AN APPRECIATION OF Dr. J.B. Rowell...Yes, it was after these things that the LORD appeared to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not. Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great

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sola scriptura THE PROTESTANTCHALLENGE

SPRING 2010

Romans 5:1

MAKING our CHRISTIANITY

ATTRACTIVE

MANHAT TANDECLARATION

T h e M i n d s e t o f Catholicism

P e r m e at i n g Evangelicalism

AN APPRECIATION OF

Dr. J.B. RowellFounding pastor of Central Baptist ChurchVictoria, BC

2 The Protestant Challenge

word to His servant is evidence he needed to hear it.

Paul said in 2Corinthians 7:5 “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Jeremiah reported in: “For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side.”

Fear cripples a Christian from active, useful, service. What is it that you are afraid of? Is it physical danger, failure, family issues, the advances of false religion, the uncertainty of the future, witnessing for Christ? It may be that your fears are not outward but within. They are eating you up and causing the stress level to soar. “Fear not” says the LORD, “Be still and know that I am God”.

In our text the God of heaven promises Himself as the supreme personal posses-sion whose presence is with His people. “Fear not Abram, I am…” The LORD de-lights to make Himself known in the time of need and the Saviour’s promise stands, “Fear not little flock, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Not only does this word speak of God’s presence but it shows His protection.

God’s Protection “I am thy shield”Bring all the armies of Chedorlaomer and Canaan and add to them the amassed armies of the universe and you will find that none are able to penetrate the shield of God. David said in 2Samuel 22:3, “The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour”, and in Psalm 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” David knew the security of the angel of the LORD encamping round about him. In all these cases it is not that God puts up a shield, but that He is the shield. In other words if any will overcome God’s people they must first overcome God Himself.

The LORD will use the circumstances of life to teach us about ourselves, our families, our future, and most of all about Himself. God said to Abram in Genesis 15:1, “Fear not…I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” This promise came, “After these things” namely the events of Chap-ter 14, which detail the united nations of Chedorlaomer, ransacking certain cities, including Sodom and Gomorrah, who had rebelled and refused to pay tribute. When Chedorlaomer invaded, he took captive Lot and his family and stripped the land to col-lect his back taxes.

Upon hearing of Lot’s capture, Abram ral-lied his 318 trained servants and joined forces with the Amorites: Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, and they pursued and conquered Chedorlaomer, and recovered much spoil including Lot, his family, and his goods.

When the king of Sodom met Abram, re-turning from victory, he wanted only the people, offering that the “goods” were Abram’s reward. But Abram distanced him-self from anything belonging to the leader of that immoral city and would not take so much as a thread not wanting to be en-riched by the property of that king.

Yes, it was after these things that the LORD appeared to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not. Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.”

God’s Presence “Fear not, Abram: I am…”It is very possible that after all the dust set-tled and they returned home that the fear of reprisal from Chedorlaomer troubled Abram. A regrouping and renewed cam-paign with stronger forces was a real pos-sibility as no enemy will easily swallow the bitter herb of defeat.

Abram was as susceptible to fear as any man. God’s people are not super human. The great prophet Elijah fled fearing Je-zebel’s wrath, after the victory of Carmel and it is understandable that Abram could be afraid. The very fact that God spoke this

Christian why are you so fearful when the LORD says, “Fear not”? Let us go forward in the joy and strength of the LORD of hosts, the Creator of the ends of the earth for if God be for us, who can be against us?

God’s Provision “I am…thy exceeding great reward”Our God is not only our shield, He has promised to be our reward, our bounty, our possession and our inheritance.

A person making a last will and testament is unlikely to include someone who has abused and mistreated them, rebelled against their direction, lived in opposition to their life work and desire-that person would receive nothing. Yet it is here that God’s grace has overflowed not only in sav-ing sinful wretches like us from hell, “For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, but He has given us eternal life. But it is much more than this-for God has promised that we will have Him as our prize, inheri-tance, and eternal reward.

God has given us the reward of His Son. “He that spared not his own Son...how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” It is not the golden streets of heaven or the mansions prepared or the wealth untold that is to be anticipated-it is the LORD Him-self that will make heaven glorious. There-fore it is when a believer lives in closest communion with his God that he is most fulfilled.

BUT the LORD does not just say He is our “reward” but that He is our “exceeding great” reward. Everything that describes God in human language is an understate-ment. It necessarily is because finite terms cannot describe the infinite. Therefore pro-found accomplishments are usually stated very simply as in Genesis 1, “he made the stars also”. But here the LORD Himself stacks up superlatives to give us some comprehension of what He is saying. God is our provision, the reward for our souls, to supply all needs temporal and eternal, for we find in Him all that is needed to sat-isfy the human heart.

Dr. Larry Saunders, President CPL

THE ETERNAL GODOUR SHIELD & REWARD

3The Protestant Challenge

Attractive Christianity

How can we make our Christianity at-tractive? This is a practical question. The fact is, complaints and criticisms are heard on every side, not against the Lord Jesus, but against His followers. People turn away from Jesus because of what they see in those who profess His name.

Smoother than butter, softer than oil, may be the words of the lips, even while the life spells out the hypocrisy of the heart. Such sham, such unreality, such in-consistency, takes the glow and glory from what was thought to be a bonafide Chris-tian profession, and became a hin-drance to the cause of Christ. One of Satan’s best instru-ments is the hypocrite, who deceives the people and yet dishonours the Christian-ity he has assumed as a cloak. No wonder it has been said, “If Satan ever laughs, it must be at hypocrites; they are the great-est dupes he has.”

“The man that stole the livery of heaven to serve the devil in,” was Robert Pollok’s description of a hypocrite; while the Holy Spirit speaks of those “having a form of godliness, but denying the power ‘thereof” (II Tim, 3:5). A questioning and unbeliev-ing world needs to see the very reality of Christ lived out in the lives of all who de-clare themselves His followers.

CHRIST THE GREAT ATTRACTIONHow can we make our Christianity

attractive? There is only one way, and that is, Christ Himself must be the attraction. Each Christian life ought. to be an exaltation ground, displaying Christ, His love, His purity, His patience; ever showing forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light (1

Peter 2:9). “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye (Colossians 3:12, 13).

CHRIST THE STANDARD OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

To make our Christianity attractive, Christ Himself must be the standard of our conduct. Our manner of living, our walk,

must be “even as He walked”; for “he that saith he abi-deth in Him ought himself so to walk,

even as He walked” (1 John 2:6). The Lord Jesus is God’s standard measure, and ev-ery Christian life should be the outliving of “Christ in you the hope of glory”.

The Word of God reveals the Lord Jesus as The Standard of Meekness: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:29). Among worldlings, meekness is often reckoned as weakness, if a Christian suffers loss rather than fight for his rights; and yet such meek-ness may be the indication of superior strength, even a proof of the grace of God in the heart manifested in the life.

The Lord Jesus, too, is The Standard of Self-denial: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). Self-denial is the expression of a sanctified life, in denying to self the lusts of the flesh and the pleasures of sin. Self—denial is more than merely going without something; as taught in Scripture, it is the enthronement of Christ.

The Lord Jesus is also The Standard of Humility “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:l5). In the act of washing the dis-ciples’ feet, our Lord and Master taught one of the hardest lessons to learn, viz., humility; and He emphasized it when He said, “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you”. Oc-tavius Winslow observed, “The closer the acquaintance with Jesus, and the stronger the assurance of divine forgiveness, the more softly and lowly with the spirit walk with God . . . in the deepest, gloomiest vale of soul-humiliation which she treads, she should never lose sight of her complete-ness in Christ: her self-denial should never betray her into grace-denial.”

Christianity lived on this high level will al-ways be attractive and winning; but where there is self-assertion instead of meekness; greed and self-indulgence instead of self-denial; and pride instead of humility, the otherwise glowing face of Christian experi-ence is clouded over, and the winsomeness of Christ is not seen.

CHRIST THE INSPIRATION OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

“Walk worthy of the Lord” should be the inspiration of our daily living. Do every-thing as unto the Lord, with Him ever in mind, and His life and holiness ever before us. There should always be a definite cor-respondence between our walk and our Lord. As He is worthy, so should our walk be worthy of Him, ever reflecting Him. It is, indeed, our serious business to be “ever reflecting His goodness, and always shine for Him”. Since our Lord is no longer in the world, it is necessary for the world to see something of His life lived in His followers now, It would be well for us, and for the

Making OUR

CHRISTIANITY

By J. B. ROWELL, Th.D (April 1948 The Evangelical Baptist)

ATTRACTIVE

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another


Attractive Christianity

exemplary lives, as His Word says, “that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). “He went about doing good”, was not only true of our Lord, but should be true of every one of His followers.

THE GROWING ATTRACTION MADE CERTAIN

All the teaching of God is full orbed. “In-creasing in the knowledge of God”, is the obligation incumbent on all who would live the full-orbed Christian life. God, with Whom all things are possible, must be known, and loved, and served; and this can

only be possible as we read, study, and medi-tate on the Word of God under divine illumina-

tion. Lack of love for God, lack of desire to know Him in all the thousand fold possibili-ties of knowledge, is the root sin of much spiritual poverty; and no one is to blame for this but the Christian himself. Where such lack prevails, it is impossible for the attrac-tiveness of Christ to be in evidence. To truly know God, is to love Him; and to love Him, is to serve Him, and to serve Him, is to wit-ness for Him; and such a life, with the very charm of Christ upon it, will always speak of Him who is the altogether lovely.

Let us go forth, then, as students of the Word, with an ever-increasing knowledge of God, even a full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understand-ing; that by means of this full knowledge of God, we may live with His all—revealing light shining into our hearts and upon our daily living, a life of fruit-bearing and con-stant expansion to the glory of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

cause of Christ, to check up on our busi-ness life, our home life, and our private life, and question ourselves as to whether each department of our living is worthy of Him. May the Lord help us to pray, Teach me to live as Thou deservest.

MAKING OUR CHRISTIANITY ATTRACTIVE BY A WORTHY WALK

These are days of specialized advertis-ing. Is my life a good advertisement for my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? This is a question every Christian might ask himself. If a soldier is expected to be a standard ex-ample of the requirements of the Army, a sailor of the Navy, and an airman of the Air Force; then, surely, no less is required of a Christian than that he should be a living, representative pattern of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Actions speak louder than words, hence the stress laid on the Christian’s worthy walk. It should be A Christ-like Walk - “He that saith he abideth in him ought him-self also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Where the Holy Spirit presents to believers such an example; “even as He walked”, with such emphasis; “ought himself also so to walk”, this might well be the inspiration to the holy ambition to be more Christ-like. John Calvin, writing on these words, observes: “As he has before set before us God as light for an example, he now calls us also to Christ, that we may imitate him. Yet he does not simply exhort us to imitate Christ; but from the union we have with him, he proves that we ought to be like him. A likeness in life and deeds, he says, will prove that we abide in Christ.”

Since conduct talks, the Christian’s life should be A Resurrection Walk -”There-fore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). What would it mean for Christian testimony if every believer were a living exemplification of this requirement -like as Christ - even so we also? To live in the power of the Risen Christ is the provi-sion and possibility for the weakest child of God.

Christianity in human life can only be vi-tal to attract unto Christ as Christian living is a Holy Spirit Walk - “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). Here is God’s guarantee that

habitual living by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit will result in a life of victory to His own glory.

Practical Christian living is A Faith Walk - “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). It must be the exhibition of “the love of God shed abroad in the heart”, so it will be The Love Walk - “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet—smelling savour” (Eph. 5:2). “Consistency, thou art a jewel”; and this priceless jewel cannot be missing from the Christian’s life without serious detriment to its influence. Accordingly, A Consistent Walk is a major requi-site “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. . . Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph. 5:15; 4:1). And, to speak well of Jesus Christ, and attract men and women to Him, the Christian’s life must be graced by A Radiant Walk, the logical con-sequence of walking in the Spirit-——”But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son Cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

CHRIST THE MOTIVE OF OUR CHRISTIAN LIVING

That which prompted the writing of this paper is the inexhaustible Scripture - Col. 1:1-14, with the leading thought in verse 10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowl-edge of God”. Christ the motive in our Christian living, is seen in the words, “unto all pleasing”. Our entire life and conduct is to be lived as unto the Lord. Our life re-volves about His Person, even as He Him-self is the life of our life, which life is to be lived “not as pleasing men, but God, which triest our hearts”. All our thoughts, words, and deeds should be motivated by the de-sire to please the Lord, to win His approval, even as Enoch “had this testimony, that he pleased God”.

PRACTICAL ASPECT OF MAKING OUR CHRISTIANITY ATTRACTIVE

“Fruitful in every good Work” is the hall mark of vital godliness. “Faith with-out works is dead.” When God sends us forth, it is to live practical, profitable, and

By: Aaron Dunlop

a brief account of the life of

Dr. J.B. Rowell(1888-1973)

being fruitful in every good work

“Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given him-self for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet—smelling savour” (Eph. 5:2)


Dr. J.B. Rowell

IntroductionOne hundred years ago James Bavin

Rowell began his ministry as a preacher of the Gospel. An entry in his brother’s diary on June 19th 1909 records James leaving again for college after a visit home: “dear James left for his calling today as a Wick-liffe Preacher, a very great change hav-ing been wrough in Him.” On February 2nd of the following year (1910) he received a let-ter of recommendation from his Church, the Strict and Par-ticular Baptists stating “I am pleased to recommend Mr. J. B. Rowell to the notice of Strict Baptist Churches which he may visit in his journeys, whom such churches may re-ceive into friendly intercourse as one professing Free Grace doctrines and desires to proclaim the truth as it is in Je-sus.

James Rowell’s ministry would later take him across the Atlantic to Canada where he would become known in Christian circles coast to coast both in Canada and America. His influence would soon spread around the world in the form of the printed page.

The story of James Rowell adds colour to the tapestry of Church History. It is one of perpetual motion, of warm and affection-ate personal ministry, scholarly study and machine-like labour for the cause of Christ. The virtues which shone in him and the zeal that propelled his defense of the faith were the product of a profound sense of gratitude to his sovereign God.

ConversionJames was converted to Christ on 25th

August 1907 as he sat at the back of the little chapel, disinterested and wondering what could possibly interest him there. He

came under “divine arrest” when words of Job 33:23 were read in his hearing; “Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.”

At this time James was working as a bak-er in Watkins Commercial, Bournemouth,

where he would hide behind the sacks of flour and “pour out my heart in prayer to God to save me from this awful language.” God did save him from the profane language he was forced to listen to. He called him to a higher service. His call to the full-time minis-try was confirmed in his own mind when his minister asked him to bring a message at Pon-

typridd, in Wales, after which the innkeep-er’s daughter came to Christ. In April 1909 James enrolled at Kensit Memorial Col-lege, the training college of the Protestant Truth Society (PTS). An article published in the society’s periodical “The Churchman’s Magazine” in 1969 speaks of James; “who just passed his 21stbirthday, and coming from a godly background, he burned with zeal to prepare for Christian service and then to plunge without delay into the good fight of faith.

Christian Service AbroadJames entered the PTS at the height of

the spirited Anglo-Catholic controversy. 1This controversy and James’ contact with it would shape and permeate the rest of his ministry. After leaving college he became a Wickliffe Preacher (preaching representa-tives of the PTS) and entered heart and soul into the struggle to maintain Protestantism in England. In the March 1912 edition of The Churchman’s Magazine there was a feature article on James’ unreserved zeal when he carried the idols out of St. Matthews Church

in Sheffield, arrived unannounced at the Archbishops door and made his unwel-comed protest. Another incident in Mertyr Tydfil, Wales, deserves mention. James and his preaching companions were rescued by police from an angry crowd of Irish Catho-lics who had come to Wales to work in the tin mines, and who were offended at the street preachers. James and his Wickliffe Preacher friends traveled through England, Scotland and Wales preaching the Gospel of free grace, salvation by faith alone in Christ.

Ambitious for greater service James sailed to Canada in January 1913. He had already enrolled in Brandon College, Mani-toba, to study for his Bachelor of Theology. In addi-tion to his family he left behind a young lady called Lucy, whom he would later marry. Lucy, like James, was brought up in a godly home. Her parents, Thomas (a draper) and Emily, his fiancée were married in 1882 in Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, London.

In writing from Brandon his letters across the Atlantic were often written in Pitman’s Shorthand. James had learned it in after school classes with his mother and Lucy became proficient in it also working as a secretary in London. While in Manitoba many preaching opportunities opened up to James. In one such meeting a young boy called Alan McGinnis accepted Christ. Alan later became Major McGinnis of the Salva-tion Army in Victoria.

The War and AfterIn 1914 war broke out in Europe and

Britain found itself embroiled in the con-

By: Aaron Dunlop

a brief account of the life of

Dr. J.B. Rowell(1888-1973)

Wickliffe Preachers 1912

Lucy Rowell


Dr. J.B. Rowell

This came to a head in June 1927, with the forming of a new and conservative body called The Convention of Regular Baptists of British Columbia. Although his Kamloops congregation supported him in his protest against this modernism Pastor Rowell ac-cepted a request from the new Convention to begin a work in Victoria, the capital of the province. At the request of four fami-lies Central Baptist Church was born.

With the new work on hand and the new convention getting established Pastor Rowell found his schedule stretched. He was elected President of the Convention in 1928 and again in 1935. Meanwhile the new congregation in Victoria was witness-ing immediate growth. The corner stone of the new building on Pandora Ave. was laid on 29th March 1929 and the key was offi-cially turned in the door on 31st August of

the same year.

A Broader WorkPastor Rowell’s ambition

for usefulness and breadth in ministry never waned. He reached out to the com-munity in satellite Sun-day Schools and meetings (Brentwood Bay, Luxton, Langford, Sidney, Duncan). A new radio ministry, and work with an orphanage that had opened in 1931. In all of this he managed to find time for studies to

complete his Bachelor degree (which was interrupted by the war in 1916) and then continue on to achieve a Doctor of Theol-ogy degree in 1936. The remainder of 1936 was spent in conferences across America and a trip to England and Scotland. Many conference opportunities opened up and in 1937 Dr. Rowell was invited by the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, to lecture on the subject of Divine Election. On that trip also he visited Wheaten College in Illinois and his travels took him further to a confer-ence in Birmingham, Alabama. Different conferences up and down the west coast of America kept Dr. Rowell busy 1938-39, to the point that his health began to fail and he was forced to take a sabbatical to convalesce (February – July 1939). During this time of sickness Their Majesties The

flict. Expatriates felt the need to return home and help in the war effort, and this was especially felt in the Dominion of Canada. On Monday 24th April 1916 there was a farewell banquet at Brandon before James left to enlist in Winnipeg on 26th. James passed his medical with, as his di-ary records “a 4 inch chest expansion” and proudly received his uniform. Private J. B.

Rowell (No.531784) arrived in Liverpool on May 30th with the 11th Canadian Field Ambulance Army Medical Corp, and made his way to Bramshott for encampment and training (see picture).

On Friday 11th August 1916 they disem-barked at Le Havre, Northern France and were immediately on maneuvers. While training in England James had suffered from ill-health and the winter weather give no respite in the open trenches. As the rigours of war increased James found him-self spending more and more time in the field hospital. Many of his diary entries for October and November of that year read “still in Hospital” or “still sick.” On 9th April 1917 James was admitted to the hospital of the 12th Field Ambulance Unit. He left Calais on the “S.S. Antwerp” for England having been invalided home with Trench Mouth.

Back in England he was able to reunite with Lucy with whom he had kept in con-stant correspondence and a wedding day was immediately arranged for Thursday 26th April 1917. Since James was still a Pri-vate in the 11th Canadian Field Ambulance Unit, he would return “home” to Canada on a Hospital ship in April 1918, at war’s end. Lucy left England in March 1918 on a civilian “bride ship” and arrived in Winni-peg before her new husband.

A Settled PastorateBack in Canada James was still plagued

by ill-health and in the space of just one year two pastoral positions ended in dis-appointment; Vernon and Prince Rupert, in British Columbia. Despite the blessings of God in his ministry and growth in both works, the climate necessitated James re-turn to England for Convalescence in Janu-

ary 1920. While home in England he received an invitation to return to British Columbia to pastor the Baptist Church in Kamloops, where the mountain climate was much dryer and amenable. On October 1st 1920 James left England again, together with his wife and son Hedley. The Baptist Church in Kam-loops had been closed for six years during the war and considerable debt remained on the building. There was no inter-

est in reopening and when James arrived he was met with opposition. It was in Kamloops, however that the energy of this young pastor, now in his early thirties, was realized.

Pastor Rowell believed very much in the printed page, and no expense was spared in colourful pro-motional literature and gospel tracts. The Church resounded with his vibrant singing and his wife’s contralto solos re-joiced the hearts of many. Topical messages and teaching charts gave an added visual interest and the Lord blessed the ministry with a steady growth in numbers. By April of 1924 the remainder of the debt on the building was finally cleared and the follow-ing year Pastor Rowell was able to record in his diary “we are having good services and a splendid spirit prevails in all departments of the work. Our prayer meetings are very helpful. We have an attendance between 20 and 30 each Wednesday night and there is a real sense of the Lord’s presence.”

During Pastor Rowell’s tenure in Kam-loops there was growing concern that theo-logical Modernism was gaining influence in the Baptist Convention of Western Canada.

J.B. Rowell with his family

11th Canadian Ambulance


Dr. J.B. Rowell

King and Queen of England were visiting Victoria on a state visit. Dr. and Mrs. Rowell were honoured and deserving guests at a banquet held in the Empress Hotel on May 30th 1939.

When WWII broke out in September 1939 there was comparatively little disrup-tion on the West coast of Canada. The min-

istry of Central Baptist Church continued very much as usual but with the add-ed work of min-istering to the many sailors who passed through the city. The de-fense of Protes-tantism contin-ued also with the establishment of

the Canadian Protestant League under T. T. Shields, in Toronto, 1941. Dr. Rowell was immediately involved and for many years was the President of the Victoria branch of the League. Rallies were organized across Canada and Dr. Rowell was busier than ever in his writing ministry. Much of Dr. Rowell’s writing in opposition of Roman Catholi-cism began at this period and he was well equipped for this ministry. He was from the beginning a lover of books and had accu-mulated quite an extensive library. It was later reported that Dr. J. B. Rowell had the largest collection of books in Canada on Roman Catholicism outside of the Roman Catholic Church itself.

In 1931 Dr. Rowell had commenced a Bible School in Victoria. Each Tuesday eve-ning he conducted college level courses. By 1945 this ministry had grown and oth-ers followed his example on the mainland. There was an increasing need for a cen-tralized Bible College. Northwest Baptist Bible College was born in the Fall semester of 1945, with Dr. Rowell as the first Presi-dent. For the first year the good Dr. left his pulpit ever Sunday night and boarded the over-night boat from Victoria inner harbor, arriving in Vancouver in time for Monday morning lectures at the new Port Coquit-lam campus. He would leave on Wednes-day to be back in Victoria for the evening

Prayer Meeting. Not surprisingly this heavy schedule proved too much for his fragile health and in the 1946 – 47 school year Dr. Rowell was forced to resign his position at the College to concentrate on his Church ministry at Central Baptist.

A Busy RetirementHowever, Dr. J. B. Rowell continued to

teach periodically at the College. By the late 1950’s he had established himself as an authority on Roman Catholicism and was a frequent speaker at Bible conferenc-es across the United States and Protestant rallies the length and breadth of Canada. In February 1958 Dr. Rowell received a re-quest to relocate to Los. Angeles. The re-quest concerned a post of lecturer in the School from which he had received his Doctorate in 1936; The Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary. This offer was initial-ly refused citing his desire to continue the pulpit ministry. But, after reflection, in Oc-tober of that year Dr. Rowell decided it was indeed time to give up the pulpit and focus on the conferences and writing ministry.

The following years proved to be busy years for Dr. Rowell. In January 1961 John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the first Catholic President of the United States and this aroused quite an interest among conservative Protestantism. Also, from 1962-1965 the Second Vatican Council sat in session. Nor did this pass unnoticed by conservative Christians. Part of Dr. Row-ell’s concern at this time was the invitation given by Rome to Protestants and Eastern Orthodox churches, to attend the sessions. If the Eastern Orthodox Churches accepted the invitation it would be the first time since the “The Great Schism” in 1154 that there would be official relations between the two Churches. Between 1961 and 1965 many letters passed between the Patri-archs of the Orthodox Church in Constan-tinople and the Pastor Emeritus of Central Baptist in Victoria.

Dr. Rowell published his Magnum Opus with Kregel Publications in 1963 entitled “Papal Infallibility.” In 1966, again, with the same publishing house, he published “How to Lead Roman Catholics to Christ.” During this time also Dr. Rowell continued a pro-lific writing ministry especially of Gospel

Invited to meet the King and Queen on their visit to Victoria, in 1939

tracts. He had them translated into many other languages and distributed across the world, this in conjunction with his brother Andrew back home in England.

Final DaysBy eighty years of age most men begin to

relax and enjoy the slower pace of twilight years. Dr. Rowell, however saw no profit in such comforts. In 1970 he added to his writing with a further evangelistic endeav-our; Dial-a-Thought. If one had called 386-6924 in Victoria in the early 70’s he would have heard the 82 year-old voice of Dr. J. B. Rowell. This was the heart of his ministry, ministering to the hearts of needy souls in search of peace and stability. Dr. Rowell graduated to glory on June 24th 1973 as he wished to do; “telling the triumphs of his king.”

1Anglo-Catholicism is a movement that sees the roots of the Anglican Church more in Roman Catholi-cism rather than Protestantism. In the mid-late 1800’s Anglo- Catholicism saw a revival through the Oxford Movement and by the 1900’s there were many in the Church of England, bringing in Idols and other Roman Catholic rituals.

First Car - circa 1921

A picture of J.B. Rowell from his military days.


Manhattan Declaration

The Manhattan Declaration is a thor-oughly deceitful document that follows on in the tradition of the Evangelicals and Catholics together documents of recent years. It is obviously thoroughly ecumeni-cal in nature and perspective, and par-ticularly because it involves high-ranking evangelicals, must be recognized as a dan-gerous departure from Biblical truth and practice.

There are a number of simple observa-tions to be considered in response to this document:

The Manhattan Declaration labels apos-tate religion “Christian”.

Its opening line uses the blanket term “Christians” to describe all who subscribe to the document and makes each an heir of “the 2000 year old tradition of proclaim-

ing God’s word”; again, “As Orthodox, Catholic and evan-gelical Christians….

We act together in obedience to the one true God”; and, “we are Christians…[and] fellow believers”. In other words, each of the signatories regards all of the others involved as Biblical Christians, supporting and declaring “God’s word”. The evangeli-cals involved are happy to apply this lan-guage to the various representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicans, and leaders of the Orthodox Church—the east-ern counterpart of the Church of Rome. All signatories therefore claim to have a com-mon Christianity.

Yet the fact remains, that in the light of Scripture, the Church of Rome, the Angli-can communion and the Orthodox Church represent apostate religion, even anti-christianity. The evangelicals among the signatories to this document make no dis-tinction whatever between the plain doc-trines of the gospel revealed in Scripture,

The Free Presbyterian Church has through its history opposed ecumenism and apostasy and has vociferously stood for the historic Scriptural position of be-ing separated unto the gospel of God, Romans 1:1. It is the God-given duty of every faithful gospel minister and of the Church of Christ to sound a note of alarm against every instance of departure from God and His word. I am happy to join our voice with those who take that stand against all that the Manhattan Declaration represents.

On November 20th, 2009 a number of individuals released a joint statement called the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience. What made this statement particularly noteworthy and positively alarming from a Biblical per-spective, is that it is a document that had brought together as signatories, various individuals prominent in the evangelical, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Or-thodox communities.

The Manhattan Declaration was con-ceived by three men: Robert George, Tim-othy George and Chuck Colson—all prom-inent on the ‘religious right-wing’ political scene in the United States. The earliest draft of the document was presented to “various Catholic, Evangelical, Eastern Or-thodox, and Anglican leaders who were specially admired for their public witness on behalf of justice, human rights, and the common good [and they] were invited to join in shaping the Manhattan Declara-tion.” [www.manhattandeclaration.org]

The aim of the document is to provide a statement of a conservative approach to specific social issues around which it was felt that “Christians” of all stripes could unite in a concerted effort to resist modern cultural trends. The specific is-sues addressed are: the sanctity of human

life; marriage; and religious liberty. With the support of the religious leaders and churches referred to above, the document was presented to the public for endorse-ment. Although it made only a small im-pact initially, that impact has been grow-ing steadily, with more and more churches, church leaders and religious organizations signing on as supporters. To date more than 420,000 individuals have signed in support of the document online.

Of particular concern to Bible-believers is that many leading evangelicals have signed on to this document. Just some of the evangelicals that are signatories are listed below:

Leith Anderson, President of National Association of Evangelicals; Dr. Mark Bai-ley, President, Dallas Theological Semi-nary; Dr. Robert C. Cannada, Jr., Chancel-lor, Reformed Theo-logical Seminary; Chuck Colson; Chuck Swindoll, Insight for Living; Jim Daly, President, Focus on the Family; Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family; Dr. William Edgar, Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary; Dr. Michael Easley, President Emeritus, Moody Bible Insti-tute; Rev. Jonathan Falwell; Dr. J. I. Packer; Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, South-ern Baptist Theological Seminary; Dr. Cor-nelius Plantinga, Calvin Theological Semi-nary; Rev. Michael L. Beresford, Managing Director of Church relations, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. A full list is pub-lished online with the document itself at http://www.manhattandeclaration.org.

It is immediately obvious that men with far-reaching influence in evangelical circles have thrown their weight behind this ven-ture. Some who have previously enjoyed a reputation as conservative evangelicals have lent their support to this joint-effort with apostasy.

A Brief Response to the

MANHATTANDECLARATION

By Andrew Foster, Penticton

a thoroughly deceitful document


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It has often been said that all roads lead to Rome. That was true for those who con-tributed to the writing of this book. How-ever, the road to Rome was a road that led them away from Jesus Christ. It was a road that led to a lack of peace with God and fi-nally would have led them to eternal dam-nation. These thirty former Catholics dis-covered that the Roman Catholic Church was teaching things that were completely opposite to what the Bible taught. There are many deviations of doctrine within the Roman Church, but the one that ensnares them is the same one that has ensnared each and every Catholic for centuries. You will read of this fatal deviation. You will also read of the spiritual hunger that they had even while deeply engaged in the Catholic religion. Some were busy in doing the Church’s work but found their own lives empty and unsatisfied. All were left hungry for more than mere tradition and rituals. These thirty found themselves ask-ing serious questions about the Eucharist and the Church’s priesthood. The system of belief behind these shared experiences is revealed in many of their testimonies. These testimonies show wonderfully the grace and mercy of God like a light in a

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which they claim to believe, and the per-versions of truth propagated by the RCC, the Orthodox Church and apostate Angli-canism. These men have lent their support to Rome’s blasphemous doctrines of the sacrifice of the Mass, purgatory, priest-craft, penance and a host of other errors such as its outright rejection of the central gospel truth of justification by faith in Christ alone. The idolatrous errors of the Ortho-dox church and apostate Anglicanism have similarly been embraced and endorsed by them as “Christian” and in agreement with Scripture. This is a scandalous and danger-ous deception! These so-called evangelicals are blatantly acting as liars in this matter. In the light of Scripture, the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and apostate Anglicanism are decidedly not Christian.

The Manhattan Declaration advocates an agenda of social justice at the expense of the gospel.

The Manhattan Declaration deals with: the sanctity of human life; marriage; and religious liberty. These issues, while im-portant, are not of primary significance for the Church of Christ. They are to be seen ever in subjection to the doctrines of the gospel. The truth of the Gospel has greater value and significance than any or all of these social issues and it is certainly not the Church’s mandate to abandon Gospel truth in order to pursue an agenda of social jus-tice. Yet the evangelical signatories of the Manhattan Declaration have deliberately compromised the greater issue of the Gos-pel in order to secure unity with apostate religion on these lesser issues.

The fact is, a right understanding of these social matters can only be had from the perspective of a right view of the Gospel. It is only in the light of the Gospel that we can grasp the Divinely-revealed truth about hu-man life, marriage and religious liberty or any other area of human experience. The very real issues of our society are the prod-uct of sin and there is only one real remedy for sin—the Gospel of Jesus Christ revealed in Scripture. A false gospel can provide no remedy for man’s miserable condition but rather makes him worse! By having as sig-natories those who deny the Gospel—as

the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and much of modern Anglicanism does—this document cannot address the issues evangelicals claim it does. By joining themselves to this venture, evangelicals de-stroy the cause they are seeking to advance because they sell out the Gospel to sign on to the Manhattan Declaration. The bible-believer’s response.

A Bible believer is one who obeys the Bible! In obedience to Scripture therefore, the Bible-believing Christian must repudi-ate the spirit and content of the Manhat-tan Declaration. It is a slander on the gospel of Jesus Christ and a support for the false gospels of apostate Protestantism, Roman-ism and Eastern orthodoxy. Abandoning the truth of the Gospel of Christ in order to form a united front with the enemies of Christ on various social issues must be recognized as a betrayal of the Saviour. The evangelical signatories and supporters of this document and its philosophy, must therefore be regarded as disobedient to the commands of God and as such fellowship is to be broken with them by any who would

seek to walk with the Lord. For any profess-ing believer to unite with apostasy and er-

ror in any cause is wrong! The word of God is clear on this matter:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righ-teousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

We are further called to separate our-selves from even professing Christians

who are deceived by apostasy and ally themselves with it. IF the clear command of God is for His people to “have no fel-lowship with the unfruitful works of dark-ness, but rather reprove them,” (Ephesians 5:11); Then the evangelicals in view here are acting disobediently. They are ex-pressing agreement, support and common cause with darkness! Here is a double er-ror: they have failed to speak against apos-tasy and have in fact associated with it in common cause. By standing on the side of the enemies of Christ they act as His en-emies too and cannot be supported by our fellowship.

By supporting those who support apos-tasy I make myself a supporter of it! There are only two camps acknowledged by God: light and darkness; Christ and Belial; etc. Men are in one or the other! There is no neutral ground with God. Separation from disobedient brethren is commanded by God. “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” (2 Thes-salonians 3:6). This is the duty of every or-dinary believer!

When Paul was commenting on the disciplinary action, taken in Corinth, to remove an offending brother from their fellowship, he wrote of “this punishment, which was inflicted of many,” (2 Corinthi-ans 2:6). Grass-roots believers must dis-associate themselves from the disobedi-ent actions of the evangelical signatories to this document. That means they must withdraw support for their ministries and close out all influence by these men while they persist in this betrayal of the Gospel.

The reason for separation in this instance is different. It is designed as a rebuke to the erring brother and is a sanction against him by the church to recover him from his error. It is instructive in nature. “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother,” 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15. Ad-monition and instruction can only be given from a separated position!


no remedy for man’s miserable condition


Separation from brethren is simply to act upon the Biblical principle that I will allow nothing or nobody to get between me and the Saviour. The Saviour does not endorse the Manhattan Declaration be-cause it makes His Gospel equal with the perversions of truth peddled by the Roman Catholic Church, the (Eastern) Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church. I have no business endorsing it either! Fellowship with Christ ought to be more valuable to us than worldly fame or popularity; more valuable than the cost that has to be paid to be separated unto the gospel.

The Christian’s response to the Manhat-tan Declaration, and to every issue of a similar nature, comes down to this: How badly do I want the company of Christ? How much do I love Him? Am I willing to obey His commands?

God’s word has spoken clearly on this matter—what will you do about it?

Repentance from the error leads to res-toration of fellowship - I Corinthians 5:1-5 and II Corinthians 2:6-8. This is the aim in practicing Biblical separation from offend-ing brethren. The object is to bring them back to the truth they profess to believe so that fellowship may be restored be-tween them and the Lord and His people.

A true child of God will be rebuked by Scripture and turn from disobedience. Only in this way can these evangelicals prove that they are not in fact false pro-fessors and wolves in sheep’s clothing! Some evangelical signatories have a long track record in defying God’s word and disobeying its clear commands.

By not acting as God requires in this instance we are acting disobediently our-selves and encouraging a brother in his sin. The effect is catastrophic in the church! This ‘domino effect’ where compromise with apostasy overcomes rank after rank in the church, either through direct involvement or a failure to act against it, very quickly re-duces the church of Christ to ruins. Dis-obedience replaces obedience, and the moral authority to speak and act against sin is lost!

The spiritual rot that the Manhattan Declaration represents is widespread in the visible church. Can anything be done? Yes! There must be an immediate going outside the camp of compromise unto Christ to stand unashamedly on His side, Hebrews 13:13. Vigorous protest against departure and disobedience must be made and God’s people again faced with the challenge Moses gave so long ago, “Who is on the LORD’S side?” (Exodus 32:26 AV)

God’s people must again evidence the conviction to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3). Only when the Church adheres to the truth of Scripture is she most useful to mankind and can minister to both the spiritual and temporal needs of society.

Our motive in responding in this way

The primary motive in Biblical separa-tion is Christian love—love for an offending brother and above all, love for Christ. It is not unloving to separate from sin; it is the highest expression of Christian love. Often a believer who practices Biblical separation from sin is called unloving and divisive. Paul makes it clear that it is those who ad-vance unbiblical dogma and practice that cause the division by introducing error into the church (Romans 16:17). It is not about being divisive, but about being lovingly faithful to Christ that lies at the basis of the separation that God demands.

The practice of biblical separation is pri-marily positive even though it is often por-trayed negatively. “Let us go forth there-fore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach” Hebrews 13:13. What we separate from is ever to be motivated by

the One we are separat-ing to. A desire to be with Christ, in fellow-ship and communion with Him is what drives biblical separation.

When men have separated themselves from Christ, to be in fellowship with those who are His enemies, then in order to be with Christ we must separate from them. We can not, must not, allow anything to spoil our fellowship with the Saviour. On occasion hard choices have to be made in order to be with Him:

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whoso-ever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daugh-ter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not wor-thy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:32-38


The primary motive in Biblical separation is Christian love How badly do I

want the company of Christ?

Rev. Andrew FosterPenticton, BC


Catholicism Permeating Evangelicalism

But Guy Prentiss Waters, who has writ-ten carefully against the arguments of the proponents of the New Perspective on Paul says, “If we examine their arguments carefully we see that what they are really and increasingly saying is that Luther and Calvin were mistaken, and that Trent was right.” The thesis of the New Perspective on Paul, denying imputation of Christ’s righteousness, and emphasizing covenant faithfulness leading to final justification, removes the truth of the Gospel and leads to the embracing of Roman Catholicism. This claimed believer’s faithfulness to Jesus Christ as Lord, leading to justifica-tion, is the same as the “merit” that Papal Rome teaches within the same context of grace and justification. Rome states, “We can have merit in God’s sight only be-cause of God’s free plan to associate man with the work of his grace.” Both deny the imputation of Christ’s righteousness by faith alone; namely, (1) the New Per-spective thesis explicitly as we saw with N.T. Wright, and (2) Rome also overtly, as justification is claimed to make us in-wardly just by the sacrament of baptism. Thus, the Catholic Church officially states, “Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us in-wardly just by the power of his mercy.”

In total contrast, the absolute word of God consistently proclaims that justifi-cation is solely by God’s grace. Through God’s power, every individual who is saved is “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Justification is imputed, counted, or reckoned as one believes on Christ, as Scripture states, “to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous-

ness.” Justification is “not of works, lest any man should boast.” Similarly, when the Jews asked Jesus what they should do to work the works of God, He responded, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Due to The New Perspective and its Auburn Avenue Theology offshoot there are many who denied the imputation of Christ’s righ-teousness by faith alone. Auburn Avenue Theology and its followers even embrace Papal Rome’s teaching of baptismal re-generation. Thus, again the mindset of Papal Rome is being infused into Evan-gelicalism.

Rome’s Mindset on Internal Righteousness

On being right with God, the Vati-can teaches that justification is internal, that is, within the heart of the individu-al. Thus, as we have seen, she teaches, “Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us in-wardly just by the power of his mercy.”

Papal Rome’s teaching that a person is “inwardly just” is the opposite of what Scripture consistently teaches. Scripture teaches that a believer’s justification is solely in Jesus Christ. For example, the Apostle Paul declared, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Nonetheless, many New Evangelicals have accepted the mindset of Papal Rome that our right standing with God is within ourselves. The New Evangelicals hold this presupposition because they believe that salvation is a result of an individual’s self-initiated, personal decision and desire to invite Je-sus Christ to come into his or her heart.

In 2004 the Billy Graham website stated it this way,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20). Jesus Christ wants to have a per-sonal relationship with you. Picture, if you will, Jesus Christ standing at the door of your heart (the door of your emotions, intellect and will). Invite Him in; He is waiting for you to receive Him into your heart and life.”

Another well-known evangelistic ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ International, claims that “New Birth” comes into a person’s life by invitation. They state, “When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation. [Christ speaking] ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.’” However, new birth in Scripture is totally the work of the Holy Spirit and not by the invitation of a person.

The Lord Himself proclaimed, “Ver-ily, verily, I say unto thee except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” What He calls “born again” He ex-plains as, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” True believers are, “…born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The Spirit of God’s unique work in applying Christ’s redemption to the sinner is utterly clear and profound. In spite of the clarity of Scripture, that “it is the spirit that quick-eneth; the flesh profiteth nothing,” Papal Rome and much of the evangelistic world believe in sacraments and empty ritu-

T h e M i n d s e t o f

Catholicism

P e r m e at i n g Evangelicalism

By Richard BennettPART 2


der the rubric of an historical authority for their position, they state, “Basing it-self on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Ni-cea (787) justified…the veneration of icons—of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new ‘economy’ of im-ages.” This paragraph of the Catechism stands in direct opposition to the Apos-tle Paul’s preaching to the Athenians on Mars Hill on the very issue of idolatry—an incident that happened years after the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle stated, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent….” These post-Incarnation idolaters were commanded to repent of their idolatry and believe the Gospel. However, the Catholic authori-ties count their human rationalization of greater authority than God’s written Word.

The same Apostle also explained how idolatry corrupts a man when he foolishly starts using images to stand for God, in fact, describing how idolaters, in-cluding the idol-makers, have corrupted the world,

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

The Apostles went everywhere preach-

ing that God sent His Son to save the world from sin, including from idolatry and its consequences. The Apostle Paul states very clearly that the Lord Jesus Christ is now no more known after the flesh. The Apostles, although having seen the Lord Jesus, never described what He

Second Council of Nicea is reaffirmed in the present day Catechism of the Catholic Church. Officially the Vatican states,

“The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first command-ment which proscribes idols. Indeed, the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype, and whoever venerates an image venerates the person por-trayed in it. The honor paid to sacred images is a ‘respectful veneration,’ not the adoration due to God alone.”

They have clearly stated that God

now approves image worship because the honor rendered to the image passed to its prototype. Indeed, in the same pas-sage the Catechism states,

“Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as im-age, but tends toward that whose im-age it is.”

The basis for the Roman Catholic Church’s claim that idol worship does not countermand the commandment on idolatry is that, “…in the old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.” In cit-ing the bronze serpent, the Ark of the Covenant, and the cherubim, the Catho-lic Church has made a serious error—for these items were neither images of God nor touted to be so. Since the Second Commandment was in force, clearly the Israelites were not to use the bronze ser-pent as an object of idolatrous worship, which later generations did, and for this reason God destroyed it.

The Catechism, however, continues to expand on the idea that images of “Jesus” point “symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word.” But their argument fails to comprehend that God does not contradict Himself, so that making and bowing down—which means essentially rendering honor or “veneration”—to im-ages of the Divine is still forbidden. Un-

als. The “new birth” is called the turning point in the evangelistic ritual. However, in most cases in the evangelistic world, there is no real difference morally before and after the experience. In much of the New Evangelical world, the term “carnal Christian” is applied to those who have completed the procedure or ritualis-tic invitation but whose lives have not changed. Here the New Evangelicals go a bit beyond the Catholics, for it is claimed that “carnal Christians” have simply made Christ their Savior and need not make Him their Lord. This rationale is absurd, as no one makes Christ either Savior or Lord!

The location of salvation for Catho-lics is in their good works starting with infant baptism, balanced against their bad deeds. The location of the New Evan-gelicals’ salvation is in their own good works, starting with their invitational rituals. In contrast the location of a be-liever’s salvation is totally secure and to-tally glorious; it is in Christ, the Beloved. “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved.” The supreme and conclusive purpose is immediately added, that all is to the glorious praise of His abundant grace. In having scorned God’s grace, the mindset of the Catholic Church and her evangelistic followers endeavors to rob the glory of salvation from the Lord God Almighty. All that is necessary to secure our salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. There is a completion in Him that leaves nothing wanting; as Scripture proclaims, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”

Rome’s Influential Mindset on Use of Images

The Church of Rome encourages both the making and the using of images. Idolatry was taken very seriously during the history of the Christian Church. There were very few images in the Church be-fore the fourth century. The debate on images became prominent in the “icono-clastic controversy” of the eighth century, resulting in the Second Council of Nicea, which approved of pictures being kissed and honored in churches (787 A.D.). The




it is a transgression of God’s law to make a “representation” or “semblance” of anything in heaven, or upon the earth, to delineate God. He calls those who break this commandment “those who hate me,” and those who keep the commandment, “those who love me.” Punishment for in-iquity is promised to the transgressors. He declares, “for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fa-thers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”

Our Response Many of the major evangelical insti-

tutions have openly joined in company with the Roman Catholic Church in false ecumenical movements such as “Evan-gelicals and Catholics Together.” It ap-pears that the Lord is now abandoning much of the evangelical leadership to the consequences of their corrupt and anti-biblical opinions. Modern evangelicals, at ease in Zion, have neglected to read the overtures of false ecumenism propa-gated by Vatican Council II documents. They have preferred to have fellowship with “the unfruitful works of darkness,” which is being unmistakably manifest-ed in ecumenical apostasy. Continued dialogue and discourse with the Roman Catholic Church is becoming their undo-ing. In sanctioning the Roman Catholic system as “Christian,” and accepting her major mindsets, they have publicly de-nied the distinctive character of salvation in, service to, and worship of the one true and living God of the Bible. Now, sadly, this false ecumenism is rapidly advanc-ing even though there are a few fearless Christian leaders who are strongly taking a stand against it. In this regard, we urge you to make your voice heard through preaching and teaching, as well as across the Internet.

In our own time, it can be shown quite easily that most church attendees in evangelical churches cannot state cor-rectly what the biblical doctrine of “jus-tification by faith” means. This appalling lack of biblical knowledge and under-standing makes one very concerned for the salvation of many. Therefore, we have the need for this conference on “Re-

looked like. They proclaimed what He said and what He did. They emphasized His death and resurrection, explaining what those events mean and how we must believe on His death and resurrec-tion to be saved. They taught people that Christ Jesus Himself is the image of God in heaven. This is because God is only bodily portrayed in Christ Jesus the Lord, who is “the express image of his person.”

The entire nature and character of God is shown forth perfectly in the Lord Christ Jesus. This is made clear by what the Apostles taught the Church.

Idolatry Paraded as Christian

In spite of the clarity of Scripture, the evangelical camp, to a very great ex-tent, accepts Papal Rome’s mindset on the use of idolatry. Images of Christ are widely used in some evangelical circles. In promoting expression of subjective experience rather than sound teaching of Biblical doctrine, new modes of teach-ing are required. Pictures communicate the message that Christ is other than the Biblical God Who cannot be pictured. Some evangelical churches base evange-lism, education, and worship upon those forbidden pictures, i.e., the “JESUS” film, flannel graph storytelling techniques, etcetera. Sunday school curricula as-sociate a man-made picture of “Christ” with the Lord. The pictures become accepted as a portrayal of Christ; they become the Christ de facto. Doctrine is subverted, authority is silently wrested from the Bible. Thus almost any concept of Christ becomes acceptable. This has laid the groundwork for an unbiblical, ecumenical church in which anyone who has accepted any type of imagined christ is purportedly a Christian. For example, “The Jesus Film Project,” a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, states the following,

“Since 1979 the ‘Jesus’ film has been viewed by several billion people all across the globe, and has resulted in more than 225 million men, women and children indicating decisions to follow Jesus. Based on the Gospel of Luke, the ‘Jesus’ film has now been translated into more than 1,050 lan-guages, with a new language being

added nearly every week. This brings God’s Word to people in more than 220 countries in languages they know and understand.”

Besides this, in so-called Christian bookstores and across the Internet, pic-tures and photographs of Jesus and Mary are marketed. For example, you read,

“In this website you will find many photographs depicting Jesus and the Virgin Mary. They were collected on the web and they’re allegedly authentic, it is a miraculous phenomenon occur-ring worldwide. Every photograph is accompanied by a brief description and the link to the source site where it was found. Click on photographs to bring up a larger version.”

Many Evangelicals demonstrate an ignorance of the meaning of the Second Commandment, which forbids using im-ages to represent God.” This command-ment prohibits the creation and use of graven images. It essentially brings to mind that God is a Spirit, not to be con-ceived of or fashioned in man’s image, or any other creature’s. In the book of Deu-teronomy the Second Commandment is further explained, “And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice… Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female….” What is forbidden is to make a similitude of God Himself. No similitude of the Divine was given to the people and none was to be made. In the New Testament we see that no “simili-tude” of Christ Jesus was given and none is to be made. The commandment must remain unabridged. Any similitude or im-age of Father, Son, or Holy Spirit is sinful and insulting to the majesty of the Lord God. Many Evangelicals are on the Ro-man road of idolatry, oblivious to the fact that it lies parallel to the Greek Orthodox route. The Scripture clearly shows that



viving the Lost Art of Evangelistic Procla-mation.” As mindset of Papal Rome per-meates Evangelicalism we have reached a watershed period of time. Those who truly adhere to the Gospel of Christ must hold that the Gospel not only is the power of God unto salvation, but that, as such, it cannot be contaminated with any other gospel. Therefore, those who truly Chris-tians must separate themselves, not only from the Church of Rome and her ways of thinking, but also must separate them-selves from so-called Evangelical who have accepted her mindsets and who work out of similar bases themselves. It is for us to fear the All Holy God and obey his commandment to “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

The world in our day is as the Apostle John wrote, “in the power of the evil one.” Timothy George, John Arm-strong, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Campus Crusade for Christ,

Doug Wilson, Steve Wilkins are just a few of the prominent Evangelicals per-sons and groups that have publicly de-nied the Gospel by endorsing the terms and erroneous doctrinal concepts of the Church of Rome. The Holy Spirit strongly warns of the apocalyptic consequences of these deceptions and of the judgment of those who promote lies in the name of God. The Lord will search out and try the visible Church. He will discover and de-tect those who say they are Evangelical believers and are not, but who carry on with the mind and convictions of Papal Rome. He who punished the sinners in Zion with great severity warns the be-lievers of the New Testament times that He will be even more severe.

What we must remember is that, for the Lord God, the sanctification of His People is His first priority. Only a gra-cious outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our time, to turn the hearts of His people back to Him, will be a sufficient remedy.

Pray then that the Lord may be pleased in mercy to heal the spiritual blindness that plagues the contemporary Evangeli-cal Church rather than to permit it to run further into darkness. It is mercy for which we are praying. Given the pattern of stubborn and sinful rebellion mani-fest in these last years it is certain that the Evangelical Church deserves nothing but a severe punishment from His hand. This is no time to presume on the grace of God, but rather to pray urgently for it! The Lord’s Glory, the Gospel, and His promises are at stake! “Wherefore we re-ceiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

Richard Bennett,Converted Roman

Catholic Priest

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to keep up our as-sociation with the League because you are carrying on a great mission by spreading light in a very dark area. I am 87 years old and my wife several years younger so we are really blessed by God to keep functioning as we are. We are supporting about twenty missions and ministries so perhaps we don’t emphasize the Protestant League to the extent that we should as you are carrying on a great and unique ministry. History has made a great mistake in referring to the Roman Catholics as ‘Christians’. Because the fact is that the bible does not teach Roman Catholicism and the RC Church does not teach the bible so they have disqualified them-selves from the Christian label. We love reading every issue of the ‘Challenge and are now sending

a donation of $125.00 to cover membership and prescription plus. World events indicate we are run-ning out of time. God bless you all as you serve Him in spreading truth and light.

- Les & Helena Zachary

Dear Friends,Thanks for your work in these

difficult times when the church of Rome attempts to confuse the world into believing they alone are Christ’s representative and try to get all Protestant churches to return to their fold under their jurisdiction and authority and of course the knee must bow to their theology even though not provided in scripture. Hopefully the Anglican church and others will see through this or they will be trapped.

Sincerely,Fred Hill

Dear Brothers in Christ,

Enclosed is a bank draft for $100.00 for a donation to your work for the Lord. Please send me a copy of the book Calvinism in History, as per the enclosed coupon. We very much appreciate your ministry of keeping Christians aware of how precious our evangelical heritage is, and at what a great cost our freedom was won.

With appreciation,John M. Sinclair

Notes to the Editor

The just shall live by faith.

Romans 1:17b

http://www.sermonaudio.com/go/212

http://www.bereanbeacon.org

Subject: What is Positive Protestantism?Saturday 2pm

Rev. Aaron DunlopMinister of Victoria FPC

Canadian Protestant League ANNUAL MEETING IN VICTORIA BC

Dr. John McKnightSpecial Speaker

A p r i l 2 9 - M a y 1 , 2 0 1 0

Dr. John McKnight has been pastor of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Darlington, MD, since 1992. He also serves as President of the American Council of Christian Churches, and Vice President of the Maryland Association of Christian Schools. He continues to take a strong stand on the fundamentals of the Bible and preaches in many churches and at conferences across North America and around the world.

Subject:

The Survival of Protestantism in North AmericaALSO:“The Centrality of Christ” Friday Evening

Where:

Sandman Hotel2852 Douglas StVictoria, BC V8T 4M5250.388.0788

For registration and further information contact Rev. Aaron Dunlop 250 383-2785 [email protected]

Subject: The History of Protestantism in Canada. Multi Media Presentation • Friday 7pm

Dr. Larry Saunders President of the Candadian Protestant League

A banquet will be held on Thursday evening at 7pm; Cost; $20.00 Please RSVPbefore April 7th 2010. Dr. McKnight will speak following the dinner.Thursday

Other Subjects Include:

Former President of the Canadian Protestant League and Founding Pastor of Central Baptist Church (Victoria).

Book Tables

Life and Work of Dr. J. B. Rowell

1888-1973

A Historical Visual Presentation of the

Documents

AN APPRECIATION OF Dr. J.B. Rowell...Yes, it was after these things that the LORD appeared to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not. Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great