By Dr. Greg Little
March 2, 2007
The Bible says plainly in
Right there it is in plain English. Plain so a fifth grader or anyone that speaks English as a second language could see it. So plain that it is hidden from the eyes of all the great twentieth and twenty-first century think tanks and Bible departments at all apostate colleges, institutes of higher learning and most Christians.
The warning is given: MEDDLE NOT WITH THEM THAT ARE GIVEN TO CHANGE. Do you see it better in all caps?
In the light of this verse let’s look at an old institution that is both spiritual and political at the same time. An institute that has been around for a while. One that dates back to almost the time of Christ; since about 325 AD.
What could I be talking about? Is it the Christian church? Is it the NAACP? Is it the Democratic or Republican parties? Is it the Southern Baptist Convention? Is it the Camp Meetings?
Before I reveal what I am talking about let me say that this institution strayed from the Bible from the start of it’s inception. It did this by making one man the ring leader (viva el presidente, zieg hiel furor, etc.) from the outset.
Then when a saintly type man came along with some good ideas for reaching the youth they listened. How is baptizing the infants for reaching the youth? I mean you get them on the role right there when they do not even know what is going on. This happened in or around 400 to 550 AD.
Things changed considerably during the medieval period: purgatory in 593; prayer to Mary, saints, and angels in 600; kissing the pope’s foot in 709; canonization of dead saints in 995; celibacy of the priesthood in 1079; the rosary in 1090; transubstantiation and confessing sins to a priest in 1215; and the seven sacraments in 1439.[i]
Yet we as Christians still meddle with this crowd. Most Baptists will sing “Faith of our Fathers” out of a Baptist published hymn book on Father’s Day in America not knowing the lyrics that are left out on purpose.
Consider this hymn story:
The "faith of our fathers" referred to in this hymn, however, is the faith of the martyred leaders of the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth century. The author of this text, Frederick William Faber, born June 28, 1814, in Calverley, Yorkshire, England, was raised as a strict Calvinist by a father who was an English clergyman. After young Faber's graduation from the renowned Oxford University in 1843, he became a minister in the Anglican Church at a small parish at Elton, England. In his younger days Faber was strongly opposed to the teachings and practices of the Roman Church. However, this was the time when a movement known as the Oxford or Tractarian Movement was strongly influencing the Anglican Church. Whereas the Wesleys and their evangelical followers preached a message of personal conversion easily grasped by even the illiterate man, leaders of the more sophisticated Oxford Movement were of the persuasion that a meaningful religious experience could only be gained through better liturgical and ceremonial church services. From about 1833 to 1850 the Oxford Movement tenaciously directed religious England, during which time many of the Anglican Church's leaders either joined the Roman Church or developed a rejuvenated high church party known as Anglo-Catholics.
Early in his ministerial training Faber came under the influence of this Oxford Movement. After serving just three years as an Anglican minister, he left the Church and joined the Roman Catholic fold. He became known as Father Wilfrid. Shortly after his secession to the Roman Church Faber noticed the great lack of congregational hymnody that existed within this group. He recalled the important and influential role that congregational singing had in Anglican congregations, especially within the more evangelical parishes. Faber began to make it his life's mission to write hymns that promoted the history and teachings of the Catholic Church. In all Frederick Faber wrote 150 such hymns before his early death at the age of forty-nine. For his efforts in this regard he was honored by the Pope with a Doctor of Divinity Degree.
"Faith of Our Fathers" was written by Faber to remind Catholic congregations of their many leaders who were martyred during the reign of Henry VIII in the early days of the establishment of the Anglican Church in Great Britain. The text first appeared in 1849 in Faber's collection, Jesus and Mary; or Catholic Hymns for Singing and Reading. It was always Faber's hope that some day England would be brought back to the papal fold. One of the omitted verses from his original text expresses this thought:
Faith of our fathers! Mary's prayers Shall win our country back to thee; And through the truth that comes from God, England shall then indeed be free. Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We would be true to Thee till death.[ii]
Now try explaining to me one more time how we are all just alike or believe alike. Tell me those great conversions of Roman Catholics where they are saved by grace through faith without any priest, sacraments, or church dogma.
With the recent pedophile scandal amongst Roman Catholic clergy we now hear rumblings of “the church” passing a law where the priest can have a wife and kids. It seems that all these years of having Nun is just not enough.
But I conclude on this thought where the Bible concludes on it.
Meddle not with them that are given to change.
