http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/jesusgd2.htm

http://www.henrymakow.com/forbidden_archeology.html

NPR

2010-02-23

An Israeli archaeologist said Monday that ancient fortifications recently excavated in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and support the biblical narrative about the era.

If the age of the wall is correct, the finding would be an indication that Jerusalem was home to a strong central government that had the resources and manpower needed to build massive fortifications in the 10th century B.C.

That’s a key point of dispute among scholars, because it would match the Bible’s account that the Hebrew kings David and Solomon ruled from Jerusalem around that time.

While some Holy Land archaeologists support that version of history — including the archaeologist behind the dig, Eilat Mazar — others posit that David’s monarchy was largely mythical and that there was no strong government to speak of in that era.

Speaking to reporters at the site Monday, Mazar, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, called her find “the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel.”

“It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction,” she said.

Based on what she believes to be the age of the fortifications and their location, she suggested it was built by Solomon, David’s son, and mentioned in the Book of Kings.

The fortifications, including a monumental gatehouse and a 77-yard (70-meter) long section of an ancient wall, are located just outside the present-day walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, next to the holy compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. According to the Old Testament, it was Solomon who built the first Jewish Temple on the site.

That temple was destroyed by Babylonians, rebuilt, renovated by King Herod 2,000 years ago and then destroyed again by Roman legions in 70 A.D. The compound now houses two important Islamic buildings, the golden-capped Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Archaeologists have excavated the fortifications in the past, first in the 1860s and most recently in the 1980s. But Mazar claimed her dig was the first complete excavation and the first to turn up strong evidence for the wall’s age: a large number of pottery shards, which archaeologists often use to figure out the age of findings.

Aren Maeir, an archaeology professor at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, said he has yet to see evidence that the fortifications are as old as Mazar claims. There are remains from the 10th century in Jerusalem, he said, but proof of a strong, centralized kingdom at that time remains “tenuous.”

While some see the biblical account of the kingdom of David and Solomon as accurate and others reject it entirely, Maeir said the truth was likely somewhere in the middle.

“There’s a kernel of historicity in the story of the kingdom of David,” he said.

By Gary E. Gilley

The fastest growing segment of professing Christianity today is the Word-Faith Movement, also known as the Positive Confession or simply “Faith” movement. Its growth is at least partially due to the massive amounts of money the leaders are able to extract from the faithful. This influx of cash allows for huge buildings and extensive ministries, and more importantly, wide exposure on television, which translates into numerical growth. Not only do many Word-Faith preachers broadcast their services and campaigns, but Word-Faith adherents, Paul and Jan Crouch, own the largest Christian-based television network in the world. The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), founded by the Crouches, with an estimated net worth of approximately $600 million dollars, is capable of televising the Faith message (as well as many other errant messages) all over the world.

Well-known personalities within the movement include Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Robert Tilton (who is staging a come-back), Paul Yonggi Cho, Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Frederick K.C. Price, John Avanzini, Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo and of course, Paul and Jan Crouch.

Beliefs

Faith Is a Force

As is implied by the title “Word-Faith,” the supporters of this movement believe that faith works like a mighty power or force. Through faith, we can obtain anything we want — health, wealth, success, whatever. However, this force is only released through the spoken word. As we speak the words of faith, power is discharged to accomplish our desires. Hagin’s theme, as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God, can be summarized as follows (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 74-75):

In the opening chapter, titled “Jesus Appears to Me,” Hagin claims that while he “was in the Spirit” — just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos — a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. “Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me,” says Hagin. “He stood within three feet of me.” After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to “Write down: 1,2,3,4.” Jesus then allegedly told Hagin “if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father.” That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: “Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it.”

1. Step number one is “Say it.” “Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive.”
2. Step number two is “Do it.” “Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving.”
3. Step number three is “Receive it.” We are to plug into the “powerhouse of heaven.” “Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in.”
4. Step number four is “Tell it so others may believe.” This final step might be considered the Faith movement’s outreach program.

Kenneth Copeland states the faith formula this way: “All it takes is 1) Seeing or visualizing whatever you need, whether physical or financial; 2) Staking your claim on Scripture; and 3) Speaking it into existence” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 80).

Paul Yonggi Cho, borrowing from the occult, has developed what he calls the “Law of Incubation.” Here is how it works: “First make a clear-cut goal, then draw a mental picture, vivid and graphic, to visualize success. Then incubate it into reality, and finally speak it into existence through the creative power of the spoken word” (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 83-84).

If a positive confession of faith releases power, then according to Word-Faith, a negative confession can actually backfire. Capps says the tongue “can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you.” This is so because, “Faith is a seed … you plant it by speaking it.” There is power in “the evil fourth dimension” says Cho. Hagin informs us that if you confess sickness you get sickness, if you confess health you get health, whatever you say you get. “This spoken word … releases power — power for good or power for evil,” is the commonly held view of the movement. It is easy to see why the title “Positive Confession” is often applied to this group.

As one might guess, the teachings of the Faith movement are very attractive to some. If we can produce whatever our hearts desire by simply demanding what we want by faith, if we can manipulate the universe and perhaps even God, then we have our own personal genie just waiting to fulfill our wishes. Frederick K.C. Price wastes no words when he writes:

“Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. … Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. … When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer” (Prayer: Do You Know What Prayer Is. … and How to Pray? The Word Study Bible, p. 1178).

This is certainly a theology that would appeal to the masses, and thus accounts for the Faith movement’s popularity.

The Deification of Man

Faith teachers like to teach, based upon serious mishandling of passages such as John 10:31-39 and II Peter 1:4, that Christians are “little gods.” Copeland says, “Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 116). Benny Hinn declares, “God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went back to heaven as a man” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 382 n. 43). Earl Paulk wrote, “Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God” (Satan Unmasked, p. 97).

The Humanization of God

While man is glorified, God is humiliated in the Faith system. Copeland claims that God is a being who stands about 6′2″-6′3″, weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9″ across (Christianity in Crisis, p. 121). Copeland also declares “Adam was the copy, looked just like (God). If you stood Adam beside God, they looked just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 137).

Many of the Word-Faith teachers also embrace a heresy known as Tritheism, which in essence teaches that there are really three separate Gods. Hinn, under supposed inspiration, explains:

“Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus. … God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; and He is a triune being by Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you — and maybe I should — there’s nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last 50 years? You can’t argue with the Word, can you? It’s all in the Word (Christianity in Crisis, p. 123-124).

Hinn, under fire, later retracted his remarks, only to reaffirm them two years later.

Jesus supposedly told Copeland, “They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that he was in me” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 137-138). Many of the Faith heresies concerning God can be traced to the notes found in Dake‘s Annotated Reference Bible.

The Distortion of the Cross

Four atonement-related errors on the part of the Faith teachers can be documented:

1) Christ was re-created on the cross from divine to demonic. To put it in Faith vernacular, Jesus took on the very nature of Satan himself.
2) Your redemption was not secured on the cross, but in hell. In fact, many Faith teachers claim that Christ’s torture by all the demons of hell was a “ransom” God paid to Satan so that He could get back into a universe from which He had been banished.
3) Jesus was reborn (or born again) in the very pit of hell.
4) Christ was reincarnated through His rebirth in hell and that those who (like Christ) are born again can become “incarnated” as well.

Thus, Faith teachers take Christ, the spotless Lamb, and pervert Him into an unholy sacrifice on the cross (Christianity In Crisis, p.153).

Practices

While many, even within the Word-Faith churches, are unaware of some of the doctrinal heresies of the movement, none can plead ignorant of the strange and bizarre practices and emphasis of its leaders. The following things are standard occurrences in virtually every one of their television broadcasts, evangelistic campaigns, and church services.

A Prosperity Gospel

Nothing will create more euphoria in the average person than the promise to make them wealthy, and this the Word-Faith leadership knows very well. The Word-Faith teacher’s lifestyle is clearly identified by opulence, luxury, riches, and the assurance that all of this can be his followers as well — if only they apply certain principles.

Robert Tilton is normative. On a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 he said:

“Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That’s chicken feed. That’s nothing compared to what God wants to do for you” (Charismatic Chaos, p. 285).

Fred Price on a similar broadcast explains how it works:

“If you’ve got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar item, it ain’t going to work. It won’t work. Jesus said, ‘According to your [faith],’ not according to God’s will for you, in His own good time, if it’s according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said, ‘According to your faith, be it unto you’” (Charismatic Chaos, p. 286).

Of course, the road to prosperity somehow always leads to the offering plate of the Word-Faith Movement. Gloria Copeland (Kenneth’s wife) pulls no punches in her book God’s Will Is Prosperity:

“Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal” (p. 54).

A Health Gospel

The “name-it-and-claim-it” pundits are not content with mere wealth; they want to feel well enough to enjoy their prosperity. So do most of their listeners. So while you are giving away wealth, why not dispense health as well?

The Word-Faith teachers, as is true of many other charismatics, believe that Christ provided for physical healing at the cross. As a result, not only are Christians saved from sin, they are promised a life of health. Kenneth Copeland writes in Healed … to Be or Not to Be:

“The first step to spiritual maturity is to realize your position before God. You are a child of God and a joint-heir with Jesus. Consequently, you are entitled to all the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God, and one of their rights is health and healing” (p. 25).

But, if healing is part of the atonement, why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith, as Benny Hinn explains:

“The Bible declares that the work was done 2,000 years ago. God is not going to heal you now — he healed you 2,000 years ago. All you have to do today is receive your healing by faith” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 44).

Of course reality, in the form of sickness, has to be faced even by the Word-Faith leaders. Fred Price may proclaim “we don’t allow sickness in our home,” but his wife still has cancer. Kenneth Hagin brags that he has not had a headache, the flu, or even “one sick day” in nearly 60 years, but he has had four cardiovascular crises. Paul Crouch may have healed Oral Roberts of chest pains on a TBN Broadcast, but it didn’t stop Oral from having a heart attack a few hours later (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 237-238). How are these things explained away? Predictably, by blaming them on the devil. Sickness in the Word-Faith camp is usually seen as satanic attacks that must be repelled by words of faith (i.e., “positive confession”).

Experiences

The faith leaders make some amazing claims. Hagin, for example, has visited (so he says) both heaven and hell as well as had out-of-body experiences (Christianity in Crisis, p. 334). He has had many visits from Jesus and angels. He boasts of the ability to heal, cast our demons, and levitate people (p. 336). Hinn opens his best selling book with these words:

“It was three days before Christmas 1973. The sun was still rising on that cold, misty Toronto morning. Suddenly He was there. The Holy Spirit entered my room. He was as real to me that morning as the book you are holding in your hand is to you. For the next eight hours I had an incredible experience with the Holy Spirit. It changed the course of my life (Rise and Be Healed, p. 1).

Hinn speaks of frequent personal visits from the Lord, the first being at age eleven:

“I saw Jesus walk into my bedroom. He was wearing a robe that was whiter than white and a deep red mantle was draped over the robe. I saw his hair. I looked into His eyes. I saw the nailprints in His hands. I saw everything. … When it happened, I was asleep, but suddenly my little body was caught up in an incredible sensation that can only be described as ‘electric.’ It felt as if someone had plugged me into a wired socket. There was a numbness that felt like needles — a million of them — rushing through my body. And then the Lord stood before me while I was in a deep, deep sleep. He looked straight at me with the most beautiful eyes. He smiled, and His arms were open wide. I could feel His presence. It was marvelous and I’ll never forget it” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 22).

When Hinn describes his conversion, he does not mention the cross, repentance, or faith; rather, it is all couched in terms of experience:

“What I really felt, though, was that this surge of power was cleansing me — instantly, from the inside out. I felt absolutely clean, immaculate, and pure. Suddenly I saw Jesus with my own eyes. It happened in a moment of time. There he was. Jesus” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 31).

Hinn claims power of a supernatural nature often emanates from his body:

“Once, my mother was cleaning the hallway while I was in my room talking with the Holy Spirit. When I came out, she was thrown right back. Something had knocked her against the wall. I said, ‘What’s wrong with you, Mama?’ She answered, ‘I don’t know?’ Well, the presence of the Lord almost knocked her down” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 42).

Both the appeal of the book and its dangers are evident in this quote:

“Are you ready to meet the Holy Spirit intimately and personally? Do you want to hear His voice? Are you prepared to know him as a person? That’s exactly what happened to me, and it drastically transformed my life. It was an intensely personal experience, and it was based on God’s Word. You may ask, ‘Was it the result of a systematic Bible study?’ No, it happened when I invited the Holy Spirit to be my personal friend. To be my constant guide. To take me by the hand and lead me ‘into all truth.’ What He will uncover and reveal to you in Scripture will make your study of the Bible come alive” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 48).

Both the Word-Faith leaders and their followers make the same mistake of basing their lives on experiences and feelings rather than upon the inspired Word of God.

Luminaries within the Movement

Kenneth Hagin is considered the father of Word-Faith. He has a syndicated radio show carried by about 250 radio stations; a Bible School (Rhema Bible Training Center) with 12,000 graduates from 1974-1992; a magazine with 400,000 subscribers; and has sold millions of books and other publications.

Kenneth Copeland is the heir-apparent to the Faith throne (although Benny Hinn has moved in to challenge). Copeland’s empire spans the globe with similar ministries as Hagin.

Benny Hinn was pastor of Orlando Christian Center in Orlando, Florida. (He recently moved his ministry to Dallas.) Hinn reaches the world through evangelistic campaigns, television, and literature. His book Good Morning Holy Spirit was the best selling Christian book in 1991, selling a quarter of a million copies in only three months. He is perhaps best known as a “Faith-Healer” in the traditions of Kathryn Kuhlman (his idol) and Oral Roberts. His “ability” to “slay in the Spirit” large groups of people at once (by blowing on them or waving his arm their direction) has brought him considerable notoriety.

Frederick K.C. Price, the most prominent of black Word-Faith preachers, pastors the 16,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center, and has his own television show.

John Avanzini, best-known fundraiser among the Word-Faith leaders. He has said, “A greater than a lottery has come. His name is Jesus!”

Robert Tilton perfected the Christian infomercial through his “Success-N-Life” television program.

Marilyn Hickey is (except for Gloria Copeland and perhaps Jan Crouch) the best-known woman in the movement. She teaches people to speak to their wallets and checkbooks in order that their wealth may increase.

David Yonggi Cho is the pastor of the 700,000 Full Gospel Yoido Church in South Korea. Cho, who often speaks at Robert Schuller Conferences on church growth (along with Bill Hybels), is perhaps the closest link to the occult. He teaches a concept called the “Fourth Dimension.” The first three dimensions are physical and are controlled by the fourth, which is the spiritual. Cho teaches that Christians can get anything they want by calling upon the spirit world in the Fourth Dimension and visualizing what they want. When a person (Christian or unsaved) follows the proper formula of positive thinking, speaking and visualizing, they “incubate” and eventually give birth to their desires. These techniques are the same used in his occult-infested country. Cho is aware of this fact, but believes what works for “them” will work for “us” — so use it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=J2Zs-H6hAJM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0

http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin570.htm

THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER

And Why So Few Read His Works

Martin Luther:  The man who is celebrated for calling into question the authority of a corrupt Church, for initiating religious freedom in an age of spiritual feudalism, for initiating free universal education, for freeing the Scriptures from the bondage of a dead language, for… Well, you get the idea.

But how much Luther has the average Protestant read?  Or even the average Protestant clergyman?

Little, if any, I submit.

As you may judge for yourself below, Luther was a troubled, surly, intemperate — and occasionally even blasphemous — man.  Hardly the picture of a Spirit-led leader of the faith.

Does this sound outrageous to you?  Inconceivable?  I’m not surprised.  In fact, I myself was surprised to discover Luther’s true nature.  But once you read his own words, his nature is undeniable.

In this document, you can review some of Luther’s more surprising utterances for yourself.  And don’t think you can find them in any neighborhood bookstore, either.  I had terrible trouble finding anything besides the great man’s ‘Small Catechism.’  Even the highly sanitized anthologies of his work are not easy to locate — if you can find them at all, it’s usually in secular bookstores.

Why the scarcity of Luther’s writings in mainstream Protestant bookstores?  I cannot speak from first-hand knowledge.  But if you read the passages below, you may suspect — as I do — that Luther has been silenced because his true theology is an embarrassment to his followers.  They would much rather propagate the image of the benevolent bombast, the passionate leader, the enlightened patriarch — because if people really know what Luther thought and taught, they would be appalled.

Since his work extends to more than 50 volumes, we won’t even try to give an overview here.  Instead, we’ll be selecting some of his more surprising — and, yes, inflammatory — ideas.  For the strength of a chain is determined by its weakest links.

Now, an objection by those who have not read Luther first-hand will be, “These passages are taken out of context, and therefore they cannot be trusted as accurate representations of Luther’s thought.”  However I will give citations for each excerpt.  Go to the source and see for yourself.  You’ll find that not one of these passages means anything apart from what appears here; indeed, I challenge you to try to imagine any context that could possibly change the meaning of these words.

Luther’s meanings are all too clear.

A further objection is that other of Luther’s writings can be cited that contradict some of what you find here.  We would reply that self-contradiction does not make an individual more reliable, but less.

In any case, you be the judge…  as we allow Luther to speak for himself.

Luther Said:  ‘Be A Sinner’

“Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world.  We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides…  No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day.” (’Let Your Sins Be Strong, from ‘The Wittenberg Project;’  ‘The Wartburg Segment’, translated by Erika Flores, from Dr. Martin Luther’s
Saemmtliche Schriften, Letter No. 99, 1 Aug. 1521).

Luther is actually saying that our actions — even the most sinful actions imaginable — don’t matter! He is saying we can commit any sin we want — willfully, presumptuously, purposefully — and we will not offend God!   After all, we require nothing more than “faith” to be saved.   What we do is incidental.   Of course anyone familiar with Scripture will point out that this is not a Christian teaching.  For throughout the Bible we are told that sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2).  No believer has a license to sin.  Christians who willfully sin WILL be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 12:14; 1st Thessalonians 4:6).

Luther Said:  Doing Good Is More Dangerous Than Sinning

“Those pious souls who do good to gain the Kingdom of Heaven not only will never succeed, but they must even be reckoned among the impious; and it is more important to guard them against good works than against sin.”  (Wittenberg, VI, 160, quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, p. 122.)

You must be thinking, “What?  Could he possibly have written what I thought I just read? ‘It is more important to guard them against good works than against sin.’”  Well okay, read it again, just to make sure. We’ll wait.

See?  You were right the first time.  Luther cautions us against good and upright actions.  He says, don’t worry about sin — Jesus will take care of it.  But doing good — that you’d better watch out for. Especially if you think being kind and generous and loving will affect your outcome at the final judgment.

In his hubris, he ignores verse after verse of Scripture — New Testament and Old — where we are told that the way we live out our faith will be the criterion upon which we will be judged.  As Paul makes eminently clear in Rom. 2: 5-11, “…the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works.”  And again in 2 Cor. 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat… so that each one may receive recompense , according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”  Luther was utterly and monumentally wrong — wrong for the ages.

Luther Said:  There Is No Free Will

“…with regard to God, and in all that bears on salvation or damnation, (man) has no ‘free-will’, but is a captive, prisoner and bondslave, either to the will of God, or to the will of  Satan.” (From the essay, ‘Bondage of the Will,’ ‘Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings, ed. by Dillenberger, Anchor Books, 1962 p. 190.)

“…we do everything of necessity, and nothing by ‘free-will’; for the power of ‘free-will’ is nil…”  (Ibid., p. 188.)

“Man is like a horse.  Does God leap into the saddle?  The horse is obedient and accommodates itself to every movement of the rider and goes whither he wills it.  Does God throw down the reins?  Then Satan leaps upon the back of the animal, which bends, goes and submits to the spurs and caprices of its new rider…  Therefore, necessity, not free will, is the controlling principle of our conduct.  God is the author of what is evil as well as of what is good, and, as He bestows happiness on
those who merit it not, so also does He damn others who deserve not their fate.”  (’De Servo Arbitrio’, 7, 113 seq., quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, pp. 266-267.)

All these passages come from a tract Luther penned, titled, ‘De Servo Arbitrio ,’ or ‘Bondage of the Will,’ in which the great reformer works hard to present the case that free will does not exist.

Scripture, of course, disagrees, in both word and spirit. In Sirach 15:11-20, we find:  “Say not:  ‘It was God’s doing that I fell away’: for what he hates he does not do. Say not: ‘It was he who set me astray’; For he has no need of wicked men… When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments… There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.”

So you see, the scripture is quite clear on the matter:  “When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice.”

But, you object, Sirach is ‘apocryphal’ — Luther discarded it, questioning its canonicity.  And no wonder, we respond, considering how directly it confutes his teachings.  But we can also point to Deut. 30:19-20, in which God tells us: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.  Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.”  So we see that man is more than simply free to choose; he is obliged to choose.

And earlier yet, in Gen. 4:7, God speaks to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen?  If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

And, finally, in John 15:15, our Lord pronounces his love for us, his followers:  “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing.  I have called you friends…”  Hardly sounds like the words of a rider to his horse.

As often happens, Paul has the final word:  “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of Sin?  Of course not!”  (Gal. 2:17.)  A more direct contradiction of Luther’s pronouncement, “God is the author of what is evil as well as of what is good,” is difficult to imagine.

Luther’s position includes no accountability.  No responsibility.  No sense of learning or of being perfected through the course of our lives. No dignity even.  Just the bleakest, most oppressive coercion which robs human life of any meaning whatsoever.  What you do in your life — even the love you evidence toward your neighbors — means nothing, according to Luther.  Your struggles, your suffering, your perseverance — none of it amounts to anything.  Your will is not even in your own hands.

Luther Said:  The Individual Christian Is Subject To No Authority

“…every Christian is by faith so exalted above all things that, by virtue of a spiritual power, he is lord of all things without exception, so that nothing can do him any harm.  As a matter of fact, all things are made subject to him and are compelled to serve him in obtaining salvation.”  (From the essay,’ Freedom of a Christian,’ ‘Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings, ed. by Dillenberger, Anchor Books, 1962 p. 63.)

“Injustice is done those words ‘priest,’ ‘cleric,’ ’spiritual,’ ‘ecclesiastic,’ when they are transferred from all Christians to those
few who are now by a mischievous usage called ‘ecclesiastics.’” (Ibid., p. 65.)

Luther teaches that we don’t need anyone between us, the community of believers, and our Savior.  So he objects to ecclesiastical authority — and the hierarchy which exercises it.  God is with the entire congregation, he says, so why should we bother with a priest.

Sounds great.  Until you realize that this position echoes that of Moses’ sister, the prophetess Miriam, who protests in Numbers Chapter 12, “Is it through Moses alone that the Lord speaks?  Does he not speak through us also?”  For her rebellion against the authority established by God, she contracts leprosy.  Thanks to Moses’ intercessory prayer, she is cleansed.

And she is followed just a few chapters later by Korah, who incites the people against Moses and Aaron in the most disturbing words of all. They say, “Enough from you!  The whole community, all of them, are holy; the Lord is in their midst.  Why then should you set yourselves over the Lord’s congregation?”  Whereupon Korah and his followers were consumed by fire sent by the Lord.  (Numbers 16.)

Luther Said:  Peasants Deserve Their Harsh Treatment

“Like the mules who will not move unless you perpetually whip them with rods, so the civil powers must drive the common people, whip, choke, hang, burn, behead and torture them, that they may learn to fear the powers that be.”  (El. ed. 15, 276, quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, p. 235.)

“A peasant is a hog, for when a hog is slaughtered it is dead, and in the same way the peasant does not think about the next life, for otherwise he would behave very differently.” (’Schlaginhaufen,’ ‘Aufzeichnungen,’ p. 118, quoted ibid., p. 241)

Perhaps Luther’s darkest hour was his betrayal of the long-abused serfs during Münzer’s Peasants’ War of 1525.  First, he naively fomented their unrest by publishing tracts such as ‘On Authority,’ in which he castigated the princely classes with invective such as, “People cannot, people will not, put up with your tyranny and caprice for any length of time.” (Ibid., p. 223.)  And, “…the poor man, in excitement and grief on account of the damage he has suffered in his goods, his body and his
soul, has been tried too much and has been oppressed by them beyond all measure, in the most perfidious manner.  Henceforth he can and will no longer put up with such a state of things, and, moreover, he has ample reason to break forth with the flail and the club as Karsthans threatens to do.” (Ibid., p. 225.)

Yet when the rebellion came, he turned coat, publishing the tract, ‘Against the Murderous and Rapacious Hordes of Peasants,’ which urged the ruling lords to “stab them secretly and openly, as they can, as one would kill a mad dog.” (Ibid., p. 235.)

To underscore the coldness of the man, Luther was married on the heels of the tragic massacre that resulted.  Erasmus, a contemporary, estimated that a hundred thousand peasants lost their lives. (Ibid., p. 237.)

Luther Said:  Polygamy Is Permissible

“I confess that I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict the Scripture.  If a man wishes to marry more than one wife he should be asked whether he is satisfied in his conscience that he may do so in accordance with the word of God.  In such a case the civil authority has nothing to do in the matter.” (De Wette II, 459, ibid., pp. 329-330.)

‘Sola scriptura’ has its consequences.

Luther Said:  The Bible Could Use Some Improvement

“The history of Jonah is so monstrous that it is absolutely incredible.” (’The Facts About Luther, O’Hare, TAN Books, 1987, p. 202.)

“The book of Esther I toss into the Elbe.  I am such an enemy to the book of Esther that I wish it did not exist, for it Judaizes too much and has in it a great deal of heathenish foolishness.” (Ibid.)

“Of very little worth is the Book of Baruch, whoever the worthy Baruch might be.” (Ibid.)

“…the epistle of St. James is an epistle full of straw, because it contains nothing evangelical.”  (’Preface to the New Testament,’ ed. Dillenberger, p. 19.)

“If nonsense is spoken anywhere, this is the very place.  I pass over the fact that many have maintained, with much probability, that this epistle was not written by the apostle James, and is not worthy of the spirit of the apostle.”  (’Pagan Servitude of the Church,’ ed. Dillenberger, p. 352.)

Reading these words of Luther, it’s hard to imagine that he is the same man who so often claimed that he looked upon the Bible “as if God Himself spoke therein.”  How could he have claimed to believe in the inspired Word of God as the ultimate authority on religious matters if he placed himself in judgment of Scripture?  In doing so, he quite clearly set himself up as judge over God himself.

Believe it or not, in his hubris Luther even presumed to rank the gospels:  “John records but few of the works of Christ, but a great deal of his preaching, whereas the other three evangelists record many of His works, but few of His words.  It follows that the gospel of John is unique in loveliness, and of a truth the principal gospel, far, far superior to the other three, and St. Paul and St. Peter are far in advance of the three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.”  (’Preface to Romans,’ ed. Dillenberger, pp. 18-19.)

And he complained about the Book of Revelation: “to my mind it bears upon it no marks of an apostolic or prophetic character…  Everyone may form his own judgment of this book; as for myself, I feel an aversion to it, and to me this is sufficient reason for rejecting it.” (Sammtliche Werke,  63, pp. 169-170, ‘The Facts About Luther,’ O’Hare, TAN Books,
1987, p. 203.)

And finally, he admitted adding the word ‘alone’ to Rom. 3:28 of his own volition:  “If your Papist annoys you with the word (’alone’), tell him straightway, Dr. Martin Luther will have it so:  Papist and ass are one and the same thing.  Whoever will not have my translation, let him give it the go-by: the devil’s thanks to him who censures it without my will and knowledge.  Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the doctors in Popedom.”  (Amic. Discussion, 1, 127,’The Facts About
Luther,’ O’Hare, TAN Books, 1987, p. 201.)

Here he is condemned by his own mouth.  For John, in Rev. 22: 18-19, declares anathema anyone who presumes to change even a single word of Scripture:  “I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book.”  Luther, of course, didn’t add or take away mere words, but entire passages and books.

Luther Said:  Persecute The Jewish People

“Jews are young devils damned to hell.”  (’Luther’s Works,’ Pelikan, Vol. XX, pp. 2230.)

“Burn their synagogues.  Forbid them all that I have mentioned above. Force them to work and treat them with every kind of severity, as Moses did in the desert and slew three thousand… If that is no use, we must drive them away like mad dogs, in order that we may not be partakers of their abominable blasphemy and of all their vices, and in order that we may not deserve the anger of God and be damned with them.  I have done my duty.  Let everyone see how he does his.  I am excused.”  (’About the Jews and Their Lies,’ quoted by O’Hare, in ‘The Facts About Luther, TAN Books, 1987, p. 290.)

It is very disturbing to contemplate the possible fruit born of the seeds of hatred sown by this man.  If he was guided by any spirit, clearly it was not holy.

Conclusion

How is it so many people have followed the author of these dark, bleak teachings?  There is only one explanation:  They don’t realize what Luther — the real Luther — actually taught.  If they did, they’d would see that many of the ideas of the Reformation father run counter to both Scripture and good sense.

And I suspect that, from the seminary onward, Protestant ministers concentrate more on the perceived errors of Catholicism than they do examining the writings of their own founders.  Yes, Catholicism is straight out of the pits of Hell, but so is Lutheranism.

If you doubt these passages, I urge you to go to the source.  Finding Luther’s writings is not easy, but with diligence it can be done.

May God bless those whose search for truth and lead them to sift with impartiality:  “Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith.  Test yourselves.”  (2 Corinthians  13:5.)  And may the God who created us all in his image bring us closer to his heart, where all truth is found.

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