Jack Graham on Grace
June 12, 2005Jack Graham, Pastor of one of those Texas megachurches, Prestonwood Baptist Church, showed his lack of grace by preaching a sermon entitled "The Truth About Grace" which turned into an attack on SBC Calvinists.
A Quote from that sermon.
"There is a brand of elitist theology that is being taught aggressively today in some seminaries, and Christian universities, some churches, well known Christian ministries. A brand of arrogant theology that claims that God only loves the elect and that the rest of the world is without a prayer, without a hope without a chance to know this grace of God. And this perverted form and theology-this hyper view of the grace of God-is an abuse of Scripture."
Another quote.
"The Good News is the worst news to those who aren't chosen."
Another one.
"That Slanders the Character of God. It is an arrogance that borders on blasphemy."
And it gets worse.
You can hear the sermon here. Listen
You can listen to Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries as he addresses Dr. Graham's sermons.
1st part
2nd part
3rd part
posted by Jim Shaver @ 8:43 AM
1 Comments:
HI James,
Jack Graham is completely correct. Calvinism is in part gnostic heresy from the early centuries of the church that has infiltrated true Christianity - first via Augustine (a former follower of Manes who had determinism as a prime course of thought), and later by Calvin, et al.
If you'll study the heresies encountered by the church in the first few centuries of its existence, you'll find that determinism primed by divine choice was one of the biggies.
That idea wasn't held anywhere in the church for centuries. But it was held outside the church in several of the Gnostic groups.
It's interesting that Augustine first brought it in since he was a former gnostic. I'm not saying he wasn't saved, but I believe his previous life colored his view of scripture.
And no, Paul didn't bring it in nor did any of the other Apostles. Scripture cannot be taken out of context: either surrounding scriptural context or proper historical context.
Romans 9 & 10 are all about Paul shooting down unconditional, corporate election and instead explaining that God's election is conditional and individual.
The Jews believed they were elected to salvation as Abraham's seed (the one to whom the promises were made). John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles dealt with this.
The whole point of Romans 9 is to explain how the 'elect' had become the 'unelect'. When we follow Paul's (actually the Holy Spirit's) thoughts through, we find that election is individual and conditional, conditioned upon exercised faith (that God must enable by the way).
Back to the early church: Granted, many of the church fathers took a left turn into salvation by works (partial or full) quite early in the history of the church... they were colored by paganism too in various ways.
But they knew what the church at large believed and what it rejected as far as determinism. And it's telling where it was known to be cherished: with the Gnostics.
Just some thoughts from a person with other views.
Peace.
/Scott.
www.truthmill.com
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