Trading
Truth for Solidarity
From Pentecost
to Pluralism
By Berit Kjos
“On Pluralism Sunday
[Pentecost, May 27, 2007] progressive Christian churches around the US will
explore and experience other
religious traditions.... We grow closer to God, grow deeper in compassion, and
understand our own tradition better by honoring and exploring the world’s religions.”
(1)
“It’s not just tolerance, it’s
to go beyond tolerance, to principle pluralism. The fundamentalists
have a pessimistic view of future, and they have this perception... that there’s
an unbridgeable divide between 
the
believer and the unbeliever.... We
don’t believe that.” (2) - Richard
Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals.
“This is the New Spirituality’s
false gospel of Oneness: ‘We
are all one. Ours is not a better way, ours is merely another way.” (3) Tamara
Hartzell, In the Name of Purpose - Sacrificing Truth on the Altar of Unity
Global
Solidarity
It’s no secret that the
today’s world system is driven by a vision of global solidarity and spiritual
pluralism. We don’t know God’s precise schedule, but He warned us long ago to
prepare for a time of “falling away,” when people with “itching ears” would
trade truth for myth and reject the “sound doctrine” needed to guard against
deception. (4) Do those signs describe our times?
Exposing the dark forces
behind this spiritual revolution, Tamara Hartzell quotes occultist Alice Bailey,
whose main source of “insight” was her spirit guide, Djwhal
Khul:
“The day is dawning when
all religions will be regarded
as emanating from one great spiritual
source; all will be seen as unitedly providing the one root out of which
the universal world religion will
inevitably emerge. Then there will be neither Christian nor heathen, neither
Jew nor Gentile, but simply one great body of believers, gathered out of all the
current religions. They will accept the
same truths, not as theological concepts but as essential to spiritual
living…. Such a world religion is no idle dream but something which is
definitely forming today.” (5)
That prediction was dictated
by Bailey’s demonic mentor in 1947, before the telltale signs of social
transformation were noticeable. But the next three decades brought radical
changes. Humanistic psychology, multicultural education, the dialectic process,
and countless other transformational schemes had been sown and began to bear
fruit through institutions and ‘educational laboratories’ across America.
Together with data tracking technology, they evolved into increasingly
sophisticated programs for manipulating minds, changing values, and undermining
Biblical truth.
Seminaries along with
universities embraced the new way of thinking, and soon the revolution swept
through churches as well. Postmodernism rejected the truth and values that had
shaped America -- and pluralism is replacing them. The unthinkable is becoming
the norm!
Hostility toward unbending
Biblical Christianity is rising fast, exposing today’s double-minded guides who
bend the truth to please people and broaden their influence. Ponder these
statements by three trusted models of Christian leadership. Are they teaching
God’s Truth -- or promoting a more popular postmodern distortion?
Billy Graham made this statement during a 1997
interview with Robert Schuller: “I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows
Christ, whether they’re conscious of it
or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ. ...He’s calling people out
of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the
Buddhist world, or the Christian world or the non-believing world, they are members
of the Body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of
Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something that they
don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think that they are saved, and that
they’re going to be with us in heaven.” (6)
But God said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). Faith must be grounded in
Truth -- the reality of the crucified and risen Jesus. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)
‘America’s pastor’ Rick
Warren gives a similar twist to the uncompromising Scriptures. Dismissing the Biblical ‘foundation’ for
our relationship with Jesus, he cheered his UN audience and CNN 
listeners
with these false assurances: “You may be Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist
or Baptist or Muslim or Mormon or Jewish or Jain, or you have no religion
at all. I’m not interested in your religious background. Because God did not
create the universe for us to have religion. He came for us to have a relationship
with him.” (7) “I have known many
people who believe in the Messiah of Jesus, regardless of what religion they
are, because they believe in him. It’s about a relationship, not a
religion.” (8)
President George W.
Bush fits right in. He, too, has made countless head-scratching comments
that turn God’s Truth into pluralist proclamations. Do you wonder, as I do, if
he really believes what he says? Or is he just trying to please his Christian
constituents without offending others? “In an exclusive interview with ABC News’
Charles Gibson, Bush said he believes that both Christians and Muslims worship
the same God. ‘I think we do. We have different routes of getting to the
Almighty,’ Bush said.” (9) “The same Creator who names the stars also knows the
names of the seven souls we mourn today,” Bush added. “The crew of the shuttle
Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.” (10) “Americans of many faiths and traditions share a common belief that God
[which God?] hears the prayers of His children and shows grace to those
who seek Him. ... There is a power in
these prayers [to diverse gods].... I ask the citizens of our
Nation to give thanks, each according
to his or her own faith, for the freedoms and blessings we have received
and for God’s continued guidance, comfort, and protection.”
(11)
Has he forgotten that Jesus
said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through Me” (John
14:6)?
Diana Eck, founder of the Pluralism Project at
Harvard, is not a ‘trusted model’ of Christianity. Yet, in her promotion
of Pluralism Sunday, she echoes the above sentiments: “I have found my own faith
not threatened, but broadened and deepened by the study of Hindu, Buddhist,
Muslim, and Sikh traditions of faith. And I have found that only as a Christian pluralist could I be
faithful to the mystery and the presence of the one I call God.... We believe that
God is no way constricted or
limited by the traditions, doctrines, dogma, or texts of any one
religious tradition.... Through it all, we are connected to the same infinite
Source and we are all unified by the same all-inclusive Spirit. For us,
Pentecost Sunday will be Pluralism Sunday.” (12)
Those misleading statements
remind me of a sobering Old Testament
warning that we would be wise to heed: “...you cried out to Me, and I delivered you
from their hand. Yet you have forsaken Me and 
served
other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods
which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
(Judges 10:12-14)
Reinventing Pentecost
This interfaith feast is
sponsored by Center for Progressive Christianity (CPC). It doesn’t claim to be
Biblical, but it does present itself as a more accommodating version of
Christianity. And it gives us another sobering glimpse of the direction the
world is headed. Remember, what seems absurd today may seem “normal”
tomorrow. What has been ‘right’ to Christians may soon be reviled -- even
in churches:
“On Pluralism Sunday
progressive Christian churches around the US will explore and experience other religious
traditions.... Participating
congregations will benefit by being included in national and regional
publicity.... creating a special ‘evangelism’ opportunity to reach out to
people who seek open-minded, open-hearted
churches....
“We don’t claim that our
religion is superior to all others.... Pluralism Sunday spreads good news: there
is a way to be Christian without making this prideful claim, which has
been the cause of so much inter-religious division and
misunderstanding.
“Acts chapter 2 in the Bible recounts the powerful legend of
Pentecost. When Jesus’ disciples gathered in Jerusalem, the ‘curse of Babel’ was
reversed, and suddenly people who spoke different languages could understand
each other.” (1)
God had good reasons for
disrupting the Babel building project. He saw the arrogance of ambitious
visionaries who sought to control the world through human unity and ingenuity.
Now, with UN treaties and global technology, mankind is establishing a far more
sophisticated monument to human strength and solidarity. And God, who is “slow
to anger,” will not be patient with us forever.
The actual Pentecost was no
“legend.” An historical event, its wonders were documented by eyewitnesses and
ancient historians. On that momentous day, God sent His Holy Spirit to equip His
true Church with the life, strength, wisdom and love needed to serve Him
anywhere in the world. But ‘only’ those who believed in Jesus Christ
received His Spirit -- the miraculous gift that would transform poor, uneducated
fishermen into faithful preachers with the courage to face torture and death in
the name of Jesus.
“When the Day of Pentecost
had fully come, they [disciples and other believers] were all with one accord in
one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared
to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance....
“Then they [the multitudes]
were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these
who speak ‘Galileans? ‘And how is it that we hear, each in our own ‘language in which we were
born? Parthians and Medes... visitors from Rome, both Jews and
proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the
wonderful works of God.’” (Acts
2:1-13)
Peter, the humbled disciple
who had thrice denied Jesus, stood up to explain. Knowing the joy of divine
forgiveness, he shared the good news of Christ’s victory through His death,
burial, and resurrection. The people were amazed. “What shall we do?” they
asked. “Repent,” answered Peter, “and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.... Then those who gladly received his word were baptized;
and that day about three thousand souls
were added to them.” (Acts
2:38-41)
The ‘Enemy’ to Man’s Global
Vision
“...no one religion rightly
can claim superiority over all others,” says Rev. Jim Burklo, the Presbyterian
coordinator of Pluralism Sunday. “More and more people have been exposed to the insight and wisdom in
spiritual traditions other than their own. Many folks see the damage that
religious chauvinism is doing in the world today, and have turned away from
Christianity.” (13)
Do those words sound
familiar? It might, if you have read our article on Al Gore’s “panreligious
perspective.” Compare Rev. Burklo’s views with Mr. Gore’s statement in Earth in the Balance. Notice his
attitude toward those who refuse to compromise their faith: “The richness and diversity of our religious
tradition throughout history is a spiritual resource long ignored by
people of faith, who are often afraid to open their minds to teachings
first offered outside their own
system of belief. But the emergence of a civilization in which
knowledge moves freely and almost instantaneously throughout the world has...
spurred a renewed investigation of the wisdom distilled by all faiths....”
(14)
Postmodern pluralism sounds
tempting to the world. Few mention the devastating consequences: spiritual
blindness, moral corruption, cultural decay, bondage to lust and cravings, an
epidemic of depression and hopelessness, and a growing hatred for
uncompromising Christians.
While the Bible warned us it would happen, it also
offers wonderful hope:
“...in the last days perilous
times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such
people turn away! ...all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have
learned...” (2 Timothy
3:1-14)
“If you continue in my word, then are you My
disciples indeed;
and you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
Endnotes:
1. Center for Progressive Christianity at
www.tcpc.org/news/item.cfm?news_id=79
2. Richard Cizik, representing the
National Association of Evangelicals during a panel discussion at Clinton Global
Initiative: Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict.
3. Tamara Hartzell, In the Name of
Purpose - Sacrificing Truth on the Altar of Unity, Chapter 18. Available online at
http://www.inthenameofpurpose.org/
4. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4; 2 Timothy 4:3; Matthew 24:25, 42-44; 25:13; Luke 21:34; 1 Corinthians
16:13.
5. Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul,
Problems of Humanity, Chapter V
- The Problem of the Churches, III. The Essential Truths, 1947.
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/spi/bailey/ab_the_new_world_religion.htm. Also
quoted in The World Goodwill Newsletter, 1993,
No.4.
http://www.reachouttrust.org/articles/newage/lucis_pf.htm
6. Billy Graham interviewed by Robert
Schuller in 1997. Transcription posted on Pastor John MacArthur’s website: Billy
Graham Believes Catholic Doctrine of Salvation Without Bible, Gospel, or Name of Christ at
http://www.biblebb.com/files/tonyqa/tc00-105.htm
7. United Nations, Interfaith Prayer
Breakfast, September 2005, transcribed from the audio of Rick Warren’s message
available at Lighthouse Trails Research Project, “The New Missiology—Keep Your
Own Religion, Just Add Jesus” at
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newmissiology.htm; below Rick Warren’s
quote -- “Listen to entire transcript.” Cited by Tamara
Hartzell.
8. Interview with Rick Warren, CNN Larry
King Live, Aired December 2, 2005, Transcript,
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/02/lkl.01.html. Cited by Tamara
Hartzell.
9. Bush on Religion and God at
http://www.biblebb.com/files/tonyqa/tc00-105.htm
10. Comforting Words As a Matter of Faith
at
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A16539-2003Feb2¬Found=true
11. National Day of Prayer, 2007: A
Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
http://www.ndptf.org/press_room/Index.cfm?Entity=4&Department=4&Dept_Order=1&This_TopicOrder=8&This_SubtopicOrder=1#3
12. Diana Eck, Pluralism Sunday at
http://suncath.org/sunburst/index.htm#bookmark03 (accessed 5-16-07) and
http://allison.zaadz.com/blog/2007/4/celebrate_pluralism_sunday_on_may_27.
13. Interfaith Center at the Presidio at
www.interfaith-presidio.org/icpnewsevents.cfm (Scroll down to
“Progressive Christians Celebrate Pluralism Sunday”)
14. Al Gore, Earth in the Balance; Ecology
and the Human Spirit (Houghton Mifflin, 1992), pages 258-259.
Berit Kjos is a respected
researcher, the author of many books and magazine articles, and a concerned
parent (and grandparent) who has extensively studied religious trends, today’s
social changes, the roots and branches of the United Nations, the rising
worldwide management system, and – most alarming of all -- the transformation of
the Church.
Kjos has given workshops and
seminars at conferences such as the Association for Christian Schools
International and CHEA. She has spoken at conferences for such groups as The
Steeling of the Mind, The Constitutional Coalition, Child Evangelism Fellowship
and Concerned Women for America.
Kjos’ book, Brave New Schools, surveys the scene in today’s public
schools and provides guidelines for parents who are concerned about their
children’s education. Kjos shows how myth, feeling, imagination, and politically
correct stories are replacing truth, facts, logic, and history in the classroom.
She is also the author of A Twist of Faith, Your Child and the New Age, Under the Spell of Mother Earth, and A Wardrobe from the King.
I highly recommend readers
visit her website at www.crossroad.to/.
