The false teachers seem to be popping up everywhere, just like the violent ”pop-up storms” we have in Georgia which quickly do massive damage in selected areas.
On the heels of our post on “doctrines of devils”, take a moment to examine another searing example of the doctrines of devils being spewed from the pulpits of the contemporary church.
Feted as one of the world’s foremost theologians who teaches at the likes of Harvard and Oxford, Bishop Thomas Wright of England contends that heaven is not the final destination of the saved. And strangely reminiscent of Watchtower doctrine, Wright denies the rapture and the destruction of the earth. Wright’s teachings seem to question even the resurrection of the dead.
In a radical departure from traditional belief, Wright says that Christians are not ultimately destined for a spiritual place called heaven. He says that at the end of time as we know it, God will literally remake our physical bodies and return us to a newly restored planet.
“Heaven is important but it’s not our final destination,” he explained. “If you want to say that when someone dies they go to heaven, fine. But that’s only a temporary holding pattern that is life after death. And what I’m much more interested in, or the New Testament is much more interested in, is what I’ve called life after life after death.”
The major issue with people like Wright who perhaps unwittingly become pawns in the spread of the demon’s doctrine is that they take some scripture and skillfully mix it with speculation, worldly wisdom and postmodernist ideology. Its a deadly concoction because truth mixed with anything other than truth (God’s that is) becomes deadlier than an outright lie. It is beautiful, attractive deception.
The red flag that is it a “departure from traditional belief.” In this case, Wright false doctrine is a radical departure. That would equal seven red flags.
Wright’s motivation (as was mentioned by the pastor at Dead Theologians) is not to evoke a desire for holiness in people, obedience to the will of God, nor to uphold clear principles of righteousness, but to steer people away from what the Bible has said and confirmed concerning the faith once delivered to the saints.
If you are a minimal, casual bible reader, BEWARE you are the type that will be fooled, hoodwinked and bamboozled by the false teachers running around like demonic pacmen. I strongly urge you to pray first and ask God to give you a hunger and thirst for the living water and the bread of heaven. Then put action to your prayer and study God’s word to know HIM and who HE is. Only then will you live. Jesus said in John 6:63 “the words that I speak are spirit and life”. If you listen to and become influenced by the false teachers, you will become like the chaff which the winds drive away.
NOTE: I forgot to include the article from which the quote came from in the body of the post. There are a couple:
(1) ABC News (2)Time Magazine. I encourage you to read them also.
Filed under: general, heresies, heterodoxy, international, media, orthodoxy, orthopraxy, pastors and clergy, profiles, religion, satan | Tagged: bishop, false prophets, false teachers, rapture, watchtower
I’ll go even further, Pastor, and call that heresy – and I’ll call Bishop Wright a heretic.
And as is always the case with heresy, a bit (a small bit) of truth is twisted into an origami of a lie (generally recognized after the damage has been wrought).
Pastor Foster,
Do you mean false teachers like this?
Click below
@ speakingtruth, right you are my brother. This is a clear cut case of heresy, denying the foundational truths of our faith. Im not going to say what I started to title this post. Lets just say it had the word “demon” in it.
@ Kyle. Kyle, Micheal Bussee gets 100% of my sympathy. What a lost individual. God help his soul. If anyone doubts that just take a look at his own words.
Rev. Wright is right, the final home of the saved is in the New Jerusalem here on Earth. Rev. chapter 21.
Willie, like we said mixing some lie with some truth makes it a lie.
There is a new heaven and a new earth in Rev 21, but I would ask you and Bishop Wright where Jesus is and where he is going to take us to according to his promise in John 14?
Would the answer be earth? Is Jesus coming back to earth to take us to earth?
The final verses (21-27) of Rev speak of a city where the gates will be shut and where there will be no one who works or believes a lie. Is this referring to the earth?
And I note the “final” home of the saints, but it isnt at the expense of heaven.
Of course, brother, having no desire to be contentious in this matter, I am not see where this man is wrong. If there is something I am not quite understanding please help me with the following passage of Revelation:
Now, I have no desire to read Scripture incorrectly, but it does seem like the New Jerusalem will not remain in Heaven, but come down to the New Earth and rest there. And
It does say that, despite the fact that nothing clean will be allowed to enter, the gates of the New City will not be closed. I do have to admit that his language is a bit goofy, but (from this small excerpt alone) I cannot see where he would be a “Heretic”.
GCMW: Christopher, thanks I stand corrected. I misread the verse. The gates to the city will not be shut.
Pastor Foster,
Thank you for your reply.
Jesus is in Heaven right now, but according to Rev. 21 He will surrender all to the Father, and the Father will rule from the New Jerusalem which will descend from Heaven and come to earth.
I am just a Pastor of a small church in Lovejoy, Ga and I always stand corrected. However, I have been studying this since our last post.
Pastor Johnson, sorry we didnt recognize your office before. The size of your church has no bearing on your call. So thanks for commenting.
Considering your comments and now Christopher’s I want to point out that the motivation behind Bishop Wright’s teaching and the also several other points he has mixed in about heaven and the new earth. is what makes this teaching unorthodox.
If indeed this is a radical departure, what does the average Christian stand to gain by telling them they are not going to end up in heaven? And how does it hurt the average Christian to believe they are going to heaven. I saw this as I said a brand of Watchtower doctrine which indeed is heresy.
Quite honestly to deny that the Lord will return and take us away is heretical when the Lord himself said he would. How does Wright propose we will get to this place of eternal abode with Christ, if not by this supernatural means. This bleeds into the resurrection and its very foundational relation to the core of what we believe.
[...] July 17, 2008 by John from Gay Christian Movement Watch: [...]
Pastor Willie Johnson,
Please note the current earth and heavens will be destroyed (uncreated) – see also 2 Peter 3:7 remembering God is beyond time. The New Jerusalem it is my understanding is the “capital” of heaven – where all saints are now dwelling with God.
Heaven and earth will pass away – there is nothing for the New Jerusalem to return to. No tears, no pain, no suffering, etc.. and our heavenly bodies will not be made from the dirt of earth – it will all be new. Heaven is indeed our Final place – to say otherwise is unbiblical. This earth was made for destruction by Fire; 2 Peter 3 – “But the present heavens and earth by His Word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” The new heaven and earth will be nothing like we have now – indeed it will be Heaven! Everything that makes up life now will be completely different – the exact opposite. Hebrews 9:11 Utterly differerent – 11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
“To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”
Yes when we die we will surely be with the Lord in Heaven as stated in the Bible. However, I would like to read the entire article for clarification. As stated by others here, we will be given glorified bodies like our Christ and we will be with the Lord in the new Jerusalem which descends upon the new earth.
As for the rapture issue this is also in need of clarification. People who deny a rapture should not necessarily be considered Preterist. Some people believe that the saints must go through the tribulation and at the end when Christ destroys the armies at Armageddon is when the dead rise and the saints who made it through the tribulation are given glorified bodies. Although I do not prescribe to such a doctrine it does not make him a Preterist which is clearly against the teachings of the bible.
Kyle
He will surrender all to the Father, and the Father will rule from the New Jerusalem
This strikes me as very dangerous – seperating the eternal Father from Jesus.
Wright: Yes. If there’s going to be an Armageddon, and we’ll all be in heaven already or raptured up just in time, it really doesn’t matter if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to that. Or, for that matter, whether you bombed civilians in Iraq. All that really matters is saving souls for that disembodied heaven.
He is not of the rapture view whether pre or post. I find that a direct contradiction of 1 Thess 4
How can you advocate for heaven on earth when clearly Paul articulates a taking away of the saints from the earth?
It would be interesting to hear his explanation of the final destination of the wicked.
To Mark:
Please read 1 Corinthians 15-20-28. I made a mistake and said Rev. 21 about Jesus reigning and finally surrendering all to the Father. I hope I don’t seem to be contentious, but my doctoral Thesis/Dissertation was on “A Complete Look at Eschatology.”
The fact that the New Jerusalem will be on the New Earth is specifically verified in Rev. 21.
It’s enough of the truth to get people to notice and buy his book. What gets me is what he said:
“According to those who believe it, the end of the world will start with the so-called “rapture,” when all christians will be taken up to heaven in one momentous swoop. The earth then enters a period of cataclysmic wars until it eventually disintegrates, in a final chapter of fire. Wright says that is more mythical than Biblical.
“It’s a myth,” Wright said. “It is an attempt to make sense of some bits of the New Testament”
To call this a myhical is Heretic. Would you say so???
Let me answer YES.
Pastor Johnson,
As I read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 I understand it that as we belong to Christ – Christ also belongs to God.
I don’t see Jesus being seperated, nor in the Heavenly Kingdom handing over anything – but His children. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth.” Jesus rules everything, Jesus presents the saints (people) the redeemed to God – that is the Kingdom. Christ’s ressurrection is the point Paul is making, without us being raised from the dead there is nothing for Him in the Kingdom. All begins with God and all returns to God. Help me out if I am in error.
The “New” Earth – key word “New” – I agree is specifcally verified in Rev 21, not our earth today, agreed? You had originally stated “the New Jerusalem which will descend from Heaven and come to earth.” Perhaps I missed understood your true meaning. Rev Wright is indeed wrong, this earth is NOT “the final home of the saved – here on Earth”.
beckrl,
yes youre right, that is definitely heretical and it tosses out all of his other theories because he rejects a main tenet of the church which is the rapture of the bride of Christ as we noted in 1 Thess 4.