Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.(希伯来 13:7-8)“从前引导你们、传神之道给你们的人,你们要想念他们,效法他们的信心,留心看他们为人的结局。耶稣基督昨日今日一直到永远是一样的。” 惟有主耶稣基督是十全十美、永不改变的,但那些忠心跟随主、如云彩般的见证人,我们也当想念、效法。
一弟兄问:“你好,陈鸽弟兄,我最近在网上读到一个 Herald Camping 的有关末日的文章,后来我去搜索,有人说他已经偏离真道。他曾出书预言1994末日没应验,现在又来讲2011.这些末世预言其实不是他独创,有些是古代预言家的东西,甚至有些是其他古文明传说中的预言,他是东拼西凑来的,好比说把数字随便拆解,加减乘除硬掰Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.成他要的结果就是最明显的例子,我有点后怕。祈求主赦免我!
您不认识我,但我们久仰您为主所作的美好见证。我的妻子迦南与您早期的同工梁 X X 在山西相识。我也曾在1990年初,即在情势较紧张时,于广州大马站听您讲论“末底改”(广东话:没得改),深受激励。在我的一篇讲道“时代的中流砥柱”中,曾用您的见证,劝戒圣徒们要为我们的主耶稣,至死忠心。 然而,敬爱的林伯,近来我们读了些大马站所发行的小册子,因此为您担忧。请恕我本著爱心在基督里直言不讳。其中有几本:“圣经中的三大国”“圣经中的中国”“圣经中的美国”中,论及:
和合本说:‘在耶和華造化的起頭,在太初創造萬物之先,就有了我。’ 現中修訂版说:‘在上主造化之先,在亙古,就有了我。’ NCV:‘创世以前已有智慧在耶和华创造的开始,在太初创造一切以先,就有了我。’ KJV: The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. NIV: "The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old.
Here are the main reasons I am not signing the Manhattan Declaration, even though a few men whom I love and respect have already affixed their names to it:
? Although I obviously agree with the document’s opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, and other key moral problems threatening our culture, the document falls far short of identifying the one true and ultimate remedy for all of humanity’s moral ills: the gospel. The gospel is barely mentioned in the Declaration. At one point the statement rightly acknowledges, “It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season”—and then adds an encouraging wish: “May God help us not to fail in that duty.” Yet the gospel itself is nowhere presented (much less explained) in the document or any of the accompanying literature. Indeed, that would be a practical impossibility because of the contradictory views held by the broad range of signatories regarding what the gospel teaches and what it means to be a Christian.
? This is precisely where the document fails most egregiously. It assumes from the start that all signatories are fellow Christians whose only differences have to do with the fact that they represent distinct “communities.” Points of disagreement are tacitly acknowledged but are described as “historic lines of ecclesial differences” rather than fundamental conflicts of doctrine and conviction with regard to the gospel and the question of which teachings are essential to authentic Christianity.
? Instead of acknowledging the true depth of our differences, the implicit assumption (from the start of the document until its final paragraph) is that Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant Evangelicals and others all share a common faith in and a common commitment to the gospel’s essential claims. The document repeatedly employs expressions like “we [and] our fellow believers”; “As Christians, we . . .”; and “we claim the heritage of . . . Christians.” That seriously muddles the lines of demarcation between authentic biblical Christianity and various apostate traditions.
? The Declaration therefore constitutes a formal avowal of brotherhood between Evangelical signatories and purveyors of different gospels. That is the stated intention of some of the key signatories, and it’s hard to see how secular readers could possibly view it in any other light. Thus for the sake of issuing a manifesto decrying certain moral and political issues, the Declaration obscures both the importance of the gospel and the very substance of the gospel message.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.--- 这不是《福音派》新兴的策略,也不是智慧的立场。人人都应该看穿,在最近这些紧张的宣告与愤然的抗议的背后,原来有一个隐藏的意图,就是Charles Colson二十多年来一直想方设法提倡的“全球性宗教联合反腐化运动”。(他的签名几乎总是列在这一类《宣言》起草者的首位,并非偶然的。)在他1994年写的《这身体》一书中已阐明了他的立场,他辩称只有《使徒信经》与《尼西亚信经》所列出的教义与真理,于纯正基督教信仰是必须的。就此,我(麦约翰)在《无悔的信仰》一书中已详尽了回应了他的立论。如今我仍然持守当时所写的。
? This is neither a novel approach nor a strategic stand for evangelicals to take. It ought to be clear to all that the agenda behind the recent flurry of proclamations and moral pronouncements we’ve seen promoting ecumenical co-belligerence is the viewpoint Charles Colson has been championing for more than two decades. (It is not without significance that his name is nearly always at the head of the list of drafters when these statements are issued.) He explained his agenda in his 1994 book The Body, in which he argued that the only truly essential doctrines of authentic Christian truth are those spelled out in the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds. I responded to that argument at length in Reckless Faith. I stand by what I wrote then.
In short, support for The Manhattan Declaration would not only contradict the stance I have taken since long before the original “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” document was issued; it would also tacitly relegate the very essence of gospel truth to the level of a secondary issue. That is the wrong way—perhaps the very worst way—for evangelicals to address the moral and political crises of our time. Anything that silences, sidelines, or relegates the gospel to secondary status is antithetical to the principles we affirm when we call ourselves evangelicals. John MacArthur
陈鸽回复:达秘弟兄(John Nelson Darby)是“时代论”(Dispensationalism)的创始人,起初是英国弟兄会(Plymouth Brethen)后来又成为“封闭弟兄会”(Exclusive Brethren)的主要领导者,他极其反对牧师制度,并且对倪柝声弟兄的影响深远。http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby
至于戴绍曾,1997年我与他有一次“交锋”(按:戴牧师到加州 Simi Valley 我父母当时所在的教会讲道,刚好我从中国回美探亲,很高兴第一次遇上他,就将我所传讲的有关“三自立场”的磁带借给戴牧师回家听,他听后很不以为然。)他对我说:三自“教会”中也有“忠心”的牧师。哪儿有草吃,羊就往哪儿跑。所以,三自会中才有这么多的人。
"Plymouth Brethren (referring to the Closed Brethren of Darby) have no feeling wherever their principles are concerned. I know indeed of no sect or denomination so utterly devoid of kindness of heart. It is the most selfish religious system with which I am acquainted. It is entirely wrapped up in itself.
It recognizes no other denomination, whether the Church of England, or either of the Nonconformist denominations, as a church of Christ. Mr. Darby has again and again said in print, as well as written in private, that those who belong to his party in the metropolis, constitute the only church of Christ in London. . . .
No one ever saw a Darbyite at any of our Bible, or Missionary, or other Evangelical Society meetings. The Brethren look upon all other denominations, however evangelical in sentiment, and however high their standard of personal religion, as so largely infected with error in doctrine, as well as wrong in relation to church government, that they believe it would be sinful to associate with them for the promotion of religious ends. And this conviction, which is never absent from their minds, naturally has the effect of puffing them up with spiritual pride. Believing that they alone of all religious bodies have attained to the knowledge of the truth, it could hardly be otherwise than that they should look down on every other Christian sect with supreme pity, mingled, even according to the admission of some of their own number, with contempt. . . .
With this feeling is naturally associated an amount of arrogance in the assertion of their own views, which those who differ from them often find to be unbearable. And in this respect their leader, Mr. Darby, sets them an example.
In his case it assumes the form of infallibility.
Mr. Darby is, to all intents and purposes a thorough Pope, though under a Protestant name. He will never admit that he is in error; and therefore very naturally declines to argue with those who controvert the soundness of his views. How, indeed, could it be otherwise?"
斯托得,1988年在与 David Edwards(一位知名自由派【圣公会】教徒)对话当中,突破了基要信仰的底线。虽 D. Edwards 否定人性的堕落、救恩的必要、基督的复活、与童女生子、等等基本的信仰,但斯托得却说:他很欣赏 D. Edwards “真诚的信仰宣告”(‘sincere Christian profession’)。他又说:像 D. Edwards 这样的人“不失去被称为基督徒的权力”(‘forfeit the right to be called Christians’)(注4)。显然,斯托得公然否定了合乎圣经的基督徒信仰。
还有,1994年,巴克与40位知名的宗教领袖,联名签署了一个叫【福音派与天主教联合】的合约(Evangelicals and Catholics Together)强调双方在【使徒信经】上的共识,都是“本乎恩,因着信,并借着基督”。然而,很明显的,合约上省略了“唯独”(Sola):唯独恩典、唯独信心、唯独基督。其实,这“唯独”是罗马天主教、天特会议(Council of Trent)所咒诅的,也是基督教必坚持的,因为废掉了这“唯独”(约14:6;徒4:12;提前2:5-6),福音就更改了(加1:6-9),基督教就与天主教无异了。然而,巴克(这位伟大的神学家)竟然无视基督福音的唯独性、绝对性、排他性,贸然地签名与天主教合并了。这岂不是为了合一而出卖真理吗?(注6)
德蕾莎修女(1910-1997)是一位家喻户晓的、虔诚的天主教徒。1929年,她到了印度加尔各答,开创了现今名扬四海的慈善机构“爱之宣教士” (Missionaries of Charity )。她救死扶伤,周济穷人。因此,获得了众人的好评,更赢得了1979诺贝尔和平奖。毋庸置疑,德蕾莎修女是现代历史中最知名的慈善家,更有「加尔各答的天使」的美誉。(注1)
注5:In her book, Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations and Prayers, she says: “We never try to convert those who receive [aid from Missionaries of Charity] to Christianity but in our work we bear witness to the love of God’s presence and if Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or agnostics become for this better men — simply better — we will be satisfied. It matters to the individual what church he belongs to. If that individual thinks and believes that this is the only way to God for her or him, this is the way God comes into their life — his life. If he does not know any other way and if he has no doubt so that he does not need to search then this is his way to salvation.” (Pages 81-82)
注6:A Simple Path is a compilation of the teachings and meditations of Mother Teresa. Labeled as a “unique spiritual guide” we would expect this book to contain unique insights into Scripture and into the Christian life by someone who is perceived as being a Christian spiritual giant. Instead, in the foreword we read,“The Christian way has always been to love God and ones neighbor as oneself. Yet Mother Teresa has, perhaps with the influence of the East, distilled six steps to creating peace in ourselves and others that can be taken by anyone — even someone of no religious beliefs or of a religious background other than Christian — with no insult to beliefs or practices. This is why, when reading Mother Teresa’s words and those of her community, we may, if we choose, replace the references to Jesus with references to other godheads or symbols of divinity”(The six steps to peace taught by Mother Teresa are silence, prayer, faith, love, service, and peace.)
注7:Through the entire book there is never a hint that she relies on Christ alone for her salvation. Rather we read things like, “I’ve always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic” (Page 31).
注8:Consider also the following quote from another source, “I love all religions. … If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there.” Or in another place, “All is God — Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, etc., all have access to the same God.”