Unity for the sake of Power

Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD) Visiting Professor, Department of Liberal Education, Kyungpook National University, Sangju Campus, South Korea, Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College, Australia.

Online retrieval with yahoo search.

Online retrieval with yahoo search.

Elder Collier wrote in a pamphlet in the early 1960’s entitled: “The Three-Fold Union: Protestantism” page 29:

“It may come as quite a shock to some Seventh-day Adventists that Protestant leaders are working toward definite organic union with the Roman Catholic Church. While many of us are sleeping, Protestantism has already degenerated to the place where it is now aspiring to organic union (non just unity) with Roman Catholicism. Protestant leaders are planning to reach their ultimate goal of complete union with Roman Catholicism in just three simple steps.

Three simple steps

1. Union of all Protestant Churches.

2. Then Union of the World Protestant Church with the Greek Orthodox Church.

3. Then Union of the World Protestant Church with the Roman Catholic Church.“

    

   ”Protestant Churches will have to compromise their doctrines in order to unite with one another. They will have to compromise still more when they unite with the Greek Orthodox Church. These compromises will prepare the way for the last final complete compromise that will be necessary in order for it to unite with the Roman Catholic Church.“

    

   ”The two-fold purpose of union is given as follows: 1. To unite all Christendom to fight our common mortal enemy – communism. 2. To unite all Christendom to Christianize the whole world - (Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and all heathen religions.“

   In her classic Great Controversy 383 Ellen White predicted:

   ”Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’s example of iniquitous connection with ‘the kings of the earth’ - the state churches, by their relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the favor of the world.“

    

   In the Liberty News of January 1962 under the title ”The Conciliator“ it was stated about the pope:

   ”Now he is ready to go on to a greater work – helping to heal the rifts of a troubled world. Probably only this Pope, with his long experience as a peacemaker, could consider it a possibility to persuade Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Seventh-day Adventists and Mohammedans, Shintoists, Buddhists, Jews, Confucianists and many other to work together. If anyone can accomplish such a miracle, it will be John XXIII, the great conciliator.“

    

   We can look back to 1964 when Elder Collier composed these lectures and ask: Did Protestantism water down their doctrines as predicted?

    

   In 2015 a lecture was presented on Revelation 13 with the visit of pope Francis to the USA and it was stated by the speaker that our view of Catholicism needs to be more embracing than antagonistic or skeptical. A number of scholars are voicing skepticism about vicarius filii dei = 666. A conference administrator wrote to me from South Africa today saying that we as Adventists need to stop looking at papal diaries and preach the gospel instead. He shares the Catholic embracing attitude of the scholar from Loma Linda on Revelation 13.                                                                                                                                                                                              In their book Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith: A Dialogue (2013) Gianni Vattimo and René Girard, two Italian philosophers that advocates nihilism or the dissolution of metaphysics in religious thought defined Christianity as “religion that exits religion.” Think about Adventism in 2016. Are there professors at Adventist Seminaries, Universities, pastors, church-members, who argue that Adventism is to exit Adventism and its doctrines? “Dropping off” our concepts and exegetical positions is to be a true Christian or Adventist? They stand in the same stream of thinking as these two nihilists.
   
    Isaiah 51 gives us detail what is going to happen with the remnant close to the Second Coming of Christ. Destruction and famine will surround the remnant (Isaiah 51:19). The weeds in the remnant are “drunk but not with wine” (Isaiah 51:21). The remnant should not fear oppressors or oppressing powers in the Time of Trouble (Isaiah 51:13d-f). Our security is not THAAD but God (Isaiah 51:9-10; with God contending for His people, verse 22b).