ASTONISHING DIMENSION OF THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT

THE KEY TEXT

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.  Rev. 16:12-16

THE ORIGIN OF THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT IN SPIRITISM

This report from a contributor, Iran's president asks pope to join efforts against intolerance, has led to some productive research.  In his sermon A Transformed Enemy Elder Wm. H. Grotheer quotes from famed spiritist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book On the Edge of the Unseen the objectives of the modern spiritist movement: Excerpt from sermon "A Transformed Enemy"  The objectives are almost completely realized in the Christian world, and are now being pursued with dedication in the interreligious world by spiritual and political leaders alike.

ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT PARALLELED THE ADVENT MOVEMENT

The following address by a Roman Catholic priest to an academic conference in 2005 documents the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement in the Protestant missionary movement of the 19th century.  The following statement pinpoints the latter part of the 19th century:

"History shows that the contemporary Ecumenical Movement has its roots in the Protestant missionary movement of the 19th century and its inspiration in the desire of Evangelical Protestants to achieve a “unity in fellowship” amongst themselves for greater success in the mission field. Willem Saayman, a Protestant scholar of missiology, begins his study on mission and unity with the following words: “The ecumenical movement does not derive simply from a passion for unity; it sprang from a passion for unity that is completely fused in mission.” The union of mission and ecumenism, however, was not something arrived at quickly or painlessly for the Protestant world. It grew slowly in the soil of global confessional alliances and comity agreements among the Protestants in the second half of the 19th century, and continued in the international student movements and missionary conferences, becoming a new paradigm of ecclesiastical unity – for the conversion of the world. It became, from 1910 onwards, the basis upon which the Ecumenical Movement was built."  The Missionary Origins of Modern Ecumenism

It is clear that the movement parallels the beginning and growth of the Advent Movement which became the world Church of Seventh-day Adventists.  The Seventh-day Adventists were not involved in the "global confessional alliances and comity agreements."  The Advent Movement was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and had no need of mutual support with other Protestants.  Because of their rejection of the 1844 judgment hour message the Protestant missionary movement had lost the power of the Holy Spirit.  This clearly was replaced by a passion engendered by the spirits of Rev. 16:12-16.  There were then two parallel movements which should never have converged.  Tragically, they did converge and have merged to an increasing degree since the latter half of the 20th century.  Divergence from the parallel has been primarily, if not altogether, on the part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  Apostate Protestantism has adopted none of the unique doctrines of the Advent Movement.  Seventh-day Adventism has ceased to emphasize doctrine and gone over to the sphere of the "social gospel."  This was a direct consequence of abandoning the grammatical-historical (proof text) method of biblical exegesis and adopting variants of the heretical historical-critical method invented by the Church of Rome.  In An Analysis of Three Approaches of the Historical-Critical Method of Interpretation: Radical (Bultmann), Moderate (Uniting Lutherans) and Conservative (Boer) By David P. Kuske, the author states:

"There is no question that the historical-critical method of interpretation is the prevailing method of Bible interpretation in most religious circles of our day. It has cut a wide swath through Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Lutheranism.

But when one tries to describe the historical-critical method, it is a bit difficult because this method has come to mean different things to different people. There are those, like Bultmann, who combine the results of rationalistic literary criticism with existentialism to create a very radical form of the historical-critical method. There are those, like the Uniting Lutherans, who limit the use of rationalistic criticism to the human portions of Scripture while insisting that the divine portions be interpreted only according to traditional Lutheran principles of interpretation. And there are those, like Boer, a member of the Christian Reformed Church and the author of the booklet The Bible and Higher Criticism, who use the divine and human natures in Christ as an example of the mystery of the divine and human nature of Scripture.1 The latter say that since this mystery is indefinable the “problems” raised by the rationalistic literary criticism in the historical-critical method ought neither be denied or rationalized by Bible-believing Christians. . . ." (P. 1)

"The result of rationalistic literary criticism being used in Christianity was devastating by the early 1900s. Christian morality was said to be the only purpose for which religion existed. Bible interpretation made Jesus the teacher of the proper moral life. The liberal theology which resulted was characterized by the Social Gospel. Jesus was reduced to a marvelous example of how men should love one another unselfishly, and the rest of the Bible was reduced to books about man’s religious experiences and moral ideals." (P. 4)

Talk to almost any contemporary Seventh-day Adventist pastor or lay member and you will find that in general this is where the Church is today.  Never mind new General Conference President Ted Wilson's apparent conservatism - the horse is long out of the stable and can never be returned.  The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been "weighed in the balances and found wanting."  (Cf.  Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8 Page 247)

MODERN ECUMENISM EMBRACES INTERRELIGIOUS UNITY

"The world missionary conference at Edinburgh in 1910 is commonly accepted as marking the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement. This conference appealed to the 1200 delegates sent by missionary societies and so-called younger churches (a total of only 17) to bring about the evangelization of the world in that generation.

The question of Christian understanding of and relationship to other religious traditions was a central issue in Edinburgh, and the section that dealt with the missionary message in relation to non-Christian religions was by common consent the finest of all the reports produced at Edinburgh. It spoke of the Christian encounter with the religious traditions of Asia, for example, as being of the same order as the meeting of the New Testament church with Graeco-Roman culture, demanding fundamental shifts in Christian self-understanding and theology. While the evangelistic thrust predominated in the overall Edinburgh message, the discussions there stimulated scholarly interest both in comparative religion and in exploring the Christian relation to other faith traditions. An influential book of the period was J.N. Farquhar's The Crown of Hinduism, which argued that Christ fulfilled the longings and aspirations of Hinduism."  Interfaith Dialogue  (Cf. Interreligious Dialogue Since Vatican II,  THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE,  Asian interfaith dialogue in Vatican’s sights)

The above statement reveals the full dimension of the modern ecumenical movement, and how it conforms to the ambition and ultimate objective of the Lord of the spirits.  He will settle for nothing less than dominion over a world united in rebellion against Almighty God (Rev. 17:8-14.)  We know what the end will be.  We also know that the Seventh-day Adventist hierarchy has taken its stand.  The question is where will we stand in the final battle if we are unwilling to stand now under the bloodstained banner of Emmanuel?

THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

"The UN Decade of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace 2011-2020 (or DECADE) is aimed at promoting partnership between UN Member States, UN Agencies, Religious and Spiritual Communities and Civil Society Organizations to advance the culture of peace."  Proposal for a United Nations Decade of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."  Rev. 16:15