, to be used in the building of the temple in Jerusalem? This story appeared in a newspaper in 1967. Over 33 years later, where are the stones?
These stories and many others like them come from the entertaining but disturbing little book, Reckless Rumors, Misinformation, Doomsday Delusions by Ralph Woodrow.
But you don't have to read this book to see examples of strange beliefs.
An ad in a recent issue of a major Christian magazine reports the story of a plumber who "saw 14 people raised from the dead." The same issue informs us that Jezebel the "warrior goddess" will be the "greatest opposer of the apostolic Church in this age." The same magazine advertises prophecy conferences where people will tell you everything "you don't know about the last days" and promotes a "rapture will" to insure that your assets are properly taken care of after the rapture (assuming you are part of it).
The Strange Things
Why do many Christians (who should really know better) seem to get involved in so many bizarre and irrational things?
By comparison, some of the strange things that Christians accept make world religions like Islam and Buddhism seem more reasonable. They make pagan belief systems like Wicca seem almost sensible. They make New Ageism seem rational. They make otherwise intelligent people say,
"Christianity? No thank you -- I think I'll become an atheist."
Strange things don't make the job of evangelism any easier.
The core elements of Christianity -- the main things and the plain things -- constitute the most reasonable and clear faith in the world. But it is not these core elements that scare most people away from Christianity. It's the other stuff. The strange things.
If you had to classify these strange things, you might come up with three categories.
1. Things that are just plain wrong -- that contradict Scripture. These things are often called heresy.
2. Things that aren't necessarily wrong or heretical -- but things that the Bible simply does not address, or on which it is not clear. We might call these speculative.
3. Things that may be scriptural -- even valuable -- but that are less important than the gospel. These issues become elevated and magnified to such an extent that they obscure the gospel. Some even use them as unique selling propositions.
What on earth would compel a Christian (or anyone else) to get involved in these odd notions?
I can think of three reasons. Maybe you can think of more.
Hidden knowledge. Secret stuff that you know, that no one else knows. Hidden codes in the Bible. Keys to prophecy. Special, little-known principles of health or prosperity. Formulas and exact phrases that obligate God to answer your prayers.
Naturally, everyone likes to know something someone else doesn't because information is a form of power. And who doesn't enjoy feeling as though they are the powerful, chosen few who alone possess unique insight into arcane matters to which the poor deluded man or woman on the street is oblivious?
Breakthroughs. Everyone likes shortcuts. So if your prayers don't seem to be getting answers, you've got money problems, you've got health problems, you've got family problems and you don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, you'll give anything for a breakthrough -- a shortcut to prosperity, vibrant health, a peaceful family or answered prayers.
So you'll buy that new book, listen to those tapes or attend that seminar that promises the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow -- because you might find the big breakthrough you're looking for.
Marketing. There are people whose business it is to know that you need a breakthrough and that you like to know stuff no one else does. They also know that boring doesn't sell, and if they can show you some exciting new information or breakthrough, you might buy it.
If you can't get this information or breakthrough anyplace else, advertisers call it a unique selling proposition.
Unfortunately, too many churches and ministries try to have a unique selling proposition -- some special aspect of religion that they are pushing.
It might not be heretical or wrong -- it might even be something that has a legitimate place in Christian life. But it gets blown all out of proportion, and becomes an exaggerated truth claim.
Christian consumers spend a lot of money going from one fad to the next, trying to get their spiritual lives together, trying to find the right plan that will give them the breakthrough they seek.
But the gospel is simple. The gospel contains within it the answer to all the problems you and I endure. It's really all we need and it's right there under our noses. The gospel consists of the main things and the plain things in the Bible.
You don't have to have secret knowledge or pay large sums of money or achieve a breakthrough to understand them.
The main things and the plain things are not off the wall, bizarre, strange or loony. They are not embedded in the Bible as some sort of secret code. They don't need an involved system of interpretation and explanation.
You see, it's hard to become wealthy by teaching just the main things and the plain things. They aren't hard to learn or understand. Quite the opposite is true -- the challenge for many of us lies in accepting their simple truths at face value without making them more complicated.
This should be good news, but all too often people can't see the main things and the plain things because of all the other stuff that has been added on.
The main things and the plain things of the gospel is the breakthrough you're looking for. Once you have it, there's nothing better you can find.
Not a New Problem
Bizarre and strange ideas are not new to Christianity. The church in the first-century city of Colossi, in what is now Turkey, got carried away with some odd teachings.
The Colossian heresy was a collection of errors which would eventually lead to the various systems called gnosticism. Some teachers among the Colossians were were spreading the idea that secret knowledge (gnosis) was required to make one truly spiritual or accepted by God.
In his letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul brings the focus back to the main things and the plain things -- the gospel of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-17).
Paul's point is that all things come under the authority of Jesus. So where should a Christian place his or her focus? On Jesus and on his work. All these other questions and issues fall into their proper priority.
The church has even taught and sanctioned odd ideas from time to time. In the 15th century it became common practice for the church to grant people not only remission from suffering in purgatory, but also forgiveness and salvation in return for money paid to the church.
Incredibly, one could not only buy one's own salvation, but the salvation of deceased and sinful friends and relatives as well. Faithful Christians were assured that, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."
Such ignorant and unscriptural practices were the driving force behind the Reformation.
Perhaps it's time for 21st century Christians to consider reformation from some equally foolish and unscriptural ideas.
What's the Harm?
But what's the harm in giving a few unique ideas center stage? Why should we try to restrict ourselves to main and plain elements of the gospel?
In chapters 3 and 4 of Colossians, Paul discusses the practical implications for Jesus being the main and plain thing -- how Christians should live if Christ is central.
Would this picture of Christian living be the same if the bizarre ideas mentioned earlier in this article were the main things? Probably not.
If bizarre and strange things were at the heart and core of the gospel, we would probably treat others who didn't have our secret understanding with contempt.
We might argue with and be divided from other Christians who did not share our special understanding.
And we might try to convert others to our special understanding, instead of clearly explaining the good news about Jesus Christ. And this is exactly the kind of damage that aberrant beliefs are causing throughout the Christian world today.
The Main and the Plain
So what are the main things and the plain things that we should focus on? They're right there in the Bible. One reason many can't see them is that they are bringing unsound interpretation to the Bible.
R.C. Sproul, in Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, identifies three basic principles of sound Bible interpretation:
1. The obscure parts must be interpreted by the clearer parts,
2. The implicit must be interpreted by the explicit, and
3. The rules of logic must govern what can be deduced from Scripture -- the Bible interprets
itself. Subjective ideas and personal prophetic revelations have no place in this process.
Or, put even more simply: the main things of the Bible are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things.
And even more fundamental than the three basic principles stated above, is the cardinal rule of Bible study: The Bible must be read in context for its original meaning to its original audience, before any modern application can be deduced. Most strange ideas result from a failure to follow this simple rule.
That's a prerequisite main thing -- sound biblical interpretation and a high view of the Bible as the Word of God. Building on that foundation, there are four core beliefs that the gospel of Jesus Christ insists on. Most heresy is some form of deviation from these four essentials.
The Trinity. God is one divine being in three eternal, co-essential, yet distinct persons -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Even though the word Trinity may not appear in the Bible, it is a biblical teaching. This teaching emerged as a biblical standard in response to odd ideas about the Godhead that were being tossed around in the first three centuries after Christ. The Trinity is one of the main things and the plain things because the track record of every alternative teaching about the nature of God has proven to be a source of major theological problems. Any picture of the nature of God other than the Trinity, either diminishes God or exalts humans.
If you don't think the Trinity is biblical (or even if you do), look up these scriptures: Matthew 28:19; Mark 3:29; 12:29; John 1:1-18; 14:12-23; 16:27; Acts 2:32-33; Ephesians 1:1-14; 3:14-19; 4:6; 1 Timothy 1:16; Titus 2:11-13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 4:8; 5:20; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14. The main and plain teaching of the Bible affirms that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons and God.
The Deity of Jesus. Acts 4:12 states that "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
The Bible teaches that Jesus was and is the Son of God -- that he was sent to earth for our salvation -- that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin -- that he was fully God and fully man -- that he died for our sins -- that he rose from the dead in an immortal body -- and that he lives.
If Jesus is not and was not God, then he could not have been payment for our sins. That's the very core of Christianity.
Salvation by Grace Through Faith. If we believe Scripture -- if we believe in Jesus and what he said -- we must also believe that his work of atonement on the cross is completely sufficient to save us from eternal damnation. Anyone who believes this is born again, has eternal life, and is saved (1 John 5:1-13).
That God offers this salvation to all humans is grace. That we believe him is faith, which is itself a gift from God. Salvation is therefore by grace, though faith (Ephesians 2:8). Salvation can't be earned by works. While a saved person will be motivated to do good works (Galatians 6:10), those works don't earn salvation, nor is salvation conditional upon good works. This was the central issue of the Reformation.
The Universal Church. From the time of Christ until the division between the eastern and western churches in the 11th century, there was essentially one church. Even after the Reformation in the 16th century, believers were obligated to attend the denomination that happened to be in their town or city. With the founding of the United States, however, came freedom of religion, and with this freedom came the possibility of competition between denominations to attract believers. While a little competition can be a healthy thing, even within the church, some denominations, ministries and teachers have gone to the extreme of claiming to have truth that others don't. Unique selling propositions and exaggerated truth claims often grow into assertions about being the "one true church."
Make no mistake about it -- there is only one Christian church, consisting of all believers (Ephesians 4:4-6). Jesus is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18), which is metaphorically his body (verse 24).
No denomination or church body has an exclusive franchise to represent God on earth. The universal church, the body of Christ, transcends denominational boundaries and humanly incorporated churches. The most important relationship a Christian has is with God, not his or her church.
Yet, because it consists of human beings, the church is dysfunctional -- some parts more dysfunctional than others. We can often see the dysfunction of others more clearly than our own.
Yet, while believers are to be vigilant about matters of doctrine (Hebrews 13:9), they are also instructed to be gracious and patient with each other. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2-3).
Sadly, church history shows that Christians have been seriously lacking in this area.
These are the main and plain things. These are the things that are emphasized in Scripture. If we put it all together we have the gospel -- the main and plain thing. If you put it all into one paragraph, it might go something like this.
God is holy and righteous. Anything less than righteousness -- the way God thinks and acts -- is sin. You and I have sinned. We live in a world of sin. The penalty of sin is death and eternal damnation. But God loves us and he offers to save us. He comes to us in the person of Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin and to offer us eternal life. We have only to repent, believe him and accept his offer. And then we are saved. He becomes our Lord, and we obey him.
That's the main thing and the plain thing.
A Hole into Hell?Did Siberian scientists accidentally drill a hole into Hell? Did NASA discover a "missing day" in space? Have fossilized human footprints been found alongside those of dinosaurs in Texas? Do the tiny letters "JS" on the dime stand for Joseph Stalin? Do major companies include Satanic messages in their logos? Does the Bible contain a secret code revealing present-day events? Did Nostradamus foresee Hitler's rise to power in Germany and the death of Princess Diana? Have major earthquakes increased in the last half of the twentieth century? Is everything getting worse and worse? You can find the answers to all these questions and many, many more in Ralph Woodrow's book Reckless Rumors, Misinformation, Doomsday Delusions. Woodrow systematically debunks and deconstructs scores of myths and falsehoods that have been accepted as truth by many sincere Christians. Ralph Woodrow has an intimate understanding of Christian misinformation. In 1966, he wrote and published Babylon, Mystery Religion, a popular book among those who maintain that many Christian traditions are pagan, and therefore to be avoided. Later, he came to realize that his assertions were flawed. His recent publications have sought to correct his earlier errors, and also to expose other commonly mistaken beliefs.
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