Edward Heppenstall on: Which church?

by koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

9 October 2010

In his classical book, Our High Priest. Jesus Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1972) [also online] by Edward Heppenstall, he outlines in chapter 12 what the requirements are for the remnant of God or the true church.

Although both Heppenstall and C. S. Lewis are philosophers and both of them are apologetic on behalf of God and the Bible and although Lewis wrote an excellent book on Mere Christianity (1952) [also online], the difference between the two is that Lewis refused to touch the issue which is the true church:

"The reader should be warned that I offer no help to anyone who is hesitating between two Christian "denominations". You will not learn from me whether you ought to become an Anglican, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, or a Roman Catholic. This omission is intentional....I am a very ordinary layman" (C. S. Lewis 1952: 6).

Lewis refrain from touching on that issue but in the book came very close to what one may call a fundamentalist position of the biblical view. His purpose is to describe the transition from agnostic to deep Christian. His book is very valuable for Adventists. Heppenstall accepts most of what Lewis is saying but went further, not as a layman, but as a Systematic Theologian, to penetrate the Bible and bring out the biblical position on the issue. Says Heppenstall:

"There is a great deal of cheap religion in the world. It is possible to have a counterfeit. The kind of church one chooses matters a great deal. It is possible for a church to ally itself with those forces opposed to the truth of God, while all the time professing to teach and preach it. When this happens, men actually worship and serve the doctrines of men and the creations of men's thinking and opinions. Because a man's salvation is at stake, he ought to be sure of the way he is taking. To permit oneself to be deceived in such matters is folly of the worst kind (Heppenstall 1972, chapter 12 paragraph 5).

In his online video lecture "Seven reasons to be a Catholic", Peter Kreeft outlined why a person should be a Catholic and not another denomination [video is at http://www.youtube.com][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W27w4ROc4CE]. He wrote books like Ecumenical Jihad and lately is writing a book on how much Christians can learn from Muslims. He converted from Calvinism to Catholicism in 1959 and when asked in an interview, why? He answered that it is because he studied the Church Fathers. A natural outcome, if you only study the Church Fathers.

Peter Kreeft attended Calvin College and there was a professor of Church History there who asked them: “What will you answer a catholic if he says to you, a Calvinist protestant, our church has roots over 2000 years but you are only around 450 years?” No-one knew, so the professor said a catholic will answer that Jesus planted a seed and it became the Catholic church and Luther and Calvin came and wanted to break off some branches and try to plant them next to the tree.

The Protestant will say, Jesus' original Christianity was Protestant until 100 CE and then something went wrong and Luther and Calvin came and tried to slim it down back to the prime condition before 100 CE.

Peter Kreeft then thought that the way to answer this question is empirical. All he had to do is to read the church fathers and see if they were protestant. So he stopped to be a catholic. What a case of misapplication. Peter Kreeft totally misunderstood the professor's point. The issue was not whether the church after 100 CE was Protestant, but whether the church before 100 CE was Protestant. John the Revelator was the last writer of the New Testament books and he ended in 97 CE, three years before the degrading started. None of the church fathers wrote prior to 130 CE, thus to investigate the church fathers for Protestantism and prime Christianity is an obvious answer that they are similar to the catholic church. I could have told Peter Kreeft that situation without even reading the church fathers.

Peter Kreeft said that he started to read the church fathers and saw that they taught the supremacy of the pope, that the Eucharist is more important than preaching and that the bread and wine really turn into the body of Christ.

"I am a catholic because I am a Christian. If Christ established the Catholic Church, I want to be in it." The Peter Kreeft flaw is so obvious that one wonders how many other blunders did he commit?

The Church Fathers are all divided most of the times, so which one do you study? He favored Augustine and Thomas Aquinas especially. He loves C. S. Lewis and this retired Boston Philosophy professor is currently considered by some to be the incarnation of C. S. Lewis. He is excellent in using rhetoric and sarcasm in his dialogue, but one soon realizes that it matters a great deal if one is slightly off due to a selective biblical approach. In the video on why to be a Catholic, he cites Walker Percy as reason: "What else is there?" Not very convincing. He said a deal about honest and dishonest and about believing anything because it is true. People should seek the truth and he cites Pascal saying there are three kinds: Those who sought and found, those who seek and did not found yet, and those who do not seek and do not found. He suggests that there is a mind behind everything or there isn't. Monotheism follows reason rather than pantheism. He made the point that "What determine our destiny is not our IQ but our love" a point that Heppenstall also made in his classic book cited below at chapter 12 paragraph 57 with Ellen White in Christ Object Lessons 415 pointing out that God's last message will be "Love". Also Heppenstall's warning of "Love only" approach in paragraphs 64 and 65. See his paragraph 58 and 59 below also on love that unites all. Kreeft cites C. S. Lewis, Thomas Aquinas and cardinal Newman but one cannot see him basing his view on the Bible. He is, like Lewis and like Heppenstall, also an apologist for God and Truth but one major difference with Lewis is that he insist the Catholic Church is the right denomination [despite his lectures trying to say that it is the Christ in both Protestants and Catholicism that unites]. Heppenstall's message is very clear, if you are not willing to use the Bible as the objective norm you are ending up with the subjective opinions of people as your basis. See especially below, Heppenstall's paragraphs 32-35.

For Seventh Day Adventists, both books [that of Lewis and that of Heppenstall] are crucial and a summary of Heppenstall is needed.

12.1 CHURCH IS BODY OF CHRIST WHO ARE ALL THE TRUE CHRISTIANS, ALIVE AND DEAD

12.2 PETER'S NAME MEANS ROCK AND CHRIST IS THE ROCK

12.3 CHURCH WILL BE VICTORIOUS

12.4 ARE ALL CHURCHES WAYS TO THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD?

12.5 CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN NOT TO ALLY WITH OPPOSERS OF GOD'S TRUTH

12.6 GOD HAS CHILDREN IN EVERY CHRISTIAN BODY OF BELIEVERS (JOHN 10:16)

12.7 TOTAL COMMITMENT TO JESUS CHRIST AND REVEALED TRUTH IS THE TEST

12.8 CHRIST AND THE BIBLE IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRUE CHURCH (JOHN 16:12-14)

12.9 PURPOSE OF GOD IS TO COMMUNICATE TO THE WORLD THROUGH THE CHURCH ABOUT HIMSELF, TRUTH, LOVE, MERCY

12.10 THE TRUE CHURCH POINTS TO THE MAGNETIC POLE OF TRUTH FOUND IN THE BIBLE

12.11 IS MY CHURCH TRUE TO THE WORD OF GOD IN EVERY ASPECT?

12.12 OWN TRADITION IS TAMPERING WITH THE WORD OF GOD (MARK 7:7-9)

12.13 CHRIST THE HEAD DOES NOT DENY SCRIPTURES (JOHN 8:31-32)

12.14 TO CONTINUE IN CHRIST'S WORD IS TO BE HIS DISCIPLE (JOHN 8:31-32)

12.15 ONLY THE WORD OF GOD CAN REVEAL TRUTH AND DISTINGUISH IT FROM ERROR

12.16 MESSAGES CAN BE DARKNESS, RITUAL CAN BE FORMAL PROCLAMATIONS AND WORSHIP CAN BE A COUNTERFEIT

12.17 MANY BELIEVE THEIR CHURCH WITHOUT EXAMINING TRUTH

12. 18 MAKING DISCIPLES OF CHRIST IS NO POPULARITY CONTEST AND THE REMNANT STANDS WITH CHRIST AND HIS WORD

12.19 DISCIPLIZING IS A CONTINUAL VICTORY OF ERROR AND DARKNESS

12.20 DRAGON WANTS TO MAKE WAR WITH THE WOMAN/CHURCH WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS AND TESTIMONY OF JESUS (REV 12:17)

12.21 PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS ARE IN COMMANDMENT KEEPING AND FAITH IN JESUS (REV 14:12)

12.22 BEHEADING PERSECUTION WAS FOR JESUS AND HIS WORD (REV 20:4)

12.23 IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE GOD'S WORD TO US AND TO CLEARLY APPLY HIS TRUTH TO OUR OWN LIVES

12.24 UNLESS A CHURCH IS TESTED, IT CANNOT BE TRUSTED

12.25 GREEK: DIDASKALIA MEANS TEACHING

12.26 BIBLE DOCTRINES ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF THE BIBLE USUALLY SYSTEMATICALLY ARRANGED

12.27 BIBLE CONTAINS LITTLE SYSTEMATIC DOCTRINE

12.28 THERE IS A BURNING CONCERN ABOUT WHAT TRUTH IS AND SOUND DOCTRINE

12.29 WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO FOLLOW SOUND DOCTRINE (TITUS 2:1, 7)

12.30 GOOD DOCTRINES OPPOSED TO DOCTRINES OF MEN IS NOT DIFFERENT WAYS TO SAY THE SAME THING BUT ANTAGONISTIC TEACHINGS (1 TIM 4:6; MATT 15:9)

12.31 'CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A CREED BUT LIFE' IS TRUE BUT FAITH AND DOCTRINE GO TOGETHER

12.32 COGNITIVE CHRISTIANITY IS NOT ENOUGH FOR PERSONAL COMMITMENT IS ALSO NECESSARY. BE A SPECTATOR AND PARTICIPANT

12.33 CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IS MORE THAN DOCTRINE BUT THE EXPERIENCE MUST ARRIVE AT TRUTH AND TRUTH IS IN DOCTRINE

12.34 WORD OF GOD IS NORMATIVE AND DOCTRINE OF SALVATION IS NOT THE SAME AS EXPERIENCING SALVATION HOWEVER TRUTH IS PRIOR TO EXPERIENCE

12.35 TRUTH DOES NOT DEPEND FOR VALIDITY ON MAN'S EXPERIENCE BUT UPON WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED IN HIS WORD

12.36 GOD DOES NOT LEAVE MAN TO GROPE IN HIMSELF TO FIND TRUTH

12.37 TRUTH IS BOTH DOCTRINAL AND PERSONAL

12.38 SO CLOSE WILL THE COUNTERFEIT BE THAT JUST BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE WILL HELP DISTINGUISH (EGW GC 593, 594)

12.39 DOCTRINES ARE FORMALIZED ASPECTS OF FAITH

12.40 TRUE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE REQUIRES OBEDIENCE WHICH IS DOCTRINALLY GIVEN AND TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE

12.41 WITHOUT READING THE OBJECTIVE WORD OF GOD CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IS REDUCED TO A SUBJECTIVE FEELING

12.42 ANTICHRIST WILL THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS (DAN 7:25)

12.43 BABYLON WILL MAKE NATIONS DRINK OF WINE (REV 13:14-17; 18:2-4)

12.44 NOT SOUND DOCTRINE BUT AFTER THEIR OWN LUSTS (2TIM 4:3, 4)

12.45 TO FILTER ERROR IS TO USE THE WORD OF GOD (ISAIAH 8:20)

12.46 ONLY THE TRUTH FROM THE BIBLE IS ABLE TO HELP EXPERIENCE DEVELOP IN HARMONY WITH GOD

12.47 CHRIST FUSED DOCTRINES AND EXPERIENCE AND NOT ONLY ONE OR THE OTHER (TEACH TO OBSERVE MATT 28:19, 20)

12.48 CLOSER COMMUNION WITH CHRIST MEANS A FIRMER GRASPS OF SOUND DOCTRINE (1 COR 3:11-13)

12.49 COMMITMENT TO CHRIST DOES NOT LEAD AWAY FROM DOCTRINE

12.50 IF ONE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST IS WRONG, NO RELATIONSHIP TO DOCTRINE CAN BE RIGHT (JOHN 7:15-17)

12.51 A CHURCH WHICH WILLFULLY NEGLECTS OR REJECTS GOD'S WORD IS IN APOSTACY

12.52 TO MAKE CHRISTIANITY ALIVE IS TO DISCOVER THE TRUTHS THAT MAKE DOCTRINE INEVITABLE

12.53 CHRIST ASKS US TO HEAR [DOCTRINE] AND DO [EXPERIENCE] (MATT 7:21-25)

12.54 KNOWING AND OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD = SOUND FAITH AND EXPERIENCE

12.55 HAVING THE BIBLE SO CLOSE WE CANNOT HONOR GOD WITH ERRONEOUS OPINIONS (EGW GC 597)

12.56 BIBLE AND BIBLE ONLY IS STANDARD OF ALL DOCTRINES (GC 594-595)

12.57 THE LAST MESSAGE OF MERCY IS TO BE ONE OF LOVE (EGW COL 415, 416)

12.58 LOVE IS MORE THAN A GOOD FEELING SINCE IT TRANSFORMS LIFE AND BRINGS MAN INTO HARMONY WITH GOD

12.59 ALL LOVABLE PEOPLE WILL HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON THAT UNITES THEM

12.60 GUARD AGAINST AN INWARD FEELING AFTER GOD WITHOUT DOCTRINAL TRUTHS OF HIS WORD

12.61 MANY RELIGIONS ARE VAGUE ABOUT BIBLICAL TRUTH AND DOCTRINE (AMOS 8:11)

12.62 EMOTIONAL ECSTASY PERMITS HAZY BIBLICAL THINKING

12.63 DOCTRINAL PERVERSION IS ONE OF SATAN'S METHODS AGAINST GOD (EGW GC 582)

12.64 READING TRUTH IS NOT ENOUGH, THE HOLY SPIRIT MUST WRITE IT UPON THE HEART AND THAT MUST BE THE SAME AS THOSE IN SCRIPTURES

12.65 JUST LOVE - NO DOCTRINE VIEW DESCRIBED

12.66 JUST LOVE - NO DOCTRINE VIEW IS A PROBLEM

12.67 CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION WITHOUT OBEDIENCE

12.68 DOES THE CHURCH NEED A REVIVAL (SEE REV 12:17, 14:12, 18:1-5)

12.69 FAITH IN CHRIST HARMONIZES THE MIND WITH GOD DIFFUSES THE WHOLE BEING WITH THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

12.70 SALVATION IS FROM SIN UNTO GODLINESS

12.71 THERE IS A NECESSARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOVE AND OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD