Explore
Wikipedia Washing machine

Religious spin merchants

Stopping the ‘spin cycle’

By Adrian Bates

(First appeared in a CMI newsletter)

A ‘spin’ peeler, like the old potato peeler, seems to be essential equipment in today’s society. There is a new breed of professionals out there who specialise in gift-wrapping various political and commercial agendas with layers of bias. We’ve often seen that these ‘spin merchants’ don’t let the truth stand in the way of a good story!

For the Christian, ‘spin’ has an even more ominous overtone when it is applied to the Bible. The apostle Peter warned about false teachers (religious spin merchants):

“They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves” (2 Peter 2:1).

How do we deal with the threat of false teaching?

Historically the battle for biblical authority has been fought out over the meaning of the Genesis account of a 6-day creation and a young earth.

CMI is convinced our ultimate weapon is biblical authority. Historically the battle for biblical authority has been fought out over the meaning of the Genesis account of a 6-day creation and a young earth. Much of the church, to its shame, neglected to defend Genesis history and thus unlocked a door for other false teaching. This is why we face a big push of the religious spin merchants (compromisers of the Word—see our list of recommended articles below) to legitimize many other evils such as homosexuality. Even today, many have not realized that morals are the very next area of attack after Genesis belief has been discounted and compromised.

Slippery slope

It is sobering to observe that Romans chapter 1 shows that homosexuality is only three short steps away as people tumble down this particular slippery slope of false teaching.

  • First comes a rejection of Genesis despite what is clearly seen through the creation (vv. 18–20).
  • Second comes the substitution of images of birds, animals and reptiles, (evolution) (vv. 21–25).
  • Third comes unbridled lust and unnatural relations (homosexuality) (vv. 26–32).
The secret is to highlight their major weapon of false interpretation. Too often ‘interpretation’ is just a code word for rejecting the plain meaning of scripture.

How do we combat this influence of religious spin doctors? The secret is to highlight their major weapon of false interpretation. Too often ‘interpretation’ is just a code word for rejecting the plain meaning of scripture. The pressure exerted by an evolutionary view of science tempts many Christians to ‘interpret’ the plain meaning of Genesis chapters 1 to 11. Six creation days, even though they have an evening and a morning, are somehow ‘interpreted’ as billions of years! Noah’s global flood is ‘interpreted’ as just another local flood—even though this would mean God breaking His promises! The way to combat this ‘spin’ is to highlight that such ‘interpretation’ of a plain meaning sets a dangerous precedent. If we can ‘interpret’ Genesis in this way, why not likewise ‘interpret’ (re-interpret?) other parts of scripture? False interpretation unlocks a door for the spin doctors and their agendas. They then move to progressively ‘interpreting’ God’s Word over moral issues like homosexuality with disastrous results, as Romans 1 indicates.

The good news

Well, that is the bad news but there is good news! The Bible says: All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). This includes Genesis chapters 1–11, which is actually the foundation upon which the trustworthiness and reliability of the whole of Scripture is built.

The exciting fact is that Christians can rebuild the foundation of biblical authority. The ‘spin’ about ‘interpreting Genesis’ can be successfully countered right where it mounts its attack. CMI and this website is all about equipping Christians for this battle and rebuilding this foundation.

During a ministry tour one of our speakers encountered a university graduate who said:

“You won’t remember me but I came to one of your meetings a year ago—to mock! I just want to let you know that what I learnt on that night last year blew me away, and since then the Bible has become a new book and my confidence as a Christian continues to grow.”

Another young man asked if we had “a meeting on … campus last year?”. When we confirmed this he revealed that, “A university friend of mine attended that campus meeting and what he heard that night was instrumental in his decision to follow Christ.”

Testimonies like this put the lie to yet another spin merchant’s line—that we turn university students [among others] off Christianity. As these testimonies demonstrate, nothing could be further from the truth. We supply a tremendous resource that helps people find the answers. It is our vision to continue to share this message right around the globe.

Teamwork

We are very aware that CMI is about teamwork for the Kingdom of God. We partner with churches, ministries, etc. and we view you—our supporters—as part of the team. Be encouraged to also keep up the good work amongst your own circle of contacts. We get a continual stream of letters from people telling us how Creation magazine, the books and videos are helping to overcome the influence of the religious spin merchants, and it is only possible due to your valued partnership with us.

If you don’t currently subscribe to Creation magazine we thoroughly recommend it to you as the most powerful and influential creation resource you can get. Subscribe here.

Published: 29 September 2011

Helpful Resources

Refuting Compromise
by Dr Jonathan Sarfati
US $17.00
Soft cover