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[This is the second email Ray received from a
Florida Bible College student named Robert]
Just a note. I am sorry I did not mean to get you upset. But the class of
Comparative Religions is not only interesting but demanding. I perhaps should
have worded it better.
My professor says hello also. He had the other students visit other web
sites also. We view your web site directly in class.
But he did tell me to tell you that your doctrine is contrary to Billy
Graham, Billy Sunday, D.L. Moody, Charles Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, the Fist
Apostles Creed that was established in 70 A.D., but most important Jesus Christ
and the Scriptures.
But your doctrine and he quotes your web site in class, goes along with
Charles Taze Russell, founder of Jehovah Witness, Joseph Smith, founder of
Mormon or Latter Day Saints, Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science and
Sun Young Moon founder of the Unification Church.
Though you may not consider yourself a cult you have many of their
doctrines that go against the Scripture and that these known cults hold fast
too. He uses your material on power point slide presentation to show the manner
people go completely off the Scriptures by criticizing men of the Gospel.
He asked me to ask you if you have reached the Gospel as these men on the
Internet that you criticize. Or if you have led these many as they to the Lord.
Your response, as the last one was, will be read in its entirety to the
class.
[Ray replies]
FLORIDA BIBLE COLLEGE
(Attention: Robert)
Dear Robert
Hello again. I received your second e-mail. I admit I find it hard to
believe that your professor will actually read this reply in its entirety to
the class, I will, nonetheless, take him at his word.
Why did you think that you "upset" me in our last correspondence? Robert,
if you knew all that I have gone through the past sixty years, you would know
for sure that it takes more than an e-mail to upset me. I think maybe the
succinct manner in which I answered with a little sarcasm thrown in caused you
to think I might be upset. Not so. I welcome your inquiries and equate your
professor's labeling me a "cult" as just so much persecution for which I am
prepared. Rather than get upset, I just want to praise God and Sing a Hymn.
I was not, and am not upset, but I don't want you or your professor to
think that I am naive either. Your professor is interested in my web-site
because he has met his match. Not in me, but in the simple, straight forward
way in which the truths of God are presented. He cannot Scripturally refute
what I say and that bothers him a lot. He is using you as a go-between to
possibly ferret out of me something incriminating that he has not personally
been able to find in the material on my web-site. He knows enough about the
Scriptures to know that all of my statements are Scripturally sound and cannot
be truthfully disputed. So he reverts to name-calling, labeling, and asking
demeaning questions which he thinks will either anger me or case me to give a
stupid answer. That is unless you, Robert, came up with these question all on
your own--did you?
Since you want more information, I will give you more information. Let's
look at your questions again:
You asked: "Do you hold that you and you alone have the correct
interpretation of the Bible?"
If you actually read my web-site you would have noticed that I ...
- Quoted numerous books and sources of material that correctly interpret
the Bible.
- At the end of my paper I gave a couple of addresses for additional
material by writers who correctly interpret the Bible.
- I reprinted an entire poem by Dorothea Day entitled "My Captain" and
stated the following: "Wow! This girl should have been a theologian. One can
go to church for many, many years, and not hear this much SCRIPTURAL TRUTH."
In case any didn't understand this comment, it is an acknowledgment that
other people DO know how to interpret Scriptures besides me! Also, at the end
of my web-page.
And yet you would try to entrap me with an incriminating question like "do
you and YOU ALONE have the correct interpretation of the Bible?"
Furthermore, most of my material is devoted to showing how God, not I,
interpret words and verses. Example:
When we read in the Bible that there were "aions" in the PLURAL, "aions"
in the PAST, a PRESENT "aion," an "aion" TO COME, "aions" TO COME, the "aion
of the aion," the "ion of the aions," the "aions of the aions," and the "ENDS
of the aions," then it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a Biblical scholar
to know assuredly that the Greek word "aion" CANNOT be translated "evers" or
"eternities," "evers" or "eternities" in the PAST, a PRESENT "ever" or
"eternity," an "ever" or "eternity" to COME, "evers" or "eternities" TO COME,
the "ever OF the ever" or the "eternity OF the eternity" [it is "of" not
"and"--Greek genitive], "ever OF the evers" or "eternity of the eternities,"
"evers of the evers" or "eternities of the eternities," and the ENDS of the
"evers" or "eternities."
Anyone in your class can check this out with a concordance. I challenge you
to prove me wrong on this one point. This one point totally destroys your
"eternal torment in hell" theory. COMPLETELY DESTROYS IT! There are THOUSANDS
of theologians who refuse to acknowledge this easily provable fact of
Scripture. Why? They know how to use a concordance and lexicon. Call me a
"cult" if you must, but Greek "aions" are NOT English "eternities!"
No one in your class will now be able, for the rest of his life, to deny
that he has ever been presented with the absolute Scriptural and etymological
PROOF that there is no eternal hellhole of torture mentioned in ANY SCRIPTURE
OF THE BIBLE! If you continue to teach this damnable heresy, it will be on your
own head. Trust me when I tell you that you will give an account one day to
Jesus Christ for what you do with the information in the above paragraphs.
And you thought that you could ridicule the very truths of God on my web
site and make great sport of me in front of the class and no one would ever be
the wiser. "Take heed when you think you stand...!"
You asked: "When you started your religion and new doctrine, did you have
any form of schooling or advanced training in the Bible?
That's one of those "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" questions.
One is guilty if he answers "yes" and guilty if he answers "no." What religion
and what doctrines do I have that are not Scriptural? Which ones did "I START?"
You didn't list a one. By the way, Have you stopped beating your wife? Just
kidding!
You asked: "Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is the
Messiah the son of God?"
That question is so incredibly inane in the light of all the material I
have written on my web-site that it hardly deserves an answer. But for the
benefit of your class I will.
Letter to Dr. Kennedy, Page one,
"I LOVE the Scriptures..."
"Whatever we teach must 'GLORIFY' God."
"Whatever we teach must not detract one iota from Christ's [Christ--the
Anointed One, the Messiah] sacrifice for all humanity."
Page 5, "Now, if Christ has not been roused, vain is your faith--you are
STILL IN YOUR SINS." (Acts 15:16-18).
That is just how important the resurrection is, but according to you and
most Christian theologians, it isn't necessary at all, because you teach that
man has an immortal soul that goes directly to Heaven or Hell without
resurrection and thus make a mockery of the very Word of God."
My writings make it abundantly clear what I believe about Jesus Christ and
the importance of His resurrection from the dead. Robert, the question is not
do I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that He rose from
the dead. The question is rather do you and your professor believe that Jesus
was actually dead, and that He rose from the dead?
I meticulously go through the Scriptures showing when Christ died, where
His body went, where His soul went, and were His spirit went. But, now I would
be interested in seeing the Scriptural proof for your belief that Jesus only
partially died and will only partially save humanity! I quoted dozens of
Scriptures showing that in sheol (KJV's OT "Hell")
- there is NO works,
- NO device,
- NO contrivance,
- NO intelligence,
- NO reason,
- NO knowledge,
- NO wisdom,
- NO thoughts,
- NOT anything (Ecc. 9:10).
These things do not continue to function at a different location during
death: they PERISH in death (Psalm 146:4). I believe Psalm 146:4 that in death
everyone's "thoughts perish." That is, no one who IS dead, HAS THOUGHTS! I
believe that Scripture--do you? Or do you believe Satan's lie to Adam and Eve
that man has an "immortal soul" that never dies?
Must I denounce God and His Word and turn to Satan for doctrinal truth
regarding "death" and then I will be a member in good standing of Christendom?
NO THANK YOU!
Can you or your professor now show me any Scriptures that would
contradict these verses by showing that there really is "works, devices,
intelligence, reason, knowledge, wisdom, thoughts," etc., in either sheol,
death, hades, hell, or the grave? (Lazarus and the Rich man is, of course, a
parable. See my letter to Mr. Hagee. I have forty pages on this parable). If
you could find such a Scripture, we would then have a contradiction of the
Scriptures, and I for one REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT GOD'S WORD CONTRADICTS!!!
Do you believe in Scriptural Contradictions? Dr. Frederick Price of TBN fame
does. He sent me a letter and a little booklet explaining that, "not everything
in the Bible is true," even when it is properly translated! Dr. Price is a
minister in good standing in the great institution of Christendom. He is not a
"cult" because he believes that not everything in the Bible is true. No,
apparently it is when one believes that everything in Scripture IS TRUE, that
you label him a "cult."
I believe that CHRIST ONLY has immortality! Do you believe that man has an
immortal soul?
I believe that dead people have NO THOUGHTS (Psalm 146:4). Do you believe
that dead people (in hades, sheol, the grave or wherever) have thoughts?
I believe that Jesus Christ will SAVE THE WORLD (Jn 3:17, 6:51, I Jn 2:2,
II Cor. 5:19, Rom. 5:18, I Jn. 4:14, etc.)! Do you believe that Christ will
save the world? No, of course you don't.
Do you believe that God only "wants or wishes" to save the world?
Do you believe " ...our Savior, God, Who wants and wishes that all mankind
be saved and come into a realization of the truth" is a proper translation of
I Tim. 2:4?
Do you believe that "Who WILLS that ALL MANKIND BE SAVED..." IS the proper
translation?
Do you believe Isa. 46:11? "I have spoken it [as in He has spoken it in I
Tim. 2:4 for example] I WILL ALSO BRING IT TO PASS: I have purposed it, I
WILL ALSO DO IT."
And here is a double witness for the stubborn in heart:
"I AM GOD, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My COUNSEL SHALL STAND, and I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE"
(Isa. 46:9-10).
You CANNOT both believe that God "wills" to save all mankind and that He
will perform all His "pleasure" and bring about all that He has "spoken," and
yet...and YET believe that He will NOT save all mankind and will NOT accomplish
all His will and will NOT do all His pleasure and His counsel will NOT stand!!!
It is your doctrine that is one of enormous Scriptural contradiction, not mine.
I would like for you to explain that contradiction of major proportion to
the class. I would like to you explain it to me! And in the meantime be a
little more careful who you call a "cult!"
You asked: "Do you have another work other than the Bible that you accept
as inspired?"
I quote between one and two THOUSAND Scriptures on my web-site, and you
think maybe I have another book that I think is inspired? Like what? Maybe the
Book of Mormon? Give me a break! But on the other hand, you apparently believe
that unscriptural manmade creeds are inspired!
You asked: "Do your followers hold you as a prophet or priest?"
First of all, I don't have "followers." I do, however, have a large pile
of e-mails sent by people thanking me for opening up their understanding of the
Scriptures for the first time in their church-going lives. For once in their
lives they don't have to agonize over whether Aunt Martha, daughter Crystal, or
Grandpa Jones are frying in some fabled eternal hellhole of fire. And although
I am a priest in training (I Peter 2:9), I am not a prophet.
You might conclude that some of my remarks are a little sarcastic, but
then again I think a little sarcasm is good! I love the way Elijah used it.
Sarcasm has a way of cutting to the chase! Jesus Christ used it too--see my
examples of Christ "answering a fool according to a fool" and "not answering a
fool according to his folly" in my letters to TBN.
I have a question: Has anyone actually read the material on my web-site
in its entirety and checked every Scriptural reference and documentation? Can
anyone prove wrong (specifically) what I have written? Can anyone show where I
lied or told a falsehood? And I don't mean like the person who e-mailed me and
stated that I said there is no hell, and then proceeded to list a dozen
Scriptures from the KJV that had the word "hell" in them. What kind of
scholarship is that? I had already explained in some detail (probably no less
than 50-60 pages dealing with the doctrine of hell) that "hell" is not a proper
translation of any Hebrew or Greek word, and NOWHERE in Scriptures is there a
place where God burns the flesh of most of His children for eternity.
I don't claim to know it all by any means, so I will accept responsible
criticism. The key words being specific, detailed, reliable, on the subject,
and to the point.
Your professor says "tell you [that's me] that your doctrine is contrary
to Billy Graham, Billy Sunday..." etc., etc. Is he suggesting that that is a
bad thing? Woe be to me if my doctrine (I would rather believe that it is God's
doctrine) is not contrary to some of the more strange doctrines of these fine
men. I'm sure all these men were fine, however, their teachings are not always
so fine.
Maybe just one or two comments on the above statement. First, Billy
Graham. It was reported years ago that in a Billy Graham crusade when Mr.
Graham called for people to come to the altar to accept Jesus Christ he make a
statement similar to the following: "Don't pray for these people who are making
their decision for Christ at this time. It is fine if you prayed for them
before and it is fine if you pray for them afterwards, but right now the
decision must be theirs and theirs ALONE." Statements like that from the clergy
overwhelm me--completely overwhelm me! As though a man or woman could actually
make such a decision to "come to Christ" on their own without God.
Not only are such teachings foolish, they are unscriptural. Is not the
time when one makes a decision to accept Jesus Christ as his lord and savior
the most important moment of one's life? If ever there was a time when one
absolutely needed God's help to make the right decision, it would have to be
right then and there. But Mr. Graham would suggest that this is a time when one
must not have God's help. People were instructed not to pray for someone in the
hour of their greatest need!
What Mr. Graham suggests should be done at such a time, the Scriptures
clearly show CANNOT BE DONE! That we make a conscious decision to "come to
Christ" is indeed true. That we make or can make such decision on our own
WITHOUT God's intervention is sheer foolishness. And Mr. Graham is not alone in
this unscriptural nonsense. I heard John Hagee say, "I'm not saved because my
grandmother believed ... I am saved because I found Him [Jesus Christ] BY
MYSELF." Let us see if God agrees these carnal statements of self-assurance and
supposed free will:
"NOT ONE [not even Billy Graham or John Hagee, independent of God]
is
seeking out God" (Rom. 3:11).
"Now what have you which you did not obtain? Now if you obtained it also,
why are you BOASTING as though NOT obtaining?" (I Cor. 4:7).
"Ye have NOT CHOSEN ME, but I have CHOSEN YOU, and ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth fruit ..." (John 15:16).
"NO MAN CAN come to me, except the Father which hath sent me DRAW HIM: and
I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
"Therefore said I unto you, that NO MAN CAN COME unto me, except it
were GIVEN unto him of my Father" (Ver. 65).
Why steal credit for what God
has freely given?
Now then, according to the above Scriptures (not Billy Graham or John Hagee,
but the above SCRIPTURES), is it possible to come to Christ at a Billy Graham
crusade or anywhere else, WITHOUT the direct intervention of both Jesus Christ
and God the Father giving you the faith, desire, and ability TO COME to Christ
in the first place? I rest my case.
On this one point, professor, you are correct, my doctrine which I get from
Rom. 3:11, I Cor. 4:7, John 15:16, and John 6:44,65, IS "contrary" to the
teachings of Billy Graham and John Hagee (not to mention most of Christendom),
who have NO Scriptural support for their doctrine of humanistic self
determinism.
Those lacking faith to even believe the Scriptures, are hardly in a
position to criticize others.
After the terrorists' attack on September 11, Mr. Graham announced from
the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. to the entire world that, "God is NOT
the author of evil!" My jaw dropped when I heard that. Mr. Graham apparently
wanted to protect God from any association with "evil." But by doing so, he
contradicted the Scriptures and made God out to be a liar. Oh I am sure he
didn't consciously think he was doing such a thing, but that is the reality of
his comment.
The Scriptures are clear:
"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is NO GOD BESIDE ME ... I
form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, AND CREATE EVIL: I the
Lord do ALL THESE THINGS" (Isa. 45:5 & 7).
I've heard people say that this verse means that God creates the "potential"
for evil. These are the same Christians that believe Jesus is the "potential"
savior of the world. God has something to say about adding contradictory words
to His Word!
The real problem with Mr. Graham's comment is that he does not understand
the fact that God is the creator of evil. And since he doesn't understand it he
obviously doesn't approve of God being the creator of evil, so he then
contradicts the Scriptures in order to make people feel good about a God Who
has nothing to do with the authorship of evil. Never mind for the moment that
this is the same God that Mr. Graham believes will torture most of humanity for
eternity in FIRE (now that is evil far beyond anything that God has declared in
His Word).
For those of you who are just dying to know, Yes, God is the creator of
evil, but God uses evil always for a good and righteous purpose. Evil is a
backdrop necessary for the display of good. The word evil itself has no moral
bias. Men sin when they do evils to others. God never sins. Try to name a
virtue that is not the result of overcoming some form of evil. At the
consummation, evil, just as death, will be abolished.
I noticed that Martin Luther was conspicuously missing from your "Who's
Who in Protestantism" list. Maybe that was because of his understanding of the
Sovereignty of God verses man's fabled free will?
Your professor's statement about the "Apostles' Creed" was intriguing.
Established in 70 AD was it? And I suppose their is Scriptural or historical
documentation to that effect? Is he choosing such an early date because he is
suggesting that this creed was actually written by the Apostles?
My Encyclopaedia Britannica has this regarding the creed:
"Scholarship has shown CONCLUSIVELY that the received text given above
[the one commonly recited today] is an elaboration of the baptismal creed of
the Roman church in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The text of the latter has
been recovered in Latin from Rufinus' commentary on the Apostles' Creed (c.
404) and in Greek from a letter sent by Marcellus of Ancyra to Pope Julius I
in 340. The FACT that the Greek almost certainly represents the original is a
testimony to its antiquity."
Big difference between 70 AD and the forth century AD, however. Also, if you
care to note, the original rendition of this creed did not contain the words
"descended to hell" as it does today. I have zero interest in "creeds." If I am
to be condemned or branded as a "cult" for not believing in unscriptural,
manmade "creeds," so be it! Why get bogged down with unscriptural creeds when
we have GOD'S WORD?
And just how serious is that little addition, "descended to hell?" Well,
as I stated in my last communication, if Christ was not REALLY DEAD during the
three days and three night that He was in the tomb, but as this Apostles' Creed
suggests was rather traveling about some fabled hellhole, then YOU DON'T HAVE A
SAVIOR! If you students are as "demanding" as you suggest, Robert, then I wish
and pray above all things that they will DEMAND THE TRUTH! Never, EVER, settle
for less than the absolute Scriptural Truth!
But it is I who am a "cult," is it? I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe
this Easter heresy. Easter? EASTER? How is it Christians associate the
resurrection of Jesus Christ with "Easter" the pagan goddess of Spring, Easter,
and the pagan goddess of Babylon, Ishtar? Does anyone in their right mind
really believe that pascha=passover, should be translated "Easter?" (Acts
12:4). Easter has about as much to do with the resurrection of our Lord and
Savior as do Easter eggs or the Easter bunny.
I take great exception to the statement that my "doctrine is contrary to
... Jesus Christ and the Scriptures."
Get specific and show me were. No, not by comparing me with someone else you
disagree with, but by showing specifically in my writings--chapter, sentence,
verse, word, etc., that what I said is wrong or untrue and SPECIFICALLY prove
from Scripture that my statements are wrong. I have written hundreds of pages
on my site so I would think you could easily find at least two hundred examples
of error. What do you think? Tell you what. Let's just come up with twelve
good, solid examples of where my teaching is false and unscriptural. That
should be a relatively easy task for you as you state that, "...you have MANY
of their doctrines that go AGAINST THE SCRIPTURE ..." But I am not the least
bit interested in how you think I go against Billy Graham or Billy Sunday.
You used the phrase "against the scriptures," so I want you to show me how
my teaching goes against the "Scriptures." And not the King James Bible either,
but THE SCRIPTURES! The words "hell," "eternal" "for ever and ever" and
"Easter" are "bible" words not SCRIPTURE! God never used any one of those
words, and that is very easy to prove. See my article: EXPOSING THOSE WHO
CONTRADICT, Part 6.
Continuing what your professor said regarding my writings: "But your
doctrine and he quotes your web site in class, goes along with Charles Taze
Russell ... Joseph Smith ... Mary Baker Eddy ... And Sun Young Moon ..." Not
only is that statement unfair, but it is totally untrue. Maybe there is even a
point or two that I would agree with one or even two of these religious
leaders, but how does that equate to, "But your [that's me] doctrine
[singular--meaning my whole belief system, I guess] GOES ALONG WITH..." This is
a dishonest and vague generalization.
I'm sorry but I don't know your professor's name, however, if I where to
ask him if he believes in "honoring his parents, teaching his children, loving
his wife, and obeying God," would he not probably reply in the affirmative?
Now just what if, just "what if" mind you, I then would produce a taped
video of Usama bin Laden stating that he also believes in "honoring his
parents, teaching his children, loving his wife, and obeying God," and that I
would then publicly state that your professor's doctrines go "RIGHT ALONG WITH"
the beliefs and doctrines of Usama bin Laden? Never mind the fact that he also
believes in the mass murder of innocent people! Would that be fair of me to
make such a comparison? Is that responsible scholarship? Then why does he do
that to me? Let's now look at something interesting and revealing concerning
your professor's accusations.
I do not have the time nor the inclination to defend myself against such
nonsense, however, for the benefit of the class I'll pursue this just a bit
further. I have a book entitled Religions in America by Leo Rosten. It does not
contain most of the "cult" leaders you yoked with me, however the first one in
this book that is on your list is Christian Science. The information regarding
that religions' beliefs was written by George Channing and approved by the
Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Massachusetts.
Let us now see if my beliefs "GO ALONG WITH" that of Christian Science as your
professor asserts. I will quote every tenant of their basic premise listed on
page 39:
WHAT IS THE BASIC PREMISE OF CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE:
"That God is divine Mind, the conceiver of man and the universe, and Mind
is all that exists. Mind expresses itself and its expression is man."
Comment: I don't believe that, nor do I teach it!
"Spirit is eternal and real; matter is an unreal illusion subject to decay
and dissolution."
Comment: I don't believe that, nor do I teach it!
"Evil has to do with matter--therefore evil is unreal, an illusion."
Comment: I don't believe that, nor do I teach it!
"Spirit and its expression, man, are indestructible. Death is an illusion
of mortal sense, which may continue to appear until destroyed by spiritual
sense, either on this or the other side of the grave. The individual
continues to live [CONTINUES to live after death?--come on, Robert, Christian
theologians believe this unscriptural religious nonsense, NOT I] even though
unseen by persons on our plane of existence."
Comment: Need I say it? I don't believe that, nor do I teach it! Contrary to
Christian Science, God can and does DESTROY people. But contrary to Christian
teaching, God will also find those who are lost and save those who have been
destroyed. It may take get future ages of judgment and chastisement to
accomplish this for the whole human race and the whole heavenly host, but
according to God's Word, it will be accomplished (Isa. 46:10-11).
There is nothing that will prevent God from saving all of His children,
which is His heart's desire and His VERY WILL (I Tim. 2:4). Do not you
Christians pray: "Thy will BE done...?" I absolutely, with every fiber of my
being, believe that I Tim. 2:4 will be accomplished and God will save all
MANKIND! Maybe that is why you call me a "cult."
Don't accuse my doctrine of "GOING ALONG WITH" this unscriptural fable
when in reality it is your doctrine that perpetuates this pagan doctrine of the
ungodly Egyptians!
I Think we would do well to remember our Lord's admonition to Capernaum
who's judgment (correction, not eternal pain I fire), will be more severe than
even Sodom's judgment because of the great testimony Capernaum witnessed in the
person of Jesus.
Likewise, the Egyptians were ignorant regarding man's mortality and need for
a Savior and will be judged less harshly than Capernaum in the day of judging.
You, however, have God's Word which tells us that man's only hope for life is a
resurrection from the dead and the receiving of immortality from God, and yet
... and YET you cling to, follow, and teach the same old pagan Egyptian fable
about immortal souls! But it is I who am the "cult?"
It is so sad that most Christians deny that God will accomplish His will
of saving all mankind. It is so sad that most Christians believe that Jesus
Christ will UTTERLY FAIL to save the world. He came for that purpose! Read I
John 4:14,
"...the Father has dispatched the Son, the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD."
Other
translations have:
"...TO SAVE the world,"
"...AS the savior of the world,"
"...to BE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD."
Yet Christian theologians and clergymen say that IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!
Unbelievable. I BELIEVE God when He says He will reconcile ALL! He will save
ALL! He will be All in ALL (I Cor. 15:28) Why don't YOU believe it?
Most doctrinal differences are of little consequence in comparison with the
enormous consequence of teaching eternal torment. Hence, I spend a good bit of
time of this subject. I do write on other subjects too. I have recently written
the following: "Is God a Closed Trinity or an Open Family?", "Exposing the
Secret Rapture Theory," and "Tithing is Unscriptural Under the New Covenant."
Dr. Kennedy who has a half dozen doctorate degrees has concluded that
contrary to all such Scriptures as I Tim. 2:4, John 12:32, Phil. 2:10-11, I
Cor. 15:22 & 26 & 28, Col. 1:20, I Cor. 3:15, I Tim. 4:11, John 3:17,
John 6:44, Jude 24, I John 2:2, etc., etc., that not only will God not save all
mankind, but that He will not even reach all mankind, He will not even call all
mankind. He concludes that if people in India or Africa or the islands of the
sea don't even get to hear the gospel they will burn in hell for ever anyway
because they were sinners to some degree. He does state that they would be
saved without Christ (yes, that's what he said, WITHOUT Christ) if they would
merely live a perfect life.
Unbelievable! But it is I who am the "cult"?
Dr. Kennedy gives examples of some who "lie" and others who "steal
chickens by night" therefore deserving to be burned in hell with fire for
trillions and trillions and trillions of billions of quadrillions of centuries
without end and without hope and without mercy. This, says Dr. Kennedy, "IS
FAIR!!!" This, says Ray Smith, "is UNSCRIPTURAL INSANITY!!!" This is heresy in
the highest! This is BLASPHEMY against our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our
Loving Heavenly Father on a level unparalleled in the annuls of the history of
the universe! And it is this evil unscriptural teaching that is causing God's
name to be blasphemed among the nations today!
Let a Federal judge sentence a boy to life in prison for 'walking on the
grass' and see what an outcry one would get from Christians. Sentence that same
boy to ETERNITY IN THE FIRES OF HELL, for "telling a lie" and I guess those
same Christians would APPLAUD! Kennedy says if people go to hell and burn for
eternity in FIRE, that it "is fair." I heard him with my own ears, "HELL IS
FAIR!" Certainly at least one person in your class can see and feel how
disgustingly evil and SICK is this Christian doctrine of eternal torture in
FIRE? Is there not even one of you who demands Scriptural proof before
parroting these unscriptural and evil doctrines of Dante and the Egyptians?
But the truly good news is that such an evil doctrine is NOT TAUGHT in
the God's Word. And, it is EASY to prove that this doctrine is not taught in
God's Word. The peace of mind that truth will bring is worth thousands of hours
of Bible research, but in reality, you can prove it in less than one hour--read
the first ten pages of my letter to John Hagee. I prove it there. No, it's not
just my opinion or my doctrine. I PROVE IT! In fact, it is EASY to prove! A ten
year old child can understand it. I am serious. Read it. Study it. If you have
the Spirit of God you will just thrill at the assurance that God will
accomplish His Will and that Christ really IS the Savior of the whole world!
Did you all read the section in my paper on why Charles Darwin rejected
Christianity and devoted his life to turning the world into atheists? Oh, you
have got to read that--it is a real eye-opener!
Are you all ready to give an account in front of Jesus Christ and all the
holy messengers as to why you teach that Jesus Christ is going to utterly fail
in saving the world, and why His Father is then going to TORTURE, UNMERCIFULLY,
WITH FIRE, THE MAJORITY OF THE HUMAN RACE (INCLUDING BOYS, GIRLS , GRANDMOTHERS
AND GRANDFATHERS, THE INSANE, THE RETARDED, PREGNANT WOMEN, AND EVERYONE [see
my second letter to Kennedy answering his sermon, What About Those Who Have
Never Heard] WHO HAS NEVER HEARD THE "BELIEVE OR BURN" GOSPEL OF CHRISTENDOM?!
Are you ready to face your maker and Scripturally defend this depraved
teaching?
After removing the unscriptural words "hell," "for ever and ever," and
"eternal" from your King James, what one Scripture is left to support such a
damnable heresy?
On September 11, I watched in horror and total disbelief as those
American jet airliners crashed into the World Trade Center! And when the towers
began to collapse I just didn't know what to think. This was not special
effects in a Hollywood adventure film. This was a LIVE news telecast. The
horror of the people in the planes, the pain from the fire and the crushing
steal and concrete in the towers. Truly all sane people were emotionally
shocked beyond words to describe by the specter. How awful!!! Many times I
heard the phrase "those poor INNOCENT people."
What would you say to comfort the wives and husband and parents and children
of all those victims? Would you not try to console them with some words of
comfort and hope from God's Word? But what if the "innocent" victim was a
nonbeliever? What hope for their deceased loved ones would you give to the
survivors of nonbelievers? Would you tell them that although they were the
"innocent" victims of terrorists, they are now the guilty victims of the terror
of God Almighty? Would you tell them that their loved ones are burning in fire
that is a thousand times hotter and more frightening and painful than the fire
that killed them in the towers?
What if the victim was Jewish? A lot of Jews were killed in that terror
attack. And Jews don't believe in Jesus Christ or His sacrifice for them. They
deny their Savior. Jesus said He would deny those who deny Him. Does that mean
they are now being tortured and will never be saved?
I sure know what I would tell them. And I could comfort them from the Old
Testament or the New Testament. I could comfort Jew, Gentile, Saint, or
atheist! I know hundreds of Scriptures of comfort and hope for both survivors
and victims. Only in the shallow wells of Christendom do we run out of hope and
mercy were love then always FAILS!
According to your Christian doctrine God loved those nonbelievers with all
the love in the universe--while the towers were coming down. But if any
nonbelievers were too ignorant or too frightened to turn to God on the way
down, then when they hit the bottom God's love for them "failed."
According to Christendom, from that moment on, God's love turned to the most
ungodly hatred and sadism ever conceived in the deranged min of an insane
demon! Does anyone have a Scripture that says God loves His children one second
and then hates them the next second?
But I do believe there is a Scripture that says God changes NOT! This is the
DARK SIDE of the "Good News Gospel" of Christendom. This is heresy and
blasphemy of the highest magnitude!!! But it is I who am a cult?
And yet ... AND YET, theologians like Dr. Kennedy would have us believe
that for the unbelieving victims of that horror, September 12th would be a
million times worse than September 11th! According to Kennedy, the pain and
horror of September 11 came to a quick end, but the pain and horror of
September 12 is eternal and will NEVER END!!! And he is spending millions and
millions of dollars teaching this garbage to the world! But if I spend three
hundred a month merely quoting God's Scriptures that show the truth regarding
these men's heresy, then I am a "cult" am I?
Who among you has the self-righteous audacity to tell all the children of
those destroyed Jewish fathers and mothers that their mommy and daddy are being
burned in the fires of hell for all eternity? Think about that, professor!
Think about it long and hard, Robert! Think about it, classmates. Think about
it until your brains hurt! Think about this damnable doctrine of Satan until
God's spirit crushes your heart with sorrow for ever even thinking that your
heavenly Father would treat His children so inhumanely and insanely with fire
for all eternity!!!
Then read my letters to Kennedy and Hagee and see how clearly God's Word
(yes, I said God's Word--not my opinion, not my doctrine, but GOD'S WORD)
teaches that Jesus Christ really is the savior of all mankind, of the whole
world. Then praise God like you've never praised God before!
GOD ONLY knows how much I hate and despise this damnable doctrine of
Christendom!!! This doctrine of eternal torment is the most evil idea or
concept that has ever entered the mind of Satan. There is nothing conceivable
in the universe that can equal this damnable doctrine of eternal evil and
suffering. One could think and meditate for a hundred years and never come up
with ANYTHING that approaches the vileness of this teaching. And for NO
redeeming value. It is so unbelievable that Satan could ever conceive of
anything so hideous! So sick! So frighteningly disgusting! But to think that
the church would embrace it and teach it as though it were Scripture is ... I
don't know ... I don't have the words. This is not just a false teaching. This
is the epitome, the apex, the zenith, of all BLASPHEMY!
You can say that I believe contrary to Graham, Spurgeon, or Sunday, but I
guarantee you that the early church fathers did not believe in the unscriptural
heresy of endless torture. Among those who saw God' greater glory in the
greater hope of salvation to all are, Origen, Eusebius, St. Ambrose, St.
Gregory, Didymus (of whom S. Jerome said, "Didymus surpassed all of his day
[380] in knowledge of the Scriptures). "The Eastern Church of that time (fourth
and fifth centuries) was permeated, from Gregory of Nyssa downwards, with the
wider Hope [that of universal reconciliation]. See Spirits in Prison, Ch. iv.
Also: Diodorus (378), Bishop of Tarsus, St. Chrysostom from the school of
Antioch, and the list goes on and on. And many of these men read the Scriptures
in their original languages long before the KJV started inserting such
nonsensical incoherency as "for ever AND EVER" into its pages.
The evidence is available in both secular history and the Scriptures.
Most intoxicated with the liquor of Christendom, however, have no desire to
know the truth. "Indeed, beside Origen, Gregory of Nyssa also, Gregory of
Nazianzus, Basil, Abrose himself, and Jerome, taught everywhere the universal
restitution of things, asserting simultaneously with it, AN END OF ETERNAL
PUNISHMENT."--C.B. SCHLEUTER, pref. In Erig, (Migne.) Read, Christ Triumphant
By Thomas Allin.
This doctrine makes God out to be a LIAR when He said that it is His WILL
to save all mankind. This doctrine makes God and our Lord out to be FAILURES in
accomplishing Their wills. And far worse, this doctrine makes God out to be the
most vindictive, hate-filled, evil, alien monster in the universe.
It would more than behoove each and everyone of you to study this doctrine
in the light of those who have been graced to see the truth of this
unscriptural teaching. The truth is available. I am not the first or only to
see and understand it. It is relatively easy to see and prove that the
Scriptures do NOT teach eternal torment for the unbelievers. Surely you all
have enough of the spirit of God to spend a few hours settling this issue of
paramount importance. And those with virtually no Scriptural knowledge who are
eager and comfortable teaching this doctrine of eternal torment only display
the baseness of their unmerciful and unregenerate hearts.
Not one of you has ever meditated for even five minutes on the
mind-boggling enormity of suffering the torture of having one's eyes and face
and arms and stomach and back and legs burned with FIRE-NEVER-ENDING INSANE
TORTURE WITH FIRE! For trillions and trillions of ages without end. No, you
never meditated for five minutes of the enormity of eternity. Don't even try to
tell me you have ever meditated on the enormity of eternal torture. Your mind
will close down after 5-10 seconds. One CANNOT continue to picture trillions
and trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions of quadrillions of
centuries of such enormous insane torture and suffering! God is using this
doctrine to show us just how LOW our opinion of our Loving, Kind, Merciful,
Heavenly Father can go! We should all fall on our faces and cry in abject
EMBARRASSMENT AND GUT-WRENCHING SHAME for ever believing our Great God would
ever torture most of His Children in fire for eternity!!
Benny Hinn said one day on TBN that there are people who will not be
saved because there is not enough money to reach everyone. He was making a plea
for contributions, and idea was that if some listeners did not send money there
would be people who wouldn't be reached with the gospel and would go to hell
before getting saved. Now I have information that leads me to believe that
Benny Hinn is an extremely wealthy man. So what does that really say in regards
to what he teaches on international television. Did he not see Schindler's
List? Does he not realize how many hundreds of soul could be saved if he
converted some of his wealth into the printed page or radio waves? Does he
really (I don't know, I am just posing the question to get us to think) believe
more dollars would save a more souls?
I heard just this week that Paul and Jan Crouch are purchasing a new home
for $5,000,000. Paul and Jan believe that people who aren't reached with the
gospel and do not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be
tortured in hell fire for ever. What do you think? No, of course not, I don't
begrudge Paul and Jan having a nice home, a beautiful home, an extravagant
home. But, seriously, one can buy such a beautiful and expensive home for
$500,000 and that would leave $4,500,000 toward saving souls who their right
hand man, Benny, says will be spending eternity in hell because there isn't
enough money to reach everyone now!
I live in a $50,000 condo and I am most appreciative for it. I seriously
don't believe that the Apostle Paul had even a $50 hut. Maybe we should all put
our money were our mouths are. Can we imagine one of these
multi-multi-millionaire evangelistic tycoons musing in heaven over the
suffering of those in hell by saying: "Yes, and it's sad, but I don't think God
ever intended for me part with my gold-gilded and emerald-encrusted trash can
just so a few more thousand souls could be in heaven and not suffering the
tortures of hell fire for eternity." What do you think? Or is anyone thinking
at all? Do you even care?
But I'm the crazy one? I'm the religious cook? I'm THE CULT? I don't
think so.
Sorry, I always get carried away a little when I contemplate the
disgusting modern day horrors being taught in the name of God. Back to
Christian Science ...
"Man and the universe are made in the image and likeness of the divine
Mind, God, which conceives them. Mind is synonymous with Spirit, Soul, Life,
Truth, Love, Principle which means cause or origin)."
Comment: The Hebrew and Greek Scriptures use a DIFFERENT word for every one
of these so who could they possibly all be the SAME? So, NO, I do not believe
that, nor do I teach it.
"Man, the idea and image of God, is immortal, perfect, wholly good,
untouched and untainted by evil because man expresses God.'
Comment: I don't believe that, nor do I teach it. Christendom, however, does
teach that man has "immortality" in his soul and only his body is mortal. Never
mind that Job said man is "mortal" or that Paul said that Christ ONLY has
immortality. I wonder what part of the word "only" theologians do not
understanding.
So there it is. I do not believe one aspect of the Christian Science
premise--NOT ONE! And yet your professor says that my doctrine "GOES ALONG with
Christian Science." I don't think that is a fair comparison. I don't believe
everyone in your class will think so either.
Next you say, "He [your professor] uses your material on power point
slide presentation to show the manner people go completely off the scriptures
by criticizing men of the gospel." That statement is completely off the mark.
First of all I do not criticize these men. I expose their unscriptural and
heretical teachings. There is a big different you know.
I am positive that the theologians of Christ's day called "foul" when
Jesus said:
"But woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ... Ye fools and
blind ... full of extortion and excess ... whited sepulchres ... Ye serpents,
ye generation of snakes..."
I can just hear the chatter in the market place, "Oh, Sally, how can that
man attack and criticize our wonderful religious leaders that way? If he were a
man of God like he claims, he would never talk that way about our beloved
teachers of God's law! Why he breaks God's law, he heals on God's Sabbath, his
disciples pluck corn on the Sabbath, they don't even fast, and they are worse
than the French who don't even wash! He must be one of those false prophets and
cults we have always been warned about. I cast my vote to have him crucified!"
On the last page of my letter to Dr. Kennedy I explain what I am doing in
critiquing his sermon and why I am doing it. I explain what Paul instructed
regarding "exposure, rebuke, and entreaty." How could anything be clearer?
Numerous times in my letters I remark that I have nothing against these men,
nor am I attacking their character or any such thing. Your professor's
assessment of what I am doing in my letters to TBN is wrong! Any honest reader
can clearly see that I deal with teachings, doctrines, and issues, not people,
character, and personalities.
Even more disturbing (not disturbing to ME, I expect such things, but I
hate it when people like your classmates are swept away by such spurious
arguments) is the statement that he uses my material to " ...show the manner
people [like me] go completely off the Scriptures..."
I use somewhere between one and two thousand Scriptural references in my
paper and you say that I go "completely off the Scriptures" and rather just
criticize these men of the Gospel. How could anyone read my paper and believe
such a fantastic thing? One doesn't need to believe what I write, but one
doesn't need to lie about what I write either.
Your professor says that
- I am a cult
- My doctrines go along with cult leaders
- I criticize men of the gospel
- I get completely off the Scriptures
- My doctrine is contrary to Jesus Christ
- My doctrine is contrary to the Scriptures
Look at that list. Your professor is criticizing me. He isn't showing how
specific doctrines I teach are wrong. He isn't showing where my doctrines are
contrary to Jesus Christ. He hasn't used one Scripture in your correspondence
with me in his criticism of me. Excuse me, but isn't he doing to me exactly
what he is falsely accusing me of doing? There's a word for this double
standard--it's called hypocrisy!
You can try to associate me with infamous cult leaders, you can say that
my teachings go against the Scriptures and against Jesus Christ, you can
belittle the fact that I don't parrot the pillars of apostasy in the great
"Who's Who" of Protestantism, you can make great sport of me in front of your
class. You can do a lot of things, but YOU CAN'T SCRIPTURALLY DISPROVE THE
TEACHINGS ON MY WEB-SITE! And furthermore, I think you know that you can't.
Now to your last question. I don't mean to fault your grammar, Robert (it
was never my forte either), but I am not a hundred percent sure I understand
the question. You asked: "He [your professor] asked me to ask you if you have
reached the Gospel as these men on the Internet that you criticize. Or if you
have led these many as they to the Lord."
Okay, let me try to answer. Again I will contend that I don't criticize
the "men," but rather their heretical teachings and doctrines. Now, do I reach
as many people with the gospel as Dr. Kennedy and Pastor Hagee? Is that the
question? I do not have million and million and millions of dollars to buy air
time as these men do nor would ever I use their fraudulent chicanery in
acquiring such money. And, I have had my material on the Internet one year. My
webmaster foots the bill for our site--a few hundred dollars a month.
The real question here is, "Do these men reach ANYONE with the real
gospel? I'm not sure any of their listeners have ever heard the REAL
gospel--the REAL GOOD NEWS! They certainly reach people with some knowledge of
Jesus Christ even if it is a highly distorted view of His saviourhood--for that
I am thankful. At least they are hearing something and undoubtedly some lives
are changed for the better. This, however, does not justify teaching heresy
along with a little truth.
I am not faulting these men for any good that they do. In the same way, I
don't fault my daughter for doing good, but I do correct her for doing bad. And
let me tell you with God as my Judge, that telling the world that God will NOT
save most of humanity, but that He WILL torture most of humanity in fire for
ever , is bad ... very, very ... BAD! That is NOT the good news of the Gospel!
I am simply following the admonition of our Apostle Paul to
"expose those who contradict." (Titus 1:9, Concordant Literal New
Testament).
They both gave sermons on monumental topics and contradicted the Scriptures
flagrantly. I pointed out these contradiction in great detail for the benefit
the many people who have never heard the whole truth regarding God's love for
His children.
So "How many people have I reached in one year on my site with the
gospel?" I don't know. How many have I reached in my life? I don't know. Two or
three hundred [in 2001] people a day come to my web-site and only about 2%
e-mail me back. The e-mails are about three to one favorable. It is childish to
sit around trying to count how many people we reach. How many did you reach in
the last year? I believe we should teach the TRUTH of God's Word and leave the
numbers up to God.
Well, it's been great fun (except talking about your eternal torment
doctrine--that is never fun), but I need to be about my other business, seeing
as I work full-time and am self-supporting. As I said, there are many ways that
you can try to discredit what I teach. We have seen six examples of that in
your e-mail. But there is one way in which you absolutely CANNOT discredit my
teachings, and that is by using the Scriptures. I am going to propose
something. I don't normally do silly things like this, but then again I don't
normally get silly e-mails like yours either.
I propose that your professor go through my material on my web-site and
prove it wrong using the Scriptures of God's Word. Point by point; page by
page. I will then donate $100 to your college. No he doesn't actually have to
prove me wrong. All he has to do is just TRY to prove what I say is wrong.Just
"try" to prove me wrong point by point, page by page, and the hundred dollars
is yours. I don't think it wise to hold my breath. Maybe a hundred dollars is
not enough? One word of caution, however, he had better do his Scriptural
homework thoroughly in his rebuttal of my material, because I will then
publicly critique his rebuttal!
If nothing else, I pray to God that He will open your eyes to the truth
that Jesus Christ really is the savior of the whole world and that death and
hell [hades] will be abolished in the lake of fire.
You see, I know for a fact that Billy Graham, James Kennedy, and all of you
and your professor will be saved, it's just sad that not all of you believe
that people like me will be saved. A man e-mailed me this week who read my
material and said that I am hopelessly lost! Not just lost, but "HOPELESSLY"
lost. And the person who told me this claims to be a "Christian man." All I
will say is,
"Expose those who contradict" (Jude 1:9),
but
"Judge NOT (Mat. 7:1)!" Our God is PERFECT.
Jesus Christ is PERFECT. God's plan is PERFECT. The consummation of God's
purpose will be PERFECT. How could anyone ever believe that God would fail at
accomplishing HIS OWN WILL? Talk about a lack of faith! God be with you,
Robert, your professor, your class, and your school as you all yield to His
will and study to show yourselves approved.
Sincerely and humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, The Savior of the whole
world,
Ray
PS If you professor chooses not to read this e-mail to the whole class, I
can mail copies to the whole college and post it on my web site.
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