WIKIPEDIA ‘Encyclopedia’ on Cecil & Creationism

Braehill Baptist meetings available to watch

I was recently informed by a Christian friend that there was an entry concerning myself on the ‘WIKIPEDIA Encyclopedia’ website. This particular website was in the news just last week in an article in the Daily Mail of 11 April 2007 under the heading ‘Minister tells pupils to use the website that makes up facts’. This is part of what that article said –

‘Teachers criticised the Education Secretary yesterday after he encouraged pupils to use a controversial Internet encyclopedia to research school work. Alan Johnston hailed WIKIPEDIA as a more appealing version of the revered Encyclopedia Britannica. Yet the unregulated site has been dogged by rows over inaccurate entries because anyone can enter or alter the information themselves’…Founded in 2001 in America, WIKIPEDIA has more than 1.6 million articles in English alone. Anyone can edit entries although WIKIPEDIA insists the sheer numbers of users ensures errors are swiftly corrected’.

I have to admit that I have personally cited links to WIKIPEDIA in several recent articles but would naturally correct or withdraw anything that proved to be inaccurate.

Now, to return to the entry about myself. Although it does not state who posted this item about me, I wouldn’t need a degree in ‘rocket science’ to make an educated guess that it is mostly based on what has already been written about me on the ‘Who is Who’ page of the pro-evolution website of BCSE [and of course there is an ‘external link ‘ to that website from this WIKIPEDIA posting]. I dealt with the inaccuracies in the BCSE posting in the article found on this link

Whose ‘Evolutionary Feathers’ have been Ruffled?

What I now propose to do is to set out the entry as it appears on the WIKIPEDIA website and insert some corrective comments in RED so that people will have a true record of the facts – I do acknowledge that the gentleman who wrote the original BCSE article is more used to dealing with speculative theories rather than scriptural truths and I am sure that whoever penned this latest article will appreciate having his posting factually corrected.

Cecil Andrews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cecil Andrews (born Belfast, 1946) is the founder of Take Heed Ministries, a fundamentalist Christian [in reality it is simply Bible-based and Bible-believing] organisation based in Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland.

Biography

Cecil Andrews was born in Belfast. After a high school education [I’m not quite sure how my old school, MCB (Methodist College Belfast) would take to being referred to as a “high school” in view of the fact that for many years now they have been one of the leading (exam-results performance-wise) GRAMMAR schools in the British Isles. When I left in 1963 I had 3 ‘A’ levels to my credit in French, German and Latin – qualifications that would have enabled me to go on to University had I wished to do so], he worked in business for most of his life before turning to [being clearly led by God into] full-time religious work. He was a Building Society Branch Manager in Portadown when he underwent a religious conversion in 1984. Soon afterwards, he moved to Belfast to manage a Building Society Branch Office in city, resigning in 1989. He has no formal qualifications in theology [apart from being regenerated by and indwelt by my guide and teacher, God the Holy Spirit – I’m ‘in the same boat’ theologically-qualification-wise as for example the Apostles Peter and John] and his ministry is financed entirely through donations from supporters [whose education qualifications both secular and theological cover a very wide spectrum].

Take Heed Ministries

Cecil Andrews founded Take Heed Ministries on 1 September 1990. The organisation takes its name from a text in the Bible, in which [The Lord] Jesus Christ warns his dsicples to “take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4). Prior to the foundation of the ministry, Andrews was involved with the Breda Centre, a ministry in Belfast founded by Jim McCormick focused on responding to religious cults and the occult. After the death of Jim McCormick in 1989, Andrews determined to continue his work. Take Heed Ministries was the outcome. He continued to be involved with the Breda Centre as a “cult consultant” until March 1999. Since then, Andrews has worked solely on Take Heed Ministries.

In July 1993, Andrews responded to an invitation from the Slavic Gospel Association, and spent two weeks lecturing on cults at a summer youth camp in Poland. This partnership produced other invitations. In 1995 he lectured in Slovakia for 11 days on the “New Age Movement” in four separate towns across the country. In January 1998, he gave lectures on cults in Romania to trainee pastors/church planters.

He was a vociferous [I had to be to be heard above the din of all that hysterical ‘holy laughter’] opponent of the “Toronto Blessing“, which he regarded as an “epidemic” [simply because people who claimed to have ‘got it’ believed they could pass ‘it’ on to others ‘by touch’]. He spoke at gathering in Scotland outlining objections to the events surrounding that spiritual movement [I also spoke in many locations in Ireland, both North and South and I recently spoke with a fellowship in the South of England that was formed by people who came out of ‘Toronto Blessing’ churches and the reason I was invited to speak at their fellowship was that they had all been greatly helped through seeing the videos of my talks on ‘Toronto’].

In October 1997, he became the first speaker at a new Bible Conference hosted by Reformed Bible Church in Vermont USA.

Andrews has close connections with the Crich Baptist Church [The author of this WIKIPEDIA entry, like the BCSE entry, seems somewhat fixated with my friendship with Crich Baptist Church so in the article for which I gave a link earlier I actually wrote – ‘It is true that have I spoken on a number of occasions in Crich Baptist Church but this year alone I have also for example spoken in Mersey Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Lisburn Congregational Church, The Olivet Hall, Belfast, New Buildings Independent Methodist Church, Londonderry and Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church’] in Derbyshire.

During that same visit to the U.S., he spoke against Roman Catholicism (which he regards as an anti-Christian cult) at conferences in Los Angeles. The keynote speakers at one event included John MacArthur and Dave Hunt. [This was actually the first ‘Ex-Catholics for Christ’ conference and I felt very privileged, as a ‘never having been a Catholic’, to be asked to contribute to a conference where 90-95% of the large number of speakers were all former Roman Catholics who, in agreement with myself, know from personal experience that Roman Catholicism is a non-Christian cult and like myself, out of genuine love for the eternal well-being of Roman Catholics they wish to present to them the truth of the Biblical Gospel].

He has used the letters page of the Belfast Telegraph to attack those he regards as apostates [I’d be grateful if the author of this WIKIPEDIA entry would cite an instance where I labelled someone as ‘apostate’] in Northern Irish culture [I simply wrote letters to challenge other published religious views and my challenge was always based upon the truth of the Bible]. The newspaper no longer prints his letters. [Again I dealt with this point in my previous article when I wrote –

‘As for me being “blacklisted” by the paper, what appears to have happened is that they seem to have taken a decision to radically change the nature of the letters published in their Saturday night edition [where letters on religious matters normally appeared] and so not only I but also others from a Roman Catholic perspective are no longer given column-inch space’].

Creationism

Andrews believes in the literal truth of the book of Genesis‘s account of creation in six days. As a young earth creationist, he takes the universe to be no more than six thousand years old [I am certainly “a young earth creationist” but I would be very grateful if the author of this WIKIPEDIA entry would cite an example of where I have put forward a personal belief that the universe is “no more than six thousand years old” – if he can’t then he should remove this portion] (rather than the billions of years suggested by modern cosmology). In 2002 he helped organise a tour of Northern Ireland by the American creationist Roger Oakland. Afterwards, Andrews mailed a creationist video of Oakland to all 659 MPs in the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Only four MPs responded in writing.

Theological beliefs

Fundamentalist Christianity [God’s Word is truth” John 17:17]
Five points of Calvinism [I hold to the ‘Doctrines of grace’ as revealed in the Scriptures – there are some understandings of Scripture where I would certainly differ from Calvin]
Anti-Catholicism: he regards the Catholic faith as non-Christian and regards any [Christian] Protestant prepared to associate with Catholics in ministry as apostates [as being in error in the light of God’s truth in the Bible].
Young Earth Creationism: Andrews believes the universe was created in 4004 BC [I would be very grateful if the author of this WIKIPEDIA entry would cite an example of where I have put forward a personal belief that the universe was created in 4004 BC – if he can’t then he should remove this portion] he staunchly opposes evolutionism and Darwinism.
Opposition to Charismatic renewal movements within Christianity
A defender of Penal Substitutionary atonement theory [not ‘theory’, like evolution, but Biblical fact]. He regards this as definitionally Christian. Any [professing] Christian who rejects this theory is, in Andrews’s view, an apostate [I don’t regard such as being ‘apostate’ – I would believe that they have probably never been truly regenerated].
King James Only-ism: the view that the Authorised Version of the Bible (or King James Bible) is the [most faithful translation] only version appropriate for use by Christians in their personal biblical study and by churches in their corporate ministry. [I do not ‘break fellowship’ with those whom I regard as genuine fellow Christiansbut who do not use the AV]
Opposition to homosexuality: [I also believe adultery, fornication, bestiality and any other forms of sexual ‘intimacy’ outside of God’s sanction of ‘intimacy’ as recorded in Hebrews 13: 4 to be sinful in the sight of God] He regards homosexuality in practice as a sin and in orientation as a fundamental temptation to be resisted. He rejects the idea of a “gay Christian” as contradictory [to the truth of the Bible] and rejects as an apostate [I don’t regard such as being ‘apostate’ – I would believe that they have probably never been truly regenerated] any person or church prepared to accept gay and lesbian believers as members.
Subordination of women: he believes the Bible prescribes that women should be subject to the governance of their husbands in domestic affairs and opposes any role for women in the teaching ministry or leadership of the church [as worded by the author of this WIKIPEDIA entry this is simply not true].. In his view, women’s voices should not be heard in public worship [as worded by the author of this WIKIPEDIA entry this is simply not true].
Teetotalism: Andrews believes Christians [in the light of God’s Word] should abstain from alcohol.
Cult watching: he monitors and preaches about cults and sects of every kind within society (e.g., Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostalism, Charismatic Christianity, [whilst I am non-Pentecostal/Charismatic I recognise that there are many true believers found within these groups] Postmodernism, etc.)
The theology [writings/teaching ministry] of John F. MacArthur is a major inspiration to Andrews’s work.
Rejecting fellowship with apostasy: he refuses to associate in prayer, fellowship or ministry with anyone he regards as a non-Christian or an apostate.

Theologial vigilance

Cecil Andrews’s ministry involves keeping files on [monitoring] new developments within Christianity, particularly as it relates to evangelicalism in Northern Ireland. He publishes these files on his website. He applies an extremely fundamentalist definition of Christianity in order to determine whether a particular person is in fact a [faithful, professing] Christian. Thus he has attacked C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham and Tony Campolo as “apostates” and “non-Christians” [I would be very grateful if the author of this WIKIPEDIA entry would cite an example of where I have ever used these expressions of “apostates” and “non-Christians” in relation to all the names he has cited – if he can’t then he should remove this portion] . He opposes the Billy Graham organisation’s mission tours because Graham has associated with Catholics in the furtherance of his evangelistic work. Similarly, he has rejected as apostate all four main churches in Ireland: The Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the (Anglican) Church of Ireland [I do not regard the Roman Catholic church as ‘apostate’- I regard it as a non-Christian cult. As for the other churches/denominations – I treat each individual ‘congregation/church’ on its own merits with the result that I have spoken and do speak in certain congregations/churches within those denominations]. He has also attacked [challenged] Belfast Bible College as an institution which has, in practice, abandoned its declared evangelical creed [Doctrinal Basis] . Andrews’s “vigilance” is regarded by some leading Christian commentators [I’d be grateful to learn who these supposed ‘leading Christian commentaors’ are and in what circumstances they supposedly pinned the following ‘labels’ on me] in Ireland as theological “paranoia” and dangerously obsessive.

External links

When it comes to analysing this entry concerning myself I hope you will agree that in the light of the amount of RED correction/challenge inserted by myself then this particular WIKIPEDIA entry falls into the category referred to in the Daily Mail article as ‘the website that makes up facts’

Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 16 April 2007

APPENDIX – 26 April 2007

Following the brief posting of my original article on this subject to our website I received a polite communication from the [anonymous] author of the WIKIPEDIA posting who advised me that as a result of my response to his posting he had made some alterations to his entry to take into account [to some degree] the points I had made. I am naturally grateful for the factual corrections made and as a result the amended WIKIPEDIA posting now reads –

Cecil Andrews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cecil Andrews (born Belfast, 1946) is the founder of Take Heed Ministries, a fundamentalist Christian organisation based in Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland.

Biography

Cecil Andrews was born in Belfast. He was educated at Methodist College, a grammar school in Belfast, leaving in 1963 (aged 18) with ‘A’ Levels in French, German and Latin. He did not attend university. Instead, he worked in business for most of his life. He was a Building Society Branch Manager in Portadown when he underwent a religious conversion in 1984. Soon afterwards, he moved to Belfast to manage a Building Society Branch Office in city, resigning in 1989 to pursue full-time religious work. He has no formal qualifications in theology, nor has he ever studied theology at any college or university, and his ministry is financed entirely through donations from supporters.

Take Heed Ministries

Cecil Andrews founded Take Heed Ministries on 1 September 1990. The organisation takes its name from a text in the Bible, in which Jesus Christ warns his disciples to “take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4). Prior to the foundation of the ministry, Andrews was involved with the Breda Centre, a ministry in Belfast founded by Jim McCormick focused on responding to religious cults and the occult. After the death of Jim McCormick in 1989, Andrews determined to continue his work. Take Heed Ministries was the outcome. He continued to be involved with the Breda Centre as a “cult consultant” until March 1999. Since then, Andrews has worked solely on Take Heed Ministries.

He was a vociferous opponent of the “Toronto Blessing“, which he regarded as an “epidemic”. He spoke at gatherings in Ireland, Scotland, England and elsewhere outlining objections to the events surrounding that spiritual movement.

In October 1997, he became the first speaker at a new Bible Conference hosted by Reformed Bible Church in Vermont USA. During that same visit to the U.S., he spoke against Roman Catholicism (which he regards as an anti-Christian cult) at the first “Ex-Catholics for Christ” conference in Los Angeles. The keynote speakers at one event included John MacArthur and Dave Hunt.

He has often used the letters page of the Belfast Telegraph to challenge those whose theology he disputes in Northern Irish culture.

Creationism

Andrews believes in the literal truth of the book of Genesis‘s account of creation in six days. He is a young earth creationist who argues that the universe is thousands, rather than billions of years old. In 2002 he helped organise a tour of Northern Ireland by the American creationist Roger Oakland. Afterwards, Andrews mailed a creationist video of Oakland to all 659 MPs in the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Only four MPs responded in writing.

Theological beliefs

Fundamentalist Christianity.
Five points of Calvinism.
Anti-Catholicism: he regards the Catholic faith as a non-Christian cult and regards any Protestant prepared to associate with Catholics in ministry as either apostates or non-Christians.
Young Earth Creationism: Andrews staunchly opposes evolutionism and Darwinism and argues for a literal reading of the book of Genesis.
Opposition to Charismatic renewal movements within Christianity
A defender of Penal Substitutionary atonement theology. He regards this as definitionally Christian. Any “professing Christian” who rejects this account of the atonement is, in Andrews’s view, a non-Christian.
King James Only-ism: the view that the Authorised Version of the Bible (or King James Bible) is the only version appropriate for use by Christians in their personal biblical study and by churches in their corporate ministry.
Opposition to homosexuality: He regards homosexuality in practice as a sin and in orientation as a fundamental temptation to be resisted. He rejects the idea of a “gay Christian” as contradictory to the Bible and argues that gay and lesbian people who profess Christian faith are “probably not” born again.”
Subordination of women: he believes the Bible prescribes that women should be subject to the governance of their husbands in domestic affairs and opposes any role for women in the teaching ministry or leadership of the church.
Teetotalism: Andrews believes Christians should abstain from alcohol.
Cult watching: he monitors and preaches about cults and sects of every kind within society (e.g., Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostalism, Charismatic Christianity, Postmodernism, etc.)
The writings and teaching ministry of John F. MacArthur are a major inspiration to Andrews’s work.
Rejecting fellowship with apostasy: he refuses to associate in prayer, fellowship or ministry with anyone he regards as a non-Christian or an apostate.

Theologial vigilance

Cecil Andrews’s ministry involves monitoring new developments within Christianity, particularly as it relates to evangelicalism in Northern Ireland. He publishes files on his website. He applies an extremely fundamentalist definition of Christianity in order to determine whether a particular person is a true Christian. Thus he has attacked the theology of C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham and Tony Campolo as “unfaithful” to the witness of scripture. He opposes the Billy Graham organisation’s mission tours because Graham has associated with Catholics in the furtherance of his evangelistic work.

He has also challenged Belfast Bible College as an institution which has, in practice, abandoned its declared evangelical Doctrinal Basis.

External links

In the profile under the heading above of ‘Take Heed’ Ministries reference was made to a conference that I spoke at in Los Angeles in 1997 – it was the first ‘Ex Catholics for Christ’ conference. The following link will enable you to view what I said at that conference on the topic of ‘Can we tolerate the error’?

This whole episode has highlighted the real dangers and serious potential for the spread of ‘misinformation’ through the Internet via this WIKIPEDIA website.. In an article entitled ‘WICKED-PEDIA’ in the Daily Mail of Monday 23 April 2007, Petronella Wyatt, who, unlike myself, had been the victim of a particularly nasty and malicious profile posting on the WIKIPEDIA encyclopedia website, wrote –

‘Wikipedia has become a hugely powerful research tool across the world…However anyone can edit entries…recently the site has been dogged by rows over inaccuracies and somewhat bizarre interpretations of history…Education Secretary Alan Johnson may claim that WIKIPEDIA is educational history and “a force for good” but if WIKIPEDIA is “history” then history is indeed bunk.

Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 26 April 2007