Where There are Divisions, There Must Also be Heresy

Mr. Ham:

Thank you very much for your stand against the error of evolution. While so much of the church is cowering and afraid to address the error of leaders such as Billy Graham and Nicky Gumbel, you have taken a stand and determined to warn the church of this imminent danger.

I read your article on Nicky Gumbel and the Alpha Course. I also read the negative response from Mr Broadbent where he more than implies that you should keep your mouth shut to preserve unity.

Mr. Batten gave an excellent response, but I would like to add to it a bit: Mr. Broadbent represents a growing faction of Christians who believe that the key to unity in the church is to ignore the truth and tolerate error. They also tend to believe that divisions are caused by those who combat error. Mr. Batten gave some excellent verses to refute this, but please allow me to give a few more:

"I here that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must also be heresies among you." (1 Cor. 11:18-19) Paul seems to be saying that where there are divisions, there must also be heresy.

"…there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who cause divisions…" (Jude 18-19) Again, divisions are caused by a departing from the truth. We cannot begin to blame those who expose these error. We must place the blame squarely where it belongs, on those who are perpetuating it.

Folks who promote this false unity often resort to hypocritical arguments, like, "You shouldn't be so dogmatic!" (which is a dogmatic statement) or "We can't let doctrine divide!" (that itself is a doctrinal belief) or "You shouldn't be judging people!" (which is itself a judgment against you). In Mr. Broadbent's case, he stoops, perhaps, even lower by saying "If…you can prove that God has spoken to you and told you that Alpha is wrong…" So, in other words, you have no right to expose error unless you can prove that God has told you. This is incredibly hypocritical! Under that same logical umbrella, must not Mr. Broadbent, then offer you, Mr. Ham, proof that God has spoken to him and told him that your article about Nicky Gumbel was wrong. Incredible! But these folks often get away with using these types of ridiculous arguments.

You can see the mess that results when we refuse to accept God's whole counsel and pick out those areas that we are comfortable with;when we begin to play God and twist, corrupt, and mishandle His Word. These "false unity" promoters do almost as much damage to the church as the heretics themselves. The way to true Christian unity is found in submission and obedience to the Word of God, not compromise. I just wanted to encourage you to keep up the fight for truth. Thank you for all that you are doing for the Lord!

In Christ, Mat Dvorachek