These reports are frequently augmented, so use your REFRESH BUTTON.

 

 

Smoke, Mirrors and Disinformation…

The Compromised Ties of the Apologetics Ministries
 
Christian Research Institute

 

Part I 

 

 

 

CRI ~ “A bastion for orthodoxy”

 

CRI’s affirmation of the Lausanne Covenant…

 

The Christian Research Institute’s Journal carried the following statement proclaiming CRI’s adherence to the Lausanne Covenant, which was drafted by John Stott and other participants at the 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism which was convened by Billy Graham:

 

"…CRI's mission is to serve the entire church, and this is done better as an independent parachurch organization. There is, however, mutual accountability—not only within CRI, but in the larger field of countercult and discernment ministry. We are members in good standing of Evangelical Ministries to New Religions [EMNR], a network of respected organizations which annually affirm the orthodox statements of the Lausanne Covenant…" CRI senior editor Elliot Miller, Christian Research Journal, Winter/Spring, 1990

 

About Lausanne

 

“Lausanne is a Congress on evangelization, not a Congress on evangelism.”—Anglican Bishop A. Jack Dain, Executive Chairman of ICOWE

 

“The word ‘covenant’ is not used in its technical, biblical sense, but in the ordinary sense of a binding contract. For example, in seventeenth century Scotland there were the famous ‘Covenanters’ who bound themselves by a ‘solemn league and covenant’ to maintain the freedom of the church. The reason the expression ‘Lausanne Covenant’ was chosen in preference to ‘Lausanne Declaration’ is that we wanted to do more than find an agreed formula of words. We were determined not just to declare something, but to do something, namely to commit ourselves to the task of world evangelization.”—Anglican Minister Rev. John Stott, Chairman of Lausanne Covenant Drafting Committee

 

“Since the Lausanne Congress in 1974, Christians increasingly have been called upon to provide leadership in areas where they were a small minority or almost did not exist before. Evangelism has taken on a new meaning. It is a time of great opportunity, but also a time of great responsibility. We are stewards of our Christian heritage. We must evangelize at all costs where there is yet time. World problems of poverty, overpopulation and the threat of nuclear war mount by the hour. The world is in desperate need of the gospel, now!”—Dr. Billy Graham, Honorary Chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization

 

“We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression… Here too we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. …[W]e affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty…. We therefore pray for the leaders of nations and call upon them to guarantee freedom of thought and conscience, and freedom to practise and propagate religion in accordance with the will of God and as set forth in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” [UN Declaration of Human Rights]—The Lausanne Covenant 

 

“Bishop Jack Dain, Chairman of the Congress, has referred to Lausanne as ‘a process, not just an event.’"—John Stott

 

 

The Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelization, Pattaya, Thailand, 1980

 

Four years after the opening Lausanne Congress, LCWE sponsored a mini-consultation on *Reaching Mystics and Cultists* in Pattaya, Thailand.  Members of the mini-consultation drafted a report—The Christian Witness to New Religious Movements—one of a series of Lausanne Occasional Papers (LOPs) that emerged from this historic convention. Peter Savage, who served as International Coordinator of the pre-COWE study groups on mystics and cultists, is the chair of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students [IFES].

 

One participant in the sub-group *Reaching Mystics and Cultists* was Dr. Gordon Lewis, who is also a contributing editor to the Christian Research Institute Journal. In 1982, Gordon Lewis would found Evangelical Ministries to Cultists [renamed Evangelical Ministries to New Religions/EMNR in 1984], with Walter Martin, director of Christian Research Institute, James Bjornstad, future president and current vice president of EMNR, and Ron Enroth, who served on the Spiritual Counterfeits Project Boards of Reference & Trustees and would restructure SCP with Tal Brooke in 1988:

 

“Charter board members of [EMNR] included Dr. [Gordon] Lewis, the late Walter Martin, James Bjornstad, and Ronald Enroth.”— EMNR president John W. Morehead

 

"Indeed, Evangelical Ministries to New Religions (EMNR) was formed with exactly this identity and purpose in mind… EMNR came about as a result of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization…"— EMNR president John W. Morehead, Tired of Treading Water 

 

Overview for CRI section of this report:

 

Organizations represented at Christian Research Institute

 

Walter Martin, founder

·         Member of Rockefeller-affiliated AAR/American Academy of Religion

·         Founder of EMNR/Evangelical Ministries to New Religions

·         Member of the National Association of Evangelicals/NAE

·         Founder of Simon Greenleaf Law School and School of Apologetics

·        Associated with the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism & Human Rights, Strasbourg France [John Warwick Montgomery]

 

Hank Hanegraaff—Amidst controversy

·         Was he Walter Martin’s chosen successor?

·         Charges of financial mismanagement, authoritarian leadership and plagiarism

 
Who's Who at CRI––Contributing Editors of the Christian Research Journal

Past & Present

 
In-depth overview of CRI-related Orgs—glaring associations

·         World Congress on Families––NGO of the United Nations

·         Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity––with ties to the John Templeton Foundation

·         International Institute of Christian Studies/IICS––associate member the World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF

·         Council of Christian Colleges & Universities/CCCU–– partnered with CRI’s EQUIP University

and many, many more associations…

 
Simon Greenleaf School of Law & School of Apologetics, 1980

·         For the integration of “law, human rights and Christian apologetics”

·         Simon Greenleaf founders: Walter Martin, James W. Montgomery

  [ECLJ/European Centre for Law & Justice] and Harold Lindsell [Christianity Today]

·         Simon Greenleaf’s  prominent faculty & visiting professors

·         Simon Greenleaf's Annual International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

 
Trinity Law School, 1998 [formerly Simon Greenleaf School of Law]

Under the auspices of the Free Evangelical Church of America/ECFA denomination and Trinity International University

·         Trinity Law School Advisory Council

·         TLS’s Annual International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

·         Trinity Law School’s Dean Frost charged with plagiarism

 

International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism & Human Rights

Strasbourg France—John Warwick Montgomery

·         Strasbourg Human Rights Seminar faculty & Advisory Board

·         Seminar Sponsors including:

·         Canadian Institute for Law, Theology and Public Policy

·         Christian Apologetics Program, Biola University, LaMirada, CA, USA

·         Christians United for Reformation (CURE), USA

     Now merged/under the name of Assn. of Confessing Evangelicals/ACE

·         Rockford Institute for Religion & Society, Rockford, IL, USA ––> evolved ––>

     [Howard Center –––>> evolved–––>>World Congress on Families—NGO of the United Nations]

 

European Centre for Law and Justice [ECLJ]

John Warwick Montgomery, senior counsel

ECLJ is the European affiliate of the ACLJ/American Center for Law & Justice [Pat Robertson/CNP & Jay Sekulow/CNP]

 

CESNUR 14th International Conference—ECLJ’s J.W. Montgomery

 

Summit Ministries and CRI—David Noebel member of the Council for National Policy

 

CRI—“The Pentagon of Christian Apologetics"

Following found on the CRI/ EQUIP.org web site:

 

“The Christian Research Institute (CRI) was founded in 1960 by the late Dr. Walter Martin, the first evangelical Christian clergy to recognize the threat and opportunity presented to the Christian church by cults and alternative religious systems [term would evolve over time into new religions, more recently to new spiritualities]. First Peter 3:15 was the inspiration for CRI: “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” Recognizing that the American Christian church had abdicated its position as the spiritual conscience of America’s social, political, and ethical systems, Dr. Martin committed CRI to ‘contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3)."

 

 

Organizations represented at Christian Research Institute:

Cross-Referencing of CRI’s Editorial Board and their associations

 

•Acton Institute

•Alpha & Omega Ministries [EMNR member]

•American Family Foundation & old CAN/Cult Awareness Network

•Apologia/AR-talk/Apologetics Index [EMNR member]

•Association of Theological Schools/ATS—Rockefeller affiliated/The Fund

•Canadian Institute of Theology, Law and Public Policy

•Campus Crusade for Christ [Bill Bright, CNP]

•Campus Crusade for Christ Leadership U

•Campus Crusade for Christ, Int’l School of Theology/ISOT [Rockefeller-affiliated Assn. of Theological Schools member]

•Council for Christian Colleges & Universities/CCCU––CUGN/Christian University GlobalNet –– Hanegraaff’s Equip University is affiliated to CUGN

•Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

•CAPO/Center for the Advancement of Paleo Orthodoxy

•Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity/CBHD

•Christian Action Council/CAC [O.J. Harold Brown & C. Everett Koop]

Christianity Today

•Christianity Today International Institute

•Coalition on Revival/COR

•Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

•Discovery Institute, Center for Renewal of Science & Culture Fellows

[Hudson Institute/ RAND Corporation/Council on Foreign Relations/CFR/John Templeton Foundation affiliations]

•English Standard Version/ESV Translation Committee

Eternity Magazine

•European Centre for Law and Justice/ECLJ––affiliate of ACLJ [Pat Robertson/CNP, John Warwick Montgomery]

•Evangelical Theological Society/ETS

•Evangelicals & Catholics Together II

•Family Research Council

•Focus on the Family

•Fuller Theological Seminary [Rockefeller-affiliated Assn. of Theological Schools member]

•Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary—Walter Martin on advisory board with Billy Graham and Harold Ockenga

   [Rockefeller-affiliated Assn. of Theological Schools member]

•ICA/Institute for Christian Apologetics

•International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism & Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

     interfaces with the United Nations––U.N. human rights experts teach in the seminars

•International Fellowship of Evangelical Students [John Stott & Lindsay Brown]

•International Institute of Christian Studies/IICS—associate member of the World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF

•International Students, Inc. [Tom Phillips––Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn.]

•InterVarsity Press/IVP

•Lausanne Consultation

•Jesus Film––a project of Campus Crusade as promo for Lausanne

•John Ankerberg Theological Institute [member of the secret CNP]

•National Association of Evangelicals/NAE [organ of WEF/World Evangelical Fellowship—NGO of the United Nations] 

•Nevada Policy Research Institute––Heritage Foundation state affiliate http://www.npri.org/

•Personal Freedom Outreach/PFO [EMNR member]

•Probe Ministries––affiliated with Campus Crusade

•Reformed Theological Seminary [member of Rockefeller-affiliated Assn. of Theological Schools member] 

•Rockford Conference on Discernment and Evangelism, 1989

•Rockford Institute>>Howard Center>>World Congress of Families—NGO of the United Nations  [influenced by Hudson Institute, Brigham Young University/BYU and Focus on the Family; an alliance with other world religions––Mormons, Buddhists, Muslims et al]

•Society of Christian Philosophers

•Southern Evangelical Seminary [Norman Geisler]

•Spiritual Counterfeits Project

•Summit Ministries Conference and Curriculum [David Noebel, CNP]

•Summit's Worldview Weekends [Brannon Howse]

•Trinity Evangelical Divinity Schools/TEDS [Rockefeller-affiliated Assn. of Theological Schools member

•Trinity Int'l University Graduate School

•Trinity Law School [one of 3 Trinity Int'l University/TIU campuses; Trinity Evangelical Divinity School/TEDS is a member of the Rockefeller-affiliated Assn. of Theological Schools/ATS]

•Wilberforce Forum

•World Journalism Institute/WJI [with CATO Institute, Sun Myung Moon’s Washington Times et al]

•World Vision—NGO of the United Nations 

•Worldwide Church of God [Joseph Tkach]

   CRI personnel acted as apologists on behalf of the WCG––Hanegraaff, Paul Carden, Passantinos, Alan Gomes

•Zondervan Publishers [publishers of the New International Version/NIV]

 

Editor’s Note:

About United Nations NGO Status

 

Most if not all of the organizations listed above as represented in CRI are members of the World Evangelical Fellowship [WEF] or the National Association of Evangelicals [NAE]. The NAE is under the umbrella of WEF, which appears in the United Nations’ Database as an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). A 1996 resolution outlining the stipulations forConsultative relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental organizationsrequires that organizations in this category be in agreement with the “spirit, purposes and principles” of the U.N. and “undertake to support the work of the U.N.” Also, such organizations must promote the goals of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

 

  U.N Resolution 1996/31

Principles applied in establishing consultative relations with non-governmental organizations:

 

2. The aims and purposes of the organization shall be in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

3. The organization shall undertake to support the work of the United Nations and to promote knowledge of its principles and activities, in accordance with its own aims and purposes and the nature and scope of its competence and activities.

25. Organizations to be accorded special consultative status because of their interest in the field of human rights should pursue the goals of promotion and protection of human rights in accordance with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.

 

 

Walter Martin (1929-1989), CRI Founder

 

·         Martin was editorial research associate of Action Magazine, official organ of the National Association of Evangelicals/NAE which is a member body of the World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF

·         Martin worked for five years as contributing editor to Eternity magazine.

    See background info on Eternity magazine below.

·          Martin was the Editor of Zondervan Publishing House [10 years], heading up its Division of Cult Apologetics, which he founded in 1955. Zondervan publishes the NIV/New International Version of the Bible and a gender-neutral version of the NIV.

·         Martin was part of the Pastor's Conference Team of World Vision Inc. [NGO of the UN]

·          In 1969 Martin became a founding board member of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary with Billy Graham and GCTS's first president Harold J. Ockenga—co-founder of the National Association of Evangelicals/NAE.

·         Martin was a co-founder and director of the Simon Greenleaf University School of Law & School of Christian Apologetics, 1980.  [Now Trinity School of Law]

 

Other Simon Greenleaf University co-founders:

·         Harold Lindsell––Fuller Theological Seminary faculty and Editor of Christianity Today 1964-1978.

·         James Warwick Montgomery, who is today…

ü         Senior Counsel to the European Centre for Law and Justice/ECLJ (The European counter-part of the ACLJ––Pat Robertson [CNP] and Jay Sekulow [CNP])

ü         Professor in Residence of the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights, Strasbourg, France, which interfaces with the United Nations. [See: Diakrisis: Discernment or Deception: ACE/CURE]

 

These issues and many, any more are presented in the following CRI Report, as we take an in-depth look at CRI's history, the people who work at Christian Research Institute as contributing editors and the mind-spinning maze of inter-connections.

 

Following taken from a CRI brochure [1980s]…

 

CRI The Bible ANSWER MAN ~ Who is Walter Martin?

 

The Reverend Walter Martin holds four earned degrees and received his education at Stony Brook School, Shelton College, Adelphi University and Biblical Seminary; his Master's degree from New York University; and his Ph.D. from California Western University in 1976. He has authored 12 full-length books… He is a recognized authority on religions having their origins in the United States. The late Donald Grey Barnhouse once wrote of him, "I know of no one who equals him in his field."

 

The Kingdom of the Cults, Professor Martin's largest and most comprehensive text (421 double-column pages), which deals with 20 of the most notable sects of our day, was selected by both Christianity Today and Eternity magazines as "one of the best" of the year in 1965 and has since been revised and updated.

 

Professor Martin served for six years as associate professor of biblical studies at the King's College in Briarcliff Manor, New York, and has worked as editorial research associate of Action Magazine, official organ of the National Association of Evangelicals. He has frequently contributed to leading Christian magazines and has published articles in Christianity Today, Christian Life, Action [NAE's publication], Eternity,* The Christian Reader and many others. For five years he was a contributing editor to Eternity magazine and served for ten years as an editor of Zondervan Publishing House, heading up its Division of Cult Apologetics which he founded in 1955.

 

 

A Brief Chronology of Walter R. Martin's Ministry

 

~ abbreviated; editor has added a few missing events

September 10, 1928

Walter R. Martin was born in Brooklyn, New York.

1944

Ed. Note: According to friend Bill Seaver, Walter Martin had a conversion experience while at Stony Brook School.

1951

Was ordained as a Baptist minister.

1954-1956

Public Relations and Alumni Director at Stony Brook School.

1955

Founded the Division of Cult Apologetics at the Zondervan Publishing House.

1956

Obtained a Master's degree from New York University and Biblical Seminary.

1956-1957

Dr. Martin and Donald Grey Barnhouse [see Miles Sanford on Barnhouse & Martin below] engaged in a formal conference with several major representatives of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventism. The purpose of the meeting was to gather doctrinal information on this controversial group.

1957

Questions on Doctrine was published by the Adventist denomination largely in response to questions raised by Dr. Martin.

1957-1960

Walter Martin and Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote a number of important articles on Seventh-day Adventism for Eternity magazine.

1958

Part of the Pastor's Conference Team of World Vision Inc. [NGO/UN] Traveled some 25,000 miles and spoke to over 5,000 Christians about the problem of non-Christian cults on the mission field. Tour stops included Formosa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Burma, India, and Ghana.

1960 (October 1)

Founded Christian Research Institute. Served as its President for almost thirty years.

1960

Published The Truth about Seventh-day Adventism.

1960-1965

Taught at King's College in New York.

1961-1962

The Religious Research Digest was published by the Christian Research Institute. This quarterly publication featured such writers as Wilbur M. Smith and Donald Grey Barnhouse.

1965

 Published the classic The Kingdom of the Cults. This book was selected by both Christianity Today and Eternity magazines as "one of the best" of the year in 1965…The July 1985 edition of Newsweek magazine listed the book as "one of the 10 best selling spiritual books in America." Approximately 500,000 copies have been published to date.

Radio ministry expanded with the addition of "The Bible Answer Man" program, a live telephone talk show in which Walter Martin answered questions about the Bible and related subjects. The program was recognized by the National Religious Broadcasters [affiliate org of the NAE/Nat’l Assn of Evangelicals] as "one of the most controversially stimulating programs in Christian radio!"

Editor’s Note: Martin’s Chronology fails to mention [what was stated in the CRI brochure above]

that Martin “worked as editorial research associate of Action Magazine, official organ of the National Association of Evangelicals.”

1966-1973

Took over the Bible Class of Donald Grey Barnhouse, held every Monday evening in New York City.

1968-1979

Founding board member at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

1974

Walter Martin moved from New Jersey to California where he eventually set up CRI's International Headquarters.

Began teaching "Cults and the Occult" at [the ecumenical] Melodyland School of Theology. [See MST below.] His class at Melodyland evolved into a regular Sunday school class in Southern California.

1975

Began broadcasting "The Bible Answer Man" in Southern California.

1976

Obtained a Ph.D. degree from California Western University.

1978

Interviewed on national television (NBC) following the Jonestown tragedy.

Founded FORWARD magazine. This magazine evolved to the present CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL.

1980

Published The New Cults, a book which examines and evaluates the newer cults infiltrating society [with Gretchen Passantino].

Published Walter Martin's Cults Reference Bible.

Published The New Cults, a book which examines and evaluates the newer cults infiltrating society.

Became the Director of the MA program at Simon Greenleaf School of Law.

Co-founders were Walter Martin, James Warwick Montgomery and Harold Lindsell and others

An Honor Citation was given to CRI by the National Religious Broadcasters for "The Bible Answer Man" program.

An Award of Excellence was presented to CRI for "The Bible Answer Man" by RIM (Religion In Media).

Editor’s entry: The Thailand Report on New Religious Movements

Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelization

Mini-Consultation on Reaching Mystics and Cultists held at Pattaya, Thailand, June 16-27 1980––Participants included: Gordon Lewis [Denver Seminary], Brooke Alexander [Spiritual Counterfeits Project] and Caryl Williams-Matrisciana [Gloria Deo Trust, UK], Peter Beyerhaus [Diakrisis Institute, Germany], et al

1982

Editor’s entry: Following Dr. Lewis’ involvement with Lausanne, he along with other participants at the Santa Barbara conference [1982], voted to organize a ministry known as Evangelical Ministry to Cultists (EMTC). The organization held on to this name until 1984. Charter board members of this organization included Dr. Gordon Lewis, the late Walter Martin, Ronald Enroth  and James Bjornstad. EMTC was originally promoted as an organization affiliated with Lausanne

1983

Spoke in Brazil, the spiritist capital of the world, and established a CRI office there

1984

Editor’s entry: founders of Evangelical Ministry to Cultists/EMTC [Walter Martin, Gordon Lewis, Ronald Enroth and James Bjornstad], voted to change the name of the organization to Evangelical Ministries to New Religions (EMNR), a name it has kept to the present time.

Source of info: Cornerstone Mag

1985

CRI opened an office in Canada.

1987 (October 30)

Discussed Satanism on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson.

1987

Secret Power, written by D. L. Moody and first published in 1881, was edited by Walter Martin and republished. Dr. Martin wanted to republish the book because it showed that Moody subscribed to the Charismatic emphasis on the need for the power of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts.

Editor's entry: Walter Martin and Constance Cumbey meet for lunch in Seattle. See Cumbey's memoirs below.

1988

CRI moved into its new International Headquarters building in Irvine, California.

1989

Published his last book, The New Age Cult, which examines and evaluates some of the major tenets of the New Age movement.

1989 (June 17)

Delivered his last seminar at Arrowhead Springs Christian Conference Center for a small Pastor's Conference where Dr. Martin preached on holiness.

1989 (June 24)

Debate with Bishop Spong on "The John Ankerberg Show," the weekend prior to his death.

1989 (June 26)

Walter R. Martin died peacefully at his home in San Juan Capistrano, California. He was 60 years old.

~ emphasis and editorial comments added

 

Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1987

 

Constance Cumbey’s Luncheon with Walter Martin

 

Constance Cumbey’s

NEW AGE MONITOR

 

Pointe Publishers, Inc.

Mark Spaulding, President

P.O. Box 3078

CenterLine, Michigan 48015-0078

Copyright © 1991 by Constance Cumbey. All Rights Reserved

 

May 1991

 

Dear Reader:

 

Pointe Publishers has new capable leadership in the form of Marks Spaudling and Raymond Delaforce who have promised to take the administrative load off my back so that I can concentrate on my dual and heavy responsibilities of managing my ever growing law practice and keeping you informed of the New Age Movement and related developments at the same time. I have come back reluctantly – realizing the need for information and at the same time feeling – not without justification – that if people don’t know about the New Age Movement, it is not my fault. At the same time, there is more disinformation circulating through the Christian community and I know I can no longer remain silent. It is hard to tell you all that ranged through my mind the past two years. In June, 1989, I was ready to release a newsletter that frankly tackled the subject of Walter Martin and his deliberate campaign of disinformation to conceal the true facts of the New age Movement from the Christian public. I had prepared the newsletter. I was in Seattle debating a demonic channeled entity calling itself “Mafu” together with New Age leader, Marcel Vogel. I went to Vancouver for a talk and on the way we stopped at a bookstore in Bellingham, Washington. There I spotted the book, The New Age Cult by Walter Martin. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Whole paragraphs were obviously plagiarized from The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow. He spoke to Jim Jones and claimed that no previous book critical of the New Age Movement had brought out the occult connections of Jim Jones and his People’s Temple.

 

Since Walter Martin and many of his protégées had publicly criticized me for saying that Jim Jones was connected with the New Age I found this most surprising. Indeed it was a lie. Jim Jones’ occult connections were most certainly mentioned in my book – pages 16-17 of my Preface and more extensively on pages 59 and 60 of The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow.

 

“My Lunch with Walter Martin”

 

I had lunch with Walter Martin in Tacoma, Washington in 1987. The luncheon was arranged by his secretary Joni. [Tells how the meeting was set up] According to Dr. Martin, I was “paranoid” and “seeing New Agers everywhere.”

 

“But I was in the New Age Movement and was saved after I read The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow!” said his secretary. According to [the person who would later set up the Cumbey-Martin meeting], Dr. Martin, then nearly broke down, and said” I know there’s a rift between Constance Cumbey and myself and I don’t know how to heal it. I was so busy researching the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses that I didn’t have time to investigate the New Age Movement. I had to take the word of my staff which told me there was no New Age Movement,” said Walter.

 

Joni, evidently believing Dr. Martin to be sincere took upon herself the role of peace maker. She heard that Walter Martin and myself were both scheduled to be in the Seattle area and she arranged a luncheon. I decided not to go alone and that proved to be wise decision. Dr. Martin was accompanied by two men – one with a reputation for deep anti-Semitism. His approach to me was a total mocking one. He was obviously playing what was called ‘mind games’ in the era of the 60’s and 70’s. He kept cupping his hands over his eyes and demanding “Connie, Connie – look at me Connie.” (I was far from being on a nickname basis with him!) Then he would mockingly say, “What’s the matter Connie? Are you afraid I am going to hypnotize you, Connie?” Contrarily to what Joni told me, Walter Martin wanted to hear nothing of the New Age Movement. Nor did he repudiate the work of his staff.

 

I finally confronted him with an item from page 14 of an earlier edition of Kingdom of the Cults where he wrote that Jesus came to show us that there was such a thing as “divine humanity.” I was sure he would say that I had taken him out of context – that he was referring to Jesus and nobody but Jesus. No! He was referring, he said, “to the glory that would be revealed in us at the manifestation of the Sons of God.” I could not resist it, “Walter, with all due respect, I don’t think that Joseph Smith could have said it much better than that!”

 

I asked him too about his claims, quoted in James McKeever’s books that he was the first “unimpeachable source to witness and photograph a UFO.” There was no serious answer to this either – only rude flippancy. At this point, I said, “Walter, if I saw a UFO, I wouldn’t have time to take a picture!” At that point, he mockingly said, “Do you want to see my rainbow? Do you want to see my unicorn pin?” We terminated the meeting. It brought to mind the New Age Movie, My Dinner with Andre. I was so tempted to write the script for a Christian equivalent. My Luncheon with Walter Martin. I finally decided to write about the entire campaign he had staged from 1982 until 1989 to keep people from learning the true facts about the New Age Movement. I prepared a newsletter and advertised it as being the content of the next issue. That next issue was prepared dealing with “Walter Martin’s Deliberate Disinformation Campaign.” I was in Seattle debating New Ager Marcel Vogel and Mafu (Penny Torres) on June 19, 1989. I stayed a week. As I was waiting for a delayed flight to Detroit in the Seattle SeaTac airport, I was paged. Answering the page, and returning the requested call. I was told that Walter Martin had died.

 

I was faced with a personal dilemma. I have a personal ethic that one should not kick a corpse. I have several reasons for this. I don’t know if the Bible mandates it, but when one dies, there are grieving relatives. I believe it is frankly “tacky” to go on the attack at such a time, even if one is justified! I scrapped my copy, even though not surprisingly the corpse continues to vigorously kick me. The book Witch Hunt by John [Bob] and Gretchen Passantino* contains a posthumous introduction by Walter Martin! During his lifetime Walter Martin vigorously defended hypnosis (what he called “Christian hypnosis”); UFO sightings; acupuncture (he claimed it had nothing to do with the Chinese theories of Yin and Yang!) and said on one classic tape in my collection, ‘The New Age is a figment of Constance Cumbey’s imagination!”

 

It is hard for me to watch Walter Martin’s book The New Age Cult be given such credibility, when I know that we got the word out about the New Age Movement absolutely no thanks to Walter Martin. If he had given accurate information, I still don’t think I would have been as concerned – “for whatever motive they are preaching the gospel, still the gospel is being preached.” But basically the book incorporated my information and said, “so what” and told people to go back to sleep!

 

*Found: Apologetics Index [Anton Hein], RE: Gretchen Passantino, editor of Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults

"Gretchen Passantino, ed. Chapter 19 The Road to Recovery, ''Kingdom of the Cults,'' Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Revised, updated and expanded edition, Oct. 1997, p.460-461

Incidentally, ''Kingdom of the Cults'' was authored by Walter Martin. Since his death the book has been updated and edited under the editorial guidance of Hank Hanegraaff and Gretchen Passantino. It now includes comments that the original author would likely not have agreed with. More on that will be posted here in the future." [Anton Hein]

 

 

Walter Martin's Religious InfoNet

 

Walter Martin’s Religious InfoNet web site is hosted by Martin's son-in-law Kevin Rische. Rische is also the web master for EMNR.

 

“Website revisions. EMNR has a new ‘web servant,’ Kevin Rische [son-in-law to Walter Martin] of Walter Martin's Religious Infonet. The board of EMNR will be working closely with Kevin to redesign and update the site to keep timely information and resources available to its membership.”

 

Found on Religious InfoNet web site:

 

Walter Martin Biography "…The late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, named by Billy Graham as one of the foremost Bible Teachers of the 20th Century, once wrote of Dr. Martin, "I know of no one who equals him in this field." He is widely accepted as the "father" of the Counter-Cult Movement.

 

The Kingdom of the Cults, Professor Martin's largest and most comprehensive text, was selected by both Christianity Today and Eternity magazines as "one of the best" of the year in 1965, and has since been revised and expanded.

 

…He has contributed frequently to leading Christian magazines and has published articles in Christianity Today, Christian Life, Action, Eternity, and The Christian Reader. For five years he was a contributing editor to Eternity Magazine

 

Dr. Billy Graham has said of him, "He is one of the most articulate spokesmen for evangelical Christianity that I know."

 

…Walter Martin also pioneered the development of seminars dealing with cults and the problems of secularism in education.

      Christianity Today has called Professor Martin "The most productive evangelical scholar writing in the field of the sects today." Time magazine gave special attention and recognition to Walter Martin's research abilities and characterized him as "a research polemicist who brought peace and not a sword."

 

…Dr. Martin held membership in the American Academy of Religion, The Society of Biblical Literature, the Evangelical Theological Society, the National Association of Religious Broadcasters [affiliate of the NAE>>>] and the National Association of Evangelicals/NAE. He served for 15 years as a founding board member of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts and was a Professor in the M.A. program at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law in Anaheim, California.

 

From Walter Martin bio above…

 

American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature are located at the Luce Center, Emory University which houses the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for Theological Education/The Fund/FTE.

 

Welcome to the Fund for Theological Education

 

Greetings and welcome to the Fund for Theological Education. We are delighted that you have chosen to visit our organization's website and to enter the conversation about excellence and diversity in Christian ministry and teaching.

 

Begun in 1954 with the goal of supporting excellence in the profession of ministry, the Fund for Theological Education has enjoyed a long and rich history, providing gifted women and men with nearly 5000 fellowships and generating innovative new programs for theological and ministerial support.

 

Supported by individuals and grants from a group of U.S. foundations, FTE envisions new and imaginative programs to encourage diversity and excellence in the churches and seminaries of North America

 

Visit our staff at the Luce Center in Atlanta, Georgia, a facility that also houses the offices of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature


Society of Biblical Literature––Who We Are

 

The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) supports the critical investigation of the Bible. Founded in 1880, SBL is a member of the American Council of Learned Societies. The Society provides conversation partners and resources for those interested in the religions, history, literature, and culture of the ancient near eastern world.

 

 

Ed. Note: Note that two of the organizations that Walter Martin belonged to, American Academy of Religion/AAR and Society of Biblical Literature/SBL, are based in the same location as the Rockefeller Fund for Theological Education—in the Henry Luce Center. The Henry Luce Foundation funds the SBL/ Society for Biblical Literature and also funds the ATS/ Association of Theological Schools which in 2001 received a 4-year grant of $2,780,000 to administer the Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology Program.  Other recipients of Luce funding in 2001included: 

 

American Bible Society, New York, NY - To support the Biblical Arts Symposia. A three-year grant of $300,000.

Azusa Pacific University, Haggard Graduate School of Theology, Azusa, CA - To support the bilingual library of the School of Theology's Asian Center. A three-year grant of $150,000.

Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA - To support a Pacific Rim initiative. A four-year grant of $400,000.

Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ - To create the Henry Luce III Professorship in Theology and the Arts. A grant of $2,000,000.

Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY [Rockefeller/ ”the Church’s Risk Takers”/Phillip Schaff] - To establish the Henry Luce III Chair in Reformation History. A grant of $2 million.

Yale University, New Haven, CT [home of Skull & Bones Society] - To support the final stage of The Works of Jonathan Edwards project. A three-year grant of $225,000.

 

Among the Luce Fellows in Theology are found ministerial students at the University of Chicago Divinity School [Rockefeller], Union Theological Seminary [Rockefeller], Yale University Divinity School [Skull & Bones] and Regent College [Extension of Oxford University/J.I. Packer, Dir of Anglican Studies].

 

About Henry R. Luce (1898-1967, S&B [1920], CFR)

 

Henry Robinson Luce was educated at Oxford and Yale where he was initiated in the Society of Skull & Bones in 1920.  He built the Time-Life publishing empire—Time (1923), Fortune (1930), Life (1936), and Sports Illustrated (1954)— with offices in the Rockefeller Center. Luce became the leading publicist of the "American century" doctrine, which maintained that the United States should abandon isolationism and embrace imperialism; America's mission should not merely fight for democracy but also spread her culture, technology, and ideals throughout the world.  According to The Union Jack, a book exposing British-Israelism which has been removed from the Internet, Henry Luce was advancing the imperialist objectives of the British Empire in the United States:

 

"Time Follows Rhodes' Line

"Closely following the Rhodes' line of propaganda is the Time, Inc., magazine group headed by Henry Luce. Luce was not a Rhodes scholar but he did spend a year at Oxford where he sponged up some of the imperialistic doctrines carried later in his magazines. Several of his top brass editors have been Rhodes Scholars.

"From the start Luce followed the Anglophile trail, whooping it up for American intervention in war when the British were in trouble and damning pro-Americans as 'isolationists.' He is a charter member of the 'Eisenhower-for-President' cult, favors entrapment of Republicans by Truman's so-called bipartisan foreign policy, and the Marshall plan, which has paid off his magazines.

"In addition to pushing the British concept of policing the world with American soldiers and economic aid, the Luce publications have been infiltrated by another form of globalism. Whittaker Chambers, devotee of world communism and confessed courier for a soviet spy ring, was a senior editor ($30,000 a year) for Time magazine. Chambers informed on Alger Hiss, Roosevelt adviser at Yalta. Hiss is now in a federal penitentiary for perjury in a case involving soviet espionage.

"Rhodes Men on N. Y. Times

"The New York Times, which has been pro-British since the first World war, also has its share of Rhodes scholars on the staff. An interesting footnote in journalistic history is that at the time Rhodes' final will was published in 1902, the New York Times condemned the idea of American scholarships.

"'Why should an American youth go to Oxford when he can get a better education at home in respect of those attainments which chiefly make for national greatness?' inquired the Times in 1902."

 

Pew Charitable Trusts Grant to the American Academy of Religion/AAR 

[Found by doing a Grant Search: Faith-based/All recent Grants]

(2000) News Media Referral Service, $ 1,200,000 (funded through a grant to American Academy of Religion, Inc.)

 


 

  Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology from above––1948…

About Frank E. Gaebelein, counselor to Martin

 

Dr. Frank Gaebelein—for 40 years the headmaster of Stony Brook School [high school] that Martin attended in his teens—was directly involved with Martin's conversion to Christianity from Roman Catholicism.

Gaebelein's other credits include:

Who are the people at ATS? See below.

Lesbian feminist, Virginia Mollenkott, served as a consultant to the NIV Style Committee

 

Dr. Gaebelein

 

For 45 years he was the headmaster of Stony Brook School, where Walter Martin attended as a teenager and where Martin would later serve on the staff. Gaebelein was also on the staff of Christianity Today and an officer in the Evangelical Theological Society/ETS

 

The American Tract Society/ATS library has been named to honor Dr. Frank E. Gaebelein for his many years of dedicated service as a member of the American Tract Society's Board from 1938 until his death in 1983. For many of those years he headed the Society's publication committee.

 

Dr. Gaebelein was the first headmaster of Stony Brook on Long Island, New York, where he served for 41 years and set a standard for excellence in education that is widely recognized. He wrote 14 books and was an associate editor of Christianity Today. He was chairman of the style committee for the "Holy Bible, New International Version, and Editor of the "New Schofield Reference Bible." At his death, he was general editor of the "Expositor's Bible Commentary."

 

 

American Tract Society Council Of Reference, 2001

~ About Us

partial listing

William R. Bright––President and Founder, Campus Crusade For Christ International; Campus Crusade is an associate member of the World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF [Campus Crusade founded Christian World Liberation Front/CWLF which became Spiritual Counterfeits Project]

Robert E. Coleman––Director, Institute of Evangelism, The Billy Graham Center

W.A. Criswell, Ph.D.––Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church

Anthony T. Evans, Th.D.––Senior Pastor, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

President of The Urban Alternative [UA serves as a model for Faith-based Welfare Reform]

Billy Graham––Evangelist & Chairman of the Board, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association [33ş Freemason]

Franklin Graham––Evangelist, CEO, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Chairman & CEO, Samaritan's Purse

Howard G. Hendricks––Distinguished Professor, Dallas Theological Seminary [Rockefeller-affiliated Assn of Theological Schools member]

Dr. Jay Kesler––Chancellor, Taylor University [Kesler is listed in "The Sir John Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character and Development" as one of the 50 college presidents who have exercised leadership in character development.]

Woodrow Kroll––President, Back to The Bible

Greg Laurie––Evangelist, Harvest Ministries [Laurie is on the board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association/BGEA]

Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie––Chaplain, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.

Luis Palau––Evangelist, Luis Palau Evangelistic Association [LPEA is an associate member of the World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF]

Haddon W. Robinson, Ph.D., Th.D.––Distinguished Professor of Preaching,

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary [First President was Harold Ockenga 1969; funding from philanthropist J. Howard Pew [Pew Charitable Trusts today]; Billy Graham was on the board of trustees; and now we are about to discover in the Walter Martin Chronology [see below] that Martin was a  GCTS founding board member!! Gordon-Conwell is a member of the Rockefeller-affiliated Association of Theological Schools/ ATS.]

Charles C. Ryrie, A.B., Th.D., Ph.D., Litt.D.––Bible scholar, author and teacher

Robert H. Schuller––Host, The Hour of Power; Pastor, The Crystal Cathedral [33ş Freemason]

Jay A. Sekulow Esquire/CNP––Chief Council for The American Center For Law & Justice/ACLJ

Charles R. Swindoll––President, Dallas Theological Seminary [DTS is a Rockefeller-affiliated Assn of Theological Schools member]

 

 

Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1956-1960…

Walter Martin’s close association with Donald Grey Barnhouse

 

Editor's Note: A MUST READ

The company which Walter Martin kept in those early days reveals much about the foundational theology, direction and agenda of CRI.

 

 

Miles Stanford on Barnhouse and Martin:

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse and Neo-Evangelicalism

by Miles J. Stanford

 

"Many spirits are abroad in the world and the church, and the credentials they display are splendid gifts of eloquence and ability.

Christian, look carefully. Ask for the print of the nails." - Justin Martyr

 

"Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" John 12:24

 

Dear friend in Christ Jesus,

 

This page (originally published in 1977) constitutes a brief sketch of Neo-evangelicalism, a movement that began its death march some twenty-five years ago, in the wrong direction, and under the wrong banner. Its design was denominational infiltration, its banner was brains. It avoided the crucifixion of the Cross, ultimately to fall to the ground, alone and fruitless.

 

Had Neo-evangelicalism marched away from denominational Liberalism—under the banner of the Cross—the march would have resulted in death unto life, with much fruit for the glory of the Lord.

 

In that the movement has been critiqued in literally hundreds of books and articles, we will share our warning and alternative via the example of one of the movement's founders, Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse. You may inquire, "Why Dr. Barnhouse; why single him out? What of the many contemporary Neo-evangelical leaders who oppose separation and maintain the same ecumenical attitude and methods that he did?

 

"Why not use as your example any one of such men as Drs. Edward Carnell, Harold Ockenga, Carl Henry, Billy Graham, Clyde Taylor, Vernon Grounds, Rufus Jones, Lorne Sanny, Russell Hitt, Bob Walker, Bill Bright, Raymond Edman, John W. Alexander, Bob Cook, Hudson Armerding, John Stott, David Hubbard, Frank Gaebelein, Arthur Glasser, Wm. Petersen, John Mackay, Dan Fuller, Paul Rees, George Ladd, Bob Pierce, Ken Taylor, Bernard Ramm, or Leighton Ford?"

 

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse (born 1895), a founder and file leader of Neo-evangelicalism, was one of the most influential Christian leaders of his time. He stood well in the forefront in the realms of intellect, theological training, and in his knowledge of the identification truths…

 

READ THE REST OF THIS MUST-READ ARTICLE

 

 

 

Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1957-1960…

Donald Grey Barnhouse

(1895-1960) US Presbyterian pastor for 33 years in one church; founder of Eternity magazine

 

Eternity Magazine

 

 

"In 1940, Norman Vincent Peale (33rd degree Mason) formed the psychologically-oriented "Foundation for Christian Living," which in 1988 purchased Eternity magazine; by the end of that year, Eternity had ceased to exist." (Source: Biblical Discernment Ministries exposé of Norman Vincent Peale.

 

"…And indeed as the Reverend Doctor Norman Vincent Peale, one of the best known Christian and Masonic authors of today has remarked, there can never be conflict between Christianity and any other organization which constantly urges its members to live a moral life…"

Conscience and the Craft

Question on Religion and Freemasonry

By Jim Tresner, Ph.D., 33rd degree

 

 

Constance Cumbey stated about Eternity Magazine: "ETERNITY Magazine which had a vested interest (they were pro Jeremy Rifkin, sympathetic to New Age Movement) in silencing legitimate anti-New Age work." [Source: e-mail loop 1999]

 

Eternity magazine named Piety and Politics one of the twenty-five best books of 1988. Michael Cromartie was co-editor, with the ecumenical Richard John Neuhaus, of Piety and Politics: Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Confront the World (1987; now in its fifth printing)… He formerly worked as a special assistant to Charles W. Colson [CNP] at Prison Fellowship Ministries. Michael Cromartie is Vice President at the Ethics and Public Policy Center/EPPC; directing the Evangelical Studies Project. The Ethics and Public Policy Center was established in 1976 to clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and domestic and foreign policy issues. Cromartie is an Advisory Editor for Christianity Today with Stephen T. McFarland of the Christian Legal Society/CLS and who now serves as director for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom which was set up to monitor religion globally, after the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

 

See Control over Christian Educational Institutions, Ethics & Public Policy Center.

 

Dr. James Montgomery Boice [deceased] was associate editor at Christianity Today [1967] and editor/author for Eternity.

 

Eternity magazine March 1988 featured a full-page advertisement promoting Fuller Theological Seminary: “Unity in Diversity,” featuring a picture of Lewis B. Smedes, Fuller Professor of Theology & Ethics.

 

Boice served as Chairman of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, from its founding (by Jay Grimstead, president of Coalition on Revival/COR) in 1977 to its completion in 1988. Dr. Boice was Pastor of the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for more than 30 years, having followed the pastorate of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse–– a close associate of Walter Martin. Barnhouse was the founder and first president of Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals/ACE, who was followed by Boice—the acting ACE president until his death. ACE is a sponsoring org of James Warwick Montgomery's International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights, Strasbourg, France which interfaces with the United Nations; U.N. experts on human rights teach in the seminars.

 

 

Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1961…

Wilbur M. Smith and Fuller Theological Seminary

 

Previously found: http://www.fuller.edu/anniversary/html/histry/found.htm

 

The Founding of Fuller

 

"If this school is to be, it should be the best of its kind in the world!" wrote radio evangelist Charles E. Fuller to Bible scholar Wilbur. M. Smith in 1946. "I see this great need, but I am not an educator. I must have the help of men of like vision." In the 1940s Fuller's vision included the establishment of a theological school on the West Coast to train men and women for ministry, mission, and evangelism that would stand as a bastion of evangelical fundamentalism against the twentieth-century trends of modernism and secularism.

 

With cofounder Harold Ockenga [founder of the Nat’l Assn. of Evangelicals/NAE, 1942], theologian-pastor of Park Street Church in Boston, Charles Fuller enlisted outstanding evangelical scholars such as Carl F. H. Henry, Everett F. Harrison, Harold Lindsell [Christianity Today], and Wilbur M. Smith as founding faculty of the fledgling seminary. In 1947 the seminary's first classes were held at Pasadena's Lake Avenue Congregational Church. Meanwhile, Fuller, an astute businessman, bought property to locate the seminary adjacent to Pasadena's City Hall. Over the next 50 years, Fuller Seminary would grow from an initial enrollment of less than 40 students to become the largest seminary in North America, with a total student enrollment of 3,500.

 

 

 

Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1965…

National Association of Evangelicals

 

The National Association of Evangelicals was founded in 1942 by Harold Ockenga and J. Edwin Orr.

 

In 1951 the NAE commissioned John Stott (in consultation with Billy Graham) to develop the guiding principles of what would become the world Evangelical Fellowship/WEF

 

The new World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) was the revived remains of what had originally been the U.S. Evangelical Alliance/EA [1846, Philip Schaff). The EA which continues to be a functioning ecumenical body in the UK was founded in 1846 at an unprecedented global missionary gathering in London at the United Grand Lodge of England headquarters at Freemason Hall. Stott was commissioned to do this work by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which is now, ironically, a member of WEF representing North America.

 

NAE's HISTORY & LEADERSHIP 

1929 - J. Elwin Wright formed the New England Fellowship

1941 - Wright made a tour of 31 states interviewing evangelical leaders with the purpose of forming a national fellowship. He worked in Boston with Harold Ockenga. At the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago - a call for conference was signed by 147 evangelical leaders …

1942 – Conference––‘United Action Among Evangelicals,’ St. Louis

1943 - NAE Constitutional Convention, Chicago

 

NAE Founders:

 

In the year 2000 a new global entity named the

Great Commission Global Roundtable/GCGR was formed representing a partnership / merger of:

Mission America is the U.S. national body which mobilizes populations for prayer. One such initiative is the National Day of Prayer [Shirley and James Dobson]. Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, who is a member of the secret Council for National Policy/CNP, is also working in the ecumenical alliance of world religions—World Congress of Families/WCF. WCF is mentioned elsewhere in this report. Christian Research Institute’s Harold O. J. Brown is a representative/speaker for the World Congress of Families–– an NGO [a non-governmental organization] member body of the United Nations.

 

See also: Focus on the Family Ties to the Theosophical Society

 


Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1974…

Melodyland School of Theology

 

Melodyland's annual Charismatic Clinic in the late 1960s was a week-long teaching seminar on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which featured an evening with Katherine Kuhlman. Also featured  was Mr. Pentecost, David du Plessis. DuPlessis’ message was that through the vehicle of the charismatic movement the division between Catholicism and Protestantism was being dissolved.

 

Du Plessis at Fuller Theological Seminary 

 

Special and Cooperative Programs Fuller Theological Seminary is committed to meeting the needs of churches and of those who seek to serve them. In the School of Theology, a number of special institutes, programs and cooperative relationships have been developed which seek to make the resources of theological education available to those engaged in work and ministry, and to gather educational resources to focus on specific needs of churches and of those preparing for specialized ministries…

 

The David du Plessis Center for Christian Spirituality

 

Inaugurated in 1985, the Center has for its aim the study of Christian spirituality over the broad range of ecumenical diversity. Included in such investigation are the literature, practices, institutions and movements of spirituality. These may include, for example, the mystical tradition in Eastern Orthodoxy, the role of women in spirituality, charismatic renewal and ministry, and the origins of the Pentecostal movement.

 

The Center was named for the renowned "Mr. Pentecost," whose ministry over a half-century bridged three significant Christian movements--ecumenical, charismatic and Pentecostal. Its first major project consists of the establishment of an archival collection of Pentecostal and charismatic resources based on the library and personal papers of David J. du Plessis, which have been permanently donated to the Seminary. Related materials from others are actively sought, and an archive now exists within the Seminary library.

 

Closer Examination of Walter Martin’s Chronology 1974…

Walter Martin obtained his Ph.D. degree from California Western University

 

Walter Martin's Religious InfoNet

Questions?

(…)

*Do you have information regarding Walter Martin's doctorate?

 

Religious InfoNet’s response written by CRI’s Rich Poll:

 

Walter Martin's Doctorate

~ edited for purposes of this report

 

…Facts which are not disputed concerning Walter Ralston Martin are as follows: He is an ordained Baptist minister and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention (see Questions? page). He is also sympathetic with the Charismatic movement. He holds four earned degrees including a Master's Degree from New York University. He is trained in the ancient languages of the Scriptures, although he is careful to maintain he is not a linguist. Demonstrably, his areas of expertise are Religious Education, Philosophy, Ancient Church History and of the faith…

The fact which most certainly is disputed is Walter Martin's claim to having an earned doctorate from a legitimate degree granting institution…

Let us first consider, then, if indeed Walter R. Martin has any real claim to be called "Dr." and then ask ourselves honestly what credentials are required to critique the LDS church. [Martin is being challenged publicly by a Mormon couple.]

First, while this writer is generally uncomfortable with the term "expert" in any application, there most certainly is a uniformly respected expert in the field of Alternative, or Non-traditional College Education. After having had the privilege of communicating with him, I am confident he would likewise prefer some alternate epithet to "expert," but he nonetheless is an expert. His name is Dr. John Bear. His degrees are legion, and they are earned and easily verifiable. Many years ago Dr. Bear became fascinated with the entire concept of college without campus. This fascination led him to a field of research heretofore untouched, and resulted in the publication of "Bear's Guide To Non-traditional College Degrees," cited above.

Robert and Rosemary Brown, in their criticism of Walter Martin's doctoral credentials, pointed out that California Western University, now known as California Coast University, is operated out of humble headquarters in Santa Ana, California, and does not bear a physical resemblance to what one would conjure up in one's mind when one imagines a University. Dr. Bear, however, is careful to note that some very fine programs are offered by small schools. Such apparently is the case with California Coast University.

 

"California Coast University was one of the first of California's non-resident Universities. CCU is the only non-resident school in California to have received state approval of all degree programs offered… each faculty member holds recognized degrees from traditional schools."

Dr. Bear, who, it should be noted, has no interest in any religious controversy, concludes with this observation: "For those persons willing to spend a year or more to earn their (graduate) degree, California Coast University offers an excellent alternative" (Bear's Guide, 10th Edition, p. 85).

We are therefore compelled to concede that Walter Martin does have a real claim on the academic title "Doctor," having earned his degree from a legitimate institution of alternative higher education. It should also be noted that Dr. Martin completed all his graduate studies at New York University, a fully accredited school, and simply submitted his thesis at CCU. Honesty compels us to reject the Brown's comparison of Dr. Martin's degree with the phony, dime-store diploma of Dee Jay Nelson. There is no comparison!

For additional information supporting the accepted status of CCU and Dr. Martin's degree, the California State Department of Education has stated in the California Education Code, Section 94310(b):

 

The degree is conferred by an institution having full institutional approval by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for all degree programs offered. Such institutions have been evaluated favorably as being consistent with accredited institutions in terms of curricula quality and verifiable evidence of graduates' academic achievement.

An institute may be granted full institutional approval if the superintendent approves every degree offered by the institution. The law mandates the superintendent to determine -- in advance of issuing an approval and in renewing such approval -- by a qualitative review and assessment of the institution through the use of an institutional self-study and a comprehensive onsite evaluation by a qualified visitation committee impaneled by the superintendent: that the curriculum is consistent in quality with curricula offered by established accredited institutions; and the courses achieve their professed objectives, with verifiable evidence of the students' academic achievement being comparable to that required of graduates from accredited institutions.

Approved institutions and the degrees and credits they issue are deemed to be meeting the superintendent's standards and those comparative qualitative standards existing in accredited institutions. The degrees and credits earned from approved institutions enjoy relatively wide recognition and acceptability.

(…)

Yes, Walter Martin's doctoral degree is legitimate, and no, it really does not matter. Down through the centuries God has used both the great and the simple to bring the gospel message: He used the sinner Matthew and the scholar Paul. He used the wealthy Shedd and the destitute Brainerd; He uses great books and even little articles like this one. The message is all the same: Christ died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. Christ did not die for "Adam's transgression alone" but for all "our sins." Thank God for His matchless gift, which cannot be earned, which is not for sale at any price!

In addition, let the readers of this file remember that the Brown's line of response amounts to little more than a "kill the messenger" reaction. The messenger has gone home to his reward. The message has been taken up by many more who join now with an even greater voice; "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." R. Poll, CRI [now director of Apologia; EMNR member org]

W. M. Religious InfoNet ? Box 517 ? San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693

 

Email: kevin@waltermartin.org

A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter* for their help in the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation. Copyright 1993 by the Christian Research Institute.

Editor’s Note: Bob Hunter was/is the person who set up CRI’s web site–– < www.EQUIP.org.

His name has appeared in the CRI JOURNAL masthead over the years. He has the web site "The Contenders,"

< http://www.geocities.com/Bob_Hunter/           

< http://members.tripod.com/thecontenders/

 

 

About California Coast University/CCU

 

Found on the California Coast University web site:

 

California Coast University was founded in 1974 to meet the needs of experienced men and women from all areas of industry, business, education and the helping professions. The University provides off-campus, distance learning programs designed for students capable of independent self-study, who are willing to assume a large measure of personal responsibility for their education. The learning programs at California Coast University provide students with all necessary guidance to assist them in organizing and focusing their efforts for optimum results within a reasonable period of time…

Students of California Coast University have accepted the challenge of completing their degree objectives utilizing the University's off-campus, self-paced approach to education.

 

California Coast University/CCU Degree Programs

 

Editor’s Note: One has to wonder which CCU doctoral degree Dr. Martin earned.

 

School of Administration and Management

School of Administration and Management

Degree  Major

B.S. - Bachelor of Science—Business Administration

B.S. - Bachelor of Science—Management

M.B.A. - Master of Business Administration—Business Administration

M.S. - Master of Science—Health Care Management

D.B.A. - Doctor of Business Administration—Business Administration

Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy—Business Administration

Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy—Management

               

School of Engineering

Degree  Major

M.S. - Master of Science—Engineering Management

Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy—Engineering Management

               

School of Behavioral Science

Degree  Major

B.S. - Bachelor of Science—Psychology

M.S. - Master of Science—Psychology

Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy—Psychology

Psy.D. - Doctor of Psychology—Psychology

               

School of Education

Degree  Major

Ed.D. - Doctor of Education—Education

 


Walter R. MartinSeptember 10, 1928June 26, 1989

A Personal Message from Darlene Martin

 

On the morning of June 26, 1989, Dr. Walter R. Martin -- founder and president of the Christian Research Institute -- died peacefully at his home in San Juan Capistrano, California.

 

A memorial service was held for Dr. Martin at Capistrano Valley Church on Thursday evening, June 29. The service featured tributary comments from family, friends, and CRI personnel. It was a service that honored Walter, yet also brought great glory to his beloved Savior…

 

Editor’s Note: Two versions of Darlene Martin’s Memorial Message

…are posted on the Internet. One version is posted in the CRI Archives and the other on Kevin Rische’s Religious InfoNet web site. In the CRI version Darlene Martin states at the end of her talk, that Walter had wanted Hank Hanegraaff to be his successor at CRI.

 

In the Kevin Rische/Religious InfoNet version, the statement about Hanegraaff has been deleted/altered, most probably because Darlene now believes that she was pressured at the memorial service to endorse Hanegraaff’s assuming the CRI leadership. Now she no longer believes that this was Walter Martin’s desire.

 

Both versions of the Walter Martin Memorial Message—one where Darlene states that Hanegraaff is the chosen successor and one with the altered ending—are included in the Hank Hanegraaff section of this report, below.

 

Others who honored Walter Martin at his memorial service:

Remembering a Soldier of the Cross: Excerpts from Dr. Walter Martin's Memorial Service

 

Dr. Martin's memorial service opened with the following words from:

 

John Ankerberg [member of the secret Council for National Policy/CNP]

Bill Seaver

 

And Walter, we're here tonight to offer you our twenty-one gun salute. For truly, you've been a great warrior for the faith. And I'd like to reminisce for a little bit, Walt, and talk about things that happened long ago when we first met back in the fall of 1944 when we were cast together at the Stony Brook School in New York.

 

You came from a Roman Catholic school; I came from a Christian Science background. And neither one of us knew what it meant to be a Christian. We were a couple of young boys cast together. What we didn't reckon with was that we were to be put under the teaching of Dr. Frank Gaebelein, the headmaster of the school, a giant of a man.

 

Well, Walt, it didn't take too long under Dr. Gaebelein's teaching before the Holy Spirit zapped both of us. Within a week of one another, we both came to commit our lives to Jesus Christ…

 

I also remember how we talked into the night about our different religious backgrounds. You talked about Roman Catholic beliefs, and I told you a little about Christian Science. I didn't buy any of it, but I told you what they believed. You were very much interested in the beliefs of Christian Science at that time, and I believe you began your research right there, by taking these questions to Dr. Gaebelein. I think those early discussions that we had got you interested in the cults, and you went on from there to write your first book, The Christian Science Myth. And from there, you've taken the attack right to Satan's stronghold. And we all here tonight, Walt, want to thank you. We praise God for your ministry…

 

Editor’s Note: See notes on Frank Gaebelein—Christianity Today, Chair of the Style Committee for the NIV and American Tract Society above.

 

Historical Figures in the Christian Countercult Movement

Walter R. Martin

 

Editor’s Note: !Warning! The Religious Movements web site is run by Jeffrey Hadden at the University of Virginia. Be aware that Hadden is listed on the new CAN/Cult Awareness Network web site along with Gordon Melton and others as a professional referral. The new CAN is affiliated with the Church of Scientology/CoS. Melton and Hadden are considered to be apologists for the Church of Scientology—guns for hire.

 

At Martin's memorial service on 29 June 1989, some of the most prominent evangelicals in North America either gathered or sent messages of tribute.

 

Apologist Norman Geisler: "Walter Martin's insightful mind, his forceful logic, and his dedication to orthodox Christianity were seldom, if ever, equaled in the field of contemporary cults."

 

Gordon Lewis, professor of theology and apologetics at Dallas Seminary: "Walter Martin awakened the sleeping giant of the church to the deadly dangers of deceptive doctrines. He understood the cultic mentality, highlighted reasons for the cults' magnetic appeals, and challenged the church to consider neglected doctrine. As a result of his motivating ministry, the evangelical church is immeasurably more alert, discerning, and courageous than it would otherwise have been."

 

Sociologist and fellow apologist Ron Enroth*: "Whereas most people remember Walter Martin, I suppose, as a result of his dynamic speaking and his books, I came to know him as a fellow cult watchman, and I remember him best as one who encouraged and supported his fellow cult watchers. He was always very sensitive to the needs of other ministries… He represented for all of us an exemplary model of scholarship, fairness, and biblically-based analysis."

 

Other tributaries included: Ted Engstrom, President Emeritus of World Vision; James Dobson, President of "Focus on the Family"; and Bill Bright, President of Campus Crusade for Christ International.

 

The full text of Martin's memorial service, including these eulogies, is archived at Walter Martin's Religious Infonet

 

Editor’s Note: Ronald Enroth has been involved in the leadership of Christian Research Institute/CRI, Spiritual Counterfeits Project/SCP, EMNR/Evangelical Ministries to New Religions and American Family Foundation/AFF Cultic Studies Journal advisory board. AFF had an inter-connected leadership with the old Cult Awareness Network/CAN. [See: ‘Smoke, Mirrors, Disinformation: The Compromised Ties of the Apologetics Ministries: Introduction]

 

Christian Research Institute – Part 2

Parts 2—5 of CRI are in progress and will be posted soon.

 

More Smoke, Mirrors and Disinformation…

The New Age Ties of the Apologetics Ministries

Return to INTRODUCTION