Review by Regina Duncan
Title: “Unity in the Mystical Body of Christ”
Author: Raul Enyedi
Publisher: abaptistvoice.com (unsure of the date of this article)
Genre: Theological
Page Count: 27
Title: “Unity in the Mystical Body of Christ”
Author: Raul Enyedi
Publisher: abaptistvoice.com (unsure of the date of this article)
Genre: Theological
Page Count: 27
Overview:
This is a very good publication on the Ecumenical Movement. This publication gives a lot of great information about the One World Church where the World Council of Churches is trying to unite churches of all faiths. Their purpose for uniting is to do “good” things, such as protesting the violation of human rights, defense of military conflicts, and promotion of peace. The “good” they want to do is far outweighed by what they are giving up to gain it. The churches that are uniting together are giving up their uniqueness, their voice, and most importantly, their doctrines, in order to do these “good” things.
The supreme purpose of the Ecumenical Movement is to be one in Christ and to send out the Gospel to the whole world. They use the verse from John chapter 17 (vs. 21) that says “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” However, we should never just read one verse in the Bible and make it say what we want it to. It is always best to read before and after that verse, read the whole chapter, and even dig deeper if necessary to find the meaning of the Bible’s verses.
Positives:
It is great that there is such a huge amount of people who want to do morally right things. Many things can be accomplished through the scores of people who are uniting to do such things.
Negatives:
The biggest negative that I understood in reading this publication is that in order to unite and do “good” things together as one body, the churches are called to give up their doctrines, the very things that make them different and unique. For Independent, Fundamental Baptists who may join this movement, this would be detrimental to their Baptist faith. Catholicism plays a huge role in this movement and their purpose for pushing this is to regain the ones which branched out from them to form their own churches. (As a side note, even though the Catholics claim Baptists came from them, the true Baptist Heritage came from Jesus Christ Himself when He said “upon this rock I will build my church”.)
Other Books by this Author:
(These as well as “Unity and the Mystical Body of Christ” that this book review was written after are more like online articles or publications than books.)
The Way to Eternal Life
What is the Gospel?
A Short Description of Historic Baptists
The John Smith Dilemma
Leaving Christmas
Final Words: Although the “good” deeds that the Ecumenical Movement does appear to be good, they are not what are best because these things are not what the churches of Christ were put here to do. Christ established His church and gave it The Great Commission as we read in Matt 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen”
The ideas of the founders were that upon Christ’s return, He would need to find a converted world. However, the Bible never said the whole world would be converted. Christ has an elect few that will be saved. As the Bible says (Matt 7:13), “Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
No matter how much the leaders in the Ecumenical Movement may want churches to believe that the Bible teaches Ecumenism, it certainly does not. Peter and later Stephen when preaching before the Sanhedrin Council didn’t try to establish ecumenical dialogue. They preached a clear and direct message to the Jews and many of the Jews hated them and stoned them because of it. (see Acts 5:28-29; 6:8-15; ch. 22 & 24)
Although ecumenism may appear to be all nice and wonderful, false prophets often appear in sheep’s clothing to deceive, if possible, the very elect! But, if ecumenism is the future of the church, I would prefer to just stick with Jesus because without Jesus and truth, there is no church, no REAL church that is – Independent Sovereign Grace Fundamental Missionary Baptist.
This is a very good publication on the Ecumenical Movement. This publication gives a lot of great information about the One World Church where the World Council of Churches is trying to unite churches of all faiths. Their purpose for uniting is to do “good” things, such as protesting the violation of human rights, defense of military conflicts, and promotion of peace. The “good” they want to do is far outweighed by what they are giving up to gain it. The churches that are uniting together are giving up their uniqueness, their voice, and most importantly, their doctrines, in order to do these “good” things.
The supreme purpose of the Ecumenical Movement is to be one in Christ and to send out the Gospel to the whole world. They use the verse from John chapter 17 (vs. 21) that says “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” However, we should never just read one verse in the Bible and make it say what we want it to. It is always best to read before and after that verse, read the whole chapter, and even dig deeper if necessary to find the meaning of the Bible’s verses.
Positives:
It is great that there is such a huge amount of people who want to do morally right things. Many things can be accomplished through the scores of people who are uniting to do such things.
Negatives:
The biggest negative that I understood in reading this publication is that in order to unite and do “good” things together as one body, the churches are called to give up their doctrines, the very things that make them different and unique. For Independent, Fundamental Baptists who may join this movement, this would be detrimental to their Baptist faith. Catholicism plays a huge role in this movement and their purpose for pushing this is to regain the ones which branched out from them to form their own churches. (As a side note, even though the Catholics claim Baptists came from them, the true Baptist Heritage came from Jesus Christ Himself when He said “upon this rock I will build my church”.)
Other Books by this Author:
(These as well as “Unity and the Mystical Body of Christ” that this book review was written after are more like online articles or publications than books.)
The Way to Eternal Life
What is the Gospel?
A Short Description of Historic Baptists
The John Smith Dilemma
Leaving Christmas
Final Words: Although the “good” deeds that the Ecumenical Movement does appear to be good, they are not what are best because these things are not what the churches of Christ were put here to do. Christ established His church and gave it The Great Commission as we read in Matt 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen”
The ideas of the founders were that upon Christ’s return, He would need to find a converted world. However, the Bible never said the whole world would be converted. Christ has an elect few that will be saved. As the Bible says (Matt 7:13), “Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
No matter how much the leaders in the Ecumenical Movement may want churches to believe that the Bible teaches Ecumenism, it certainly does not. Peter and later Stephen when preaching before the Sanhedrin Council didn’t try to establish ecumenical dialogue. They preached a clear and direct message to the Jews and many of the Jews hated them and stoned them because of it. (see Acts 5:28-29; 6:8-15; ch. 22 & 24)
Although ecumenism may appear to be all nice and wonderful, false prophets often appear in sheep’s clothing to deceive, if possible, the very elect! But, if ecumenism is the future of the church, I would prefer to just stick with Jesus because without Jesus and truth, there is no church, no REAL church that is – Independent Sovereign Grace Fundamental Missionary Baptist.