An Old Testament scholar, who has written several books on the subject of the Creation account as depicted in Genesis, is to claim in a new thesis that God did not creates the heavens and the earth. According to Professor Ellen van Wolde, the traditional interpretation of Genesis 1:1, which states that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth", has been mistranslated for centuries. Van Wolde, who claims to have undertaken a textual analysis of the Pentateuch, now believes that the books of Moses did not intend to convey that God actually created the heavens and the earth, but that God's creative acts were limited mainly to making the earth a habitable place for the people and animals that were in it. She says that this reinterpretation of the Hebrew text brings the Genesis account into line with the Creation stories of other cultures, some of which fail to mention God as being the supreme source of all things. Van Wolde claims that the word 'bara' in the Hebrew, which is translated as 'create' throughout the Scriptures, should actually be interpreted as 'specially separate' in the first verse. But confusingly, she admits that the word 'bara' actually does mean create, but that her conclusions are drawn not from the text itself, but from her own lack of understanding of the nature of God. 

Quote: "She said technically "bara" does mean "create" but added: "Something was wrong with the verb. "God was the subject (God created), followed by two or more objects. Why did God not create just one thing or animal, but always more?" She concluded that God did not create, he separated: the Earth from the Heaven, the land from the sea, the sea monsters from the birds and the swarming at the ground. "There was already water," she said. "There were sea monsters. God did create some things, but not the Heaven and Earth. The usual idea of creating-out-of-nothing, creatio ex nihilo, is a big misunderstanding." God came later and made the earth livable, separating the water from the land and brought light into the darkness.

But the word 'bara' is actually used throughout the Genesis account. It's used to describe the creation of "every living creature" that moves in the waters (Genesis 1:21), it's used three times in one verse to describe the creation of humans (Genesis 1:27), and it's used in reference to "all the host" of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 2:1-4). Van Wolde says that in the beginning water covered the earth, and this is true, but there is no mention in the Scriptures about sea creatures existing on the first day of creation. In fact the second verse of Genesis specifically states that in the beginning, the earth was "without form and void", or literally waste and empty. Van Wolde's strange interpretation that God did not create the earth, or that the phrase "in the beginning" refers to the narration of a story and not the beginning of time, does not find support anywhere in the Bible. When speaking of the creation of Adam and Eve, the Lord Jesus Christ affirmed that He which created them did so "in the beginning", Matthew 19:4. This creates problems for those who espouse the view that Genesis was simply a regeneration of an existing creation, or that God used evolution to create the world. In reference to God's creative acts, John's gospel emphatically states that Jesus Christ was "in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not", John 1:10. And in regards to her belief that God created some things and not others, John 1:3 also states, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made".

As you can see, Professor Ellen van Wolde's views, which Radboud University claim represents "a complete shake up of the story of the Creation as we know it", actually presents no new information at all. At best her thesis provides a misleading view of the Genesis account, and at worst constitutes an attack on the very nature of God. Van Wolde herself gave the game away when she stated at the end of the article, "The traditional view of God the Creator is untenable now". Unfortunately van Wolde's views are by no means unique. Mankind has always sought to limit his accountability to his Creator, either by denying the existence of God or by claiming that God's involvement in creation was somehow limited. But God created man, and man will give an account to Him for everything that he does. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment", Matthew 12:36. Are you prepared for that day? There will be no lawyers to argue your case on that day. You will not be able to plead innocency, because God will have a record of everything (Revelation 20:12). And the Judge will not be lenient (Nahum 1:3). There is only one way you can escape sentencing, and that is to make supplication to your Judge. His name is Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for your sin when He died upon the cross. He gave His life for yours so that you could be forgiven. Why don't you turn away from your sin, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today. Don't leave it until it is too late.

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Source Telegraph

Quote: "He said: ''By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his version influenced what the gospel writers put in theirs. ''Paul was a literary and imaginative genius of the first order who has probably had more influence on the history of the world than any other human being, Jesus certainly included. I believe this is a pity.''

His novel is unfortunately just the latest in a long line of books which have focused their attacks on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In April 2006, the US National Geographic published what they claimed was the lost Gospel of Judas, a manuscript which is known to be a forgery and not written by Judas at all. In this 'Gospel' account, Jesus Christ is not the Son of God, but is an 'avatar' of Adam's third son Seth. In the document, Judas is portrayed as the only disciple who knows the secret, that he must kill Jesus in order to set Him free from His bodily prison. That same month another author by the name of Michael Baigent published a book called, 'The Jesus Papers', which claimed that Jesus Christ wrote a letter to the Sanhedrin court denying that He was the Son of God, and that His death was faked in order to allow Him to escape His enemies. And in March 2007 we had the amazing (and fraudulent) claims made by directors James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici, that the ossuary or coffin of Jesus Christ had been discovered in a tomb in Jerusalem, that He was not crucified and that He was even married to Mary Magdalene. And of course we had the Da Vinci Code, a best-selling novel and film by Dan Brown, which made similar false claims.

Of course this idea, that Paul may have invented the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Gospel writers somehow exaggerated the claims of Jesus Christ, can be easily be disproven from the Old Testament Scriptures. Even if we had no New Testament, it would still be possible to know every facet concerning the person and work of the Messiah at His first coming to Earth. Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, and every other cult that denies the Deity of Christ, does not have a leg to stand on when it comes to the Old Testament Scriptures. I read out many of these verses when I was giving my testimony in our assembly a few weeks ago. David foretold in Psalm 2 how the Messiah would be none other than the begotten Son of God. Isaiah foretold in chapter 7 how the Messiah would be born of a virgin and called Immanuel, or 'God with us', and in chapter 9 how the 'Son given' would be known as "the Mighty God". Proverbs 30:4 also declares that God has a Son. Micah refers to the Messiah in chapter 5 as one who's "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting". And Isaiah 48:16 contains one of the clearest references to the Trinity in the Old Testament, and proof that Jesus Christ is eternally existent and therefore must be God.

Isaiah 48:16
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

Paul certainly did not invent the doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ, and it is definitely not the questionable issue which others have claimed it to be. The fact is, our very salvation is dependent on the Deity of Christ. For if Jesus Christ was not God then He was certainly not sinless, and His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary could never take away our sin. But praise God that the Scriptures prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is none other than the only begotten Son of God, and that we can know the forgiveness of sins through trusting in Him for salvation. Have your sins been forgiven? Jesus Christ died for you. He bore God's punishment for sin when He died upon the cross. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today.

1st John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Source Telegraph

Quote: "The crisis of this moment has several parts, and like Episcopalians, particularly ones in Mississippi, they're all related. The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy – that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God. It's caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of all being. That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention.

Of course it wouldn't be the first time that the Most Reverend Schori has made such statements. In June of 2006, the General Convention voted against a resolution which would have affirmed the truth of Acts 4:12, that the name of Jesus Christ is the only name given among men whereby we must be saved. Seventy percent of the church voted against that resolution, prompting some in the denomination to declare it to be no longer a Christian church. Schori herself has previously exclaimed that, "if we insist that we know the one way to God, we've put God in a very small box". Any Christian worth their weight in salt knows that Jesus Christ said He is the only way to the Father, and that nobody can come to God except through Him (John 14:6). Sad to say that many church leaders like Schori, Joel Osteen and John Hagee seem to be preaching "another gospel", Galatians 1:6-7. I could say more. As you can see, we are living in desperate times, days in which the Lord Jesus Christ is even being publicly denied by the leaders in our churches. Of course the Bible predicted this would happen.

2nd Peter 2:1-2
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Praise God that we know the truth, that we can be saved as individuals, and that we can be in a right relationship with God. This is what Jesus Christ Himself taught while He was here on Earth. As we have been talking about recently, Jesus said in John 7:37-38, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". And who could forget the Lord's words to Nicodemus in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". Schori is right in that there is no set form of words which can guarantee personal salvation. Rather it is simple faith in Christ's finished work on the cross of Calvary that is able to justify the ungodly (Romans 4:5). It is not the amount of faith that matters in the salvation of a soul, rather it is who the faith is placed in. There are not many ways to God as some preachers claim. Faith in a god will not save a soul from hell. Rather saving faith only comes when one trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. He alone has the power to forgive sins, because He alone bore God's punishment for sin when He died upon the cross. And it is through the shedding of His blood that atonement has been made for our souls. Why don't your trust in Him for salvation today.

Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace

Source Episcopal Church

Father Paul Bresnahan of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Salem has called on all religions to recognize, accept and celebrate the homosexual lifestyle during an address on the subject of sexual identity in the Episcopalian Church. Bresnahan said he believes that there is room enough in God's love for everyone, and that the Church needed to move with the times or risk becoming irrelevant in the modern world. Within the past few years many countries across the world have passed legislation legalizing homosexual civil unions and prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. But only a few Christian denominations have embraced the homosexual lifestyle, which is in stark contrast to the Biblical teaching that marriage ought to be between a man and a woman. One such denomination has been the Episcopalian Church in the United States of America, which recently elected a female leader who believes that God created homosexuality. And so Father Bresnahan continues in Schori's doctrine, promoting the homosexual lifestyle and making God the justifier of unrighteousness.

Quote: "Bresnahan acknowledged that many different religious denominations struggle with acceptance of homosexuality, but he said the struggle was necessary for the church to keep up with the times. "It's going to be tough, but the world will teach the church," he said. "The world is going way ahead of us, and we need to catch [up] or be left behind."

Bresnahan's remarks are a sad indictment of the state of the Church today. But although his words may be reprehensible, there is a ring of truth about what he has said. Unfortunately many churches are adopting world views that are diametrically opposed to the teaching of the Scriptures. And the world, which Bresnahan says is way ahead of us, is destined for destruction and many are following in its wake. I was very sad when I heard about the Christian singer, Ray Boltz, how he recently divorced his wife and is now living a homosexual lifestyle. Unfortunately Ray has fallen into the same erroneous teaching, that God somehow made him this way and that he must be true to the way God has made him. 

Quote: ""This is what it really comes down to," he says. "If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I'm going to live. It's not like God made me this way and he'll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be... I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself."

Ray believes that this is the way God made him to be. Thus he has made God the justifier of his own unrighteousness, in saying that God created him to sin, therefore he has no option but to continue in it. We were all born in sin and shapen in iniquity (Psalm 51:5), but God did not create us to be that way. Man has chosen this way himself. The homosexual lifestyle is just one sin among many. I am not criticizing Ray for this particular sin. But what I am saying is, it is wrong for any of us to say God created us to be a sinner. Ray says he feels closer to God because he no longer hates himself, but in reality he no longer hates himself because his conscience is no longer bothering him. The reason why his conscience is no longer bothering him is because he has convinced himself that God created homosexuality, therefore the homosexual lifestyle must not be sin. God did not create homosexuality. But it can be viewed as a judgement from God upon those who do not wish to retain God in their knowledge (Romans 1:28). There are three things that God has given us to keep us spiritually on track. The conscience, which all people have been given by God, and which will be used to convict the unbeliever on the day of judgement (Romans 2:14-16). It is possible for a person to sear their conscience so that it no longer does the job God has created it to do (1st Timothy 4:2). This is one of the signs of the last days. God has also given us His Word, which reveals to us God's standard of holiness, and acts like a mirror reflecting our own short-comings (James 1:23-25). Ray says he is unwilling to enter into Scriptural debate about his homosexual lifestyle, therefore he has removed himself from under the authority of the Word of God. If God created homosexuality then there should not be problem defending it from the Scriptures. The third thing that God has given to us is the Holy Spirit, and one of His jobs is to bring conviction of sin (John 16:8). God has promised that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1st John 1:9). But God's Spirit can be grieved if we don't confess our sin and keep short accounts with God (Ephesians 4:30).

What are the "times" Bresnahan said the church must "keep up with"? The answer seems to be "perilous times", 2nd Timothy 3:1. The moral depravity that this world would sink to was accurately foretold in the New Testament Scriptures. There is no doubt that we are now living in those days. True morality as defined in the Scriptures is fast being exchanged in our churches for a worldly morality that is all-inclusive and non-condemning. This worldly morality has exchanged Biblical love (love the sinner, hate their sin) for tolerance (love the sinner, accept their sin). True righteousness (hating people's sin) has been confused with judgementalism (hating people for their sin). There is no doubt Satan is the one who is behind this new morality. But God's standard of morality does not change no matter how unpopular it may be. God has already declared the whole world to be guilty before Him (Romans 3:19). And He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man Whom He has ordained - Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31). Will Jesus Christ be your Judge on that day? Or will He be your Lord and Saviour? God hates iniquity just as much as he loves righteousness (Psalm 45:7). He hates your sin because it is what separates you from Him (Isaiah 59:2). But He loves you with an everlasting love. He proved His love for you by sending His only Son Jesus Christ into this world to bear the punishment for your sins upon the cross. And all who accept His offer of salvation can have their sins forgiven and have everlasting life in heaven (John 3:16). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today (Acts 16:31).

Source Daily Free Press, Christianity Today

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is planning to visit Lourdes this week, as celebrations of the 150th anniversary of 'Our Lady of Lourdes' get underway. The aim of his visit to the shrine, which will be the first for an Archbishop of the Church of England, is to foster unity with the Church of Rome. The shrine at Lourdes was built to commemorate the appearances of 'Mary' to a young girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous. The apparition revealed itself to Bernadette in a grotto in Lourdes in January 1858. Two other girls were with Bernadette at the time of the encounter, but only Bernadette was able to see the 'vision'. Her first reaction was one of fear. She prayed that if this apparition was not of God, that it would go away. She also sprinkled a bottle of 'holy water' at the figure in an attempt to make it leave. But the apparition remained. Bernadette was to see the apparition on eighteen separate occasions, while numerous others were present. The apparition later instructed Bernadette to have a chapel built in the grotto, and to organize a procession honouring her as the 'Immaculate Conception'. Four years previous to this event, the Pope had proclaimed Mary as the 'Immaculate Conception', declaring her to be without original sin. It is said that Bernadette could not have known about the Pope's decree, thus many Catholics believe that her visions were genuine. I also believe her visions were real, but I do not believe that this apparition was the same Mary that we read about in the Scriptures. The Mary of the Bible was a humble woman who would not dare to elevate herself to the level that this apparition has. Mary was a sinner who trusted in God her Saviour (Luke 1:47). But now Archbishop Rowan Williams is seeking for the Church of England to be reunited with the Church of Rome, through the worship of this apparition. 

Quote: "Dr Williams will participate in the celebrations at the invitation of the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Monsignor Jacques Perrier. He will also take part in a pilgrimage of bishops, clergy and laity of the Church of England, organised by the Society of Mary and the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. He will be accompanied in Lourdes by the Church of England bishop with particular responsibility for chaplaincies in France, the Right Reverend David Hamid, the suffragan bishop of the Diocese in Europe. His visit follows that of Pope Benedict, who made a pilgrimage to the town last weekend.

It's no secret that the Archbishop of the Church of England is a Druid. The Druids venerate nature, the sun, trees and groves, hill tops, streams, lakes and plants. They are also involved in ritualistic human sacrifice. Some believe the Druids may have been responsible for the construction of Stonehenge, in Salisbury, England. It is thought that the ancient landmark may have been used to track the sun through the summer and winter solstices. Thousands of people still visit Stonehenge every year to celebrate these occasions. Some think that the site may have also witnessed its fair share of human sacrifices. Well today just happened to be the autumnal equinox, the day that falls directly between the summer and winter solstices. At this time of year the northern hemisphere experiences exactly the same amount of daylight hours as the southern hemisphere. And what better day to give Stonehenge a modern makeover? It seems that in honour of one Druid's visit to the Catholic shrine of Lourdes, England is about to get its own version...

Quote: "The findings do not conflict with other recent theories about the uses of Stonehenge -- which indicate that it was an astronomical observatory, a cemetery and the site of biannual celebrations that honoured the dead and the living. But they do suggest that the monument also was an ancient Lourdes where pilgrims congregated to have their wounds and illnesses magically healed. Stonehenge has "multiple meanings and multiple uses" that may have changed over the centuries, said archaeologist Mary Ann Owoc of Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., who was not involved in the new research. "To limit it to one is an error." The idea that the stones are not just building materials but have efficacy "is tremendously appealing as an idea," said archaeologist Julian Thomas of Manchester University, who also was not involved in the research. "The idea that they were brought there because they have some kind of power seems to me entirely plausible. But whether it is just about healing is another question."

Is it just a coincidence? A Druid representing the Church of England visits Lourdes? A Druidic monument gets a 'Lourdes makeover' on the day of the equinox? Perhaps it is just a coincidence. But there is no coincidence in that the same devil is behind all of it... The apparitions of Mary all over the world, the adoration of Mary, the 'miraculous healings' both at Lourdes and now apparently at Stonehenge, the 'lucky charms', the worship of nature and the human sacrifices... Personally I think the makeover on Stonehenge is just a cover-up designed to hide its dark past. Just as the apparition at Lourdes had the appearance of good, the beauty was just a veneer that served to hide a very different reality underneath. The Bible warns us in 2nd Corinthians 11:14-15 that Satan masquerades as an angel of light in order to deceive, and that it should be no marvel if his ministers use the same tactics. Regarding Rowan Williams and Lourdes, I can't think of any other words to say about this other than what God says in Revelation 18.

Revelation 18:4-5
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

I feel the thing is too far gone to merit commenting on. Make no mistake about it, judgement is coming. But what about you? As Christ said of the Pharisees, outwardly they are like whitewashed sepulchres, but inwardly they are full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27). Does that verse apply to you? Have you an outward veneer of good works, but inside you are still spiritually dead in trespasses and in sins (Ephesians 2:1)? Jesus Christ died for you. He bore God's wrath for your sins upon the cross. And God has promised that all who believe on Jesus Christ for salvation can have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in heaven. Jesus Christ said all who believe on Him, out of their inward parts shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-39). Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Source Wales Online, Mary Pages, LA Times, APOD, BBC