A Source of Heresy

by   Glenn A. Brown                                                                                                                                  Vol. VIII, No. 2, February 1995

       editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger

[Reprinted form the 17 November 1994 Messenger. Bold print added.]

From as far back as the Garden of Eden, the Tempter has been whispering doubts in people’s ears concerning God’s Word. Satan misused Scripture in the temptations of Jesus following His 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. The teachings of Gnosticism became a problem in some of the earliest churches.

One of the best examples of heresy and extreme theological liberalism of the present day is to be found in the work of the Jesus Seminar, a group formed in 1985 by the Westar Institute of Sonoma, CA. The group consists of admittedly liberal scholars who are so far to the theological left that even many liberals cannot identify with them. A review of the group’s “findings” shows what happens when scholars begin from a basic position of doubt and proceed to discount the veracity of the New Testament.

The bent of the group’s thinking is seen in the task it set for itself: Evaluate the Gospels in light of present knowledge of archaeology, Greek language, ancient culture, and New Testament studies to determine which sayings of Jesus and which teachings about Jesus in the Gospels are authentic and which are not. The group meets twice a year to decide, by vote, which items are authentic.

In 1988, the group decided Jesus did not compose the Lord’s Prayer. In 1989, it said Jesus did not predict the end of the world or that He would return again. Since then it has concluded that Jesus actually said only 18 percent of the sayings attributed to Him in the four Gospels, that many of them are probably close to what He would have said, but that some are pure fabrications. The group claims Jesus never preached about salvation through faith, never worked any miracles, and never rose from the dead.

The group’s most recent vote rejected the virgin birth of Christ, claimed He probably did not descend from King David, that He likely was not born in Bethlehem, and that the visit of the Magi was a fabrication. ...

Pronouncements such as those made by the Jesus Seminar will not dent the faith of true believers. Then why even mention such heretical views in this paper? So laypeople may be informed as to the sources of heretical teachings and see the ultimate conclusions of those devoted to extreme liberal theological views. Readers should be aware that the beliefs of Jesus Seminar participants constitute the text of a book on the market titled The Five Gospels /The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus/What Did Jesus really Say? A similar work will deal with “What Did Jesus Really Do?” Also, the group has its own new translation of the New Testament on the market titled, The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholar’s Version. With the addition of the spurious Gospel of Thomas, it reintroduces Gnosticism.