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crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Procterandgambleites

[b]HEROES[/b]

Now that we've cleared away the dross of cult apologetics research, we can talk about how to do responsible religious research. This last portion of my talk is divided into three sections: (1) Critical Thinking; (2) Preparation for Research; (3) and How to Do Research.

1. Critical Thinking

Here are some considerations to help you think critically as a researcher. Of course, steering clear of the pitfalls and fallacies we have already surveyed is one important way to think critically.


[b]Objectivity in research[/b]

You may think this principle goes without saying. After all, no researcher plans to be subjective. But you would be surprised how many times subjectivity creeps in without you even being aware of it. Subjectivity keeps us from looking at all sides of an issue and from understanding alternate perspectives. This does not mean that we should believe all sides, or that we don't have a particular, Christian point of view. But it means that we are capable of accurately understanding and representing what we don't agree with and answering it on those terms rather than terms manufactured out of our own subjectivity.

Subjectivity fails to take into account even major differences among world religions and world views. This is especially easy to do when one does not have a solid background of study and education in biblical doctrine. It is easy to confuse Mormonism and Hinduism, thinking that they have the same religious ideas, simply because both believe in more than one god (polytheism), even though the way they explain and understand their respective beliefs about god are very different. In the same way, many people don't realize that Hinayanic Buddhism, while incorporating religious practices and traditions, is actually atheistic. Others lump Satanism and witchcraft together, failing to understand that their beliefs are as divergent from each other as are the views of the Way International cult from those of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Failing to understand someone's beliefs and world view harms our credibility, both among Christians and in the world. It also makes people think you don't care enough to find out what they really believe -- you just want to ridicule them. Subjective understanding or presentation of contrary beliefs sabotages one's apologetic against those beliefs. It is impossible to be persuasive in your refutation of a position if you can't even articulate or properly present that position. We cannot afford to be subjective in our research.

One step toward objectivity is to use primary sources in your research. Don't take someone else's word for what happened, or why a cult has a particular practice, or what someone believes. Check it out with the cult, or the cultic literature, or the cultist.

Another principle of objectivity is to try to understand your research from the perspective of its source. If you were a Mormon, how would you think about this doctrine? If you were a satanist, what would you mean by this phrase?

A third step in objectivity is checking your research with others. Let someone you trust see your research and check your conclusions. Try your ideas on someone with knowledge in the field. Try your new apologetic argument on several cultists before you put it in your new book.


[b]When to believe or reject a story[/b]

Here's a brief checklist that can give you a good general indication of whether or not you should tend to believe a story you hear:

1. Is the story documentable? Does it have names, dates, locations, facts that can be checked? Be especially wary of the story that has what I call "phantom documentation." That is, the story teller may say, "I would give you the documentation, but the satanists said they'd kill me if I tell anyone," or, "There used to be records that I graduated from that seminary, but the New Agers sneaked in and changed the records." Phantom documentation is no more trustworthy or useful for research than is no documentation.

2. Is the source for the story reliable? Is the main figure in the story someone whose credibility, integrity, and honesty are well-known or can be checked? If not, you need to find out why not, and reconsider trusting that story.

3. Does the story fit the biblical world view? Does anything in it contradict the Bible or Christianity? Someone may tell a very convincing story about remembering past lives, but reincarnation contradicts what we know from the Bible to be true. No story that contradicts biblical truth can be trustworthy.

4. Is there reliable, appropriate data supporting the major quantifiable statements in the story? For example, if a story says there were 1500 satanists following one leader in a rural area, but the population and crime data for that area makes such a claim incredible, then it should not be trusted. A story whose claims are completely unsupported by available data is not trustworthy as research.

5. Does the story teller seem to aggrandize his role in the story, artificially inflating his importance, power, or victimization? Although this question is sometimes very difficult to answer, in clear-cut cases such myopic subjectivism lessens the credibility of the story.

These are a few principles that will help you to decide which stories to reject outright, and which ones merit further investigation and perhaps inclusion in your research.

[b]Different tests for different cases[/b]

Critical thinking recognizes that different kinds of situations need different kinds of proof. Empirical information, involving the senses and the material world, need to be tested empirically. Spiritual propositions need to be tested by spiritual values. And philosophical arguments need to be tested by philosophical means.

The story teller who tells you he can heal broken limbs through crystal power needs to provide empirical verification -- x-rays, scientifically repeatable tests, etc. The story teller who tells you he loves God should provide spiritual verification -- he should live morally, attend church regularly, express his love for other Christians, preach the gospel, etc.

Use your critical thinking ability to figure out what kinds of claims your story makes, and which tests are appropriate for such claims.


[b]The Golden Rule Apologetic[/b]

We're all familiar with the Golden Rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you," but unless you know me, you probably haven't heard of the Golden Rule Apologetic. This is my way of saying that whatever you require of another, you should be willing to provide of yourself. For example, if you reject someone's argument about New Testament Greek because he doesn't understand enough Greek to present his argument, but you expect him to believe your argument even though you don't know enough Greek to understand the argument you photocopied from a Greek scholar, then you are not practicing the Golden Rule Apologetic. In addition, if you wouldn't be persuaded by an argument too complicated for you to understand, don't condemn the cultist you argue with if he won't give in because he doesn't understand your argument. Conversely, if a cultist rejects your witness by saying you're judging him and Christians aren't supposed to judge, the Golden Rule Apologetic gives you every right to ask him if he is judging you.

The Golden Rule Apologetic says that your test should be fair enough that you would be willing to be judged by it as well as those you are investigating. If you practice the Golden Rule Apologetic, your research will be fair and objective.

These four principles can help us start to think critically in all of the cult apologetics research we undertake. With proper preparation and procedures, we should produce quality, trustworthy research.

2. Preparation for Research

Some preliminary remarks are in order concerning preparation for research. First, we need to remember that cult apologetics research necessarily requires discernment and judgment. It cannot be avoided. The Bible does not forbid us to judge, it demands that we judge with biblical standards, and that we remember that we are judged by those same standards. If we judge with biblical standards, our research will preserve truth, reject falsehoods, protect integrity, expose duplicity, uphold the innocent, and judge the guilty. Don't discontinue your research because someone accuses you of judging and tells you to "just leave it in God's hands, brother." If you are in cult apologetics, you should be here because God has called you to this ministry and he will use you as his hands in this area.

Second, we need to remember that simply because a person or story does not meet the special demands of cult apologetics research does not mean necessarily that it is untrue or fraudulent. The principle that a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty should govern our heart attitude, even though we rightly reject it from our research pool. My story about the witches on the mountainside, if it were not corroborated by my friends, would not be adequate as research information. But I've never made that story the basis for my knowledge about and evaluation of witchcraft. Standards for stories as illustrations, anecdotes, or examples are much less rigorous than are the standards for stories as research. When a person bases his authority in a particular field (say, for example, satanism) on his personal experience in satanism, then we can and must demand much more verifiability and falsifiability from him than from someone who bases his authority on comprehensive research, and uses his previous experiences in satanism as merely illustrative of his research findings.


[b]Ethics of research[/b]

Some general principles concerning the ethics of research are (1) be honest; (2) don't betray a confidence; (3) don't reveal your suspicions or hopes until they are fully verified; (4) don't steal any other researcher's work or ideas, or usurp his report; (5) don't withhold vital information from someone who needs to know; and (6) don't fabricate research or documentation.

Being honest doesn't mean that you have to tell your whole life story and the five year goals of your ministry every time you ask a research question. But it does mean that you conduct your research with a strong commitment to truth. You should remember the Golden Rule Apologetic and treat the subject of your investigation in exactly the same way you would want to be treated if it were your story.

A Christian researcher must be trusted to keep his word regarding what is told him confidentially. No Christian researcher should find himself in a position where he has to betray a confidence. If you are asked to keep a confidence, weigh the matter carefully before you agree. Make it a personal research practice not to agree to confidences unless you are certain there would not be any occasion when you would feel compelled to break that confidence. You should maintain this trustworthiness with your fellow researchers, too. For example, if you receive confidential information about an ongoing research project another researcher is doing, you have an obligation to keep that confidential. If you don't, you may compromise the rest of his research, needlessly hurt people, spread information that is ultimately unproven, and destroy any trust the researcher may have had for you.

Leaking information from your research before it is completed is a dishonest way of promoting your opinions without having to prove them. Telling stories you haven't verified about a group or individual is gossip, not research. You can misrepresent, slander, libel, and cause serious harm by declaring your conclusions before you do enough research to prove your conclusions true. In addition, even if you are on the right track, your precipitous report gives the target of your research the information it needs to cover its tracks or otherwise countermove.

Stealing research is as wrong (and often illegal) as stealing a watch or money from a bank. There is not enough power, fame, or fortune in the business of cult apologetics for any of us to be able to afford having our research stolen. Often the article, speaking engagement, or book resulting from our research is the only source of reimbursement we get for our hours of research and hundreds of dollars of research expenses. More often, the monetary return on our research is nowhere near enough to cover our research expenses, and the recognition or acknowledgment we get from our work is the only "profit" involved. The researcher who steals research or scoops another researcher's story works against all the rest of us. The principle some try to use, "it's all for the Lord anyway," is a perversion of biblical truth. "He who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope."

There's not really a contradiction between "don't break a confidence" and "don't withhold information from someone who needs to know." You should never, for example, agree to keep a confidence that involves covering up about a criminal act that has been or is likely to be committed. You should never agree to keep a confidence if doing so gives someone the direct opportunity to harm someone physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

There are many ways to fabricate research or documentation. The obvious way is to make up research or documentation without any regard for the facts. Most fabrication in cult apologetics research is less deliberate.

Quoting from a secondary source as though it were a primary source is one form of fabrication. This is how we create "bibliographical ghosts." Let's say I write an article and within my article I quote the Book of Mormon. But I accidentally transpose two words and the quote ends up being inaccurate, but not noticeably so. Now let's say one of you decides to give a talk on Mormonism. You read my article, like the quote I use from the Book of Mormon, and decide to use it in your talk. But you don't actually check the Book of Mormon to make sure the quote is accurate, and when you give your talk you say, "the Book of Mormon says..." instead of "Bob Passantino says the Book of Mormon says..." You have created a bibliographical ghost. Another common form of fabrication occurs when you quote or cite incorrectly from memory. Sometimes your data isn't quite what you wish it were, and you inflate it just a bit so it looks better, or you embellish a quote from someone you interviewed because it would make your case stronger if he actually said what he only implied. Even though it takes a lot of work and patience, be scrupulous about not fabricating. If those who trust you find out your ministry produces fabrications, you will lose their trust and hurt the very people you are trying to help. We can't serve in the name of the God of truth with fabrications.


[b]Personal integrity[/b]

Cult apologetics is by nature a profession where individual integrity is often questioned and challenged. You cannot afford to be slain by the same sword you wield against the cult leaders and occultists.

Nobody is perfect, and most people have a few skeletons in their closets. But you must be honest and above board where your personal integrity is concerned or you will have none. If you don't have advanced degrees, don't let people think you do. If you don't have experience, don't pretend you do.

Maintain scrupulous finances for your organization. Handle all financial matters openly, honestly, and in compliance with the law.

Think about your life before you were a Christian. What are the worst things about your life before you became a Christian that someone could reveal and criticize you for? Now think about your life after you became a Christian. What are the worst things about your Christian life someone could reveal and criticize you for? Now think about your organization. What are its most vulnerable points regarding its professional and organizational integrity?

Carefully weigh the consequences and take the most appropriate steps necessary to ensure your personal, professional, and organizational integrity. You don't have to publish your own edition of True Confession, but you do have to be able to live with what your previous actions or associations may cost you. Maybe an appropriate step to take is to reconcile with someone you wronged years ago. Maybe you need to pay back a loan you received when you first started your ministry. Maybe you need to revise your printed biography so it doesn't give a false impression anymore. Maybe you need to disincorporate your organization and start over with a new Board of Directors. Maybe you need to print a retraction or apology for something you published that wasn't true.

There is a high cost for integrity. But there is also nothing more valuable. Be someone hurting people can trust.

[i]Cont.[/i]


_________________
Mike Balog

 2009/4/25 20:30Profile
crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Procterandgambleites

3. How to do research

In this section I will survey research fundamentals; field research; library research; interviewing; networking; and reporting your research. While the scope of this talk cannot include detail on any of these areas, the following principles and the recommended reading will introduce you to comprehensive research.


[b]Research fundamentals[/b]

Since we've come this far together, I assume that you agree with me that fantasies and legends are no substitutes for good research. Good research takes a lot of time and many people consider it boring, but it is essential to responsible cult apologetics.

Five Ws and One H

When I begin a new research project, I turn first to what are known as the journalists' six friends: "The Five Ws and One H." These provide the framework into which I plug the information I gather during my research. I know that when I have enough information to answer Who?, What?, Why?, Where?, When?, and How?, I will have the results of a well-rounded research project.

Answering the "Who" question identifies the players. Who founded the cult? Who is attracted to the cult? Who are its members? Who is its current leader? Who is critical of it? Who left it? Who knows more about it?

Answering the "What" question identifies the problem. What does the cult believe? What happens to its members? What attracts people to it? What makes people stay? What makes them leave? What do outsiders say about it? What do critics say about it? What kind of world view does it promote? What does the cult teach about God, Jesus Christ, man, sin and salvation, and scripture? What do its leaders say? What do its members say? What are its primary sources for revelation, doctrine, and rules of conduct?

Answering the "Why" question gets behind the actions or events to the causes or motives. Why do members believe the cult teachings? Why does the cult leader think he's the Messiah? Why did all the members move to Tibet? Why do the members believe God is impersonal? Why are certain beliefs ridiculed by this cult? Why is this cult so antagonistic to Christianity? Why do the members have to follow certain dietary restrictions? Why are members told not to talk to outsiders? Why are ex-members shunned?

Answering the "Where" question situates the problem within its geographical and cultural setting. Where is the cult leader from? Where did the cult start? Where do most of its converts come from? Where is its headquarters? Where does its leader travel? Where is its literature distributed? Where can I find more information on it?

Answering the "When" question gives a chronology or history of the problem. When was it founded? When did other historical events happen in relation to its founding and other significant developments? When was its leader born? When did the leader first reveal himself as a spiritual leader? When does the cult see the fulfillment of certain prophecies taking place? When did the first critics respond? When are potential converts pressured to join? When are troublesome members excommunicated?

Answering the "How" question facilitates understanding the dynamics of the group or event and its relative strength. How is the cult financed? How is evangelism conducted? How does the group promote itself and its teachings? How does the power structure within the organization operate? How can I persuade members to talk to me? How can I get copies of primary source documents? How does the leader persuade members to believe him? How many people are involved?

As you can see from this short example, by asking enough Five W and One H questions, and then searching for the answers to those questions, you can develop a good base of research categories from which you can develop your evaluation. These questions can be adapted for other kinds of research, too.


[b]Twenty Questions of Research[/b]

Remember the game "Twenty Questions?" That game is really a critical thinking exercise by which research is evaluated to give a conclusion that reaches its goal. It's a very simplified form of research method. By asking the right questions you can know what it is you need to find out in your research. Asking the right questions saves you from having to master all of the knowledge in the universe in an effort to ensure you have done enough research. The important questions you ask in your research will change somewhat from one project to another, but here are twenty that I find generally helpful in most of the research I do:

1. What is my quantifiable goal for this project?
2. Does this project involve mostly field research, interviewing, library research, statistical sampling, or what other kind of research?
3. Will I be likely to find most of my information in contemporary sources or historical sources?
4. In what geographical area(s) will I be likely to find most of the information I need?
5. Which people do I need to contact who have secondary information?
6. Which people do I need to contact who have primary information?
7. Do I know anyone who has special access to information I need?
8. What other research has already been done on this problem?
9. Which public or government agencies, directories, documents, or data bases might have information I need?
10. Which other cult apologetics ministries might have information I need?
11. Are there photographs, pictures, maps, or drawings that will help me?
12. What ideas does the reference librarian have for getting this kind of information?
13. What general information sources are available (atlases, history books, encyclopedias, almanacs, etc.)?
14. How much time can I devote to this project?
15. When does this project need to be completed?
16. What will this research be used for?
17. How will the target of my research respond to my evaluation?
18. Who will criticize my research, why, and how?
19. What do I think is the most important piece of research to find?
20. What am I going to do with this research?

Don't forget that creative thinking is one of the most important aspects of good research.
Don't think that not working if you're not pounding on a keyboard or conducting an interview on the phone. Sitting and thinking through your research project, organizing your thoughts and goals, and creating a workable action plan is essential for good research.

[b]Errors corrected by research[/b]

Good research can check your critical thinking and ensure a reliable evaluation of your problem. The following summary of errors corrected by research is prepared from Arnold Binder and Gilbert Geis' Methods of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice:

1. Errors of observation. Humans not only fail to see important features in a given scene but often invent false observations. Good research can reconcile conflicts in observation and confirm accurate observation.
2. Selective observation. Different people viewing the same event or phenomenon will notice different things according to their interests and biases. Good research identifies those interests and biases and reconciles those with the recorded observations and the actual concrete evidences of the event.
3. Errors of interpretation. Our personal biases, fears, and inclinations determine how we will interpret what we observe. Good research will investigate the situation from all perspectives, enabling us to sort the misperceptions and affirm the accurate perceptions.
4. Incorrect generalization. This error results largely from a failure to distinguish between what actually is the case and the general principles we infer from the case. Good research ensures that no generalizations are accepted without abundant justification.
5. Dependence on authority. Many people's beliefs are based on the statements of people they consider to be authorities. Those statements may or may not be valid. Good research sorts opinion from fact and points us toward the evidence rather than the theories.
6. Inappropriate use of evidence. Data may be based on accurate observation and seem like good evidence for a certain conclusion. But that data might not be the right data or give us the answers we need for the situation we face. Good research distinguishes between adequate and inadequate data and tells us when we have the right data and when we need different data.

[b]Developing a research pool[/b]

Those of you who have unlimited budgets, plenty of extra time, and are wondering how to keep your staffs busy don't have to listen to this part. You can afford to start each research project from scratch. The rest of us need to develop research pools into which we can put research as we find it, even if it doesn't pertain to our current project; and from which we can then retrieve it when we need it.

A research pool includes your research files, your ministry phone directory, your list of colleagues and their specialties, your ministry library, your collections of cassette tapes and videos, your periodicals collection, your computer data base, etc. It's everything you can get your hands on that contributes to your researching ability.

The more organized and detailed your research pool is, the more accessible its information base is, and the more helpful it will be to you. This is one part of research where you are very vulnerable. The best book in the world is no good to you if you can't remember where you put it. The greatest photocopy won't do you any good if it's misfiled and you can't find it. The world's leading authority is no help if you lost his phone number and address.

The basic principle behind a workable, useful research pool is organization. Keep what will be useful. Throw out what isn't. Carefully label what you keep, put it in the right place, and keep your index up to date and handy. In a remarkably short time you will be amazed at how much research you can do in your own office.


[b]Summary[/b]

The fundamentals of research, built on top of your critical thinking bedrock, constitute the foundation of your research apparatus. You can add to good fundamentals, good field research, library research, interviewing, and networking and be able to meet almost any research challenge.

[b]Field research[/b]

Field research is varied and complex, so I will only comment briefly on some of its most common aspects. Field research means any research you can't do within your own office or library. It includes going to a physical site, telephoning someone for information, checking public records, etc.

Often cult apologetics researchers forget about field research because the library research is so easily accessible and usually also so overwhelming. But field research can add invaluable information to your research, and in some instances it is the only source of information you have.

If you go to a physical site for research, plan ahead. Know what you are looking for. Write down the questions you hope the on-site investigation will answer. Under each question, list the kinds of things you should look for that will provide the information you need to answer the question. Be sure you bring your notes, blank paper and pen, and, if appropriate, a tape recorder (with batteries and blank tapes) and camera (with film). Once you are at the site, survey the area in a general way before you concentrate on the particular things you came to investigate. Make notes of things you will need to remember later, or things to follow up on at a later time. Write down everything of significance. Record or photograph as necessary. When you are ready to leave the site, review your investigation. Look over your notes. Correct any errors you notice immediately, before you forget. Check to be sure you haven't overlooked anything before you leave. While the scene is still fresh in your mind, write down leads you would like to follow at a later time. Make a list of the information you were able to obtain, a list of what you couldn't find, and a list of what you still need to locate or check.

Telephone field research overlaps interviewing, so I will just mention it here. Before you jump into your car and rush over to the local cult headquarters for some information, think about whether you could accomplish what you need to better by phone. In fact, sometimes people are more apt to give you the information you ask for on the phone than they are if you show up in person. Maybe they assume phone calls are harmless. Here are some good contacts by telephone: reference librarians, personnel offices, authorities in the field, public officials, statistical offices like the Centers for Disease Control or the U. S. Weather Service, 800 information lines, etc.

Public records are a big part of the field research domain. There are public records on births, deaths, marriages, adoptions, wills, passport applications, educational enrollment and graduation, employment history, name changes, home addresses and phone numbers, articles of incorporation, boards of director, non-profit organization tax information reports, civil and criminal complaints, real estate transactions, address changes, etc. If you are diligent at using public records, you can find a wealth of information before you even contact the person or organization you are investigating.


[b]How to discover a credible chronology[/b]

Let's say you wanted to research the founder of a new cult. You know that the cult was founded in 1987 in Kansas City, and the founder mentioned in a speech that he was four years old in 1940. You want to learn everything you can about the founder. So far all you have is that he was born in 1936 and has lived in Kansas City at least since 1987. That accounts for three of his fifty- three years. Start with his recent history and work your way back. Listen to his speeches. Read his books. Maybe in one speech he mentions he came to Kansas City right after he returned from his pilgrimage from San Francisco to Tibet, and in another speech he says he spent two years in Tibet, beginning in 1983. Now you know that he was born in 1936, he was in Tibet from 1983 through 1985, and he has been in Kansas City since 1986. You check with the county recorder in San Francisco and find out he applied for his passport in 1982 and listed his address as San Francisco. Now you know that he lived in San Francisco at least in 1982. And you know he hadn't been out of the country legally before 1982. Check with the reference librarian at the San Francisco Central Library and see if his phone number is listed in the phone book for 1982. It is. Have the librarian check further back. His number is also listed in 1981, 1980, and 1979. It's not listed in 1978. You now know he lived in San Francisco from at least 1978 through 1982, in Tibet from 1982-1985, and in Kansas City from 1986 through the present. By using your public document access and critical thinking, you can build a chronology for the vast majority of people you need to research. Sometimes there's no substitute for field research.

[b]Libraries[/b]

Each of you probably has your own cult apologetics library, whether it consists of less than one hundred books or of close to 10,000 books. And it's probably divided into at least two categories: primary sources and secondary sources. But there are other libraries that can be invaluable sources of research information.

Start with your local college or university library. Visit the library and ask the reference librarian to give you a tour of the reference section. You won't believe the hundreds of different kinds of reference books available in the reference section of the average university library. There are books listing every accredited doctorate degree granted in the United States; all the religious denominations, sects, and cults with their reported memberships; every major United States corporation, its officers and boards; all of the major periodicals, with separate books for each type (sociology, religious, engineering, etc.); dictionaries tracing the historical developments of a particular language, etc. After you feel comfortable with the reference section, tackle the main part of the library.

Find out what special libraries there are in your area. If you have legitimate research needs, most special libraries will let you use them, although they may restrict you from checking books out. Many major corporations have specialized libraries dealing with their field of commerce. Hospitals have medical libraries. Courts have law libraries. Museums have historical libraries.

Find out if any of the libraries you are interested in have computer modem accessible catalogs. If you have a computer with a modem, you can access these libraries from your own computer and save a lot of time looking for the resources you need. We access the University of California library system by modem. We do our catalog search (for books and periodicals) by modem, print out the titles we want, and then run over to the university to pick them up. We know exactly what we want and where to get it.


[b]Interviewing[/b]

As more and more cultic and occultic phenomena proliferate, cult apologists are going to spend more time interviewing. Sometimes interviewing is the only way to get information about a new cult which has produced no literature yet and about which nothing of significance has been written. Interviewing is also important for understanding exactly what someone means by what he says. In fact, often we misunderstand and even misrepresent someone's beliefs or arguments because his written words are ambiguous and we didn't interview him to allow him to explain what he meant. Interviewing could be one paper topic in itself, but a few considerations should be mentioned here.

The purpose of an interview is to get information from someone else. The information may or may not be reliable, but someone else has it and you need it. A good interviewer sets his subject at ease, moves from general questions to specific requests, doesn't respond emotionally to his subject's answers, reveals as little of his own information as possible, doesn't ask leading questions that can obscure his subject's intended answers, learns to distinguish between his subject's opinions and the facts he knows, recognizes information he wasn't expecting and follows up on it, and leaves his subject willing to talk more at a later time.

It is well worth the time to study a few good resources on interviewing, and then to practice interviewing until you begin to understand how to implement these different techniques. I especially recommend Robert F. Royal and Steven R. Schutt's The Gentle Art of Interviewing and Investigation, Jacob Fisher's Faces of Deceit, and Horgan's Criminal Investigation.


[b]Networking[/b]

I have seen a serious and growing lack in cult apologetics over the last few years. We have all become so busy and there are so many more of us now that we don't communicate with each other as we ought. Conferences like this are essential for us to maintain good working relationships with each other. We can all help each other. We can share information, resources, ideas, and research. This is not supposed to be a competitive field. We have a unity of purpose, a unity of the Spirit, and a unity of faith that should bind us in close association, with helping those hurt by the cults and the occult as our mutual goal.

If we remember to work with integrity, respect each other's projects, communicate clearly and frequently, and share what the Lord has given us, we will multiply our research efforts almost exponentially.


[b]Reporting[/b]

Once we have finished our research project, we need to report on it. The form of our reports will vary considerably. We might write an article, publish a newsletter, give a television interview, prepare a new speech, or contribute to someone else's project. But all good research reports contain some key common elements.

First, good reports are complete. Partial facts can distort the picture. Incomplete information can prevent us from drawing valid conclusions from our research. Be sure your report contains the negative as well as the positive. Sometimes what you don't find is as important as what you do. Consider what your report does not cover. What work would need to be done to answer some questions your report doesn't answer? Be sure your report has complete documentation and footnotes.

Second, good reports are concise. Don't take three sentences to say what can be said in one sentence. Long, repetitive, boring reports lose your reader's interest and encourage him to draw faulty conclusions because he has forgotten what you said in the beginning. Eliminate unnecessary words, technical phrases, and parentheticals. Say what you need to say and then stop.

Third, good reports are clear. Short, clear sentences written with unambiguous vocabulary communicate effectively and accurately. Never leave your reader in doubt about what you mean. Avoid generalities when being specific is more clear and accurate.

Fourth, good reports are accurate. Accuracy is essential to your trustworthiness as a researcher. Restrict your report to facts or what you can prove. Don't mix speculation or guesses in with what you know for sure. Errors or omissions in reports raise doubts about the accuracy, reliability, and ability of the reporter.

These are essential characteristics of any good report. When you couple sound, comprehensive research with good reporting, you are able to communicate effectively and accurately.

There are three other considerations to keep in mind. First, don't let exclusivism prevent those who need to know from receiving the results of your research. It is reasonable for you to want the right to report on your research before anyone else does. But if one stall after another happens and you don't report in a timely fashion, have the grace to let someone else make your report (with due credit to you for the research, of course). Did you know that at least 400 documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls have never been publicly translated and published, more than forty years after their discovery? The scholars with proprietary rights to them have not yet found the time.

Second, it is a good idea to submit your research and reports to your peers for evaluation, suggestions, and criticism. This cooperative effort ensures quality, tested research and reporting. Better to have your colleague find out your argument is flawed than to wait till it's published and the cultist finds the flaw!

Third, be mature enough to recognize when you don't have adequate research from which to make an adequate report. Sometimes it's impossible to come up with a sufficient amount of the right kind of research, and we have to realize that we can't make a definitive statement on the subject as we had hoped. Don't publish an inadequate report. It doesn't meet the need, and it can mislead people.


[b]CONCLUSION[/b]

In this far-reaching survey we have seen the good and the bad of religious research theory, techniques, and application. We've learned how to tell the fantasies and the legends from the truth, and we have established some basic guidelines for responsible religious research.
I leave you with the challenge to follow in the footsteps of the early Christian research reporter, Luke:


Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account,...that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

([i]End.[/i])


_________________
Mike Balog

 2009/4/26 11:29Profile
broclint
Member



Joined: 2006/8/1
Posts: 370
West Monroe, LA

 Re: Procterandgambleites

Brother Mike,

Perhaps this thread could be made into one of those sticky threads kept nearby for reference. I confess my own tendency to "jump to conclusions" is far more prevelant than it ought to be... far too ready to "believe" according to preconceptions, even far too ready to "doubt" many times by the same token. Far too quick to jump before seeing what is on the bottom. But may God place in my heart such a love for truth, and such a love for Him who is truth, such the spirit of the Bereans, that I may be guarded from errors of the kind that have far too often clouded my vision... and unfortunately clouded some posts of late. May God forgive me, and all those who visit these forums.

Clint


_________________
Clint Thornton

 2009/5/1 9:23Profile
crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re: Procterandgambleites

Hi brother,

Have this line about '[i]being fed from your own kitchen[/i]' stuck in the mind - It related to Spurgeon hearing one of his own sermons preached one time ...

Quote:
I confess my own tendency to "jump to conclusions" is far more prevelant than it ought to be... far too ready to "believe" according to preconceptions, even far too ready to "doubt" many times by the same token. Far too quick to jump before seeing what is on the bottom.



Without a doubt - The seemingly inconsequential over against the more outrageous, perhaps not so much. That is to say, the gullibility factor and the outlandish that so much of this warns against, but the little conjuring's of the mind in day to day matters.

This whole running post is a large data dump - It's not all one grand agreement in so many nuances. It's not setup as a large apologetic or 'watch dog' though it contains those elements. Just another attempt to cause some thought, I guess yes, [i]critical[/i] thinking - We being such tricksters of our own fallen minds.

Pretty much had run through those things that I had found originally but certain words have again brought up more food for thought - Fear. Facts. Integrity, even the very cementing phrase you just used - [i]love for truth[/i] - How often do we settle for those things that are not true, that fall short of 'true truth' and lapse into heeding so much soothsaying, speculative reasonings, 'prophecies' that with the insert of even a couple of months just fade into the abyss, as if they were never worth considering but cause all kinds of excitement and [i]fear[/i] while they are in motion?

Would love to see and hear others thoughts towards it all, additions, subtractions, what have you.


_________________
Mike Balog

 2009/5/1 9:52Profile









 Re:

Hope this is a good addition, from J. C. Ryle -

[i]"We live in an age when men profess to dislike dogmas and creeds, and are filled with a morbid dislike to controversial theology.

He who dares to say of one doctrine that 'it is true,' and of another that 'it is false,' must expect to be called narrow-minded and uncharitable, and to lose the praise of men ... The danger is real, great, and unmistakable.

Never was it so needful to say, Be not carried about (with divers and strange doctrines)"[/i]

- Warning #5 to the Church


[b]All Kinds of Strange Teachings[/b] by J. C. Ryle

"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them" (Hebrews 13:9)

The text which heads this paper is an apostolic caution against false doctrine. It forms part of a warning which Paul addressed to Hebrew Christians. It is a caution just as much needed now as it was eighteen hundred years ago. Never, I think, was it so important for Christian ministers to cry aloud continually, "Do not be carried away."

That old enemy of mankind, the devil, has no more subtle instrument for ruining souls than that of spreading false doctrine. "A murderer and a liar from the beginning. . . .your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Outside the Church he is ever persuading men to maintain outrageous customs and destructive superstitions. Human sacrifice to idols, gross revolting, cruel, disgusting worship of abominable false deities, persecution, slavery, cannibalism, child murder, devastating religious wars--all these are a part of Satan's handiwork, and the fruit of his suggestions. Like a pirate, his object is to "sink, burn, and destroy." Inside the Church he is ever laboring to sow heresies, to propagate errors, to foster departures from the faith. If he cannot prevent the waters flowing from the Fountain of Life, he tries hard to poison them. If he cannot destroy the remedy of the Gospel, he strives to adulterate and corrupt it. No wonder that he is called "Apollyon, the destroyer."

The Divine Comforter of the Church, the Holy Spirit, has always employed one great agent to oppose Satan's plans. That agent is the Word of God. The Word expounded and unfolded, the Word explained and opened up, the Word made clear to the head and applied to the heart. The Word is the chosen weapon by which the devil must be confronted and confounded. The Word was the sword which the Lord Jesus wielded in the temptation. To every assault of the Tempter, He replied, "It is written." The Word is the sword which His ministers must use in the present day, if they would successfully resist the devil. The Bible, faithfully and freely expounded, is the safeguard of Christ's Church.

I desire to remember this lesson, and to invite attention to the text which stands at the head of this paper. We live in an age when men profess to dislike dogmas and creeds, and are filled with a morbid dislike to controversial theology. He who dares to say of one doctrine that "it is true," and of another that "it is false," must expect to be called narrow-minded and uncharitable, and to lose the praise of men. Nevertheless, the Scripture was not written in vain. Let us examine the mighty lessons contained in Paul's words to the Hebrews. They are lessons for us as well as for them.


1. First comes the broad warning. "Do not be not carried away by all kinds of strange teachings."

The meaning of these words is not a hard thing to understand. "Be not tossed back and forth," the Apostle seems to say, "by every blast of false teaching, like ships without compass or rudder. False doctrines will arise as long as the world lasts, in many numbers, with varying minor details, in one point alone always the same--strange, new, foreign, and departing from the Gospel of Christ. They do exist now. They will always be found within the visible Church. Remember this, and do not be carried away." Such is Paul's warning.

The Apostle's warning does not stand alone. Even in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount there fell from the loving lips of our Savior a solemn caution: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Matthew 7:15). Even in Paul's last address to the Ephesian elders, he finds time to warn his friends against false doctrine: "Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them"
(Acts 20:30).

Note what the Second Epistle to the Corinthians says: "I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ"
(2 Corinthians 11:3). Note what the Epistle to the Galatians says: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." "Who has bewitched you?" "After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" "How is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?" "You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!" "I fear for you." "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
(Galatians 1:6; 3:1, 3; 4:9, 10, 11; 5:1).

Note what the Epistle to the Ephesians says: "No longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching" (Ephesians 4:14). Note what the Epistle to the Colossians says: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Colossians 2:8). Note what the First Epistle to Timothy says: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith" (1 Timothy 4:1). Note what the Second Epistle of Peter says: "There will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1). Note what the First Epistle of John says: "Do not believe every spirit. Many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). Note what the Epistle of Jude says: "Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men have secretly slipped in among you" (Jude 1:3, 4). These things were written for our learning.

What shall we say about these texts? How they may strike others I cannot say. I only know how they strike me. To tell us, as some do, in the face of these texts, that the early Churches were a model of perfection and purity, is absurd even in Apostolic days, its appears, there were abundant errors both in doctrine and practice. To tell us, as others do, that pastors ought never to handle controversial subjects, and never to warn their people against erroneous views, is senseless and unreasonable. If we did this then we would have to ignore most of the New Testament. Surely the dumb dog and the sleeping shepherd are the best allies of the wolf, the thief, and the robber. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 4:6).

A plain warning against false doctrine is especially needed in the present day. The school of the Pharisees, and the school of the Sadducees, those ancient mothers of all mischief, were never more active than they are now.

--Between men adding to the truth on one side, and men taking away from it on the other.

--Between those who bury truth under additions, and those who mutilate it by subtractions.

--Between superstition and infidelity.

--Between Roman Catholicism and neology [New Theology].

--Between Ritualism and Rationalism.

Between these upper and lower millstones the Gospel is near being crushed to death! Strange views are continually propounded by pastors about subjects of the deepest importance. About the atonement, the divinity of Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, the reality of miracles, the eternity of future punishment, about the Church, the ministerial office, the Lord's Supper, Baptism, the confessional, the honor due to the Virgin, prayers for the dead. About all these things there is nothing too outrageous to be taught by some ministers in these latter days. By the pen and by the tongue, by the press and by the pulpit, the country is incessantly deluged with a flood of erroneous opinions. To ignore the fact is mere blindness. Others see it, even if we pretend to be ignorant of it. The danger is real, great, and unmistakable. Never was it so needful to say, "Do not be carried away."

Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous. There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error: their "earnestness" makes many think they must be right. There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge: many fancy that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides. There is a general tendency to free thought and free inquiry in these latter days: many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties. There is a wide-spread desire to appear charitable and liberal-minded: many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong. There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers: they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense. There is a morbid craving in the public mind for a more sensuous, ceremonial, sensational, showy worship: men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work. There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly, lovingly, and earnestly, and a determination to forget that Satan often masquerades himself "as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians
11:14). There is a wide-spread "gullibility" among professing Christians: every heretic who tells his story plausibly is sure to be believed, and everybody who doubts him is called a persecutor and a narrow-minded man. All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing person to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, "Do not be carried away!"

If any one should ask me, What is the best safeguard against false doctrine?--I answer in one word, "The Bible: the Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied." We must go back to the old prescription of our Master: "Diligently study the Scriptures" (John
5:39). If we want a weapon to wield against the plans of Satan, there is nothing like "the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God." But to wield it successfully, we must read it habitually, diligently, intelligently, and prayerfully. This is a point on which, I fear, many fail. In an age of hurry and activity, few read their Bibles as much as they should. More books perhaps are read than ever, but less of the one Book which makes man wise to salvation. The Roman Catholic Church and new theology could never have made such havoc in the Church in the last fifty years, if there had not been a most superficial knowledge of the Scriptures throughout the land. A Bible-reading congregation is the strength of a Church.

"Diligently study the Scriptures." Mark how the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles continually refer to the Old Testament, as a document just as authoritative as the New. Mark how they quote texts from the Old Testament, as the voice of God, as if every word was given by inspiration. Mark how the greatest miracles in the Old Testament are all referred to in the New, as unquestioned and unquestionable facts. Mark how all the leading events in the Pentateuch are incessantly named as historical events, whose reality admits of no dispute. Mark how the atonement, and substitution, and sacrifice, run through the whole Bible from first to last, as essential doctrines of revelation. Mark how the resurrection of Christ, the greatest of all miracles, is proved by such an overwhelming mass of evidence, that he who disbelieves it may as well say he will believe no evidence at all. Mark all these things, and you will find it very hard to be a Rationalist! Great are the difficulties of unbelief: it requires more faith to be an unbeliever than a Christian. But greater still are the difficulties of Rationalism. Free handling of Scripture--results of modern criticism--broad and liberal theology--all these are fine, swelling, high-sounding phrases, which please some minds, and look very grand at a distance. But the man who looks below the surface of things will soon find that there is no sure standing-ground between ultra-Rationalism and Atheism.

"Diligently study the Scriptures." Mark what a conspicuous absence there is in the New Testament of what may be called the Sacramental system, and the whole circle of Ritualistic theology. Mark how extremely little there is said about the effects of Baptism. Mark how very seldom the Lord's Supper is mentioned in the Epistles. Find, if you can, a single text in which New Testament ministers are called sacrificing priests, or the Lord's Supper is called a sacrifice, or private confession to ministers is recommended and practiced. Turn, if you can, to one single verse in which sacrificial vestments are named as desirable, or in which lighted candles, and pots of flowers on the Lord's Table, or processions, and incense, and flags, and banners, and turning to the east, and bowing down to the bread and wine, or prayer to the Virgin Mary and the angels, are sanctioned. Mark these things well, and you will find it very hard to be a Ritualist! You may find your authority for Ritualism in garbled quotations from the Fathers, in long extracts from monkish, mystical, or from Popes; but you certainly will not find it in the Bible. Between the plain Bible, honestly and fairly interpreted, and extreme Ritualism there is gulf which cannot be passed.

"If we would not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings," we must remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Diligently study the Scriptures." Ignorance of the Bible is the root of all error. Knowledge of the Bible is the best antidote against modern heresies.

Now "strengthening of the heart" is one of the great wants of many professing Christians. Especially is it longed after by those whose knowledge is imperfect, and whose conscience is half enlightened. Such persons often feel in themselves much indwelling sin, and at the same time see very indistinctly God's remedy and Christ's fullness. Their faith is feeble, their hope dim, and their consolations small. They want to realize more tangible comfort. They fancy they ought to feel more and see more. They are not at ease. They cannot attain to joy and peace in believing. Where shall they turn? What shall set their consciences at rest? Then comes the enemy of souls, and suggests some shortcut road to establishment. He hints at the value of some addition to the simple plan of the Gospel, some man-made gimmick, some exaggeration of a truth, some flesh-satisfying invention, some improvement on the old path, and whispers, "Only use this, and you shall be strengthened." Plausible offers flow in at the same time from every quarter, like quack medicines. Each has its own patrons and advocates. On every side the poor unstable soul hears invitations to move in some particular direction, and then shall come perfect strength.

"Come to us," says the Roman Catholic. "Join the Catholic Church, the Church on the Rock, the one, true, holy Church; the Church that cannot err. Come to her bosom, and rest your soul in her protection. Come to us, and you will find strength."

"Come to us," says the extreme Ritualist. "You need higher and fuller views of the priesthood and the Sacraments, of the Real Presence in the Lord's Supper, of the soothing influence of daily service, daily masses, confession to priests, and priestly absolution. Come and take up sound Church views, and you will find strength."

"Come to us," says the violent Liberationist. "Cast off the traditions and rules of established Churches. Enjoy religious liberty. Throw away forms and Prayer-books. Join our party. Cast in your lot with us, and you will soon be strengthened."

"Come to us," say the Plymouth Brethren. "Shake off all the bondage of creeds and Churches and systems. We will soon show you higher, deeper, more exalting, more enlightened views of truth. Join the brethren, and you will soon be strengthened."

"Come to us," says the Rationalist. "Lay aside the old worn-out clothes of unfruitful schemes of Christianity. Give your reason free scope and play. Begin a freer mode of handling Scripture. Be no more a slave to an ancient old world book. Break your chains and you shall be strengthened."

Every experienced Christian knows well that such appeals are constantly made to unsettled minds in the present day? Who has not seen that, when boldly and confidently made, they produce a painful effect on some people? Who has not observed that they often beguile unstable souls, and lead them into misery for years?

"What does the Scripture say?" This is the only sure guide. Hear what Paul says. Heart strength is not to be obtained by joining this party or that. It comes "by grace, and not by foods." Other things have a "show of wisdom" perhaps, and give a temporary satisfaction "to the flesh."
(Colossians 2:23). But they have no healing power about them in reality, and leave the unhappy man who trusts them nothing bettered, but rather worse.

A clearer knowledge of the Divine scheme of grace, its eternal purposes, its application to man by Christ's redeeming work, a firmer grasp of the doctrine of grace, of God's free love in Christ, of Christ's full and complete satisfaction for sin, of justification by simple faith, a more intimate acquaintance with Christ the Giver and Fountain of grace, His offices, His sympathy, His power, a more thorough experience of the inward work of grace in the heart, this, this, this is the grand secret of heart strength. This is the old path of peace. This is the true panacea for restless consciences. It may seem at first too simple, too easy, too cheap, too commonplace, too plain. But all the wisdom of man will never show the heavy-laden a better road to heart-rest. Secret pride and self-righteousness, I fear, are too often the reason why this good old road is not used.

I believe there never was a time when it was more needful to uphold the old Apostolic prescription than it is in the present day. Never were there so many weak and worried Christians wandering about, and tossed to and fro, from want of knowledge. Never was it so important for faithful ministers to set the trumpet to their mouths and proclaim everywhere, "Grace, grace, grace, not foods, establishes the heart."

From the days of the Apostles there have never been a lack of quack spiritual doctors, who have professed to heal the wounds of conscience with man-made remedies. In our own beloved Church there have always been some who have in heart turned back to Egypt, and, not content with the simplicity of our worship, have hankered after the ceremonial fleshpots of the Catholic Church of Rome. To hear the Sacraments incessantly exalted, and preaching played down, to see the Lord's Supper turned into an idol under the pretext of making it more honorable, to find plain worship overlaid with so many newfangled ornaments and ceremonies that its essentials are quite buried, how common is all this! These things were once a pestilence that walked in darkness. They are now a destruction that wastes in noonday. They are the joy of our enemies, the sorrow of the Church's best children, the damage of English Christianity, the plague of our times. And to what may they all be traced? The neglect and the forgetfulness of Paul's simple prescription: "Grace, and not foods, strengthens the heart."

Let us take heed that in our own personal religion, grace is all. Let us have clear systematic views of the Gospel of the grace of God. Nothing else will do good in the hour of sickness, in the day of trial, on the bed of death, and in the swellings of Jordan. Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, Christ's free grace the only foundation under the soles of our feet--this alone will give peace. Once let in self, and forms, and man's inventions, as a necessary part of our religion, and we are on a quicksand. We may be amused, excited, or kept quiet for a time, like children with toys, by a religion of "foods." Such a religion has "a show of wisdom." But unless our religion be one in which "grace" is all, we shall never feel strengthened.

In the last place, I proceed to examine the instructive fact which Paul records. He says, "Ceremonial foods are of no value to those who eat them."

We have no means of knowing whether the Apostle, in using this language, referred to any particular Churches or individuals. Of course it is possible that he had in view the Judaizing Christians of Antioch and Galatia, or the Ephesians of whom he speaks to Timothy in his pastoral Epistle, or the Colossians who caused him so much inward conflict, or the Hebrew believers in every Church, without exception. It seems to me far more probable, however, that he had no particular Church or Churches in view. I rather think that he makes a broad, general, sweeping statement about all who in any place had exalted ceremonial at the expense of the doctrines of "grace." And he makes a wide declaration about them all. They have got no good from their favorite notions. They have not been more inwardly happy, more outwardly holy, or more generally useful. Their religion has been most unprofitable to them. Man-made alterations of God's precious medicine for sinners, man-made additions to Christ's glorious Gospel, however superficially defended and plausibly supported, do no real good to those that adopt them. They confer no increased inward comfort; they bring no growth of real holiness: they give no enlarged usefulness to the Church and the world. Calmly, quietly, and mildly, but firmly, decidedly, and unflinchingly, the assertion is made, "Ceremonial foods are of no value to those who eat them."

The very history of our own times bears a striking testimony to the truth of Paul's assertion. In the last twenty-five years some scores of clergymen have seceded from the Church of England, and joined the Church of Rome. They wanted more of what they called Catholic doctrine and Catholic ceremonial. They honestly acted up to their principles, and went over to Rome. They were not all weak, and illiterate, and second- rate, and inferior men; several of them were men of commanding talents, whose gifts would have won for them a high position in any profession. Yet what have they gained by the step they have taken? What profit have they found in leaving "grace" for "ceremonies," in exchanging Protestantism for Catholicism? Have they attained a higher standard of holiness? Have they procured for themselves a greater degree of usefulness? Let one of themselves supply an answer. Mr. Ffoulkes, a leading man in the party, within the last few years has openly declared that the preaching of some of his fellow "Perverts" is not so powerful as it was when they were English Churchmen, and that the highest degree of holy living he has ever seen is not within the pale of Rome, but in the quiet parsonages and unpretending family-life of godly English clergymen! Intentionally or not intentionally, wittingly or unwittingly, meaning it or not meaning it, nothing can be more striking than the testimony Mr. Ffoulkes bears to the truth of the Apostle's assertion: "Ceremonial foods do not profit" even those who make much ado about them. The religious system which exalts ceremonial and man-made ritual does no real good to its adherents, compared to the simple old Gospel of the grace of God.

Let us turn now, for a few moments, to the other side of the picture, and see what "grace" has done. Let us hear how profitable the doctrines of the Gospel have proved to those who have clung firmly to them, and have not tried to mend and improve and patch them up by adding, as essentials, the "foods" of man-made ceremonies.

It was "grace, and not foods," that made Martin Luther do the work that he did in the world. The key to all his success was his constant declaration of justification by faith, without the deeds of the law. This was the truth which enabled him to break the chains of Rome, and let light into Europe.

It was "grace, and not ceremonial foods," that made our English martyrs, Latimer and Hooper, exercise so mighty an influence in life, and shine so brightly in death. They saw clearly, and taught plainly, the true priesthood of Christ, and salvation only by grace. They honored God's grace, and God put honor on them.

It was "grace, and not ceremonial foods," that made Romaine and Venn, and their companions, turn the world upside down in England, one hundred years ago. In themselves they were not men of extraordinary learning or intellectual power. But they revived and brought out again the real pure doctrines of grace.

It was "grace, and not ceremonial foods," that made Simeon and Daniel Wilson and Bickersteth such striking instruments of usefulness in the first half of the present century. God's free grace was the great truth on which they relied, and continually brought forward. For so doing God put honor on them. They made much of God's grace, and the God of grace made much of them.

The list of ministerial biographies tells a striking tale. Who are those who have shaken the world, and left their mark on their generation, and aroused consciences, and converted sinners, and edified saints? Not those who have made asceticism, and ceremonials, and sacraments, and services, and ordinances the main thing; but those who have made most of God's free grace! In a day of strife, and controversy, and doubt, and perplexity, men forget this. Facts are stubborn things. Let us look calmly at them, and be not moved by those who tell us that daily services, processions, incense, bowings, crossings, confessions, absolutions, and the like, are the secret of a prosperous Christianity. Let us look at plain facts. Facts in old history, and facts in modern days, facts in every part of England, support the assertion of Paul. The religion of "ceremonial foods" does "not profit those that are occupied therein." It is the religion of grace that brings inward peace, outward holiness, and general usefulness.

Let me wind up this paper with a few words of practical application. We are living in an age of peculiar religious danger. I am quite sure that the advice I am going to offer deserves serious attention.


(1) In the first place, let us not be surprised at the rise and progress of false doctrine. It is a thing as old as the old Apostles. It began before they died. They predicted that there would be plenty of it before the end of the world. It is wisely ordered of God for the testing of our grace, and to prove who has real faith. If there were no such thing as false doctrine or heresy upon earth, I should begin to think the Bible was not true.

(2) In the next place, let us make up our minds to resist false doctrine, and not to be carried away by fashion and bad example. Let us not flinch, because all around us, high and low, rich and poor, are swept away, like geese in a flood, before a torrent of Catholicism. Let us be firm and stand our ground.

Let us resist false doctrine, and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Let us not be ashamed of showing our colors and standing out for New Testament truth. Let us not be stopped by the cuckoo cry of "controversy." The thief likes dogs that do not bark, and watchmen that give no alarm. The devil is a thief and a robber. If we hold our peace, and do not resist false doctrine, we please him and displease God.

(3) In the next place, let us try to preserve the old Protestant principles of the Church, and to hand them down uninjured to our children's children. Let us not listen to those faint-hearted Churchmen who would have us forsake the ship, and desert the Church in her time of need.

(4) In the last place, let us make sure work of our own personal salvation. Let us seek to know and feel that we ourselves are "saved." The day of controversy is always a day of spiritual peril. Men are apt to confound orthodoxy with conversion, and to fancy that they must go to heaven if they know how to answer Catholic Priests. Yet mere earnestness without knowledge, and mere head-knowledge of Protestantism, alike save none. Let us never forget this.

 2009/5/1 11:50
broclint
Member



Joined: 2006/8/1
Posts: 370
West Monroe, LA

 Re:

Quote:
By the pen and by the tongue, by the press and by the pulpit, the country is incessantly deluged with a flood of erroneous opinions. To ignore the fact is mere blindness. Others see it, even if we pretend to be ignorant of it. The danger is real, great, and unmistakable. Never was it so needful to say, "Do not be carried away."

There is a general tendency to free thought and free inquiry in these latter days: many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties. There is a wide-spread desire to appear charitable and liberal-minded: many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong. There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers: they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense. There is a morbid craving in the public mind for a more sensuous, ceremonial, sensational, showy worship: men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.



We learn from the study of church history that every age had its issues to deal with that made "true truth" just as much of a challenge to discern as today. Paul's challenge to each individual is not a "do what is right in your own eyes" but the reminder that each of us will give account of himself to God in that verse in Philippians 2:12.


_________________
Clint Thornton

 2009/5/2 8:46Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Procterandgambleites

An outstanding addition to all this ...

J.C. Ryle (1816 - 1900) and now, 100 some odd years later, what a stark contrast by comparison.

Quote:
Between these upper and lower millstones the Gospel is near being crushed to death! Strange views are continually propounded by pastors about subjects of the deepest importance. About the atonement, the divinity of Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, the reality of miracles, the eternity of future punishment, about the Church, the ministerial office, the Lord's Supper, Baptism, the confessional, the honor due to the Virgin, prayers for the dead. [b]About all these things there is nothing too outrageous to be taught by some ministers in these latter days. By the pen and by the tongue, by the press and by the pulpit, the country is incessantly deluged with a flood of erroneous opinions.[/b] To ignore the fact is mere blindness. Others see it, even if we pretend to be ignorant of it. The danger is real, great, and unmistakable. Never was it so needful to say, "Do not be carried away."



And it is as old as the scriptures themselves as he well pointed out - But [i]how much more[/i] presently?

An abiding concern, very much to the whole of this treatise that is being attempted;

Quote:
I believe there never was a time when it was more needful to uphold the old Apostolic prescription than it is in the present day. Never were there so many [u]weak and worried[/u] Christians wandering about, and tossed to and fro, from want of knowledge. Never was it so important for faithful ministers to set the trumpet to their mouths and proclaim everywhere, "Grace, grace, grace, not foods, establishes the heart."



Fear and worry - Two things that we are instructed [i]not[/i] to have anything to do with and yet it is fed to and fed on ... the analogy to 'foods' is not a stretch of the scripture.

Psa 78:19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.


I may be deriving something from this, but the sense of contentment, trust and lack of it's extremities, it's opposites, are hard to cast aside - The old adage - [i]Cool heads prevail[/i]. Are we, will we be those that can be trusted while the world and even our own 'kind' are promoting a million absurdities, prophecies, new fangled 'coming attractions' or dissecting the news as imminent ends and 'doings' of the Lord?

"If" - "When" something truly, factually confronts, will we be those with enough fortitude of character and integrity of spirit to be trusted, relied on, appealed to? Calm, cool and collected? Able to convey the bewilderment to those who are outside the camp those qualities of [i]Whom[/i] we have believed - Even if they believe not they would still have to admit that we are a very, peculiar people to have our wits about us.

But is this what is promoted and taught anymore -These core matters of spiritual strength and trustworthy character? Are we [i]credible[/i]?

I digress.


_________________
Mike Balog

 2009/5/2 10:29Profile
broclint
Member



Joined: 2006/8/1
Posts: 370
West Monroe, LA

 Re: Procterandgambleites

Important digression that Paul repeated often enough as in Philippians 4:8...

Clint


_________________
Clint Thornton

 2009/5/2 10:38Profile
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Joined: 2003/11/23
Posts: 4779


 Re:

Great message(s), Mike! Thanks for sharing!


_________________
Christopher

 2009/5/2 12:01Profile









 Re:

Mike wrote:

[i]""If" - "When" something truly, factually confronts, will we be those with enough fortitude of character and integrity of spirit to be trusted, relied on, appealed to? Calm, cool and collected? Able to convey the bewilderment to those who are outside the camp those qualities of Whom we have believed - Even if they believe not they would still have to admit that we are a very, peculiar people to have our wits about us.

But is this what is promoted and taught anymore -These core matters of spiritual strength and trustworthy character? Are we credible?"[/i]

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear

2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

 2009/5/2 12:20





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