The Original CRI Position on Justification

I watched this for the first time today but its transcript I have read a long time ago. A copy of the transcript was sent to me by the Christian Research Institute (CRI) circa 1999. The Original Bible Answer Man Dr. Walter Martin defended the Protestant position of Sola Fide against Roman Catholic position represented by Jesuit scholar Mitch Pacwa. It was then my first time to learn about the Council of Trent, the difference between imputation and infusion, and the word "justification" itself. This was CRI's position in 1999, that's 10 years after the death of its founder.

But gone are those days. The CRI lead by Hank Hanegraaff now champions the view of the Eastern Church that faith and works should not be polarized and uses James 2:24 as a proof text.

Skip John Ankerberg's long introduction. Begin at 33:30.

Walter Martin's "last appearance" on TBN

As the program was about to end, Walter Martin thanked Trinity Broadcasting Network president Paul Crouch and his wife Jan for having the courage for letting the concerns be discussed; he also conveyed his hope that the dialogue will continue. Yet when host Doug Clark announced that there is a scheduled replay of the program, he expressed his doubt if it will ever be replayed. Indeed, TBN did not replay it and Martin was never invited again.

Dr. Martin pulled no punches. On air, he specifically mentioned the names of Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland and Oral Roberts as  purveyors of cultic doctrines within our camp.

I thought of giving a detailed review of this program, but I think there is no need for it. I'll just embed the entire program below. I will comment on one point. The host asked Martin three questions regarding the men he's criticizing:

"Do you believe they are Christian?"

"Born-again?"

"Love the Lord?"

In all the above questions, Martin answered "YES". Yet there is also evidence that after this appearance, the original Bible Answer Man changed his mind, at least regarding Kenneth Copeland.

"For ten years I have warned- And I'm on tape and in print on this- that we were heading into the Kingdom of the Cults with the faith teachers. You are no longer heading there, baby, you are there."

~Walter Martin

Kenneth Copeland's False Prophecy

an audiotape cited in Hank Hanegraaff's Christianity in Crisis

By the way, Martin was a staunch Charismatic.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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Buy a copy of Walter Martin's The Kingdom of the Cults 

6th Halo-halo Huwebes

An Expression of Gratitude to Jackie Alnor

 I lost my trust in Jackie Alnor's credibility as an apologist and a researcher when she endorsed Jack T. Chick's cartoon propaganda against Roman Catholicism and at the same time discredited the erudite James White because of the Pauline phrase "knowledge puffs up". Even the Protestant battle cries Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide are highfalutin to her.

Yet I have to thank her for uploading something good on Youtube. She labeled it as Walter Martin's Last TBN Appearance. God willing, I will post my review of Dr. Martin's "last appearance" on Trinity Broadcasting Network on the first week of April. 

Jackie uploaded it after seeing Calvary Chapel's Skip Heitzig appear on TBN and acted as if  "he and his host Phil Munsey were old friends". I am not familiar with the Munseys (Phil & Steve) so i can't really take Jackie's words at face value when she says they are "two of the most infamous extortioners in the field of Christian television". Yet given the track record of TBN, I have a reason to believe Jackie. In contrast to Heitzig's  demeanor, Martin pulled no punches when he appeared on TBN. 

  

An Expression of Gratitude to William Alnor

Aside from that, we have to grieve with Jackie for the death of her husband William Alnor. Bill finally went home to the Lord's house on the 20th day this month after a battle with prostate cancer.

I do find Mr. Alnor's works profitable. Unfortunately the old Christian Sentinnel website has long became extinct. One of his finest articles, "Heaven Can't Wait: A Survey of Alleged Trips to the Other Side",  is still posted here . With the popularity of such books as Don Piper's 90 Minutes in Heaven and Todd Burpo's Heaven is for Real, Alnor's article is still very relevant. Though that essay good enough, it will be better if we can get a copy of the 160-page book of the same title.

The last time I heard of him, he was then building this site: williamalnor.com. He managed to review five books including William Paul Young's The Shack . Since the site has no RSS feeds, I have to visit the site several times but it was rarely updated. Perhaps he was already losing his battle against cancer at those times.

Another Milestone for the Prewrath Rapture View

In the 4th Halo-halo Huwebes, I noted a milestone for the Prewrath position in the scholarly community when Zondervan decided to replace the Mid-Trib Position with the Prewrath view in the new edition of Three Views on the Rapture.

On the popular level, James MacDonald has recently made it public that he is a prewrather. MacDonald is the Senior Pastor of the huge multi-site Harvest Bible Chapel and host of the radio ministry Walk in the Word. He is also a council member of The Gospel Coalition, an organization I highly esteem.

A Song I Learned from my Grade V Adviser,
Miss Rose Reyes

A Song I Learned from my Grade VI Adviser,

Mrs. Estrella Arenas

The Cancer Within

After the six-part series on discernment, I think it is fitting to culminate this month with this video clip from the original Bible Answer Man, Dr. Walter Martin.



"The danger to the church today... is the person who wears the cloth of Christ. The person who wears the white collar or the cross and who stands behind the sacred desk and who is unfaithful to the word of God. That is the ultimate danger to the church. The corrupt and apostate shepherds who infest our theological seminaries and colleges and fill our pulpits across the United States and Canada who know not God, do not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and will stand in the way of anybody that wants to preach it. That is the ultimate danger to the church because it is inside the church. The cancer is within and it eats away and we don't recognize it. Or when we do recognize it, we don't do anything about it because we are afraid that people will be offended.We are afraid that people will call us narrow, bigoted fundamentalists." (Dr. Walter Martin)
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 Walter Martin Books

The Kingdom of the Cults

The Kingdom of the Occult

 Through the Windows of Heaven