09AR14-04

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Apologia Report 14:4

January 29, 2009

Subject: Living Stream controversy heats up, again

In this issue:

CHRISTIANITY, GENERAL - cafeteria-style faith abounds in the US

HOMOSEXUALITY - responding to the idea that some are "born gay"

LIVING STREAM MINISTRY - an updated response by Cal Beisner

+ substantial analysis of alleged plagiarism by Witness Lee

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CHRISTIANITY, GENERAL

"Most US Christians define own theology" by Jane Lampman -- according to a recent Barna survey, "71 percent of American adults say they are more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than to accept a defined set of teachings from a particular church. Even among born-again Christians, 61 percent pick and choose from the beliefs of different denominations. For people under the age of 25, the number rises to 82 percent.

"Many 'cafeteria Christians' go beyond the teachings of Christian denominations to embrace parts of other world religions.

"Half of Americans also believe that Christianity is now just one of many faith options people can choose from (44 percent disagree with that perception). Residents of the Northeast and West were more likely than those in the South and Midwest to say Christianity has lost its status as the favored American religion. ...

"Nearly half of those interviewed do not believe in the existence of Satan, one-third believe Jesus sinned while on earth, and two-fifths say they don't have a responsibility to share their faith with others.

"The most striking divergence from orthodoxy, however, was first revealed in the 2007 US Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. That comprehensive survey of 35,000 Americans found a majority of Christians saying that people of other religions can find salvation and eternal life. ...

"Pew undertook a follow-up survey, which it released in late December. That poll found 65 percent of American Christians (including 47 percent of Evangelicals) do indeed think that many different religions can lead to eternal life. Among these Christians, 80 percent cited one non-Christian faith as a route to salvation; 61 percent named two or more." (The actual meaning of "religions" here is disputed. - RP)

"Those who emphasize the impact of actions are more inclined to believe that practitioners of non-Christian faiths can achieve eternal life. Most of those who emphasize beliefs say non-Christian paths do not lead to heaven." Christian Science Monitor, Jan 14 '09, <www.tinyurl.com/7trpd3>

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HOMOSEXUALITY

"Is There a Gay Gene?" by Donald F. Calbreath -- recognizes that "the belief that homosexuality is inborn" is a major argument behind the pressure to accept homosexual behavior. Calbreath considers two areas of research often put forth to support this position, namely genetics and brain structure.

As for genetics, Calbreath discusses the significance behind the observation that "The search for a gene associated with homosexuality has not shown any reproducible findings." Regarding brain structure, Calbreath considers the lack of reproducibility in biological studies on homosexuality and emphasizes that "Biological processes may influence behavior, but do not determine it." Christian Research Journal, 31:6 - 2009, pp28-35.

POSTSCRIPT: "An area of particularly strong public interest is the genetic basis of homosexuality. Evidence from twin studies does in fact support the conclusion that heritable factors play a role in male homosexuality. However, the likelihood that the identical twin of a homosexual male will also be gay is about 20% (compared with 2-4 percent of males in the general population), indicating that sexual orientation is genetically influenced but not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations." Francis S. Collins, The Language of God, p260.

In 1998, the APA stated, "There is considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=528376

However in a current APA published booklet and on the APA official website, it now states:

"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles."

http://www.apa.org/topics/sorientation.html#whatcauses

Note: The APA has reorganized it's website since the above URLs were first implemented, but the quote can still be found there [as of Sep '10]. However, now you have to download the APA brochure pdf, "Answers To Your Questions." The quote is on the second page, under the (green) heading, "What causes a person to have a particular sexual orientation?" (Special thanks to Alan Scholes for this postscript section.)

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LIVING STREAM MINISTRY

"The Teachings of Witness Lee and the Local Church" by E. Calvin Beisner, a founder of and the national spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for Environmental Stewardship -- this document is described on Beisner's web site as a "2003 revision of [the] 1977 original Christian Research Institute [CRI] booklet" which he co-authored, and is a "Critique of Lee's theology, soteriology, & ecclesiology."

Nearly half of the 23-page paper deals with the nature of God. Beisner explains that "The Local Church teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the same Person as well as the same God, and that each is a successive step or stage in the revelation of God to man."

The remaining topics addressed more briefly by Beisner include:

* - "The Way of Salvation" which Beisner summarizes: "The Local Church's believes [sic] in regard to salvation are complex and even appear contradictory. Lee first teaches that salvation is simply and only a matter of calling on the name of the Lord. But in other literature he strongly implies that it is impossible to be saved unless one attends the Local Church."

* - "The Belief in Localism ... The Local Church alone is alleged to be the true representative of the Body of Christ, and all other churches are false."

* - The Bible and Reason in the Local Church ... Their beliefs apparently are governed by their experiences, not by a study of Scripture."

* - "The Local Church Belief About Sin and Satan" which Beisner believes to be "the root of Lee's doctrine, and perhaps ... the stem from which all his doctrines naturally flow." In his conclusion to this section, Beisner summarizes that the LC teaches that "sin and Satan are one and the same."

The paper <www.tinyurl.com/btyqwl> ends with a biographical paragraph noting Beisner's early involvement with CRI. It's confounding that under Hank Hanegraaff CRI has more recently reversed its position on the Local Church and now argues that LC teachings have been misunderstood and that it is essentially an orthodox Christian body. <www.tinyurl.com/au6wse>

For more on the LC from Beisner, see <www.tinyurl.com/b7naa7>.

And, should anyone think Beisner is alone in his criticism, see the following link for a response to CRI's position change by Robert M. Bowman, Executive Director of the Institute for Religious Research: <www.tinyurl.com/b7mtzd>

Another source of Living Stream/LC criticism that recently came to our attention is the paper "LSM's Plagiarism: An Initial Inquiry" <www.tinyurl.com/cp9def>, which begins: "The New Testament Recovery Version is Living Stream Ministry's flagship product. About half-a-million free copies have been distributed by Bibles for America, an LSM affiliate. LSM's Recovery Version is the ultimate study Bible, the '900-pound gorilla' in its class, boasting 'over 9,000 extensive footnotes.' The notes dwarf the biblical text. We are told, 'Witness Lee wrote the footnotes, based on over 50 years of his studying the Bible and the best Christian writings throughout the centuries.' LSM declares they are the 'crystallization ... of the divine revelation ... attained in the past 2,000 years.' LSM's Ron Kangas, says, 'The footnotes in the Recovery Version ... are all-inclusive.... Every positive element of vision in the Scriptures is included.'

"Despite being 'all-inclusive' and based on 'the best Christian writings,' explicit references to Bible expositors and Christian scholars are rare in the Recovery Version. Only fifty footnotes - one-half of one percent - refer to Bible scholars or authors of 'the best Christian writings.' Everything else is presented as Witness Lee's own composition. W. Lee was a gifted minister, yet, by his own admission, he was not a trained theologian nor a scholar in biblical languages. 'We did not study Greek,' W. Lee acknowledged, but relied instead on secondary sources; 'we had dictionaries, lexicons, and concordances to help us,' he continued. No doubt 'helpers' assisted W. Lee with the Recovery Version and other publications. Yet there is little evidence these helpers ever conducted original research on the Biblical text or its languages. Evidently, for the most part, both W. Lee and LSM's editorial section relied on others' primary research. Yet often, one looks in vain for references to primary sources in the Recovery Version. The same conundrum characterizes LSM's other publications. This raises important questions about integrity in writing and publishing - has other scholars' work been appropriated and integrated into LSM's Recovery Version? If so, has it been adequately recognized and documented? More generally, do LSM's publications - the Recovery Version, Life-studies, etc - incorporate the work of others beyond what their citations acknowledge? Has LSM engaged in plagiarism?" (The numbering of notes in the text above has been removed for the sake of readability. - RP)

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Sources, Monographs:

1 - New Testament Recovery Version, (Living Stream, 1994, paperback, 1338 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/ajfrxt>

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