Other Denominations

WHEN I meet an apparently intelligent, sensitive, spiritually-minded person who belongs to some other denomination, I cannot bring myself to judge that that person is eternally lost. Indeed it would be wrong to do so. God alone holds that authority. In fact I find myself praying that God may have mercy upon their misunderstandings, that they might indeed be saved despite their failure to comprehend all truth.
I am quite sure that persons of all denominations, including our own, who have become hard and bigoted — unwilling to learn or admit further need to learn, are in danger of severe judgment, their danger of being 'eternally lost' may be the greater.

“When a brother expresses himself in the above manner, it seems evident he is not advocating that we breakdown the principles of the Truth, for these, we are convinced, form the basis of our personal hope of salvation. By the grace of God, the logic and fullness of His purpose have been opened to our understand­ing. Having come to a knowledge of these things, it is our duty to uphold them, and wherever possible, witness the “fullness” of them to others.

However, the key question is this. What of others, particularly those with whom the oppor­tunity of contact, but not of full witness, is possible? It would be presumptuous to con­clude that the lack of opportunity is proof that God does not want them to come to a full knowledge! In how many cases is the lack of adequate opportunity a reflection on our per­sonal lack of zeal and endeavour? Reflection might severely sharpen our conscience in this regard. We might suddenly sense how much we need God’s mercy.

How sad it should make us, when we see the misguided zeal of those who follow the errors of Rome, earnestly pursuing good works (the extent of which put most of us to shame) and who are yet seemingly impervious to the Truth. Some of these people seem intensely genuine and compassionate. Yet, can it be, that some who have the Truth have an attitude of smug superiority toward such? Would not the spirit of Christ, if such really dwell in us, inspire an automatic sense of grief, akin to the distress of Jesus as he cried over Zion, “0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . .” It is clear from Scripture that the errors of Rome will keep even the best-intentioned person ignorant of the way to the Kingdom. The Lawyers in Jesus’ time were able to keep others out of the way by misleading them. (Luke 11:52) . Yet it is still not our place to pass judgment.

But there are some whose understanding of Scripture comes close to our own; there are many who “tremble” at the word of God and whose hearts are yearning for true understand­ing. We can only hope in such cases, that God will be merciful — just as we too require His mercy extended.

To work out the precise “borderline” of the required knowledge of God and understanding of Scripture is a feature of many religious groups. Human nature so easily takes hold of such an action to produce a pharisaical smug­ness that must surely bring Divine disapproval. We see it manifested in sects such as the Jeho­vah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists; and sadly we see it revealed within our body. If we “contend earnestly for the faith” and do not have the spirit and the love of Christ in our hearts we end up producing this attitude. The Pharisees were offended at any thought of God extending mercy to the Gentiles (Acts 13; 44- 52) . Let us beware of the same attitude.

We should like to point to some examples of things which should be guarded against. There is an American Sect with beliefs very similar to ours. Their “pioneer brother” is Benjamin Wilson, author of the Emphatic Diaglott and at one time an associate of Dr. Thomas. They reject the Trinity, the immortality of the soul, hell, the devil as a fallen angel etc. and teach the return of Christ to earth, the kingdom on earth and the return of the Jews. They cur­rently produce a major 600-page text-book which some brethren find a very useful work of reference. In April 1964 Logos reviewed this book, and because it was doctrinally inaccurate in some respects (on matters of the Atonement and resurrection in particular) they subjected it to scathing criticism, saying that you could no more recommend it for use by the brethren than that mothers should put arsenic in the children’s milk! Now, we would never recommend it without careful qualification, but we find helpful many Scripture works from far less “truthful” quarters, and we quote this as an example of the unhealthy attitude that has come to prevail among us.

What is even more distressing is that Logos goes much further and is prepared to publish a condemnation — which is the prerogative of Christ alone — when they find prominent English brethren worthy to be removed from the book of life because they differ with the interpretation of Dr. Thomas on the Revelation. (Logos April 1968, page 234) . Extreme atti­tudes lead to such extremes that Logos cut off not only other denominations but their own brethren.

But Logos has replied to such observations by saying “You make a mistake: we do not pass judgment on other denominations. God does that, and we respect His word.” (Spec. Supp. Jan. ’72, p.5) . This comment opens up and illustrates the serious error in thinking which Logos has been led to embrace. The Pharisee thanked God that he was not as other men and that he was not as “this sinner.” He knew that God condemned sinners, he erroneously thought that he, as a servant of God, had a licence to condemn them too. Above all, he did not allow for God’s mercy, and the error some are falling into is to tell God the limits of His mercy.

Moreover, there is a determination to tie-in together the clearly defined doctrines of Scrip­ture as set forth in the Statement of Faith, and our interpretations of Scripture, particularly prophecy and the finer definitions and deduc­tions we have made, and label the lot as God’s Word. Here is the root cause of so much of the trouble.

Let us conclude these remarks by imploring all readers to meditate on the Scriptures which illuminate the mercies of God. Some, perhaps rightly, have observed it is a “doctrine” that was forgotten in the compiling of the Statement of Faith. “Mercy triumphs over judgment” wrote James (2:13 rsv) . “But God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us . . .” (Ephes. 2:4) . Can we get more of the compassion of God (in Christ) into our attitude in witnessing to others? The intense compassion for the erring should be a far greater incentive to preach the Truth than anything else. For those who are unaware of the coming of the Lord, or who are far from a real understanding, we have a message we dare not withhold. (Ezek. 33:7-9)