-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- The Shekhina - Methodists Worship 'God the Mother' 2/2 http://watch.pair.com/shekhinah.html For links "The honest man," writes Fr. Wathen, "cannot help seeing that the last three Popes (omitting all mention of Pope John Paul I) have contributed positively, powerfully and directly toward fulfilling the Masonic program for the radical transformation of the Church.' (Ascend, p. 424). Oxfort concludes that the Popes of Vatican II, 'beginning with John XXIII, have systematically betrayed the great body of Catholic Social Doctrine that was established...on Rerum Novarum... Paul VI's 'development which is the new name for peace" ...means the merging of the "two opposing blocs of the superpowers into a vast, collectivist gulag. And the conciliar Church is the principle instrument to bring this unification of the whole human race about, because she is the 'sacrament and sign...of all mankind" (Lumen Gentium 1). ...What separates the authentic Catholic Social Doctrine from the evil illusions of the Popes of the catastrophic Vatican II is this: the former is centered on Jesus Christ, the Divine Redeemer of the world from all its social ills. The Popes of Vatican II, on the other hand, center their heresies on "modern man" and, as the Revolution demands, relate "all things on earth" to "man as their center and crown. (Gaudium et Spec 12)" (Christian Counter-Revolution 57). We hasten to add that we deplore the false salvation of Catholicism, written into the Declarations of the Council of Trent and never repented of, that leads multitudes to put their faith in sacraments, saints, apparitions, priests and the papacy, which can never serve as mediators between God and men. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (I Tim. 2:5) However, the Catholic Church may at least be credited with contending for and preserving throughout the history of Western Civilization the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Trinity. This against the onslaught of gnosticism which assaulted Christendom with various heresies, which are identified in the aforementioned Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. These include the ancient Templar and present New Age notion that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, whose offspring presently exist in a divine Merovingian bloodline which will shortly rule the world from the throne of the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. We have arrived at this opinion after extensive research on the doctrines, history and political aspirations of a network of operatives who can be identified with Kabbalism and Freemasonry. A good portion of our web site is devoted to exposure of this network and its infiltration of Church and government. For background information on this network, including its origins in Babylon, please take time to read the following reports which represent hundreds of hours of research on the part of those who contribute to the Watch Unto Prayer ministry: The Rosicrucian Connection The Masonic New World Order A Sacred Assembly To Embrace Hebrew Roots The Lubavitch Movement Having stated our case, we now present the London Daily Telegraph article on the UMC and a commentary which introduces it, noting that at the end of the page is a subscription form for Rev. Morrison's very worthwhile e-mail newsletter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- METHODISTS TO WORSHIP "GOD THE MOTHER" Dear Friends: An article has appeared in the London Daily Telegraph today,18th Feb, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ) with the title "Methodists to Worship 'God the Mother'", in reference to the introduction of the new Methodist Worship Book for the Millennium. (The full article appears at the very foot of this mail). In this worship book there is a prayer which reads: "God our Father and our Mother, we give you thanks and praise for all that you have made, for the stars in their splendour and the world in its wonder and for the glorious gift of human life. With the saints and angels in heaven, we praise your holy name." In defence of this prayer (and I quote from the Telegraph article), "Neil Dixon, the secretary of the Faith and Order Committee, said the prayer was not an attempt to change the gender of God. During a press conference in Welsey's Chapel in the City of London Mr Dixon said: "God is not a person. God is a spirit and is neither male nor female. He is beyond gender. The fact we have used male imagery for centuries has reinforced the image of God as a man. But if all human beings are created in God's image then feminine as well as masculine attributes must reflect God's nature." Now this is a very clever but -- if I may say so -- devious argument. For a number of things are being confused here through false inferences. First, it is quite correct to say that God is spirit and therefore cannot possibly be either male or female. Second, it is also correct to say that feminine imagery is used metaphorically in Scripture to describe the character of God (as is correctly stated in the Telegraph article, e.g. Isa.66:13 and Psa.131; and one could also cite such texts as Matt.23:37). But while the use of such imagery is perfectly orthodox, it is entirely wrong to then make the leap into actually directly addressing God as Mother in prayer. Do you see the two things which are being confused here? The fact that feminine imagery is used to denote the character of God does not give us leave to address God as a female person. I wrote about this in "The Serpent & the Cross" in the chapter on feminism. Here is what was said: "The apostle Paul stresses the lack of any inferiority between Christian men and women in their standing in the kingdom of God, when he says: ‘There is neither male nor female: for you are all one on Christ Jesus’ (Gal.3:28). Thus, the Women’s Liberation Movement and Feminism are tragic anachronisms, because Jesus Christ has already done all the ‘liberating’ necessary for all those who will receive Him. It is only ‘in Christ Jesus’ that men and women can become ‘one’. In this light, it is completely unnecessary for women to become embroiled in tortured debate about whether or not the Bible is offensive to them because of the constant references to God as ‘Father’ and ‘He’, or because the Redeemer of the world incarnated in a male body. Obviously we can have no truly complete conception of God, but we can certainly say that He is neither exclusively male nor exclusively female, since both men and women were originally made in His image. It is just as mistaken, also, to speak of God as being androgynous — i.e., both masculine and feminine — as some evangelicals do today, in line with their Jungian analysis of human psychology. The Lord transcends gender altogether, in spite of the fact that the Bible speaks of God with male pronouns. But why do these male pronouns occur in the Bible? Is there not a good reason for this? The Scriptures could never refer to God as ‘It’, for that would remove the essentially personal nature of the Almighty. Men and women are not made in the image of an ‘It’! The use of specifically masculine pronouns most likely does occur for very special reasons. Professor Roger Nicole puts this issue into perspective when he shows that God had to be represented as a male in the Bible because "to do otherwise would have undoubtedly severely curtailed the understanding of his majesty; and the licentious developments in religions where female deities are found would manifest the appropriateness of avoiding this representation in O.T. times" (Walter A. Elwell, Ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Book House, 1985, p. 1177). It is no coincidence that the very people who are clamouring for the removal of male pronouns which refer to Deity in the Bible are those who are avidly worshipping the goddess today. There is nothing new under the sun. God’s wisdom in representing Himself as male can therefore be seen to be very astute. Furthermore, to take away the male pronouns in reference to Deity would be to do irreparable damage to the doctrine of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — upon which a true understanding of the Godhead of Scripture depends. Above all, we speak specifically of the ‘Father’ and the ‘Son’ because Jesus did (Jn.6:40; 10:36; 14:13). Even more to the point, we can wholeheartedly pray to God as Father because Jesus did (e.g., Jn.17:1). Only the most rebellious persons would dare to set themselves against the pattern laid down by the founder of the Christian faith. In truth, the whole Gospel message is offensive to the entire unregenerate human race, and no mere tampering with a few pronouns will remove that offence. The attempted detection of so-called ‘sexism’ in biblical literature is a vain and superfluous activity." (from "The Serpent and the Cross", K & M Books, 1994/1999, pp.325-326). The remarkable thing (and shameful too) is that, while Protestant denominations are helter-skelter abandoning the necessary doctrine of God as "Father", I have come across numerous excellent defences of this doctrine in Roman Catholic circles. You can find a superb example of this sort of apologetics at the following web address: http://catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/mar-apr96/feminist.html in an article entitled "Does the Bible Support the Feminist God/ess?" (Rabid anti-Catholics will be in for a shock here!). In the past few years, I have come across a number of Catholics who -- despite their blind spots on the Lord's Supper, the Papacy and Mary -- appear to be more aware of the deceptions of this age than many of today's wishy-washy Protestant evangelicals! Anyway, you'll find the text of the Telegraph article at the very foot of this mail. Incidentally, this is no mere side-issue -- it is part of the vital ground on which the faith will be seen to stand or fall during the next decade. How would you respond if a so-called ET or alien (androgynous, of course) was to appear on earth claiming that it is really the God whom all have been worshipping under different names for millennia? What if such a being also claimed that it was the Messiah -- the second coming of which has been awaited by Christians for 2000 years? Do you think this is far-fetched? Friends, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Some very flakey global events are going to take place in the next few years. Such things are by no means impossible in the light of Scripture teaching on the Antichrist and the lying signs and wonders which will surround this mysterious event. Understanding the nature of God, the Manhood of Christ and the need for Divine Fatherhood (and its derivative male leadership) in the face of a pagan world is most necessary as we come to the close of this present evil age. Who says that Christians don't need to get genned up on apologetics?!? Yours, in the cause of God and truth, ALAN MORRISON Diakrisis U.K. [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- METHODISTS TO WORSHIP "GOD THE MOTHER" By Victoria Combe, Religion Correspondent THE Methodist Church broke with centuries of Christian tradition yesterday and included the first prayer to "God the Mother" in its worship book for the Millennium. The prayer, which initially was removed from the book because of protests from traditionalists, appears in one of nine services for Holy Communion. It reads: "God our Father and our Mother, we give you thanks and praise for all that you have made, for the stars in their splendour and the world in its wonder and for the glorious gift of human life. With the saints and angels in heaven, we praise your holy name." It is the first time in Britain that a mainstream Church has referred to God as a woman in an official service book, although feminists and liberals have been pressing for it for decades. The 600-page Methodist Worship Book, which has taken nine years to complete, replaces the 1975 text and will be used for the first time in Methodist churches on Easter Sunday. The Methodist liturgical committee yesterday dismissed claims that the prayer was in any way radical and said that the femininity of God was referred to in the Bible and the prayers of the medieval mystic, Dame Julian of Norwich. The Prophet Isaiah (ch.66, v.13) recounts the words of God: "As a mother comforts her son so shall I comfort you." And Psalm 131 speaks about the relationship with God being like a weaned child clinging to its mother. The Rev Neil Dixon, the secretary of the Faith and Order Committee, said the prayer was not an attempt to change the gender of God. During a press conference in Welsey's Chapel in the City of London Mr Dixon said: "God is not a person. God is a spirit and is neither male nor female. He is beyond gender. The fact we have used male imagery for centuries has reinforced the image of God as a man. But if all human beings are created in God's image then feminine as well as masculine attributes must reflect God's nature." The Methodist Church was ahead of the Church of England by 20 years in accepting women's ministry and there is no office in the Church which is closed to women ministers. The marriage service in the new worship book also removes the ceremony of "giving away" the bride by her father. This feature of the wedding is replaced with an option for both the bride and bridegroom to be "presented" at the altar by a friend or relative. The Methodist Church has a more liberal attitude to the remarriage of divorcees than the Church of England and currently 63 per cent of its weddings involve at least one divorced person. A subtle acknowledgement of the number of marriages that fail is included in the opening words for the minister in the wedding service. In the 1975 text, the minister says: "According to the teaching of Christ, marriage is the lifelong union in body, mind and spirit." The new version, however, declares it to be God's will that "husband and wife should experience a lifelong unity of heart, body and mind". Mr Dixon said: "It is not a theological shift, but we do want to provide material which people feel comfortable with." However, it was not the wedding service or God the Mother which sparked controversy within the Church, but a decision to drop the "prayer for humble access" before Holy Communion from a number of services. The liturgical committee tried to weed the prayer out of the service on the grounds that it was "grovelly" and placed too much emphasis on sin. The prayer, which begins "We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord . . .", no longer appears in the services for Easter, Christmas and two ordinary season Holy Communion services. But after sacks of letters calling for the prayer to be rescued, the liturgical committee has restored the prayer to other services. Rev Norman Wallwork, one of 15 members of the liturgical committee, said: "An overriding element of the Eucharist is to be lifted up by the healing of God. We do not want people to be brought down at this holy moment and reminded they are a sinner." The new worship book, which is on sale at £15, also includes for the first time funeral services for a child and for a stillborn baby. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Diakrisis U.K. was established in 1990 to acquaint believers with the importance of Christian apologetics, to provide commentary on topical, doctrinal and pastoral issues, and to hold out a hand of rescue to those who suffer psychological and spiritual manipulation in the religious scene. The mention of a website address in our mailings is no indication that we endorse every piece of information on that site. Surf with adventurous discernment. This mailing has been sent out to 246 people in 18 countries across the world. To get on our e-mail listing for regular mailings please fill in the form below and return it by e-mail. 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