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conveyed in Biblical terminology,

however, its deception cannot


endure for it presents a wholly
inadequate god who is
seen to be but a poor replacement
for the only God. In Liberation
Theology, "God" and "Jesus
Christ" are simply symbols for
the People. God is merely a
concept and Christ an ''event" in
the present struggle of the People
against the repressive structures
of Christian-rooted Western
Capitalism ordained and
sustained by the Creator-God .
(decadence apart). God is an
incomplete, suffering hoping
being who is caught up with man
in the process of history; and,
subject to history, this god moves
towards an unordained future.
God is completely identified with
the People. He is God the
worker, Christ the labourer, the
revolutionary, or the freedom
fighter. The PeoJ?le become God;
they become therr own liberators
executing the divine plan of
salvation. The voice of the People
is the voice of God. Remember
the Formula of Chalcedon!
There are the blood brother gods
of liberation Theology too. They
are Chaos, Ungodly Revolution,
and Anarchy, and.they are all the
forerunners of the god of
Humanistic Totalitarianism which
actually invokes chaos,
revolution and anarchy in the vain
process towards a Utopia of
absolute equality in everything ..
Then mankind will live beyond
good and evil, right and wrong,
law and order, family life,
property, and religion.
Working towards that Utopia,
too, is the god of the New Age
Movement with its sign of
Aquarius, the water-carrier,
which promises true cleansing .
and puri.fjcation of such
proportions as shall wash away
the scourge of Orthodox
Christianity .. The message of the
New Age is clear: all is one, all is
God, we are God. This
movement, which is presently
being popularized in the
advertising campaigns of big
business, declares that Lucifer,
commonly taken to be Satan, is
. the true Son of God, and all who
refuse to be initiated by him into
the New Age are threatened with
extermination.
. CONCLUSION
Now let all these other gods be
silent The Almighty Creator-
Redeemer God has spoken.
"Thou shalt have no other gods
before me." For the LORD is
great, and greatly to be praised:
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are
idols: but the LORD made the
heavens." (Psalm 96:4-5).
"Look unto me, and be ye saved,
ALL THE ENDS OF THE
EARTH; FOR I AM GOD, AND
THERE IS NONE ELSE." (!sa.
45:22).
A BOOK REVIEW
BY
BYROI': S:\APP
FORBIDDEN ALLIANCES,
George Gillespie, Presbyterian
Heritage Publications, P. 0. Box
180922, Dallas, Texas 75218,
$2.50
God has made man to be a social
being. Prior to Eve's creation
God said, "It is not good for the
man to be alone." (Gen. 2:18b).
God made Eve. Even if God has
given one the gift of singleness
there still remains the need for
fellowship and friendship. Herein
we are reminded of the
fellowship of the Triune God
within the Trinity itself.
Amqpg the many decisions that
one ti)tist make following
regeneration and conversion is,
"With whom will I be a friend?"
After all, we are not taken out of
the world. At the same time we
Page 12 June 1990 The Counsel of Chalcedon
are to guard ourselves from evil
influences in the world as well as
from Satan himself (John 17:15).
Presbyterian Heritage
Publications has done the
Christian community a great
service in reprinting this short
work on Forbidden Alliances. It
is taken from the 1846 edition of
The Works of Mr. Georee
Gi11esPie and was originally
published in 1649.Do not think
this material is dated or written in
language that is of a bygone day.
Indeed; the need for material on
this subject is perhaps greater
today than when it was first
written. Also, the work has been
well edited and is written in a
style and print that will attract
today's reader.
The author begins on this
premise: The Christian is allied
to Christ, frrst and foremost. This
alliance must govern all out other
alliances. Within the framework
of Scripture, Mr. Gillespie shows
the Chrisitan how his chief
'Friend' has laid out principles
and warnings that are to guide us
regarding whom we should
many, join in close business
partnerships and ventures, or join
in denominational affiliation. He
looks honestly at Scripture and
provides a wealth of Scripture
verses that allows the reader to
study and apply to his own life.
Mr. Gillespie wrote this book
against the background of a
historical period (the English
Civil War) when Christians were
extremely about this
very issue. The author is familiar
with the arguments that
opponents raised. He deals with
the arguments clearly, concisely,
and above all,
Scripturally .Naturally, the author
does not believe the Christian is
to move into a monastery and
separate himself from the world.
Where he believes the line to be
drawn I will let you discover as
you read the book.
Con't, page 21
Certainly. I wish I had done
better in getting father-and-two-
sons time together, for example,
though while in Greeley our
family did camp in th e Rockies
and as a private pilot I took the
children on. some noteworthy
trips. In the Purdue University
related student ministry during
those sixteen years in West
Lafayette, over forty students
(two at a time) lived with our
family. On a number of these
occasions we struggled to get
"just us' time, and we
occasionally failed. It was a daily
battle, but, not to wony, there
was victory down the road. Daily
family worship, training our
children to critique the culture,
keeping them committed into the
hands of the loving God of all
grace, experiencing forgiveness
of sins, loving each other and
telling them so ... these are the
ingredients of conquest. God's
Covenant with Abraham is truly a
spiritual foundation on which to
build for the long-range future.
(Reverend Raymond P. Joseph is
pastor of Southfield Reformed
Presbyterian Church in
Southfield, Michigan.)
FORBIDDEN, con't from p. 12
The fact that forbidden alliances
are too seldom discussed today,
and, all too often I believe, much
neglected, increases the need for
a wide distribution and prayerful
study of this booklet. In so
dojng, perhaps God would be
pleased to bring revival to our
land as we take seriously the fact
that the unsaved are enemies of
God and of Christians and are
hell-bound. Perhaps the reader's
evangelistic passion and practice
will be increased. Let us pray that
God might be pleased in His time
to make our nation again a
Christian nation. Then this
discussion of forbidden alliances
can be broadened to national
relationships with other nations.
Yet, first, it must begin with you
and me as Christians. This
booklet will show us that
improper friendships are as
foolish as trying to plow with an
ox and a mule. Befriending this
book and studying it in light of
Scripture will defmitely help the
pastor and layman alike in
knowing which friendships to
cultivate and which to root out.
TRUE AND FALSE WORSHIP;
Jolm Knox . Presbyterian
Heritage Publications, P. 0. Box
180822, Dallas, TX 75218,
$2.50.
Proper worship should be a
continuing concern for God's
people. Its importance is noted in
the second commandment, the
third commandment and the
fourth commandment. Of course,
reference could also be made to
the first commandment as well.It
cannot go without notice that
great problems are evidenced in
Scripture as a result of false
worship. Think of Cain, N adab
and Abiram, the golden calf made
by Aaron, as well as problems in
the Corinthian church and several
churches that are addressed in
Revelation Two and 1bree.
Proper worship honors God. We
have Abel's example, Abraham's ..
testimony as he entered Canaan
the first time, the book of
Psalms, numerous teachings by
Christ as well as other passages
throughout Scripture.
(p.l) In this booklet, Knox is
primarily concerned with
examining the Mass from a
Biblical perspective but Knox in
his life also spoke out against
false aspects of Anglican
worship,
Knoxs' work is elaborated under
two basic points.
1. "All worshipping, honoring,
or service invented by the brain
of man in the religion of God,
without His own express
commandment, is idolatry." (p.
2)
2. "All honoring or service of
God, whereunto is added a
wicked opinion, is abonirnation.".
(p. 17)
In explaining his reasoning,
Knox draws on a wealth of
Scripture passages from
throughout the Bible. With
Knox's incorporation of so much
Scripture, we must realize that
these verses apply to all ... types
of false worship, not just to the
Mass.Knox's desire is that God's
Word is sufficient to regulate our
worship services. This should be
our desire as well.
The usefullness of this booklet is
found in its introductory essay,
footnotes, marginal Scripture
references providing chapter and
verse for passages quoted in the
text, as well as updated language
that makes the entire text more
readable to today's reader. Also,
Knox ably answers objections
raised,by those who supported
the mass.
Reading this book helps the
reader in several ways. First, the
reader is reminded that problems
in the worship of God have
existed throughout history., We
are not facing problems in this
Thus, this re-publication of John area for the first time. Secondly,
Knox's writings on worship God's inspired word is sufficient
should not go unnoticed. Kevin to direct us in proper worship as
Reed has written a helpful well as how to answer the
introductory essay in which he improper. Knox provides the
explains a basic fact that "the "how to" in this booklet.
struggle between true and false Finally, we must always examine
worship was the central conflict our own worship practices in
of the Scottish Reformation." Con't on page 24
The Counsel of Chalcedon June 1990 Page 21
would give them $75,000 in 20
years. In 30 years they would
have over $346,000. Karl Marx
could not have dreamed of a
better "opiate of the people"
(proletariat-worker) than the
current gambling/lottery craze.
Legalized gambling is a scourge
upon society for many reasons.
It exploits the ignorant who do
not understand the odds against
them. Gambling robs a man of
creative thought and dulls
initiative both now and in the
future. His gambling
undermines family budgeting. It
is a seductress toward something-
for-nothing. It is also a handy
tool for politicians to fund the
socialistic policy scams of big
government. It assaults and
undermines Godly labor and the
cultural mandate given by God
at creation (Genesis 1:26-30).
The politicians' lottery/education
schemes will rape what little
wealth is left from poor
families. Educators, of all
people should oppose such folly!
What does lottery proponents
"gambling/lotteries" teach your
junior and senior high school
students about chance games and
productive work? What will our
Nation reap via this policy?
Will we see millions more of idle
vagrants ("hornless") spending
their pittance on lottery tickets?
Pro-gambling/lottery politicians
are not long-term friends to your
State and our Country. They are
short-term political opportunists
who should know better. They
pretend to care for our children.
But their plans undermine work
and teach instead to sucker the
poor and ignorant to pay for
your schemes. Hopefully,
Christian leaders who care will
not continue to let them get away
such hypocrisy.
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Cont. from Page. 24
light of the Scripture presented.
We can be assured that Satan and
our own weak flesh will battle
proper worship. Knox reminds
us that God's word is sufficient
ammunition to battle false
worship. True worship honors .
God and advances the Gospel.
Plan to read and circulate this
booklet. Do more. Pray that this
booklet will be used to further a
desire for and a practice of proper.
worship.
Page 24 June 1990 The Counsel of Chalcedon

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