Worldviews
The Newsletter of the Apologetics Resource Center
February - March 2006

Da Vinci Code: Are You Ready?
Most Christians are either asleep about its effects or quite concerned about the impact of the best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and the upcoming (May 19th) Columbia Pictures movie release, directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks.
But other Christians are actually excited about all this controversy. Noted Christian apologist Josh McDowell is urging Christians to go to the movie and to read the novel, but only in the context of becoming informed to constructively respond to the inevitable deception stimulated by the book and movie.

Another Christian, Dr. Jim Garlow, co-author with Dr. Peter Jones of a new book, Cracking Da Vinci’s Code, agrees with McDowell that “the release of The Da Vinci Code movie gives the Church a spectacular opportunity that is incredibly rare.” He elaborates that it has been a long time since so may normally disinterested people are suddenly asking questions (or making accusations) about the issues that Da Vinci Code is raising.

Mark Gauthier, a national director for Campus Crusade for Christ echoes this perspective noting that many people will be going to the movie, have already read the book, and as a result, “This is what people are thinking about. There’s a real desire of people to grapple with serious spiritual issues, not to point fingers.”

Because they see this as a great opportunity to engage, Garlow and Jones are offering to the Church and public The Da Vinci Code Deception DVD with a Leader’s Guide and a four week Da Vinci Code Bible Study (www.grizzlyadams.com) both an adult version and a student version.

Josh McDowell is printing 100,000 copies of The Da Vinci Code – A Quest for Answers and Campus Crusade is printing 500,000 copies of a mini-magazine version as well as a web-based study guide to the film.

The Da Vinci Code has been on the NY Times Bestseller list for 153 weeks. As of March 13 it was still #3. Random House is about to release 5 million copies of the paperback version. To emphasize the cultural impact this book is having and how we must “be prepared to give an answer/defense,” be aware that The Da Vinci Code has sold 4 million copies in the 3 years it’s been out!

What’s the Problem?
For those who have not tuned in to the controversies, the following is a summary of the issues. The Da Vinci Code author, Dan Brown, is a talented writer whose intriguing, clever story has postulated ideas that undermine the essence of Christianity.

Brown positions his book as “historical fiction.” The characters are fictional but the book claims that the “documents, secret rituals, organizations, artwork, architecture depicted all really exist and are accurate.” In national media interviews, Brown claims that when he began his “research” of secret legends refueled by earlier books such as The Holy Blood, and the Holy Grail, he began as a “skeptic.” He thought he would disprove the revisionist stories about the real and suppressed beginning and developments of Christianity, but instead he “became a believer” in those legends.

The controversy surrounds the “fictional-factual” storyline. The following is a brief summary of the storyline: The plot concerns the attempts of Dr. Robert Langdon, a professor of “Religious Symbology” at Harvard who is called upon by a French police detective to come help at a murder scene of a curator at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The victim is found naked with a pentacle design on his stomach made by himself with his own blood, some enigmatic design on the floor, and himself re-creating the position of Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of the Vitruvian Man.

Known only by the readers, the curator was killed by an Opus Dei (a controversial Catholic group) monk who demanded that the curator tell him the location of the “Holy Grail” the curator passed on the false information to the monde and left the cryptic message before he died.

The clues lead Langdon and a female cryptologist on a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci. They are being chased by French lawmen and matching wits with those in Opus Dei, a clandestine group governed by the Vatican, who are trying to suppress the discovery of the secrets of the Holy Blood, Holy Grail and Bible Code, at any costs.

The “secrets” of the Grail are as follows: The Grail is Mary Magdalene, a royal Jewish descendant and wife of Jesus. At Jesus’ crucifixion, she was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter who became the Merovingian dynasty of France—a royal bloodline. This bloodline documentation and Mary’s remains were discovered by the crusades when they retook Jerusalem in 1099. A sub-group of Opus Dei, the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar were organized to keep the secret.

Also the secret message in the story is that Jesus was not considered divine until the Emperor Constantine orchestrated the Trinity at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, to quash the elevator of the “cult of the Great Mother” – Mary Magdalene. Brown also connects the Gnostic Dead Sea Scrolls to the storyline indicating that the current books of the Bible were orchestrated and we do not have the correct Canon.

ARC’s Position
We at ARC recognize the value of both positions in the Christian community (those excited about the book and movie and those worried). On the other hand, many Christians, if not most, are not mature in their faith or are actually nominal Christians – not truly converted. The book and movie will be a significant temptation for doubt or even departure from the faith.

Josh McDowell notes that the reason he was motivated to write his responsive book was because parents told him their children had read the novel and as a result, walked away from their faith. With the credibility and bias generated by the liberal mainstream media, the effect of this deception is sure to be magnified. The book and movie will grow even more in popularity.

Therefore, parents, pastors, Sunday School teachers, Christian leaders need to be careful to warn their disciples of the deception – especially those immature in their faith.
But on the other hand, we agree that this is an especially timely opportunity to both engage a public whose attention is turned to the issue of the Bible’s trustworthiness, canonicity, the person and work of Jesus, and to engage the Christian community to deepen their understanding of the historical fact of our faith. This is the opportunity to articulately engage an aroused neighbor on the implications of the truthfulness of Christianity.

Take advantage of ARC’s resources. Order our four journals – The Breath of God (Inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible), Canonicity, and Jesus: Legend or Lord (Pt. 1&2).
We also have a free information packet as well as the 5 recommended books available for you and those who you engage. Prepare your family, church and yourself. Pray for open doors.

For Such a Time As This
Many readers of Worldviews are newcomers. Since we have begun running ads for our Areopagus Journal in World magazine, we have received hundreds of subscription requests, requests for our free information packets, calls and e-mails for counseling and coaching, and requests for our free newsletter.

Find out more about our staff, how we began, and our goals and resources by visiting our website. There we have posted all of our Veritas articles which serve as the introductory articles for each of our journals. The very first Veritas (the journal was initially called Radix) spells out our primary goals and the dire need for this kind of ministry at a time in the life of the Church and our culture.

One of our goals is to expand both locally and nationally . We are in a serious need of a much larger facility. We have a wonderfully talented staff of four full timers, one part timer, and four “contingent” staff (still raising their support). We have one of the best apologetics (and theological) libraries in the country, but over half is still packed due to our lack of space!

ARC is a non-profit, “faith” ministry. I despise commercialism and gimmicks. We have not set fees when we speak or conduct conferences in churches. We ask the church to just seek God about it. We give away many hundreds of free information packets on a wide range of subjects. The only charges are for our journal subscriptions and or books, but even then we give many away (for example, to Christians in prison).

But I need to be very direct. We need the Body of Christ to come alongside and partner with us. We need a serious infusion of financial help. We need at least $50,000 as a down-payment on an adequate building for our library, training area, offices, and equipment. And we need a significant increase in monthly support to enable us to continue and expand. We have a current deficit of about $24,000. We are very conservative–not at all extravagant.
Ideally, if everyone even just subscribed to the journal, it would take care of our deficit and cover our operational costs--even some expansion! We are so grateful to those of you who support us monthly or give us generous periodic gifts.

Please prayerfully consider investing in this very strategic area in God’s kingdom. Partner with us so that we can continue to meet the ever-increasing demand and need for defending and advancing the faith.

Read the following article on the results of serious research on the declining health of the Church in general. It not only serves as a wake-up call, but is edifying and challenging as to what we need to recover.

Where’s the Church?
Barna & Gallup Research: The following statistics serve to demonstrate the reality of our cultural slide and the degree and significance of the Church’s diminishing influence.

Signs of Decline

• 85% identify themselves as “Christian: 44% “notional” (or nominal), 33% “born again” (was 40% in 2001), 7% “evangelical” (was 9% in 2001)
• In 1991, 39 million Americans were unchurched. In 2004 there were 75 million (35%) unchurched—a 92% increase.
• Regular Sunday School attendance dropped from a high, 27% in 1996 to 20% in 2005, during the past decade
• Only 16% of church adult attendees are involved in a discipleship program or group(2000)

Beliefs

• 20% believe in a new age form of God
• 9% identify themselves as atheists (4% in 1995)
• 12% identify themselves as “other faiths”
• Only 22% of adults and 6% of teenagers are certain absolute moral truth exists. 64% of adults and 83% of teenagers believe in relativism.
• 68% are universalists, believing all faithful adherents to any religion make it to heaven (in a 2005 Newsweek poll, 80% said there is “more than one way” to heaven).
• 31% polled believe astrology is accurate and 43% of people ages 25-29 (2003).
• 27% polled believe in reincarnation, 40% between ages 25-29 (2003)
• The top priority for adults is good physical health and fitness (91%). Only 53% indicated being deeply committed to the Christian faith as a high priority.
• Busters (ages 22-40) and Mosaics (18-21) are least likely to attend church (41-42%)
• Among teenagers, “having a college degree” and “living a comfortable lifestyle” ranked 1 & 2 on their life priority list (88% and 83%). Having a close relationship with God ranked 8th (66%) and being deeply committed to the Christian faith was 14th (49%).

“ Born Again” Christians

• 33% of Americans make this claim.
• Yet 37% of them reject the infallibility of the Bible.
• 41% believe in pluralism (cf. 68% of population).
• 53% reject the belief in holding absolute truth (cf. 69% nationally).
• 58% said they definitely would not attend a weekly Bible study.
• 28% believe that Jesus sinned.
• 35% deny Jesus raised from the dead (cf. 39% general population).
• 7% are solid evangelicals, down from 12% in 1992.
• 6% define success in relation to spirituality.
• Only 66% say they are “absolutely committed to the Christian faith.
• 50% believe Satan is only a symbol of evil rather than a real being (cf. 62% national).
• 55% believe the Holy Spirit is only a symbol of God’s presence and not a living being (cf. 61% nationally).
• Only 9% of teenagers are “born again” and only 4% are evangelicals.

As Barna observes the correlating data and trends demonstrating the huge disconnect between professions of faith and values, goals, and lifestyle of church-going professing Christians, he deems the situation “to be of crisis proportions.”

Only 60% of evangelicals rely on principles in the Bible as their main source of moral counsel and decision-making (worldviews). It dramatically drops to 20% for “born-again” Christians, and 6% for “notional (nominal) Christians.” Overall, only 5% of Americans have a biblical worldview; 8% of Protestants and ½ of 1% of Roman Catholics. The younger a person is, the less likely (s)he is to see the Bible as their source of truth.

Adults with a biblical worldview possessed radically different views on morality and vastly different lifestyle choices.

Another important fact discovered is that people’s own self-perceptions on their spiritual strengths (and weaknesses) were quite different from objective reality. In self-ranking on a spectrum from “highly or completely developed,” to “average,” to “below average” on consistently living out faith principles, evangelicals concluded that only the area of evangelism was below average. The “born-again” Christians indicated no area in which they were “below average.”

Overall, 80% of adults claimed to be above average in “living out their faith principles.” The only two aspects that people were most likely to acknowledge struggling with were “sharing their faith” (evangelism), and “Bible knowledge” (24% below average and 53% average).

Barna concludes, “American Christians are generally biblically illiterate. Although most of them contend that the Bible contains truth worth knowing, and most of them argue that they know all the relevant truths and principles, [but] our research shows otherwise. And the trend line is frightening: the younger a person is, the less they understand about the Christian faith.” In other words, people’s standards are so low that they don’t realize how far they are from normal.

Barna goes on to determine “that people are oblivious to committed study of the Bible for various reasons. Among those are the fact that they think they know what is important to know; churches have de-emphasized Bible teaching; families have become too busy and have demoted Bible learning as a family endeavor and priority; most parents rely upon churches to provide Bible training for their children, but churches rely upon volunteers who are ill-prepared to provide meaningful, long-term Bible training; and the messages derived from cultural communications often directly conflict with biblical messages, causing confusion or an outright rejection of biblical themes.”

And we wonder why Barna has determined to give up on the local church (Revolution, 2005). Barna observes, “For churches to get so wrapped up in other matters suggest that we have lost sight of the end goal [Matt. 6:33-34], which is not filling new buildings with happy people, but with filling sin stained hearts with the forgiveness and power of Jesus Christ, and how that power then transforms the individual’s entire understanding of the meaning of life.”

In an article in Moody magazine, “Leading Voices” (July/August 1998), Barna exhorts us, “People tend to respond to experiences, relationships, information, and opportunities on the basis of their frames of reference. These perspectives, which are comprised of our beliefs and values, affect the way we view the world around us. Cumulatively, they constitute a person’s worldview…Our worldview affects every aspect off our lives: how we spend our time and money, how we interact with other people, how we order our priorities, and even how we perceive God…Most Christians in America, however, do not live in a way that is measurably different than their non-Christian peers although they profess to believe a set of principles that should clearly set them apart. We tend to rely on a cultural filter rather than biblical filter for interpreting daily events, information, experiences, and opportunities…Believers are comfortable with relying upon Jesus Christ for their spiritual salvation – and upon themselves for everything else…”

New DVD - “ The Marks of a Cult”
Produced by colleagues of ours, The Apologetics Group, several of our staff contributed to this instructive “Biblical Analysis” of cults compared to historic, biblical Christianity.
Craig Branch, Steve Cowan, and Clete Hux come together with professors from Knox Seminary and others to clarify and make the case of how pseudo-Christian cults like Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Seventh-day Adventism, United Pentecostals (oneness - denies trinity), Church of Christ and others, make fatal departures from the “faith once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3-4).

“This production by The Apologetics Group gives clear guidelines on how to distinguish truth from error in principle as well as documented instructions on the particular errors of prominent cults. As we have grown to expect from these brethren, the medium of communication not only overflows with truth articulated by well informed Christian thinkers, but meets a high standard of production unfolding in an engaging way from beginning to end. This is excellent for instructional periods in your church.” Dr. Thomas Nettles, theology professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Order and use for Sunday School, family, or Bible studies. $20

Amazing Grace DVD: The History and Theology of Calvinism
Os Guinness concludes his book, Long Journey Home, with the observation, “We find God only because we are found by God.” Herein lies perhaps life’s greatest mystery, that man’s quest for meaning and redemption is in the end the story of the Lord “seeking and saving that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). And unless we understand this—unless we are able to keep first things first—we run the risk of missing just how amazing the grace that has saved us truly is. Hosted by Eric Holmberg of The Apologetics Group, this three-part presentation examines this great mystery as well as the historical struggle to make sure that it was understood and embraced by the inheritor of God’s mysteries, the Church. Even if you don’t embrace Calvinism’s ideology, you will surely be encouraged and informed by this educational DVD. Order your copy using the form at the end of the newsletter.

Local
Apologetics classes are being offered every Wednesday night at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. The classes are from 6:30-8:00 PM in Fellowship Hall E. There is an optional cafeteria style dinner, through April, served from 5:30-6:30, $5 for adults and $2.50 for children 12 and under. Here is a list of the upcoming topics:

March 29 – Is Christ the Only Way? Pluralism and Tolerance
April 5 – What About Those Who Have Never Heard?
April 12 – Creation and Evolution
April 19 – Overcoming Barriers
April 26 – Q and A

Come and bring friends!

Cults and Culture
Next to postmodern relativists, cults are the largest yet least evangelized mission field we the church have on our doorstep. There are several steps in an action plan.

1. Education/Warning - these are repeated Biblical passages focusing on false teachers, exploiters, deceivers, heresies. The Church needs protection and discernment (2 Cor. 11:3-4, 12-15; Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Tim. 4:1-4; 2 Pet. 2:1-3).

2. The Scripture also exhorts us to engage people with the gospel - all people, all nations. We are always faced with the paradoxical dilemma of sounding a clear warning of the danger of cults to the Church, using the strong language of Scripture, and the personal loving approach to individuals in cults.

For example the Spirit-directed Paul teaches the church that cults are deceived by the “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1), their leaders are “evil dogs of the circumcision” (Phil. 3:2). Jesus publically (and confrontationally) called false teachers “blind guides, whitewashed tombs, fools, hypocrites, wolves in sheep’s clothing, ravenous wolves” (Mat.23; 7:15).

But we are also directed how to best respond individually to those in cults. We are to understand and correct their error and to knowledgeably teach the truth, yet always with “gentleness, patience, and kindness” (2 Tim. 2:23-26; 1 Pet. 3:15; Acts 17:16-34; Mat. 28:18-20).

There is some debate in apologetics circles attempting to pit a “missiological approach” against a counter-cult or “heresy-rationalist” approach. The missiological approach claims that the heresy approach results in an imbalance of apologetics over evangelism. They see it as confrontational, “door-shutting,” and non-relational. They point out in the hands of immature believers, this hinders the opportunities for relational dialogue.

But the missiological approach, by itself is guilty of an either-or fallacy. Because of immaturity, we need a clear alarm sounded. But we need to include the missiological. It is important to clearly communicate right alongside the warning that people in cults are not the enemy - they are victims of the enemy “held captive by Satan to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:26). We must clearly instruct individuals not to use the word cult in dialogue as it is a “door shutter.”

That is why 2 Tim. 2:23-26 is THE model for dialogue as well as Acts 17:16-34 to utilize common ground interaction, yet without compromise.

3. Engagement naturally leads to a third step preparation/training. We provide expert coaching and materials to greatly accelerate this process and fruitfulness. Take advantage of our info packets and our personal availability for help and interventions.

Call upon the staff at ARC to come to your church to educate and equip the body to engage this field. Many members already have family and neighbors in cults. Almost everyone will have Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons at their front door this year. With the growth of the deceptions within the New Age Movement, it is imperative to address this both for the believer and as an apologetic. Let us become an ongoing resource for your church to train, coach, and intervene for your church family.

Cult News
1. A “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Earl Paulk “archbishop” of the International Commission of Charismatic Churches in Atlanta Georgia, was forced to resign from his 6000 member church, after a former member filed a lawsuit charging him for using his authoritative position to exploit her and other women sexually.

A second woman has also come forward with the same story. The plaintiff’s attorney claims DNA evidence should prove Paulk has fathered several children illicitly in his congregation. In 2001 there was a confidential settlement granted to a woman who filed suit claiming molestation as a child.

This is a testimony, if true, of the power of authoritative mind-control abuse convincing susceptible people that it is God’s will to “love” His “anointed” leader in this way.
The pastors of 13 independent charismatic churches in the Atlanta area issued a public statement condemning Paulk and apologizing for not disciplining Paulk earlier. Ironically Paulk is recovering from his third prostate cancer surgery - yet he is a name-it and claim-it teacher.

2. Much has been noted in the media about some celebrities’ fascination with the Jewish mystical sect called Kabbalah. But celebrity status in the U.S. too often brings popular success. Just ask Oprah.

Now it is reported that Kabbalah has a growing number of followers all over the world. At an informational meeting at the Kabbalah Center in Cincinnati one hears “that Kabbalah is not a religion but rather ancient spiritual wisdom open to people of all faiths,” and “the ultimate goal of Kabbalah is personal transformation and world transformation and the elimination of chaos, suffering, pain, and ultimately, death.

They wear red string bracelets which they claim “protects them from a negative force called the evil eye.”

Many Orthodox Jewish rabbis and scholars claim that the celebrity Kabbalah has little to do with traditional Jewish mystical tradition but it is more concerned with selling merchandise. For our info packet on Kabbalah, check the form at the end of Worldviews.

“Professing to be wise, they instead become fools, exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for images in human forms” or as Peterson’s The Message interprets it, “Refusing to worship him [the true God], they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand (Rom. 1:18-20).

Speaking of pop stars, Brittney Spears who went from Baptist to Kabbalah is now pursuing Hinduism, or at least a cult form of it. She is now meeting with Singh Khalsa, a Sikh yoga master associated with 3HO (Healthy, Happy, and Holy Organization), for therapy sessions. She says she’s preparing for a career comeback. For info on Sikhism, yoga, 3HO, or Hinduism, check our form at the end of Worldviews.

3. Free religious speech wins – as it should. Christian publisher Harvest House, along with authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon, successfully defended themselves in a lawsuit brought by The Local Church movement (LCM). The defendants published an encyclopedia of cults and new religions in 1999 which described the cultism of The Local Church.

The Local Church, who founder and “prophet” is Witness Lee, has a history of suing other Christians and publishers who classify them as a cult. In the late 1970’s, Neil Duddy and the Spiritual Counterfeits Project along with a German publisher were sued. With tactics reminiscent of Scientology, the LCM strung out the lawsuit forcing the S.C.P. into bankruptcy and a “no contest” conclusion. The LCM also sued author Jack Sparks and Thomas Nelson Publishers for the cult label in Mindbenders. Thomas Nelson caved in and settled to cease publication.

But thankfully, Harvest House stuck it out and after 4 years, won their suit. Unfortunately, they decided to take the book out of print.

Another unfortunate response was an editorial in Christianity Today (CT 3/06). They welcomed the court's decision but advised that the word "cult" may "plant an unfortunate association in people's minds," and out to be dropped.

In response, we must disagree. Just because the media's popular depiction of cultism connotes danger of bizarreness doesn't mean that it is the only perspective. I must assert, as a Christian, that any group that leads people to eternal hell is the most dangerous - even the benign looking ones. Remember Satan can "appear as an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:13-14).

But the CT article went even further in that they stated, "just to be clear, The Local Church is not even close to being a cult - so their indignation is understandable." The CT editors state that while the LCM doctrines are confusing and contradictory at times, when they asked LCM leaders doctrinal questions, they were satisfied with the answers.

CT then agreed with a Fuller Seminary study that concluded that the LCM represents a "genuine, historical, biblical Christian faith in every essential aspect." Fuller Seminary!? Remember, Fuller president Richard Mouw is the one who believes that a major PR official for the Mormon church believes in the same Jesus we do!

The facts have been uncovered by numerous apologists and theologians who have access to LCM publications and it has been shown that they teach modalism as opposed to the Trinity and human deification. For info on the LCM ask for our packet.

4. Jehovah's Witnesses (JW), members of the Watchtower Society (WS), are known for their denial for the Trinity, deity of Christ, salvation by keeping all the directives of the WS, denial of eternal punishment (hell), belief that only faithful resurrected Jehovah's Witnesses will populate a paradise earth (144,000 spirit beings in heaven), and that the WS is Jehovah's only prophet on the earth and must be obeyed without question.

Less well known is their doctrine of no blood transfusions allowed under penalty of disfellowshipping and eventual annihilation. Their belief is based on a faulty Bible understanding, believing that one's life or soul force is "in the blood." Therefore to take in someone else's life is likened to cannibalism. Many, many men, women, and children have died needlessly because of this horrible doctrine.

But the WS has made modifications over the years. In fact they have made 20 shifts, refinements or adjustments in blood-related rules since the doctrine was introduced.
In February the WS issued yet another 5 page directive. Another change occurred in 2000 which stated that because of ambiguity in the Bible, individuals are free to decide about therapies using the biological compounds that make up 4 blood components - red and white cells, platelets and plasma. The new directive could create more confusion about the compounds.

A former WS governing body leader believes that the WS hesitates to eliminate this specious doctrine for fear of exposure to millions or billions of dollars in legal liability.
But still the lawsuits keep coming. In Canada, the father of teenager Bethany, who died of leukemia, sued the WS for wrongful death, as Bethany refused medical blood transfusions. The suite includes the WS lawyers, and also JWs, because they did not fully inform nor objectively advise Bethany to make a full, informed decision.

An active JW, who must remain anonymous, points out that WS committee members, who should be consulted, who understood all the revisions, are not consulted by most JWs, who automatically refuse all transfusions. Most doctors and hospitals are not informed either. For info on this doctrine or JWs, indicate it on our request form at the end of the newsletter.

5. Speaking of authoritarian groups who change their minds (or God's mind), the Roman Catholic Church, for the past 700 years, has taught that unbaptized Catholic babies would go to "limbo" rather than heaven.

The then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Office of Doctrine and Faith, said that limbo was "only a theological hypothesis," and should be dropped. Now as Pope Benedict, he could officially "drop it."

Actually, it was not a formal church doctrine, i.e. magistarium, but it was a practiced and accepted doctrine for hundreds of years.

The doctrine originated as an attempt to solve the conundrum of the necessity to receive baptism for salvation in heaven and the conflicting Catholic doctrine that babies have no sin, especially "mortal sin." Thus "limbo" was invented.

Yet even before the change by Ratzinger-Benedict, the limbo doctrine was obviously fading away as the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994), referring to children who die without baptism, states that "the church can only entrust them to the mercy of God."
But there are even bigger recent "adjustments" that can be of great value for us to share with our Roman Catholic friends. Order our Areopagus Journal: The Reformation Was Not a Mistake.

6. Counterfeit Christian groups present eternally fatal doctrines. There are also temporal consequences for some doctrines. Because cultic doctrine is derived through fallible humans, they invariably demonstrate their fallibility. As was demonstrated with the Jehovah's Witnesses and Catholicism above, recent issues have brought light to bear on another of Mormonism's flaws with consequences.

There has been much in the news lately regarding Mormon polygamous groups in Utah. This issue has become even more significant because of the efforts to redefine marriage by homosexual activists. Utah's and Arizona's Attorney's General offices report that there are between 20,000-40,000 people practicing polygamy there. Part of the controversy is Utah's lack of aggressive prosecution of this illegal custom. Why?

You may not be aware but in the formulation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism), its so-called founding prophet, Joseph Smith, gained quite a reputation of having extra-marital affairs, which eventually resulted in a new "revelation" promoting "plural marriage" (polygamy).

This convenient "revelation" came after Smith had translated the Book of Mor

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