Stand Firm | Three Excuses for Bishop Salmon’s Inexcusable Invitation
Three Excuses for Bishop Salmon’s Inexcusable Invitation
Three Excuses for Bishop Salmon’s Inexcusable Invitation
I have noticed the following three excuses for Dean Salmon’s inexcusable invitation making the rounds.
Excuse 1: What harm could one sermon by a false teacher do to these orthodox seminarians? It’s hard to know where to begin. The premise seems to be: it’s okay to invite false teachers to preach if we’re relatively sure that no one will be influenced by what is said.
First: How do you know no one will be influenced? Can you read minds and hearts? The fact that according to the Dean there are three seminarians attending Nashotah who requested this invitation does little to support the contention that the student body is beyond corruption.
Second, the New Testament instructions with regard to false teachers are clear and direct: they must be completely repudiated. Who are you to decide that these instructions do not apply to seminaries? Where is this seminary exception clause found in the New Testament?
Third, it is interesting that when you actually read the New Testament instructions for dealing with false teachers and the examples of the way the apostles themselves dealt with them you do not see this sort of results-oriented American pragmatism. Nowhere do we find Paul or Peter or John writing something like: Do not welcome a false teacher unless you are relatively sure that no one will be led astray. Certainly leading people astray is a central concern since that is what false teachers do. But the worry seems to be broader and deeper. It’s not only that this or that congregation might be harmed, but also that the teacher’s ministry will be legitimized and promoted and his claims to be a Christian teacher affirmed. Maybe no one in the household to which John writes in his second letter would be swayed by the false teachers he warns against but welcoming them is to participate in their false ministry. It adds legitimacy to their work. The promotion and acceptance of a heretic by a solidly orthodox body tells the watching world that the differences between the two really aren’t all that important and that perception is precisely what Hell strives to instill.
For the rest, see:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?%2Fsf%2Fpage%2F31164#.UwwAsJ35LZg.facebook
Excuse 1: What harm could one sermon by a false teacher do to these orthodox seminarians? It’s hard to know where to begin. The premise seems to be: it’s okay to invite false teachers to preach if we’re relatively sure that no one will be influenced by what is said.
First: How do you know no one will be influenced? Can you read minds and hearts? The fact that according to the Dean there are three seminarians attending Nashotah who requested this invitation does little to support the contention that the student body is beyond corruption.
Second, the New Testament instructions with regard to false teachers are clear and direct: they must be completely repudiated. Who are you to decide that these instructions do not apply to seminaries? Where is this seminary exception clause found in the New Testament?
Third, it is interesting that when you actually read the New Testament instructions for dealing with false teachers and the examples of the way the apostles themselves dealt with them you do not see this sort of results-oriented American pragmatism. Nowhere do we find Paul or Peter or John writing something like: Do not welcome a false teacher unless you are relatively sure that no one will be led astray. Certainly leading people astray is a central concern since that is what false teachers do. But the worry seems to be broader and deeper. It’s not only that this or that congregation might be harmed, but also that the teacher’s ministry will be legitimized and promoted and his claims to be a Christian teacher affirmed. Maybe no one in the household to which John writes in his second letter would be swayed by the false teachers he warns against but welcoming them is to participate in their false ministry. It adds legitimacy to their work. The promotion and acceptance of a heretic by a solidly orthodox body tells the watching world that the differences between the two really aren’t all that important and that perception is precisely what Hell strives to instill.
For the rest, see:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?%2Fsf%2Fpage%2F31164#.UwwAsJ35LZg.facebook
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