"Always remember, when somebody comes up with something new,
it's usually wrong. We are to be plagiarists of the same information that
God gave the first Christians." -- Dr. Matthew McMahon, aPuritansMind.com

 

14 May, 2006   comments: (0) Athenian Awards   The First-Ever 'Athenian Spirit' Award Winner Recounting the Athenians in Acts 17, CH Spurgeon spoke of those in modern times who are ever straining after novelties. There may be much of the "Athenian spirit" among congregations, but that should be no excuse for it's being tolerated among ministers, who should be the last to spend their time in seeking "something new". Leaders who are quick to jettison old truth, are now eligible for the "Athenian Spirit Award". Charles Stanley is a recipient. Athenian recognition goes to Pastor Stanley for his troubling interpretation of Matthew 25:30, in which many people in heaven are said to actually experience "weeping and gnashing of teeth". In order for Charles Stanley to adhere to this interpretation, he had to put aside the opinions of so many of the most gifted bible expositors in church history, opting instead for "something new". Here's what Charles Stanley wrote in his book entitled "Eternal Security": "The final verse of this parable is so severe that many commentators assume it is a description of hell. It is not . . . The point of this parable is that in God's future kingdom, those who were faithful in this life will be rewarded and those who were not will lose any potential reward . . . Before we can understand the full impact of this parable, we must first determine what the "outer darkness" refers to in the context of the parable. It certainly does not mean hell in the parable. How could a master throw a slave into hell? . . . But what actual place was Jesus referring to in the parable? He gave us only one hint: "In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." . . . To be in the "outer darkness" is to be in the kingdom of God but outside the circle of men and women whose faithfulness on this earth earned them a special rank or position of authority". And "We cannot conceive of the agony and frustration we would feel if we were to undergo such an ordeal: the realization that our unfaithfulness had cost us eternally would be devastating. And so it will be for many believers. Just as those who are found faithful will rejoice, so those who suffer loss will weep." In a 2004 blog post, David Wayne insightfully wrote this response to Charles Stanley's interpretation of this passage: "The idea that there is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth in heaven is a breathtakingly egregious mishandling of the text. ... Later on, Stanley does qualify his remarks by saying that this weeping will not go on for eternity, there will come a time when God comforts those who suffer loss. But the point is, in his view heaven is a place that, for some (probably many!) will be a place of agony, frustration and weeping. Michael Horton points out that this view of 'rewards' is basically the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory, with a change of location. Purgatory has now become a suburb of heaven". In his treatment of this text, Pastor Stanley has failed to regard the opinions of so many gifted bible expositors, not only in the history of the church, but also within the heritage of his own denomination. His adventurous interpretation of this biblical passage has recklessly bypassed the consensus of church history in favor of "something new". Adding to the seriousness of this, is his willingness to propagate this error in book form, and teach it to others. For these reasons, Charles Stanley is my selection for this edition of the Old Truth "Athenian Spirit Award". Related Information and Resources: Continue reading David Wayne's analysis of the above error Listen to a recent White Horse Inn episode which mentioned it Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.275   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism