Bridge of Reason

The man was trying to give people something, but no one was taking it. Most ignored him, many crossed the road to avoid him and the odd one who did listen refused his offer. He wasn’t trying to sell something, nor did he appear to be some crazed religious fanatic, but clearly people did not want what he was offering. What was he handing out that seemed so objectionable? Five-pound notes. What a monster! You don’t get owt for nowt. We have a saying in Yorkshire: ‘You don’t get owt for nowt’. Now for those of you not fortunate enough to have been born in God’s own county, let me translate. It means: ‘One does not receive something without paying for it’. I recently had to visit someone in hospital. Upon arriving in the car park, I made my way to the Pay Station. There was a notice on the machine which said: Machine broken – parking is free today. As parking at hospitals can be quite costly, I should have been jumping for joy, but not me, I was suspicious. Parking at the hospital ca...

  'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.’ Acts 16:31 A typical reaction to the good news of Jesus Christ, is, ‘There must be more to it than that. It can’t be that easy.’ This is one of the appealing things about the cults. People think they can earn, at least in part, this great gift from God we call salvation. Along comes someone with a message that affirms this and they get caught on the treadmill of works-based salvation. If someone thinks the Christian Gospel is easy, they are hearing it wrong, usually because it is being wrongly told. Two serious errors must be avoided when telling and hearing the Gospel. It is possible to so emphasise the free gift of God in texts such as Romans 3:21-26; 6:23; 10:9 that we teach a type of ‘Corinthianism.’ The church in Corinth had adopted a doctrine of licence in practically everything, from the way they conducted their public lives and services to the way they practised their personal relationships (1 Cor.1:10-19; 5:1-6:...

Someone asked if a murde r repents and turns to Jesus in the last days of their life is that person saved? It is a familiar enough question, popular with the cults . People usually find the answer scandalous; n obody is beyond the reach of his grace except the one who will not receive it. What does that mean? I t means, 'Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.' ( John 5:24, ESV, [ words of Jesus ] ) 'Whoever' means anyone may come, no on e is turned away who comes in repentance , no truly repentant sinner is beyond the reach of his grace. Peter writes, ‘ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit...’ (1 Pet.3:18) The scandal is the cross, the righteous dying for the unrighteous, but there it is. 'Has eternal life' means those who...

Paul's letter to Titus in the New Testament contains a remarkable and disturbing observation. Paul writes: 'One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in faith…' (1:12/13) Titus was a Greek convert to Christianity, Paul referring to him as, 'my true child in the faith.' (1:4) He had a challenging assignment, so Paul wrote words both of encouragement and of instruction, 'as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.' (2:1) This is a theme throughout this letter, indeed, in his whole ministry. The fact Titus was to appoint elders in every town tells us this was a new church plant. The above quote gives some insight into what Titus had to draw on to accomplish his task. It is a shocking thing to read, xenophobic one might think. Paul, of course, was making a generalisation, not implying every citizen of ...

Correctly Handling the Word of Truth Departing from Iniquity Pursuing Righteousness Repenting of Error Last time we looked at The Complete Rule of Faith , summed up in four points: The Knowledge of God in Christ, Escape from Corruption by Grace, Adding Virtue to Faith, Trusting the Word. Peter’s message has an urgency we might easily relate to today as the New Testament warnings of error from within the body seem so apposite. Listing the qualities that keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ, he warns: ‘For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.’ (2 Peter 1:8/9) This blindness, this lack of fruitfulness, may well be the result of a lack of true conversion. It is possible to appear to have all the trappings of a ‘reformed’ life but for that reformation to be merely external, cleaning up one’s act without having a truly changed he...

The Knowledge of God in Christ People can struggle, especially in the current church climate, with the question of what does being a Christian look like. So many claims and counterclaims are made on our lives it can be daunting trying to simply walk in faithfulness. Two areas in particular are problematic for people, Bible reading and prayer. I will have something practical to say about that, but first I want to build on the question I addressed in my last post ; where do you stand in the daily battle of faith? (Eph.6:13) Of especial concern throughout the New Testament is the threat of error from within the church. Paul, in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders, warns of false prophets who will arise ‘from your own number,’ (Acts 20:30); He warns the church in Corinth not to be taken in by ‘false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ,’ (2 Cor.11:13) In his first letter to Timothy, Paul writes of some who will ‘abandon the faith and follow deceiving...

Many years ago a friend and work colleague gave me a copy of Jerald and Sandra Tanner's Mormonism, Shadow or Reality? It is a big, red hardback book which would have proved daunting for most people. But for me it became essential bedtime reading, a treasure trove I still reach for when researching. I had no idea such a book existed. Indeed, here in the UK, I had barely heard of Jerald and Sandra Tanner. In the days before computers and the Internet, information was scarce if you lived remotely from the geographical/cultural centre of the organisation you had left. As a Mormon I had easy enough access to teaching manuals from the church but as a critic I had to send away for materials as I discovered them; and if you don't known what you're looking for how do you find it? There was no Amazon, no browsing the Internet for the latest titles. There were no forums, or discussion groups. When you did find quality material you were in a small minority, becoming the one to whom oth...

Nothing highlights more the very different needs of people coming out of the cults than the respective understandings of 'church' by Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. In an article on the LDS Church website , an overview of membership mentions the word 'church' nine times, including the article's title, and all positively. It speaks of belonging to the church, access to blessings through the church, opportunities for serving in the church. It typically capitalises 'the Church' when referring to to the Mormon Church. Mormons understand 'church' to be an institution, much as does the Roman Catholic Church. 'Traditional' describes the Mormon approach to 'church,' even when Mormonism stands in opposition to other churches in its claim to be 'the only true Church.' This is evidenced in Mormon buildings boasting stained-glass window portrayals of Mormon history (right). Jehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, harbour a deep s...