At the beginning of this year I was contacted by a friend and fellow-believer in England who asked me if I had any information or views on an addition included in the second printing of a book by J I Packer called ‘Rediscovering Holiness’. This addition dealt with Mr Packer’s views of difficulties/doubts experienced by the late ‘Mother’ Teresa. I had not been aware of this addition to Mr Packer’s reprinted book and in the course of my investigations I came across a very helpful article on this link
and I plan now to reproduce this article here (I have highlighted some important portions in bold) and then by way of conclusion I shall make some comments of my own.
Tony Blair is not alone in making the journey into the Roman Catholic Church. The path has been well trodden by various charismatic groups. On the surface, these groups would profess some allegiance to evangelical convictions. In practice, their actions show they are working to a different set of criteria.
In many parts of the world today God’s people are truly horrified by much of the God-defying legislation that has been enacted by their governments in areas such as abortion, gay rights, same-sex partnerships, the total re-defining of marriage and civil liberties. In conscience this poses many problems about whether or not in these situations Christians should take a government-defying stand “toobey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). In such cases Christians often feel a real sense of helplessness or impotence when it comes to opposing these vile laws and to declaring publicly God’s views on these subjects in a meaningful way.
For most of the past year large swathes of the world have been engulfed by what has come to be known as the ‘credit crunch’. Supposedly prosperous nations in Asia, Australasia, Western Europe, the British Isles and North America have been brought financially to their knees. Some of these in times past would have been viewed as bastions of Christianity but they have been found to be not only virtually financially bankrupt but also to be spiritually bankrupt. In Deuteronomy 8:19-20 God issued a warning to His people as they were making their way to the Promised Land – “And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish…because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God”. The finances of many nations have been destroyed by corruption in high places – and so it has also been with their spiritual resources – they too have been corrupted. Much of this newsletter brings to light some sources of such present-day and popular corruption. May God be pleased to give His people discernment to preserve and prosper a faithful spiritual heritage amongst the nations that will bring true glory to Him, for that surely is one genuine biblical purpose that God has for His redeemed people.
The Roman pope, Benedict XVI, visited the United States of America in April. It was an immensely successful visit, by all accounts. But the question that needs answering is: why now? Why was a trip to the USA so important at this particular time?
For a non-Papist president, George W. Bush sure went out of his way to fawn over the Roman Antichrist as if he had been a lifelong devotee. He greeted the pope on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland as he landed – the very first head of state that Bush has ever welcomed in this way, described as an “unprecedented reception”. Usually heads of state come to Washington, D.C., first. When questioned as to why he did this, Bush replied, “Because he is a really important figure in a lot of ways. One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn’t come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith. And, three, that I so subscribe to his notion that… there’s right and wrong in life, that moral relativism has a danger of undermining the capacity to have more hopeful and free societies, that I want to honor his convictions, as well.” [1]
In Pharaoh’s Egypt false ‘fertility gods’ were worshipped, and God’s people were oppressed. God revealed His anger through plagues that impacted adversely upon the environment, upon animal life, upon the food-chain, upon people’s health, upon climatic conditions and upon family life. In our day western ‘Christian’ nations are feeding the world’s lust for all manner of gut-wrenching pornographic material with Hollywood, USA being a leading player. These nations are also warmly welcoming false gods. In Iowa USA, at the end of January, Mohammed Khan, the imam of the Islamic Centre of Des Moines, led the opening prayer in the Iowa legislature at the request of Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, who has questionable associations with Islamic extremists. In his four-minute prayer before the Iowa legislative session, Khan made a plea for “victory over those who disbelieve” and “protection from the Great Satan”. Reflecting on the plagues of Egypt can we not see similar ‘plagues’ being visited on the world of our day. In Egypt these were a precursor to the great deliverance and exodus of God’s people. God answered the prayers of His people [see Exodus 3:7-8]. We thank you for your continuing love and support and ask you to join with us in the prayer of Revelation 22:20 “Even so, come Lord Jesus”.
One of the items posted by the Roman Catholic Zenit News Agency for Monday 11 February 2008 read as follows –
Cardinals Hoping for a 5th Marian Dogma To Declare Mary as Mother of Humanity
ROME, FEBRUARY. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org) –
Five cardinals have sent a letter inviting prelates worldwide to join them in petitioning Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma they said would “proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary.” The text, released last week, includes the petition that asks the Pope to proclaim Mary as “the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.”
The petition states: “We believe the time opportune for a solemn definition of clarification regarding the constant teaching of the Church concerning the Mother of the Redeemer and her unique cooperation in the work of Redemption, as well as her subsequent roles in the distribution of grace and intercession for the human family.”
The text adds that the move would be “the ultimate expression of doctrinal clarity at the service of our Christian and non-Christian brothers and sisters who are not in communion with Rome”… The statement added, “This initiative also intends to start an in-depth worldwide dialogue on Mary’s role in salvation for our time”… Cardinal Aponte Martínez, one of the cardinal co-patrons said: “I believe the time is now for the papal definition of the relationship of the Mother of Jesus to the each one of us, her earthly children, in her roles as co-redemptrix, mediatrix of all graces and advocate.”
Back in 1998 there were similar Roman Catholic groundswells of opinion to have the then Pope John Paul II issue the very same dogmatic declaration. I was invited to participate in a Channel 5 “Crossfire” televised debate on the subject with a Jesuit Priest, Richard Foley who was very much in favour of the idea.
You can view this debate on You Tube [28 minutes] on the links below.
Should Mary be declared co-redemptrix? – Part One
Should Mary be declared co-redemptrix? – Part Two
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 12 February 2008
In many countries, Gonhxa Agnes Bojaxhiu, better known as the highly esteemed Mother Teresa, is being presented as a role model. Since many people now accept the notion that all religions are legitimate ways to God, for them Mother Teresa is currently one of the best standards. She believed that all people can go to heaven by way of their own religious beliefs. People rationalize that if good deeds made Mother Teresa acceptable to God, some good deeds in their own lives will help secure their confidence that they, too, will one day reach heaven. Mother Teresa can easily become a reputable, across-the-board role model for those who hold these kinds of assumptions. Moreover, people are very reluctant to state anything against a person so recognized for an extraordinarily devoted life full of many good deeds. Consequently, examination of her life and her message can be a very sensitive issue. Mother Teresa’s life and message, however, must be measured against what our Lord Jesus Christ has said in His written Word, particularly because she finished her life spiritually bankrupt, as she from her early life on admitted to walking in spiritual darkness.[1] This repeated admission must be acknowledged for what it is in the light of Bible truth.
In January of this year I received an email from a Christian couple in England who had attended a meeting In Birmingham in October 2006 at which they were introduced to an initiative that would be called ‘HOPE 2008’. In their own words they wrote of ‘something called “HOPE 2008” the theme of which is “Redeeming Our Communities” – this was pioneered by Gerald Coates’.
In my reply to them I wrote this concerning “HOPE 2008” – “You mentioned the involvement of Gerald Coates so on that basis alone I would steer well clear of it”. Very briefly, Gerald Coates has promoted many charismatic deceptions such as the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ and with his track record of failed ‘prophecies’ he should be thankful that he doesn’t live in Old Testament times [see Deuteronomy 18:20].
Following the posting of The ‘gospel truth’ according to ‘Father’ Paul Symonds to our website I received the following email on 5 April 2007 –
Dear Mr Andrews,
Just as a matter of accuracy, I should inform you that Fr Paul Symonds is no longer a Jesuit priest. He resigned some time ago from the Jesuits and is now a “diocesan” priest. In other words, he is a priest now under the authority of a bishop within a diocese, rather than a priest under the authority of an Order. This is a very significant difference in status which you may wish to reflect in a revised version of the currently inaccurate article you are running on your website.
I do hope you won’t mind this correction. The truth matters.
