Treason in the Church : Trading Truth for a "Social Gospel"
by Berit Kjos - www.crossroad.to
Treason: ".../the act or attempted act of working for the enemies of the state/... betrayal of trust; disloyalty...." Webster Dictionary
Infiltration and deception have been tools of conspirators through the ages, and the Church has been a primary target! After all, God warns us that "the whole world is under the sway of the evil one." (1 John 5:19) One of his most effective schemes is to redefine God's Word and divert Christians from His unchanging Truth to man's shifting ideals.
For example, God calls us to serve the poor and fills our hearts with love for the needy. That's why His true followers around the world have willingly given their lives to share His truth and love in perilous places. But today's world-centered church illustrates a different kind of service. Designed to please man rather than God, it trains its servers to hide the "offensive" truths of the gospel.
Like Rick Warren, it uses the Bible to validate its purposes but emphasizes organizational behavior rather than Biblical beliefs -- in short, deeds instead of creeds.[3] Behind its noble appearance hides a postmodern version of the century-old "Christian Socialism."
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The Social Gospel and the Councils of Churches
Called "Father of the Social Gospel," Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918), grew up in a German Lutheran immigrant family in New York. He studied theology at the University of Rochester, one of hundreds of educational and "Christian" institutions funded by John D. Rockefeller. After pastoring a Baptist Church among poor immigrants in New York City for a few years, he joined the faculty at Rochester Theological Seminary -- also funded by Rockefeller. In 1902 he became its Professor of Church History.
From this prominent platform, he wrote books such as "Christianizing the Social Order" and "A Theology for the Social Gospel."[4] Steeped in "higher criticism" and socialist ideology, he taught what many considered a more relevant and compassionate gospel. As a result, he "changed both the emphases and the direction of American Protestantism."[5]
Rauschenbusch introduced Jesus "not as one who would come to save sinners from their sins but as one who had a 'social passion' for society."[6] He and his comrades established the "Brotherhood of the Kingdom," which unified like-minded church leaders under a common socialist quest for an earthly "Kingdom of God."
Their plan would have fit our times! It called for political reform, ecumenical unity, "social justice" (ending poverty), and global peace. To justify its place in "Christian" theology, words like redemption and regeneration were redefined to fit their socialist ideals.[7]
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Popular church leaders use the same strategy today! Pastor Brian McLaren's recent book, The Secret Message of Jesus, twists God's Word into an endorsement of an earthly, interfaith Kingdom.[8] Likewise, Tony Campolo's hope of earthly perfection mocks the Biblical promise of eternal life:
"The gospel is not about... pie-in-the-sky when they die.... It is imperative that the up and coming generation recognize that the biblical Jesus was committed to the realization of a new social order in this world.... Becoming a Christian, therefore, is a call to social action."[9]
In 1907, Rauschenbusch met with the leaders of Fabian socialism in England, Sidney Webb and Beatrice Potter Webb. Unlike impatient Marxist revolutionaries, the methodical Fabians emphasized peaceful transformation through propaganda and infiltration of universities, seminaries and churches.
Through the years, this socialist movement grew to include Bertrand Russell, H. G. Wells (who wrote Open Conspiracy), playwright George Bernard Shaw, Sinclair Lewis, Theosophical leader Annie Besant, and the Communist leader Harry Dexter White who worked with Alger Hiss to establish the United Nations.[10] It spread through Western nations -- thanks, in part, to liberal churches that preached its message as if backed by the authority of God.
As you saw in Part 1, the Rockefellers and other powerful "change agents" fueled this movement. Their funding would sway universities, seminaries, and churches from coast to coast. It supported psycho-social research through Hitler's eugenics program, through London's Tavistock Institute, and through various American Universities and institutions. This new "science" would raise propaganda, persuasion, and mind control to ever more sophisticated levels.
With Rockefeller support, Rauschenbusch and his Fabian protégé Rev. Harry Ward helped establish the Federal Council of Churches (FCC) in 1908.[11] Rev. Ward, through his Soviet connections and influential positions, would become the main source of Communist infiltration into the FCC (later renamed NCC, National Council of Churches), Christian seminaries, and compassionate unsuspecting pastors and congregations across the country. Hard to believe? Then look at the evidence below.
Communist Infiltration
The following testimonies were given under oath before the Committee on Un-American Activities of the U.S. House of Representatives, 83rd Congress, in July, 1953.[12] Robert Kunzig, chief counsel for the committee, asked the questions. Manning Johnson, formerly a top member of the Communist Party, answered this particular set of questions.
Page 2266, Congressional Record.
KUNZIG: "...the name Harry Ward has appeared in so many of these various organizations and groups. It seems as if there is almost an interlacing tie-up... through various sects and denominations. Have you any comment to make on this situation?
JOHNSON: "Yes, I have. Dr. Harry F. Ward, for many years, has been the chief architect for Communist infiltration and subversion in the religious field.
According to this Congressional Report, Harry Ward also taught "Christian ethics" at Union Theological Seminary [funded by the Rockefellers], presided over the Federal Council of Churches, chaired the American Civil Liberties Union, and worked with the Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A. and the Interchurch World Movement.[13]
Page 2170.
JOHNSON: "I would first like to read to you what William Z. Foster [General Secretary of the Communist Party USA] has to say on this matter."
'Communists must ever be keen to cultivate the democratic spirit of mutual tolerance among the religious sects.... A still greater lesson for us to learn, however, is how to work freely with religious strata for the accomplishment of democratic mass objectives....
'A very serious mistake of the American left wing during many years... has been its attempt arbitrarily to wave aside religious sentiments among the masses. Reactionary forces [mainly concerned Christians] have already known how to take advantage of this shortsighted sectarian error.... 'In recent years, however, the Communist Party, with its policy of ‘the outstretched hand,’ has done much to overcome the harmful left-wing narrowness of former years and to develop a more healthy cooperation with the religious masses....'”
KUNZIG: "Was deceit a major policy of Communist propaganda and activity?"
Mr. JOHNSON: "Yes, it was. They made fine gestures and honeyed words to the church people which could be well likened unto the song of the fabled sea nymphs luring millions to moral decay, spiritual death, and spiritual slavery....."
Pages 2201 and 2202.
JOHNSON: "The Methodist Federation for Social Service or the Methodist Federation for Social Action, headed by the Rev. Harry F. Ward, whom I have already identified as a Party member, was invaluable to the Communist Party... because through it the Party was able to get contacts with thousands of ministers all over the country.
"...quite a few ministers, for example, participated in the united front known as the American League Against War and Fascism.... In fact, they were so deeply involved through Harry F. Ward that they became the spokesmen -- the advocates, the builders, and the leaders of this most important Communist front that engaged in everything from simple assault on a government to espionage, sabotage and the overthrow of the Government...."
Page 2228. Part of Manning Johnson's testimony was an article in the Daily Worker (5-7-53). This "Exhibit No. 21" reports on a dinner held in Dr. Ward's honor. Notice the name of Corliss Lamont who was introduced in Part 1 of this series:
"...New World Review, a progressive monthly devoted to circulating the truth about the Socialist and People’s Democracies abroad... brought out several hundred friends and former students of Dr. Ward, and some of those who knew him well, like... Corliss Lamont [the communist son of Thomas Lamont, the head of the J. P. Morgan banking conglomerate]... told the others of how Dr. Ward’s teachings enriched them personally and how his tremendous work for brotherhood, peace, and justice has influenced the nation."
Page 2278.
KUNZIG: "...could you give us a summary of the overall manner in which the Communists have attempted to infiltrate and poison the religious organizations of America wherever possible?"
JOHNSON: "Once the tactic of infiltrating religious organizations was set by the Kremlin, the actual mechanics of implementing the 'new line' was a question of following the... church movement in Russia, where the Communists discovered that the destruction of religion could proceed much faster through infiltration of the church by Communist agents operating within the church itself.
"...the infiltration tactic in this country would have to adapt itself to American conditions.... In the earliest stages it was determined that with only small forces available it would be necessary to concentrate Communist agents in the seminaries and divinity schools. The practical conclusion drawn by the Red leaders was that these institutions would make it possible for a small Communist minority to influence the ideology of future clergymen....
"...the idea was to divert the emphasis of clerical thinking from the spiritual to the material.... Instead of emphasis towards the spiritual and matters of the soul, the new and heavy emphasis was to deal with those matters which, in the main, led toward the Communist program of “immediate demands” [or "felt needs"]....
Does the last point sound familiar? It should to those who are concerned about the worldwide Purpose-Driven movement. For Rick Warren prompted that same shift from "the spiritual" to "the material." As he told thousands of pastors around the world through his "Ministry Toolbox," the focus of his ministry has shifted from from faith in God's Word to service to the world:
"The first Reformation clarified what we believe. This reformation is all about how we act and operate in the world. It involves the key components of purpose, decentralization, lay mobilization, use of technology, and continuous learning. Churches that change are thriving and growing more effective. Churches that refuse to change will miss the reformation, and are dying."[14] Rick Warren
Not true! God's uncompromising and eternal Church can never die! As Jesus, the head of His Church, told His disciples before His crucifixion, "My kingdom is not of this world." Nor are His followers "of the world!" Yet, He sends us "into the world" so that we, "speaking the truth in love,"[15] may demonstrate His truth and love (not man's pragmatic ideals) to all who will hear.
"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.... Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." John 17:14,17
