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Feedback 2009
Cannibalism complaint against CMI
A Miss D.A. wrote to CMI-Australia’s Dr Carl Wieland
as follows:
A multi-ethnic Australian Christian family
Dear Mr Wieland
After reading your book ‘One Blood’, I find I no longer can support
Creation Ministries.
Though acknowledging we are all descended from our very first parents, Adam and
Eve, the book contains what seems blatantly obvious to me, grave errors from
what God’s holy Word clearly says.
- The book approves cannibalism (the transplanting of human-corpses’
body-parts to living humans) – the eating up of our dead! (refer the
book’s ‘Foreword’), a modern-world humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
- The book encourages the mixing of the races by intermarriage – though God
Himself made it clear in ‘Genesis’ at Babel, that He separated and dispersed
mankind into races of similarity, to control mankind’s mislead powers; a modern-world
humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
- The book approves and encourages globalization, which breaks down the practice of
the living God’s divisions of mankind into separate (similar) races; a modern-world
humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
One of the obvious dire consequences of this heresy being the rapid, vast spreading
of the anti-Christ Muslims into the heart of the Western world, which had
been Christian until the humanistic rebellious 1960’s, which brought in other
dire humanistic practices too.
- The book does not teach the valid means of entry into Christianity, for it
does not include Holy Baptism, which Christ Jesus taught (at the end of St
Matthew’s Gospel), a modern-world humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
I am very disappointed in Creation Ministries, for being a long-time believer in
Genesis’ creation, and all God’s holy Word (since childhood),
and witnessing the horrible disintegration (from the 1960’s) of my local community,
country, and the whole Western world – into unchristian, unscriptural Godlessness,
I had joyfully hoped that Creation Ministries would help turn us back to (in Christ
Jesus) God and His life-giving Word.
Who is wiser than God?
Absolutely no one!!
The Lord’s clearly spoken, pure, unchanging Word contains all
we need to be saved, and to live Godly, orderly lives, unto eternal life!
God’s holy Word only saves mankind, and His world — God’s
Word only, without omissions or additions.
Photo of twins by Gary Roberts, <www.worldwidefeatures.com>.
Yours sincerely,
In Christ Jesus
(Miss) D.A.
References (K.J.V.):
1. Job 2:4, Ezekiel 5:9 –11, Micah 3:1–5, II Kings 6:25–30 (and many others)
2/3. Genesis 11:1–9
4. Matthew 28:18–20 Mark 16:15–16 Acts 2:38 Acts 2:17 ‘your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy … ’
Carl Wieland replies
Dear Miss A
Thank you for your letter. I will attempt to respond to the points you raise, below,
interspersed with yours.
After reading your book ‘One Blood’, I find I no longer can support
Creation Ministries.
Though acknowledging we are all descended from our very first parents, Adam and
Eve, the book contains what seems blatantly obvious to me, grave errors from
what God’s holy Word clearly says.
1. The book approves cannibalism (the transplanting of human-corpses’
body-parts to living humans) – the eating up of our dead! (refer the
book’s ‘Foreword’), a modern-world humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
the Genesis account of Babel makes no mention of races
Far be it from CMI to approve cannibalism in any shape or form. I presume you are
referring to where the book in question highlights the genetic closeness of so-called
‘races’ by stating that if in need of a kidney transplant, one might
well find that someone from a different ‘race’ is the best match available.
This was part of the book’s argument opposing racism in general, as well as
opposing the very notion of ‘races’ as it is used today; a notion foreign to the
Bible. I would gently suggest that one has to draw a very long bow indeed
to equate modern transplant surgery with ‘cannibalism’. Use of this
emotive term unfairly associates this compassionately motivated, often lifesaving
procedure, with practices involving terror, violence, killing enemies, superstition
and worse. I searched the biblical references you provided below and could find
nothing which justified the association, or even referred to it. I sincerely hope
that you never find yourself in the position of requiring such a procedure, but
in the event that you do, I would urge you to carefully work through the relevant
biblical passages with the aid of your pastor, who I would hope would assure you
that such is not forbidden in the Word any more than are blood transfusions, as
some cults claim.1
2. The book encourages the mixing of the races by intermarriage – though God
Himself made it clear in ‘Genesis’ at Babel, that He separated and dispersed
mankind into races of similarity, to control mankind’s mislead powers; a modern-world
humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
Photo by Gary Roberts, <www.worldwidefeatures.com>.
Actually, the Genesis account of Babel makes no mention of races, let alone God
intending to do that. Humanity had been instructed to spread out and fill the earth.
They chose not to do that, so God scattered them via the language confusion. Once
they had been suitably scattered to form nations across the globe (which well and
truly happened, many centuries ago already) there is nothing in Scripture to even
remotely indicate that intermarriage between any ethnic groups of people is forbidden
for racial reasons. (Passages in the OT concerning Hebrews and foreign wives clearly
are for religious reasons.) The modern-world humanistic heresy is racism based on
evolutionism; it is the Bible’s insistence that we are all descendants of
Adam and Eve which makes it clear that a believer from any people group marrying
another believer from any other is in no way sinning. See
Separation from the nations.
3. The book approves and encourages globalization, which breaks down the practice
of the living God’s divisions of mankind into separate (similar) races; a modern-world
humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
Once again, the same argument applies. Whatever the evils, problems or benefits
of globalization, the bottom line is that the Bible does not speak either for or
against this phenomenon. See Conspiracy and doomsday scenarios.
The straightforward Babel account you cite in your references below is as I have
lain it out above, the rest has (with gentleness and respect) been read into it,
I submit.
One of the obvious dire consequences of this heresy being the rapid, vast spreading
of the anti-Christ Muslims into the heart of the Western world,
the Bible’s insistence that we are all descendants of Adam and Eve …
makes it clear that a believer from any people group marrying another believer from
any other is in no way sinning.
I personally believe that the weakening of Christianity in the West in general,
this last 50 years or so in particular, bears a grave responsibility for many of
the failures of Western nations to stand in the face of radical Islam.
which had been Christian until the humanistic rebellious 1960’s, which brought
in other dire humanistic practices too.
You have a point about the 1960s. In this country (Australia), graph after graph
of things like marriage breakups, and various types of crime, show a massive upswing
after 1960. See the graph on page 10
of The Creation Answers Book
This includes male youth suicides, and at the same time a huge decline in childhood
church attendance. Although there are many factors at work in a complex world, such
a consistent pattern causes one powerful factor to rate a strong mention—the
fact that Western curricula around the world began for the first time evolution-pushing
as never before.2 Leading evolutionist and Harvard Professor Richard Lewontin said
this:
‘Evolution … was barely mentioned in school textbooks as late as 1954
… after Sputnik [1957] … the study of evolution was suddenly in all
the schools.’
He was referring to US schools—other Western countries adopted many of the
same textbooks and followed suit hot on the heels of the late 1950s.
marriage breakups, and various types of crime, show a massive upswing after 1960
… and at the same time a huge decline in childhood church attendance.
If people are more and more led to believe that the Bible can’t be trusted
on origins, and that we are probably just evolved animals—reorganized pond
scum—then the logical consequences are that the culture will see morality
as simply another opinion, rather than God’s unalterable rules. (Nobody made
me, nobody owns me, why not do as I please if I don’t get caught?) Further,
there is then no hope of life after death, no ultimate meaning and purpose to life,
thus the upswing of youth suicides which has been consistent whether the economy
has been good or bad.
4. The book does not teach the valid means of entry into Christianity, for
it does not include Holy Baptism, which Christ Jesus taught (at the end of
St Matthew’s Gospel), a modern-world humanistic, unscriptural heresy!
This concerns me greatly, as I fear you may have unwittingly bought into a serious
antiscriptural error by seemingly promoting the idea that baptism is essential for
salvation. The orthodox teaching of the church through the centuries since
the Reformation has not been to downplay the importance of baptism, but to insist
that salvation is not ‘Christ plus’ anything. Just as the well-meaning
Judaizers to whom Paul referred in his epistle to the Galatians tried to add something
to God’s grace, it is easy to fall into the trap of adding baptism as a ‘work’.
As clause C6 of our Statement of Faith puts it:
‘Salvation is a gift received by faith alone in Christ alone and expressed
in the individual’s repentance, recognition of the death of Christ as full
payment for sin, and acceptance of the risen Christ as Saviour, Lord and God.’
That is not some modern-day comment, that is the sort of position held by the overwhelming
majority of denominations and ministries that hold fast to the ‘faith once
delivered unto the saints’, to historic, Bible-believing Christianity.
I can understand how this might puzzle you, when you read e.g. Mark 16:16, where Jesus says: ‘Whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’
How come that for centuries, Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. have clearly taught that
baptism, while important, is not essential to salvation? The answer is not that
difficult, but it requires carefully considering the passage (and the related ones)—what
it says and what it does not say.
My colleague Dr Jonathan Sarfati wrote a powerful article called ‘Loving
God with all your mind: logic and creation.’ The article touches upon
this particular error, as an example of the logical fallacy formally known as ‘denying
the antecedent’. The big words are not essential to the issue, but note when
he says that this fallacy is …
‘ … committed by some groups that teach the error
of baptismal regeneration by citing the following statement of Christ according
to the Majority Text of Mark 16:16:
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe
will be condemned.
The first part of the verse is an implication: if a person believes and is baptized
then he will be saved. It is invalid to argue from this that anyone who is not baptized
will not be saved. The second part is an explicit statement that unbelief results
in condemnation.
To demonstrate the fallacy, examine the following statement which is in the same
logical form: ‘Whatever has feathers and flies is a bird, but whatever does
not have feathers is not a bird.’ This statement does not teach that there
are no flightless birds.’
I hope that makes it clear. This is not just about winning an argument, but it is
a very serious thing to add something to the biblical prescription for salvation
which the Bible does not. Paul uses some very strong language in Galatians to stress
that teaching that adds rules that the Bible doesn’t to the gospel is anathema.
The same Paul says very clearly in Ephesians 2:8–9 (emphasis in italics is mine):
‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’
I am very disappointed in Creation Ministries, for being a long-time believer in
Genesis’ creation, and all God’s holy Word (since childhood),
and witnessing the horrible disintegration (from the 1960’s) of my local community,
country, and the whole Western world – into unchristian, unscriptural Godlessness,
I can well understand, as can most believers born about mid-last century or earlier,
like you and I, who have experienced this serious descent of our western cultures.
That is part of what motivates us to keep pressing on.
I had joyfully hoped that Creation Ministries would help turn us back to (in Christ
Jesus) God and His life-giving Word.
We don’t claim to be other than imperfect, fallible servants to God’s
church, i.e. the local communities of believers, helping to arm and equip them to
stand fast in this evil day, and to witness more effectively against the onslaughts
of humanism, which is directly fuelled by evolutionary thinking (see the Humanist
Manifestoes I and II). By God’s grace, many, many folk have become Christians
as the resources have increasingly gotten into the hands of unbelievers—through
the local church making use of the ministry of CMI. (Some of their testimonies can
be found on our website).
Who is wiser than God?
Absolutely no one!!
The Lord’s clearly spoken, pure, unchanging Word contains all
we need to be saved, and to live Godly, orderly lives, unto eternal life!
God’s holy Word only saves mankind, and His world — God’s
Word only, without omissions or additions.
My dear sister, we are in total agreement on this last section.
Yours sincerely,
In Christ Jesus
(Miss) D.A.
May God bless your zeal for Him and His Word.
Yours in Christ,
Dr Carl Wieland
Managing Director,
Creation Ministries International (Australia).
References (K.J.V.):
1. Job 2:4, Ezekiel 5:9 –11, Micah 3:1–5, II Kings 6:25–30 (and many others)
2/3. Genesis 11:1–9
4. Matthew 28:18–20 Mark 16:15–16 Acts 2:38 Acts 2:17 ‘your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy … ’
Notes
- Ed. note: Of course, blood transfusions and organ transplants are not “eating”. In the former, the blood and organs function as blood and organs in the recipient. In cannibalizing blood or organs, they would be digested into their monomers (amino acids etc), which are used to build up the cannibal’s own tissues, which may not have the slightest relationship to the organs they came from. Return to text.
- One of the best treatments of these issues comes from the book The Vision of the Anointed by Dr Thomas Sowell — see our summary. Return to text.
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