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The Transformation of the Church
~ A Database of Historical and Current Data on the Strategic Partnerships &
Christianity Today
Introduction
Christianity Today, Inc., which was founded in 1955 by Dr. L. Nelson Bell and his son-in-law, William Franklin "Billy" Graham, represents a nexus for the ecumenical leaders of the Lausanne movement. Two notables of the ever-resonating Lausanne Consultation 1974 are Billy Graham and John Stott. Stott has been credited as the framer of the Lausanne Covenant (1974) which, to this day, is a pivotal document; many Christian organizations require adherence by their members. The shadow government for Lausanne was and continues to be the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) for which Stott formulated the guiding principles (1951, in consultation with Billy Graham); reviving it from the dying embers of what had originally been the U.S. Evangelical Alliance (EA/Philip Schaff). The EA which continues to be a functioning ecumenical body in the UK was founded in 1846 at an unprecedented global missionary gathering in London at the United Grand Lodge of England headquarters at Freemason Hall. 1. Stott was commissioned to do this work by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which is now, ironically, a member of WEF representing North America.
Stott is also Vice President of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) [UK, 1947] which has offices in 140 countries. IFES serves as an umbrella to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of Canada and to the U.S. InterVarsity which sponsors the Urbana conferences. Stott is joined at Christianity Today by two other IFES officers, IFES President Samuel Escobar and Rene Padilla the Latin American IFES representative, who is also on the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) International Council—the same WEF which Stott helped to re-ignite to be the behind-the-scenes directorate for the global, ecumenical Lausanne movement.
Other ecumenical luminaries found on the Christianity Today staff are J.I. Packer on the faculty of Regent College, Alister McGrath the principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University, Chuck Colson and Nigel Cameron, both representing the Wilberforce Forum and both acting senior fellows at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). George Gallup, Jr. and Nancey Murphy on the Christianity Today staff also appear on the John Templeton Foundation advisory board which interfaces with CCCU programs. Sir John Templeton finances projects which advance religion (such as the $1 million Templeton Prize awarded to Chuck Colson in 1993) and he also finances projects which stimulate the dialogue for the merging of religion and science. The Templeton Prize winner for 2002 is John C. Polkinghorne—scientist-theologian—who has written on the Bible’s “evolving doctrine” and states that “evolution is a perfect fit with the concept of a God-given gift of creation.” Templeton’s influence finds a home at Christianity Today through pollster George Gallop and Fuller Theological Seminary’s Nancey Murphy. [See Christianity Today masthead listing below for additional names and backgrounds.]
The Billy Graham Center Archive record of Christianity Today states: “The purpose of the journal was to express the evangelical Christian point of view in an intellectual manner... It received its financial backing from, among others, the BGEA, J. Howard Pew of Sun Oil Corporation and H. Maxey Jarman of Genesco, Inc.” In 1997, Pew Charitable Trusts funded Christianity Today to the tune of $502,000 over a 39 month period. 2. There must have been many of these grants over the years to support the work of Christianity Today by private foundations. In the Pew Religions Program description is stated, ”Most of our grants for evangelical scholarship have recently been renewed for three to five years.” 3. Pew Trusts also funds the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and it will be seen in the following report that many connections exist between Christianity Today and the CFR.
Pew Charitable Trusts also funded the Amsterdam 2000 Conference which was sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). Amsterdam 2000 was one of a long line of successive global ecumenical conferences since the first Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelism in 1974. WEF, which represents 160 million Evangelicals worldwide, described Amsterdam 2000 as “the world’s largest conference of preaching evangelists with some 10,000 participants from more than 185 countries and territories.” 4. An additional $40 million in sponsorship for Amsterdam 2000 was provided by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which invited the Alpha Course to the conference.
More detailed information on the 1997 Pew grant stated that the purpose for funding Christianity Today was for “Religious Scholarship… In support of Books and Culture: A Christian Review, a bimonthly review of culture, intellectual life and contemporary affairs.” Of grave concern to Sun Oil/Pew Charitable Trusts has been the absence or inferior quality of intellectual achievement in Evangelical circles. Therefore the foundation has become a “foremost supporter of evangelical scholarship, and its efforts to remedy what Professor Mark Noll has called ‘The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind’ are widely recognized.” Mark A. Noll is a Contributing Editor for Christianity Today, a signer of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document and co-founder of Wheaton College’s Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals [ISAE] with Nathan O. Hatch of the (Roman Catholic) University of Notre Dame. ISAE is also funded by Pew Charitable Trusts and the Lilly Foundation.
Pew Trust grant making strategies for the future will concentrate on the next phase of Pew’s program to “remedy the scandal of the Evangelical Mind”—mainstreaming “more effectively the scholars and programs we have already nurtured” by further networking the ‘Pew Evangelical Scholars’ and the ‘American academic establishment’ and funding dialogues between evangelical Christian and ‘other intellectual leaders’:
“Religion staff believes that it is especially important at this time to devise more aggressive strategies for engaging the larger secular academy. This work is critically important not only for evangelicalism itself but for American intellectual life as well. In a 1996 study, the University of Virginia's Post-Modernity Project demonstrated that evangelicals are both more numerous and more variegated politically and socially than is commonly supposed. Evangelicals constitute fully one-fifth to one-fourth of the American population. Of these, only twenty percent can accurately be described as politically conservative and politically active. Furthermore, these conservative Christians are better educated, better paid and more professional than the general population. Yet, despite the movement's enormous popularity and its surprising social and political profile, the Post-Modernity Project study clearly shows that America's social elites harbor consistently hostile views of evangelicals.
“We believe that the huge gulf between evangelical, orthodox Christians and social elites contributes in no small way to the widely recognized fragmentation of America's public culture. We also believe that the Trusts are ideally situated to help overcome this mutual alienation by encouraging civilized dialogue between evangelical, orthodox Christian and other intellectual leaders in America. To that end, Religion staff has begun to study ways in which to mainstream more effectively the scholars and programs we have already nurtured.
“The Religion program has been diligent in building a network of influential evangelical and orthodox Christian intellectuals. By placing our emphasis on the development of individual scholars, much important spadework has been done--major works have been published, networks have been formed, and confidence has been built--and Pew Evangelical Scholars may be found today in many of America's preeminent universities and colleges. Religion staff believes that by increasing the number of connections between these scholars and the American academic establishment we have a good chance of influencing intellectual trends in higher education. Thus, even as we continue our support for individual scholars, we are looking to develop new strategies that reach beyond our more traditional constituency in smaller evangelical colleges even further to orthodox Christian scholars based in the larger secular universities.” 5.
The writer of the above article is the Religion Program Director for Pew Trusts, Luis E. Lugo, who also emphasizes the foundation’s appreciation for “increasing religious diversity” and development of “an appreciation of the various religious traditions that hold deep meaning for so many Americans.” To this end, Pew is a financial supporter of faith-based initiatives which they promote as a means of fostering Christian influence upon secular society:
“We intend to help foster a more informed and civil debate on these issues by supporting projects that help to educate the public about the ways in which religion shapes the ideas, beliefs and institutions that undergird American society and culture, and to encourage faith communities to bring their compassion, energy and talents to the public square for our mutual benefit.” 6.
Although Pew grants are awarded to Evangelical organizations with assurances that “we have a good chance of influencing intellectual trends in higher education”, it is a Scriptural principle that when the Church entangles itself in the world system, the system always controls the Church and not the other way around. In other words, faith-based initiatives effectively reduce the churches to becoming an arm of the State. Those who espouse Kingdom Now, Dominionist and Restorationist and other church-state agendas should consider the Biblical admonition that, "...as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." 2 Tim. 2:4,5
Although it presents itself as a Christian publication, Christianity Today exists to carry out the agenda of its paymasters. The masthead of Christianity Today, enlarged upon below, represents a cross section of the people of faith, academic intellectuals, social elites, and Evangelical scholars whom Pew wishes to involve in dialogue. The Pew Charitable Trust Foundation knows that interfacing, i.e., *inter-faithing*, will gradually and inexorably lead to consensus on controversial issues, thereby making Evangelicals more attractive to the intellectuals and help to further the Pew agenda, which is ecumenism. Evangelical scholars who seek recognition from the academic intellectuals and social elites of this world system receive no encouragement from Scripture:
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4
*Denotes member school of the Rockefeller-affiliated Association of Theological Schools/ATS [accrediting organization for seminaries] See TOC Database, Control over Christian Education, Association of Theological Schools/ATS for in-depth information on this organization.
~ edited for purposes of this report ~
CT FOUNDER: L. Nelson Bell [father-in-law of Billy Graham] and Billy Graham [33º Freemason] – Founded 1955
Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary and consulting editor for Christianity Today, has stated that Billy Graham is: "probably the most important ecumenical figure alive." [US News and World Report, March 4, 1991]
Exposes of Billy Graham found at: Biblical Discernment Ministries; Endtime Ministries; Cutting Edge Ministries [includes evidence of Graham’s Masonic membership]; Famous Freemasons List of Louisiana’s Grand Lodge
CT CORPORATE EDITORS: Harold B. Smith, Harold L. Myra [contact for Pew Charitable Trust funding]
CT EXECUTIVE EDITORS:
James I. Packer—Dir. Of Anglican Studies, Regent College*, Willowbank 1978—Lausanne’s Theology and Education Group; Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals––Resolutions for Roman Catholic & Evangelical Dialogue, Signer of Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document (ECT I) and co-author of ECT II, a signer of the Evangelical Declaration on Care of Creation [Interfaith/Earth Summit]; Board of Reference, Renovaré [a mystical movement founded and directed by Quaker psychologist, Richard Foster]; associate of Spiritual Counterfeits Project. Faculty of Regent College, teaches courses on Evangelical/Catholic and Evangelical/Orthodox Dialogue. [See: Spiritual Counterfeits Project & J.I. Packer; Biblical Discernment Ministries of J.I. Packer; Miles Stanford's Polemic on J.I. Packer]
Timothy F. George—Co-founder of Beeson School of Divinity* with Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary;
Thomas C. Oden—Drew University College*/InterVarsity Press author; plenary address, World Evangelical Alliance Theological Commission, 1996 Consultation; Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians [FEET] Conference 2002 speaker.
Editor: David Neff
Associate Editors: Douglas LeBlanc—Christian Research Institute/CRI’s JOURNAL, Contributing Editor [Walter Martin/Hank Hanegraaff]
Online Managing Editor: Ted Olsen
Editors at Large:
Miriam Adeney—faculties of Regent College* and Seattle Pacific University
Philip Yancey—See Biblical Discernment Ministries exposé
CT Senior Advisor:
George K. Brushaber—President of Bethel Seminary*; contributing staff member for the Bulletin of Evangelical Theological Society –– Evangelical Theological Society/ETS [many members are/have been members of the Christianity Today staff],
Board of Directors:
FOUNDER, HONORARY CHAIRMAN: Billy Graham [33º Freemason]
CHAIRMAN: Jack Modesett Jr.
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Harold L. Myra [contact for Pew Charitable Trust funding]
PRESIDENT: Paul D. Robbins
John N. Akers—drafting committee of the ecumenical document "Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration"
Jill P. Briscoe—[husband Stuart Briscoe, advisory committee Lausanne-Mission America Lighthouse Prayer Movement] [See: BDM expose of Stuart and Jill Briscoe]
Eugene B. Habecker—President of the American Bible Society [executive committee of the American Bible Society includes John P. Blessington, President, Temple of Understanding]; CCCU/Council of Christian Colleges & University's United Christian College Fund Trustees
Pete Hammond—InterVarsity, Vice President & senior staff member/ Word in Life Study Bible, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, team-leader and creative developer/ Urbana® Student Missions convention leadership team for 30 years.
John Huffman—Pastor, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA [member of the PCA and Confessing Church Movement]; senior consulting editor of Preaching, Board of Directors, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Chairman of the Board of World Vision U.S. [NGO of the United Nations]; speaker, International Conference of Preachers 2002, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Jay L. Kesler—Chancellor and former President Taylor University; Council of Christian Colleges & Universities/CCCU, Trustee;
[see note below]
Edmund C. Moy–– Special Assistant to the President [President George W. Bush] & Associate Director of Presidential Personnel The White House, Washington, DC
Robert E. Reccord—president, North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. [See: Freemasons & The SBC]
CT CONTRIBUTING EDITORS:
Nigel M. de S. Cameron—Wilberforce Forum in partnership with Council for Christian Colleges & Universities [CCCU works in partnership with the John Templeton Foundation]—Cameron is a Senior fellow at CCCU/Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity-CBHD--funded by [undisclosed] foundations & corporations and affiliated with Trinity International University/director of the Centre for Bioethics and Public Policy in London, England; Center for Bioethics and Culture.
Charles W. Colson—Co-author of Evangelicals & Catholics Together documents; founder/director of Prison Fellowship International [an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN]; member, Council for National Policy-CNP [See expose: Council for National Policy]; co-founder, Wilberforce Forum in partnership with Council for Christian Colleges & Universities—CCCU; Colson is a Senior Fellow at CCCU; associate of Christian Research Institute/CRI, radio guest.
Nathan O. Hatch—faculty University of Notre Dame* [Roman Catholic] /advisory National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH); Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals/ISAE [Wheaton College with Christianity Today's Mark Noll]
Mark A. Noll—Wheaton College, Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals-ISAE––member org of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities/CCCU/Center for Public Justice advisor––strategists for Faith-based Welfare Reform; signer Evangelicals & Catholics Together Document.
David Schiedermayer—advisory board Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity-CBHD
David A. Seamands—[psychologizer of the faith; See Biblical Discernment Ministries exposé
Howard A. Snyder—Ph.D. degree in historical theology from the University of Notre Dame [Roman Catholic]
John G. Stackhouse Jr.—faculty Regent College/ member of AR talk [Rich Poll/EMNR-Evangelical Ministries to New Religions, former board member]/ speaker Morrison Institute for Human Values [with Roman Catholics]
John R. W. Stott—key strategist in the formation of the World Evangelical Fellowship/framer of the Lausanne Covenant—Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelization/LCWE, 1974/ Willowbank 1978––Lausanne’s Theology and Education Group, speaker at Urbana––InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, IFES/Int’l Fellowship of Evangelical Students leadership, umbrella to InterVarsity; Advisory Committee, Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians [FEET].
CT CONSULTING EDITORS:
Harold O. J. Brown—The Howard Center/World Congress of Families [Hudson Institute-CFR related]––NGO of the United Nations, Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, Advisory Board––funded by [undisclosed] foundations & corporations and affiliated with [Council of Europe/ UN-sponsored] Trinity Int’l University/ International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism & Human Rights, Strasbourg, France; faculty/ WORLD Journalism Institute, faculty; Christian Research Institute CRI JOURNAL, Contributing Editor since 1995.
David S. Dockery—President of Union University; Wilberforce Forum [Chuck Colson & Nigel Cameron]
William A. Dyrness—faculty Fuller Theological Seminary* [See expose: Fuller Theological Seminary]
Stanley J. Grenz - Regent College, professor/Fullbright scholar 1988/ Theological Research Fellowship awarded by the Association of Theological Schools/ATS (1993); named a fellow with the Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theology program (1999-2000); American Academy of Religion/AAR [Rockefeller and Henry Luce affiliated org], member of national board (1989-90)/ American Academy of Religion/AAR, Evangelical Theology Group steering committee (1988-1995; co-chair, 1990-1994); Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Social Action Commission (1994-1996); Canadian Evangelical Theological Association, steering committee (1996-2000); Evangelical Theological Society/ETS member.
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.—president Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Kenneth S. Kantzer—founding dean of Trinity Graduate School/faculty Trinity Evangelical Divinity School/TEDS*
Alister E. McGrath—principal Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University/ the editor of the John Templeton Foundation’s publication Quaerens / speaker C.S. Lewis Institute [Art Lindsley, advisory to Spiritual Counterfeits Project/ SCP is resident scholar at C.S. Lewis Institute founded by James Houston. Houston co-founded Regent College with Ward Gasque in association with InterVarsity Fellowship and also founded Ligonier Ministries/R.C. Sproul]
Richard Mouw—President of Fuller Theological Seminary [see expose, Fuller Theological Seminary]* co-founder with Timothy George of Beeson Divinity School; a regular columnist to Beliefnet*. See Belief.net below.
CT CORRESPONDING EDITORS:
Tokunboh Adeyemo—World Evangelical Fellowship executive council/ International Bible Society/IBS Board of Directors [publishers of New International Version/NIV];
Samuel Escobar—President of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students/IFES; OMSC-Overseas Ministries Study Center, contributing editor publication International Bulletin of Missionary Research; OMSC is recipient of Pew Charitable Trusts grants$$$; plenary address, World Evangelical Alliance Theological Commission, 1996 Consultation.
Richard J. Foster—Founder and director of Renovaré, a mystical school from the Quaker tradition with an international, ecumenical outreach. Books and conferences are offered to teach the ‘spiritual disciplines’ of Eastern mysticism, including meditation, contemplation, 'centering-down', use of guided imagery to visualize, meditate, and experience astral travel. J.I. Packer and Eugene Peterson of Regent College are on the Board of Reference of Renovaré. Peterson is also author of The Message Bible. See: The Message: Connections: People and Organizations
Vernon Grounds—Co-founder of EMNR-Evangelical Ministries to New Religions/ World Evangelical Fellowship––Lausanne Consultation/ Willowbank Declaration 1989, Chair –– blueprint for Jewish evangelism/Denver Seminary* Chancellor/Salt Lake Theological Seminary board of directors with J.I. Packer
Roberta Hestenes—Minister-at-large for World Vision/twenty-year board member of World Vision/former President of Eastern College [now Eastern University––partnered with World Vision]/ founder of the Christian Formation and Discipleship Department at Fuller Theological Seminary [See expose: Fuller Theological Seminary]
Terry C. Muck—Editor Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies; See notes on this org below; speaker at an EMNR/Evangelical Ministries to New Religions conference [Vernon Grounds and Gordon Lewis]
Nancey Murphy—Fuller Theological Seminary; John Templeton Foundation Board of Advisors; board of advisors of the Templeton-funded Center for Theology and Natural Sciences/CTNS.
Bradley Nassif—A theologian of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, president of the Society for the Study of Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism/visiting professor at Trinity Evangelical Theological Seminary/TEDS*,
C. René Padilla—Willowbank 1978––Lausanne’s Theology and Education Group; IFES–Int’l Fellowship of Evangelical Students under the leadership of John Stott and Lindsay Brown [Brown is a personal friend of Spiritual Counterfeits Project Tal Brooke/New International Version in Spanish [According to the International Bible Society (IBS), numerous Latin American biblical scholars, including Latin American Missions/LAM's C. René Padilla, contributed to a new Spanish translation of the Bible--Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI)]
William E. Pannell—Willowbank 1978––Lausanne’s Theology and Education Group; World Vision/ Fuller Theological Seminary* faculty member and advisor to Fuller’s president Richard Mouw [See expose: Fuller Theological Seminary]; worked for World Vision, an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations; Spiritual Counterfeits Project Board of Reference, 1978, one of the years Pannell participated with John Stott and others at Willowbank 1978, see above. Willowbank 1978 included representation from: the World Council of Churches, United Bible Societies, World Vision, Wycliffe Hall/Oxford University, Fuller Theological Seminary and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students [IFES]. Pannell was formerly with Youth For Christ; Spiritual Counterfeits Project board of reference. [See: SCP & Lausanne]
Eugene H. Peterson— Author of The Message Bible [See The Message: The Mystical Bible] Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia; associate/speaker at both the C.S. Lewis Institute and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University
Vinay Samuel—Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/OCMS-INFEMIT [See expose: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies]–– Samuels is recipient of grants from Pew Charitable Trusts to Opportunities, Inc. which he heads;
Ronald J. Sider—Evangelicals for Social Action/ESA- recipient of grants from Pew Charitable Trusts [found: Spiritual Counterfeits Project, Part II] Eastern College, School of Int’l Leadership & Development with Tony Campolo/Center for Public Justice advisor––strategists for Faith-based Welfare Reform/ faculty Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary*;
Ed Note: Sider was involved in the formulative stages of the World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF's Theological Commission, 1969 with Bruce Nicholls. See EA/WEF/Lausanne Timeline. The Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Fellowship was later established in 1974. The first WEF Theological Commission Director was Dr Bruce J. Nicholls, 1969-1986
Russell P. Spittler—retired provost of Fuller Theological Seminary [See expose: Fuller Theological Seminary]; past president Society for Pentecostal Studies;
Elmer L. Towns—dean of the School of Religion at Liberty University [President Jerry Falwell/CNP]
Grant Wacker—Duke Divinity School Seminary*/ "Currents in World Christianity" Project, July 200, Wheaton College–– Cambridge University, CARTS–– project
J. Rodman Williams—Regent University* faculty [president, Pat Robertson CNP]
John D. Woodbridge—faculty, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School/TEDS
CT ADVISORY EDITORS:
Myron S. Augsburger—faculty, Eastern Mennonite Seminary*
David B. Barrett—World Evangelization Research Center / research advisor United Bible Societies, and Research Professor of Missiometrics at Regent University* [president Pat Robertson/CNP]
Michael Cromartie—VP Ethics & Public Policy [EPPC president Elliot Abrams/CFR/first director of the USCIRF-US Commission for Int’l and Religious Freedom], Edward G. Dobson; directs the Evangelical Studies Project at EPPC/ World Journalism Institute
James Engel—Eastern College [partnered with World Vision/UN NGO], emeritus faculty member/ Development Associates International-DAI/ Center for Organizational Excellence-DAI’s parent organization–– working with CARTS- Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies, Cambridge University funded by Pew Charitable Trusts /18 years at Wheaton College Graduate School in leadership of its Christian Communication Program.
George Gallup/pollster—Templeton Foundation board of Trustees [Foster Freiss, former President of the secret Council for National Policy/ CNP is on the Templeton Foundation Advisory Board], Marriage Savers [Michael McManus], advisory board
Diane L. Knippers—Institute on Religion & Democracy/IRD [George Weigel/CFR on IRD advisory board
Steven T. McFarland—Christian Legal Society/CLS/director US Commission for Int’l Religious Freedom, with Elliot Abrams/CFR member and Robert Seiple, former president of World Vision [NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN], now President of Institute for Global Engagement—spin-off org of World Vision [Son, Chris Seiple is CFR]
Bryant L. Myers—Vice President International Program Strategy World Vision [NGO of the United Nations]
Richard John Neuhaus—[Roman Catholic] Institute on Religion and Public Life/publication, First Things [a project affiliated with Campus Crusade]; FT editorial board members include Jeane Bethke Elshtian at the Martin E. Marty Center [Marty is on the John Templeton Foundation advisory board], Michael Novak-CFR and George Weigel/CFR; Neuhaus co-authored the ecumenical Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document/ECT with Chuck Colson; Ethics & Public Policy Center Board of Directors with CFR/Council on Foreign Relations members Elliot Abrams, Jeane Kirkpatrick and George Weigel.
Michael Novak—CFR-Council on Foreign Relations member /American Enterprise Institute-AEI/First Things [John Neuhaus]
Earl F. Palmer—Young Life/Board of Reference for Spiritual Counterfeits Project/Regent College Board of Governors 2001-2002;
James W. Reapsome—co-author with David Barrett [above] Seven Hundred Plans to Evangelize the World: The Rise of a Global Evangelization Movement, 1988/ EFMA/IFMA joint publication––Evangelical Missions Quarterly & Pulse, Former Editor;
Joseph M. Stowell—president Moody Bible Institute;
Warren W. Wiersbe—former pastor Moody Church/ Back to the Bible radio program [NAE]
CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S former executive editors:
Carl F. H. Henry—Editor 1956-68
L. Nelson Bell—Executive Editor 1956-73 [Father-in-law to Billy Graham]
Harold Lindsell—Editor 1968-78
Kenneth S. Kantzer—Editor 1978-82
V. Gilbert Beers—Editor 1982-85
George K. Brushaber—Executive Editor 1985-91
Terry C. Muck—Executive Editor 1985-90 Editor, Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies See note below.
Notes on CT Editors and other connections…
J.I. Packer—J.I. Packer is a signer of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together Documents I, co-author of ECT III and “Resolutions for Roman Catholic and Evangelical Dialogue”; a signer of the Evangelical Declaration on Care of Creation [Interfaith/Earth Summit]; a member of the Board of Reference of Renovaré, a mystical movement founded and directed by Quaker psychologist, Richard Foster. Packer teaches courses at Regent College on Evangelical-Catholic and Evangelical-Orthodox Dialogue. See: SCP and J.I. Packer, Part I
See exposes: Dr. James I. Packer-Rediscovering Holiness [Miles Stanford]
J.I. Packer: General Teachings/Activities [Biblical Discernment Ministries]
Carl F. H. Henry — faculty member of World Magazine’s World Journalism Institute
WJI’s mission statement refers to Henry as being the greatest inspiration for the founding of this organization, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, CCCU member orgs…World Journalism Institute
Henry is on the First Things, Editorial Advisory Board; First Things president, Father John Neuhaus [Roman Catholic], wrote the ecumenical Catholics & Evangelicals Together I with Chuck Colson/CNP.
Harold Lindsell—Founder of Simon Greenleaf School of Law [now Trinity School of Law] with Walter Martin and James Warwick Montgomery
Kenneth Kanzer— Founding Dean of Trinity Graduate School [Trinity Int’l University]
Is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society/ETS––founded in 1949 by many with ties to Christianity Today.
Terry Muck— previously served on World Vision magazine ––Advisory Board 1992
With James Engel, Os Guiness, Richard Mouw, Terry Muck, Philip Yancey [All serve on the Christianity Today staff with the exception of Guiness.] Editor Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies
Editor: Terry C. Muck “The Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies was founded as an outgrowth of three international conferences on Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, held in Hawaii in 1980 and 1984, and in Berkeley, CA in 1987. The Society's formation is a response to tremendous interest in the topic, evidenced by increased attendance and a more extensive program at each conference. The purpose of the Society is to provide an ongoing format and organization for those committed to study, reflection, interchange and practice arising out of Buddhist-Christian encounter.”
THE WILLOWBANK REPORT: Report on a Consultation on Gospel and Culture
held at Willowbank, Somerset Bridge, Bermuda
from 6th to 13th January 1978
Sponsored by the Lausanne Theology and Education Group
Lausanne’s Willowbank meeting
Those present included:
J. I. Packer
John Stott
William Pannell
Peter Beyerhaus [CT Co-editor, 1973-79]
About Peter Beyerhaus, founder/director of Diakrisis Institute, West Germany
Past Co-Editor of Christianity Today; President of International Conference of Confessing Fellowships; participant in 1980 “Consultation on World Evangelization” in Pattaya, Thailand sponsored by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization; Beyerhaus is a professor of missiology and ecumenics at Tübingen University in West Germany. [Beyerhaus’s is a contributor to the Helsinki Ecumenical Studies web site and appears on the Bibliography of the Ecumenism. Advisory Committee, Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians [FEET].
About Diakrisis: Peter Beyerhaus’ Diakrisis Institute “gladly refers” readers to Alan Morrison’s Diakrisis Interntaional:
(English translation) “Websites to which we would gladly like to refer you…”
“Diakrisis International: English-language Website of Rev. Alan Morrison, which takes up similar topics, like the Institute Diakrisis”
See expose of Alan Morrison: DIAKRISIS: Discernment or Deception?
Willowbank attendees [continued]
Edward Dayton–– World Vision’s MARC [publishing arm of WV]
Charles Kraft––Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission [See expose: Fuller Theological Seminary]
Jacob A. Loewen––United Bible Societies
John Mbiti––Director of the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey, of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland
Stephen Neill––resident Scholar, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, England
Bruce Nicholls––World Evangelical Fellowship, Theological Commission, Executive Secretary
Pedro/Peter Savage–– Int’l Fellowship of Evangelical Students/IFES
Editor’s Notes on Willowbank participants…
Wycliffe Hall––Alister McGrath, principal of Wycliffe Hall is Int’l Fellowship of Evangelical Students/IFES–– based in the UK under the leadership of John Stott and Lindsay Brown. IFES serves as the umbrella org over InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the U.S. which sponsors the Urbana conferences. Lindsay Brown is a personal friend of Tal Brooke.
SEE TOC Database, Ministries to NU Religions, Spiritual Counterfeits Project [a spin-off org of Campus Crusade for Christ].
Another ecumenical gathering with significant Christianity Today representation:
International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978
Signatories included:
James Boice—Eternity Magazine
Norman L. Geisler—Christian Research Institute/CRI
Carl F. H. Henry—Christianity Today
Kenneth Kantzer—Christianity Today
Harold Lindsell—Christianity Today
John Warwick Montgomery [associate of Walter Martin, Harold Lindsell and others in the founding of Simon Greenleaf School of Law; now Trinity Law School]
Roger Nicole—Christianity Today
J. I. Packer—Christianity Today
Francis Schaeffer
R. C. Sproul
…listed in "The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character and Development" as one of the 50 college presidents who have exercised leadership in character development. The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities recently awarded Dr. Kesler with the title of Distinguished Senior Fellow. He shares this honor with former Senate chaplain Richard Halverson and Chuck Colson [CNP]…
As a founding board member for Prison Ministry Fellowship [Chuck Colson], an NGO of the UN, Kesler has been involved with the National Prayer Breakfast for the last 26 years, traveling across the nation to speak with mayors and governors in order to promote stability and citizenship. Prior to returning to Taylor, Dr. Kesler served as the president of Youth for Christ (1973-85)… Kesler’s work with James Dobson’s Focus on the Family Institute…
[See Jay Kesler, Christianity Today Institute/CTI Int’l, below.]
CHRISTIANITY TODAY INSTITUTE INT’L.
Robert E. Cooley, Executive Director of the CTI Foundation, served as the second president of Gordon-Conwell Seminary*… He now leads the board of a new seminary in Kiev.
He began working as executive director of the CTI Foundation on January 1, 2001…
He has served as a Senior Editor for Christianity Today, as chairman of the board for World Relief, and as president of the Association of Theological Schools. He currently chairs the board of directors for In Trust, a magazine for leaders in theological education. [In Trust’s Board of Directors includes; James L. Waits, President of the Rockefeller Fund for Theological Education.
Eugene B. Habecker–– President American Bible Society
Craig Hammon––Executive Vice President, Gordon College*
Jay Kesler––Chancellor Taylor University
Jack Modesett, Jr. ––Partner SCC Development Corp.
Edmund C. Moy–Special Assistant to the President [President George W. Bush] & Associate Director of Presidential Personnel, The White House Washington, DC
Harold L. Myra––CEO & Executive Chair Christianity Today International
Paul D. Robbins–– President & Publisher Christianity Today International
Richard J. Mouw, Fuller Seminary, President [See expose: Fuller Theological Seminary]
—Professor of Christian Philosophy, School of Theology
—Christianity Today, Consulting Editor
—Mouw is a regular columnist on "Beliefnet" Web Magazine.
What is Beliefnet?
Editor’s Note: Exploring the Beliefnet web site it becomes obvious that all world religions are promoted, even the Goddess religion. See Starhawk below.
Following Mouw article found on Beliefnet.Com:
Evangelicals and Catholics: A New Partnership
We're fighting the culture war with 'an ecumenism of the trenches'
Roman Catholics in the United States have been in the middle of a passionate public debate lately, about the tensions between churchly authority and academic freedom in Catholic higher education. Since I am a seminary president…
I have a vested interest in what goes on in contemporary Catholicism, having devoted considerable energy in recent years to evangelical-Catholic dialogue…
All of this was forever changed for me in the 1960s. The Second Vatican Council, convened by Pope John XXIII to open the windows of the Roman Catholic Church to the breezes of theological change, has been one of the great spiritual events of my lifetime. In my continuing efforts to be a faithful Christian in a "post-Christian" culture, I have regularly looked to Roman Catholics for companionship—and often, wisdom and inspiration--on the path of discipleship.
Nor am I alone in this. Evangelical theologian Timothy George [see Beeson Divinity School founder above] has pointed to an important new phenomenon that he labels "an ecumenism of the trenches," where evangelicals and Roman Catholics have found common cause on a number of social issues, and are even increasingly finding occasions for praying and studying the Bible together.
Evangelicals and Roman Catholics have exciting new opportunities for dialogue and cooperation. And as we talk and work together, we may actually learn some new things about what it means to serve our Living Lord in a contemporary world in which we can emphasize the strength of our common convictions, even as we continue to engage in friendly arguments about the important things that still divide us.
Editor’s Note: The reader is encouraged to explore Beliefnet.com to believe it!
Beliefnet Interviews Presidential Candidate George W. Bush
In the final weeks of the election, George W. Bush discussed his faith and policies with Editor-in-Chief, Steve Waldman.
excerpt…
BELIEFNET: Do you think that all major religions are equally true?
BUSH: I think that we're all God's children, and far be it from me, as a lowly sinner, trying to decide who gets to go to heaven and who doesn't, for example. I mean at one time, in 1994, I said, "My faith says you must accept Christ to go to heaven." And there was a significant backlash because, as typical in politics, the full story wasn't told. And there was a typical backlash amongst, you know, some Jewish people in Texas that basically felt I had said that they can't go to heaven. I worked hard to make it clear to people, far be it from me to tell you I get to decide who goes. I'm working on myself. I'm focused on me.
And so to answer your question, there are great religions in the world, and it's important to recognize that there are great religions in the world. And there are many shared tenets of the great religions. "Love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself." And there are some wonderful callings. I just happen to be a Christian…
BELIEFNET: If you believe that the way to the Kingdom of God for you is Jesus Christ, in a sense don't you have a moral obligation to try to urge other people to follow the same path?
BUSH: Not in my line of work I don't. My line of work is political. My line of work [my job] is to walk the walk, and respect others, and respect their religions. And secondly, I'm not so presumptuous as to play God. There are many great religions in the world.
God is all-powerful and all-knowing, and, you know, we'll never know until we get to heaven the ultimate answers to many of the religious questions. But the president of the United States' job is not to try to convert people to religion. The president of the United States' job is to set an example, to make sound decisions, to respect religion, and, if asked, to herald religion. But the key is not to hold out, you know, my religion is better than yours…
even includes:
Starhawk [a witch]
Beliefnet Columnist
Starhawk is the author of numerous books, including "The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of The Ancient Religion Of The Great Goddess," "Dreaming The Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics," and "Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery." Her first novel, "The Fifth Sacred Thing" won the Lambda award for best Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction.
She is a major contributor to "The Pagan Book of Living and Dying," and with Anne Hill and Diane Baker, she co-wrote "Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition," In October, 1999, HarperSanFrancisco published the 20th anniversary edition of "The Spiral Dance."
A feminist and peace activist, she is one of the foremost voices of ecofeminism, and travels widely in North America and Europe giving lectures and workshops.
She consulted on the films, "Goddess Remembered" and "The Burning Times," directed by Donna Read and produced by the National Film Board of Canada, and co-wrote the commentary for "Full Circle," a third film in the same women's spirituality series. Starhawk continues her collaboration with Donna Read, working on an hour-long documentary on the life of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas.
She lives part-time San Francisco, where she works with Reclaiming, an organization offering classes, intensives, public rituals, and training in the Goddess tradition. She lives the rest of the time in a little hut in the woods where she gardens obsessively. Reclaiming publishes a magazine and maintains a website: www.reclaiming.org that links to Starhawk's own website.
Columns and articles by Starhawk
What Would the Goddess Do? Sep 21, 2001
Here are some suggestions of how to embody the energy of the Goddess in these troubled times.
Grounding as a Daily Practice Jul 31, 2001
Dances with Tear Gas May 29, 2001
Even in the midst of toxic gases and riot cops, magical energy sustains us.
Magical Activism Apr 18, 2001
A soon-to-be-signed multinational pact threatens what we pagans hold sacred. It's time to fight back.
The Eostar Bunny Mar 19, 2001
... and other Pagan heralds of spring.
The Witches of Brazil Feb 21, 2001
In a land where a variety of gods, goddesses, and spirits are taken for granted, Wicca is one more pagan faith for the mix.
Celebrating Brigid Jan 19, 2001
The evolution of a ritual.
How to Make Brigid's Cauldron Jan 19, 2001
What I'll Be Doing This Solstice Dec 18, 2000
Cleansing rage, transforming frustration, and inviting renewal.
Rooting for the Trees Nov 30, 2000
When nature gets sick, appreciation can heal.
Samhain Oct 11, 2000
Honoring the Dead
Finding the Holy Grail Sep 11, 2000
'Sacred places are all around us.'
Praising Evolution Aug 10, 2000
A meditation on breath and life
The Land of the Disabled Jul 9, 2000
In this realm, independence becomes a rare and precious commodity.
Listening to the Land Jun 1, 2000
Ecologically speaking, it's healthy when nature and human beings participate in a mutual admiration society.
ENDNOTES
1. “From the Evangelical Alliance to the World Evangelical Fellowship: 150 years of unity with a mission,” W. Harold Fuller, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, October, 1996. W. Harold Fuller is vice-chair of the WEF International Council and author of the updated history of the EA and WEF, People of the Mandate (Carlisle, U.K.: Paternoster; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996). [Can be purchased for $2.95 from the Northern Light Special Collection: http://library.northernlight.com/GG19970923030009906.html?cb=0&sc=0#doc or contact Watch Unto Prayer for full text of article: baho@watch-unto-prayer.org
2.
Pew
Charitable Trusts grant to Christianity Today:
http://www.pewtrusts.com/search/search_item.cfm?grant_id=1615
Found by doing a Grant Search: Faith-based/All recent Grants:
http://www.pewtrusts.com/search/index.cfm?issue_id=23
(1997) Christianity Today, Inc., $ 502,000
Pew Charitable Trusts
grant to Christianity Today
Religion
(Religious Scholarship)
Common Name: Christianity Today, Inc.
Legal Name: Christianity Today, Inc.
Carol Stream, IL
$502,000.00 over 39 mos.
Grant was approved September 1997
Purpose:
In support of Books and Culture: A Christian Review, a bimonthly review of
culture, intellectual life and contemporary affairs.
Contact info:
Mr. Harold L.Myra
President
630-260-6200
Web site: Christianity Today, Inc.
3. Luis E. Lugo, Director, Religion Program, Pew Charitable Trusts, Religion and the Public Square: Religious Grantmaking at The Pew Charitable Trusts: http://www.pewtrusts.com/grants/programs/rel/rel_public_square.cfm
4.
Amsterdam
2000 & World Evangelical Fellowship/WEF
Press Release: World Evangelical Fellowship chooses Libronix Corp. for
Amsterdam 2000 CD-ROM
WHEATON, IL June 23, 2000 - The World Evangelical Fellowship (www.worldevangelical.org)
has chosen Libronix Corporation (www.libronix.com)
as the technology platform provider for a special CD-ROM being developed for the
Amsterdam 2000 Conference (www.amsterdam2000.org),
which begins on July 29. The conference is sponsored
by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (www.billygraham.org)
and is expected to be the world¹s largest conference of preaching evangelists
with some 10,000 participants from more than 185 countries and territories. The
CD-ROM, titled "WEF Resource Library for Amsterdam
2000," will include all back issues of the WEF journal, "Evangelical
Review of Theology," along with a number of additional ministry resources. The
CD-ROM will be provided free of charge to all conference attendees.
Jim Stamoolis, Executive Director of the WEF Theological Commission,
commented, "We are grateful for the opportunity to provide this CD-ROM to the
participants of the Amsterdam 2000 conference.
5. Amsterdam 2000 [Billy Graham Evangelistic Association]
Funded by Pew Charitable Trusts [Sun Oil/ Pew also funds Council on Foreign Relations/CFR]
US $40 million in sponsorship from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association [BGEA]
Billy Graham Invited Alpha Course to Amsterdam 2000: http://watch-unto-prayer.org/gpm-missions-add.html
The Amsterdam Declaration: Article #11. Social Responsibility and Evangelism
“…when our evangelism is linked with concern to alleviate poverty, uphold justice, oppose abuses of secular and economic power, stand against racism, and advance responsible stewardship of the global environment, it reflects the compassion of Christ and may gain an acceptance it would not otherwise receive. We pledge ourselves to follow the way of justice in our family and social life, and to keep personal, social and environmental values in view as we evangelize.”
Smoke, Mirrors and Disinformation...
The Compromised Ties of the Apologetics Ministries
