The Unity of the Church

The book of Psalms has been appropriately called “the hymn book of the Bible.”  There are more than twenty-five hundred verses in its one hundred and fifty chapters, and doubtless that many songs have been composed from them through the centuries and millenniums since their sentiments swelled the bosom of Israel's sweet singer.  Many of these verses were chanted in the worship of early Christians, and they will be sung in every generation wherever people are found worshiping God until we learn the “new song” in Heaven, “when all the redeemed singers get home.”

To rob our modern productions of the sentiments and psalms of David would be, indeed, to impoverish our worship of praise.

A SONG OF UNITY.  Psalm 133 is a song of unity, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  There is nothing more stifling and stultifying to the emotions of the soul than strife and division.  There is nothing more soothing and beneficent to the spirit than peace and unity.

Unity among brethren is like “the precious ointment upon the head,” in the psalmist’s refrain.  The Easterners perfumed with fragrant oil.  Unity perfumes the church and sweetens the atmosphere like the precious oil “than ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard:  that went down to the skirts of his garments.”

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.  Exhorting the brethren to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” Paul outlines, in Ephesians 4:4-6, the basis of unity. “There is one body, one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling:  one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  The “unity of the spirit” is the unity the Spirit teaches, or that results when the Spirit’s Word is obeyed.

There is one God—unity in worship.  A divided worship cannot be rendered “in spirit and in truth.”  Wherever and whenever rendered, true worship must have the two elements—the right spirit and the right act; for God is one, and “seeketh such to be his worshipers.”

There is one Lord—unity in authority.  Human authority in religion is wrong.  Christ is Lord, and His Word only is authority.

There is one faith—unity in message.  The Spirit, which guided “into all truth,” does not impart conflicting messages.  The Gospel promotes unity; and where there is division, something else has been preached.

There is one baptism—unity in practice.  Modes of baptism!  We might as well talk about shades of white.  There is no such thing.

There is one body—unity in organization.  The church is one body.  It is impossible to have “spiritual unity” and “organic” division.  Unity is both spiritual and organic.

There is one Spirit and one hope—unity in life, in desire and expectation.

Thus, Paul outlines the only basis of unity.  Let the world cease their efforts toward amalgamations, federations, alliances, and unions, and adopt the divine standard and basis of unity—oneness in Christ.

THE PRAYER FOR UNITY.  The Lord's prayer in John 17:1-21 was an ardent petition for unity.  “May they all be one.”  Jesus praying for the unity of believers!  Yet, it has not touched the heart of those who are promoting denominationalism in the world, nor even of brethren who sow discord and stir factions in the church.  Denominationalism is the misrepresentation of Christianity—a horrid caricature—and the authors of perversions in religion are enemies of Christ, professing and even honestly thinking themselves to be His friends.

But “charity begins at home.”  We cannot with good grace preach unity and practice division. “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10).  Paul’s beseechment should not only be our preachment, but also our practice.  The unity of Christians is the only hope of bringing the world to Christ.  Jesus knew it, and therefore prayed that “they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”                                                              

Foy E. Wallace, Jr

A REVIEW OF THE BIBLE - Part 5*

  • Episode 9 "Passion"
  • Episode 10 "Courage" 

Part 5      

In this last two hours of The Bible, the viewer finds once again a mixture of accuracy with flagrant disregard for the sacred text that they are supposed to be showing.  In fact, the presentation seems to vacillate between the two.  What actually happened was that Judas told the chief priests and the elders to take back their money.  He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”  Then he threw down the money in the temple.  In the miniseries, however, he throws it at Malchus, who has just brought Jesus down the steps and made a quick announcement to the crowd that Jesus has been found guilty and is worthy of death.  Judas says, “Take back your money.”  Then he goes out and hangs himself.  None of the gospel writers hint that Malchus made such an announcement or that Judas threw money at him.      Pilate’s wife warns him three times against condemning Jesus.  Mary watches Jesus being scourged while the priests are busy stacking the crowd to be sure that Barabbas is released instead of Jesus.  Jesus before Pilate was accurate—even to the governor saying, “What is truth?”  Pilate washed his hands as he reluctantly turns Jesus over to be crucified, and Jesus begins His journey to Golgotha.  At one point where He stumbles, His mother Mary reaches Him, and He tells her not to be afraid—that all things are possible with God.  After this error, they accurately portrayed Pilate refusing to change the title that would be placed above Jesus ‘ head.  It said, “King of the Jews,” and would not be changed to: “He said He was the King of the Jews.”  

The Crucifixion      

As Jesus is climbing the hill of Golgotha, a lamb and two turtledoves are being offered by the high priest.  Meanwhile Pilate comments to his wife, “He’ll be forgotten in a week.”  Mary reaches up and touches His foot while Jesus is on the cross, an action which arose from someone’s imagination.  The most accurate part of the crucifixion is that Jesus says the seven things He is recorded as saying in the Scriptures (although two of them were out of order).  After this portrayal, the consideration of truth deteriorated quickly.  From this point on, the miniseries becomes more and more disappointing.  Although there are dark clouds that roll by at the time of Jesus’ death, no darkness covers the land for the last three hours of His time on the cross.  The lampstand in the temple overturns, and an earthquake causes the veil of the temple to come crashing down, but it is supposed to tear from the bottom to the top.  The centurion presses the spear into Jesus’ right side, but no water and blood comes forth.  The spear, when removed does have red upon it.      

The stage is set; the centurion looks up at the cross, and the viewer is waiting for those wonderful words that the actual centurion spoke: “Truly this was the Son of God.”  But only silence greets one’s ears.  What would it have taken—three seconds—for him to have uttered those powerful words?  Why were they omitted when they just as easily could have been included?      

Nicodemus and someone unidentified (presumably Joseph of Arimathea) take Jesus out to the tomb, but they have no hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes with them.  Meanwhile Mary is sent back to Galilee—even though John just promised to be her son a day or two earlier.  She is not among those in the upper room.  None of the other women are with Mary Magdalene, and when she gets to the tomb, no Roman soldiers are in sight.  She sees the rock split (as opposed to angels rolling it away) and enters the tomb (John 20:1; Matt. 28:2).  She goes in and sees His clothes, but no angel is inside the tomb.  Then Jesus speaks to her and tells her to go tell the other disciples, which she does.  They tell her that it is not possible and that she saw someone else.  Peter and John go with her and see the empty tomb.  Peter returns and recalls the Last Supper.  Thomas laments, “No, this isn’t real.”

The Ascension      

The miniseries does have Jesus inviting Thomas to touch His wounds, and the hole in one of His hands is interesting.   When Jesus ascends into heaven, He first tells them that the Holy Spirit will come upon them. Then He commissions them: “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to all creation….”  Then, silence—again.  They left off the part about, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.”  Jesus concludes by saying, “Peace be with you”; then He ascends.  Pentecost       The disciples become excited to see Stephen arriving in Jerusalem, but nothing of his background is stated.  He is present, as is Mary Magdalene, on this crucial day as the mighty rushing wind begins as they are reciting the Lord’s prayer (which is doubtful); however, no cloven tongues as of fire sit upon them.  They all praise God in different languages (which is better than some lame attempt to make them ecstatic utterances).  But no accusation of drunkenness follows, and Peter does not preach the first gospel sermon.  The Bible has been leading up to this day for centuries, and the proclamation of the gospel is critical, but the producers just ignored it.  No gospel message is included.  Not one of the 3,000 souls is baptized (Acts 2:41).      

Peter heals the lame man from Acts 3 on the same day, and Stephen is also stoned.  Those responsible for The Bible were more unkind than the Jews.  They, at least, let Stephen preach before they stoned him.  He presented no message here.  Although he does see the heaven open and the Lord on the right hand of God, he is not portrayed saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”  

Paul of Tarsus      

No, you read it correctly.  Although the Bible never calls the persecutor of the church Paul of Tarsus, the miniseries introduces him this way.  If anyone is looking for a designation of this 10-hour miniseries, the Paul of Tarsus version of the Bible would encapsulate its errors.  No one ever referred to Paul that way; furthermore, he was not called Paul, period, until after his conversion and the beginning of his first missionary journey (Acts 13:9).  He certainly did not go by Paul at the stoning of Stephen.  One wonders who the producers could have possibly consulted with on these matters—surely, no one who knows the Bible well.      

Paul of Tarsus gets Malchus to join him in persecuting Christians, and they invade a place where Christians are meeting.  They torture a disciple who tells them that Christians have fled to Damascus.  So Paul  gets on his phantom horse that he has been riding ever since Good News for Modern Man was published, showing Saul falling off a stick figure pony.  He saw Jesus and then became blinded.  The men with him do not see anyone.     

In Damascus, Jesus commissions Ananias to go to “Paul of Tarsus,” who is blind and very nervous.  When Ananias approaches, he wants to know who is there.  Ananias restores his sight and says, “I, Ananias, baptize you, Paul, in the name of Christ” and he pours a pitcher of water over his head.  Exactly what Biblical or historical fact is this nonsense based on?  Was there no one working on this project that read Acts 8, where Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and came up out of it again?  It’s hard to get a pitcher of water out of that!  “Paul’s” conversion is only the next chapter!        

They had done such a wonderful work of showing John in the Jordan River baptizing Jesus by immersion.  What happened?  Did someone tell them, “You will alienate many in Protestant denominations if you leave it at that”?  Did someone advise them to show some other method of baptism so as to be more inclusive?  They had baptism right initially; this switch from the accurate portrayal of the act was obviously a sell-out aimed at pleasing those who refuse to do it properly; it was a  clear compromise of what the Bible teaches.  Later at the house of Cornelius, they dip everyone’s head into a well.  The only surprising thing at this point is that no one sprinkled water on the penitent.    James, Paul, and John       Someone must have rolled the dice and said it was time to change the order of historical events.  James the brother of John is put to death (which occurs in Acts 12).  The apostles realize they have to finally leave Jerusalem.  Someone asks John where he thinks he will go, and he answers: “North, to Ephesus.”  Does any Bible student think that if John was asked this question that he actually answered these words?  Didn’t think so.  Besides, Ephesus is north and considerably west of Jerusalem.  Furthermore, Paul was the first apostle to actually travel there (Acts 19).      

At this point Paul came to Jerusalem and tried to join with the disciples.  One of Paul’s detractors said, “I have friends in Damascus; you paid them a visit,” which is untrue.  Saul the persecutor never visited Christians in Damascus because he was struck blind first.  Rejected by brethren, he began quoting 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, a great text, which he wrote several years later.  The previous critic changed his mind and embraced Paul.  Anyone guessing that Paul’s benefactor was Barnabas knows the Bible better than The Bible’s producers.  They have Luke responding positively to Paul.      

Shortly thereafter, Peter is arrested and taken to Cornelius, who, rather than do him harm, wanted to hear the gospel.  Everyone bowed to him, and Peter did say he is a man like they are.  Of course, Peter was not brought to Cornelius by Romans, and this event (recorded in Acts 10) happened before James was slain (Acts 12).  Peter did not dip Cornelius’ head in water to baptize him.  The Holy Spirit coming upon Cornelius and his household to prove that the Gentiles were acceptable to God did not occur—especially since there were no Jews with Peter anyway in this version.

Conclusion    

The ten hours comes to a close by moving down the road twenty years and mentioning that, according to tradition, Peter was crucified upside down in Rome. Paul is arrested for preaching to prisoners. Actually, that is inverted, also. Paul preached to prisoners after he was jailed (Acts 16, et al.). Paul is not shown being arrested in Jerusalem and taken to Rome. Nothing is said about that at all. The narrator informs the audience that John was poisoned in Rome. What? But then he adds that the Romans were unsuccessful in their attempt and banished him to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote Revelation. Nothing is ever said about him being in Ephesus, as predicted earlier. He sees Jesus, but it is not the vision from Revelation 1. He talks about there being no more pain and death, affirms that He will make all things new, and promises that He is coming soon. His final words are, “May the grace of the Lord be with all God’s people,” to which John adds, “Amen.” Our conclusion is that this “Paul of Tarsus” version, except for about 30 minutes out of ten hours, is not worth seeing and will only confuse the viewer. It is riddled with inaccuracies and misinformation. The Nativity and The Passion of the Christ are far better and more inspirational. As far as the Old Testament, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments remains the best, though it contains several errors as well.

Gary W. Summers

*altered format from original publishing to correspond to aired episodes

A REVIEW OF THE BIBLE - Part 3*

Episode 5 "Survival"

Part 3 of the miniseries on The Bible contains the fifth and final hour devoted to the Old Testament and also the first hour of dealing with the New. The previous hour had ended with David’s life, with only an honorable mention made of Solomon. His glorious reign is not mentioned; neither is the division of the kingdom after his death. Nothing is said of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, nor his putting the two golden calves in Dan and Bethel. The northern kingdom is never heard of again. The series is silent about Ahab and Jezebel, the time period of Elijah and Elisha. None of the southern kings are noticed, either (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah). Any reference to the Assyrian Captivity is absent. The viewer is instead taken to just prior to the Babylonian Captivity and King Zedekiah, who is described as the 21st king of Israel.    

Zedekiah was, in fact, the 19th king over the southern kingdom, following three kings of the united kingdom (Saul, David, and Solomon), which obviously would make him the 22nd king—unless they did not count Saul since he was of Benjamin rather than Judah, but if so, they are the only ones we know who count the kings in that manner. No reference work calls Zedekiah the 21st king.    

Jeremiah and Zedekiah do speak to each other, but the conversation they had alone is not shown. Jeremiah tells the king to surrender or die, and he is beat up. The producers did get one part correct—Zedekiah and his sons do escape through a secret passage and are caught. His sons are killed before his eyes, and then his eyes are put out. Daniel and his three friends are taken alive, but Jeremiah is said to escape. In actuality, Jeremiah was set free by the conquering Babylonians and was given the choice to do whatever he wanted. He chose to stay with a remnant of Israel, who decided, against the counsel of God, to go into Egypt. None of those things, however, were referenced; instead the focus of attention now becomes Babylon. 

Babylon    

When Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he only mentions Babylon and the kingdom of God. Nothing is said of Medo-Persia, Greece, or Rome. When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (whose Babylonian names are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) told Daniel they could not bow down to the king’s golden idol, he tried to talk them out of it, saying, “Don’t do this; he’ll kill you.” Really? One does not expect this behavior from one of the most faithful men of God who ever lived. The reason he is not required to bow down is that he is considered part of the king’s party (thus exempt from the command). The image stands above them, and apparently the fiery furnace is below this observation deck. Daniel does, however, try to talk the king out of punishing them, claiming, “They will serve you faithfully, all their lives, as I will, but they will only worship God.”     

This fiery furnace bore no resemblance to the one described in the Scriptures. Rather than being thrown into a furnace seven times hotter than normal from above, they are made to walk into it; then the fire is lit. God appears in the furnace, and the three lads come to no harm. King Nebuchadnezzar cannot believe it. He puts his hand forth toward the fire and brings it back burned. While this serves to show that the fire is real and that it was a miracle that the young men were not consumed in flames, it is not the way the event occurred. Afterward, the people of Judah are told to arise. All other captives apparently had no objection to worshiping the image.     

In the Scriptures, Nebuchadnezzar becomes a wild beast that forages in the fields, but in this version he is imprisoned in chains and seems to die as a raving madman. Daniel laments that he is unable to help the Jews and says they will need to rely on the next king. Actually, King Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity was restored. Cyrus and Daniel    Cyrus is let into the city of Babylon without a fight. It is stated that the Babylonians knew they didn’t stand a chance. Had those producing this miniseries read Daniel 5, they would have known that the kingdom of Babylon fell the night that Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall for Belshazzar, who did not welcome a new king to take charge from him, but rather he was slain (Dan. 5: 30). The king that conquered Babylon (and he did so by diverting the water that flowed into the city so his soldiers could enter surreptitiously) was Darius the Mede. It is in the reign of Darius that Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den; Cyrus is only mentioned at the close of Daniel 6 (v. 28).    Trying to persuade Cyrus that he should let Israel return to their land, Daniel says, “There’s a prophet here in Babylon—Isaiah…” and then he points to the prophecy of Isaiah (44:28 or 45:1) saying that Cyrus will let them go. The only problem is that Isaiah had died 100 years earlier, having preached from about 740-700 B.C. (This event occurs about 536 B.C.)    

When Daniel is taken to the den of lions, it is by his enemies; no king comes to wish him well, but he does show up the next morning. Only two lions were visible, for some reason, we always envisioned more than two. This segment ends with Cyrus granting leave to Israel to return to their land. But nothing is mentioned of Ezra, Nehemiah, or Esther, the rebuilding of the temple, or the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. As the Jews leave the city, Daniel speaks some sort of prophecy which ties together certain elements that have no connection to one another. The Old Testament five hours now comes to an end, and now the viewer will see how they handle the New Testament.

Episode 6 "Hope"

Rome and Herod    

As the New Testament era begins, the narrator comments that Israel suffered under the Romans like never before. Hmm. Does that include when they lived a life made bitter with hard bondage under Egypt? Was the government of Rome worse than being conquered by Babylon, in which thousands were killed and others were taken captive? Of this sorrowful event Jeremiah wrote his Lamentations. Was it worse than life under Antiochus Epiphanes, who offered a sow on the altar in Jerusalem, thus causing rebellion to erupt? To be sure, Rome was despised and hated, and probably at times their ruthlessness rivaled some of these other occasions, but it would be a stretch to say that it was worse.    

Although the Bible does not mention it, Herod the Great allegedly put an eagle (the symbol of Rome) above the Jewish temple, which caused great offense. Some men are killed while trying to remove it. Herod seems like another contender for Monday Night Raw on the USA network. He is totally self-absorbed, which likely is an accurate portrayal. He seldom speaks without bellowing.   

Mary is greeted by an angel in the midst of a skirmish between Jewish zealots and Rome. Their conversation is not lengthy. Soon she begins showing, and Joseph spurns her. She asks him to believe her and to trust her—that she had not been with a man. He rejects her pleas, saying, “Mary, God doesn’t do this to people like us.” Interesting. However, after an angel speaks to him, he defends her and rescues her from a crowd that was on the verge of stoning her. Nothing is reported concerning her visit to see Elizabeth, who was about to give birth to John the Baptizer.   

Herod only consults the priests after the wise men leave. Predictably, the wise men come to Mary and Joseph in the stable on the night Jesus was born rather than when they were living in a house some time later (Matt. 2:11). Instead of being warned by an angel to leave Bethlehem for Egypt, Joseph sees a vision of Rome coming, and they leave. The narrator says, “And one child escapes.” Technically, that is true, but it was due to God’s intervention. The soldiers do come and kill the remaining children.    

One final event occurs with Herod. He has his oldest son brought in, and he is put to death before the wicked king himself dies. The Jews stage a rebellion, sensing an opportune moment, but it fails, and about 2,000 are crucified in Galilee. This event concludes this section of history.

The Baptism of Jesus    

One of the more well done events of the miniseries arrives at this point. John is preaching and immersing people. We can almost forgive a dozen inaccuracies for getting this important fact right! The reason that we rejoice in this accurate portrayal is that some have made movies with John waist-deep in the Jordan River, with people wading out to him while he preaches—and then he pours water over their heads! Apparently, no one is supposed to ask, “Why would John be out in the middle of the river if he only needed to pour a little water on someone? How preposterous is that!     

But in The Bible John is doing it correctly. When he sees Jesus, he says that he had need to be baptized of the Lord. However, instead of Jesus saying, “Allow it to be so to fulfill all righteousness, He says, “What you are doing is right,” which must be another one of those lackluster dynamic equivalences. Also, John only says that Jesus will baptize with fire, omitting the part about “with the Holy Spirit.” After Jesus’ baptism, a picture of clouds rolling along overhead is shown, but there is no voice, which says, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”—and no Holy Spirit descending as a dove.

The Temptations in the Wilderness    

Jesus is walking through the wilderness after His 40 days without food, and he falls to the ground from weakness. While he is lying there, a serpent slithers over His body. He sits up and turns around to see a hooded figure approaching Him. Satan, who has long black nails, picks up a rock and throws it to Jesus. He catches it, but it has become bread. Challenged by Satan to turn the stone into bread, Jesus answers that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Unfortunately, for the second temptation, Satan only asks Jesus to throw Himself off a cliff instead of the pinnacle of the temple. His answer varies from the Scriptures here in that He says, “How dare you put God to the test?”    

But the third temptation is done most cleverly. As Satan is offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, He experiences alternate visions. He is seated upon a throne of splendor, and Pilate places a crown upon His head; this vision is countered by one in which the crown of thorns is placed upon His head. Pilate pours water on his ankle and foot, kissing Him there, but he also sees the nails being driven into His body, with Pilate saying “Crucify Him!” Jesus answers Satan, “I worship the Lord My God and serve Him only.” The serpent slithers off.    

This scene became the most controversial of the entire series because the appearance of Satan was a cross between the Sith Lord of Star Wars and Barack Obama. Many believe this resemblance was intentional, since the actor portraying Satan is white. Others, however, point out that Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are supporters of Obama. So, it remains a mystery how this likeness occurred. Maybe, it is just that the devil is in the details.

The Conclusion    

The sixth hour of the series ends with the death of John the Baptizer intertwined with the calling of Peter to be His disciple. Jesus walks out to Peter’s boat and asks for a hand to get inside, which Peter gives Him. Then he asks, “What do you think you’re doing?” Jesus smiles and replies, “We’re going fishing.” Peter has protested that there are no fish out there, but they haul in two nets full. Andrew, James, and John are not around. Jesus offers to make him a fisher of men. “What are we going to do?” Peter asks. “Change the world,” the Lord replies. Jesus never said those words, but He did in fact change the world.     

Meanwhile, Herod Antipas is visiting John the Immerser in prison. Herod says, “What am I going to do with you and your dangerous mouth?” The viewer has no comprehension of the reason John is in prison. Nothing is portrayed of John telling him that it was not lawful for him to have his brother Philip’s wife. John answers that Herod should listen. Herod asks: “To a seditious fool? I don’t think so.” John answers that he should listen to God’s message. As per the miniseries, John’s only crime was mentioning the coming King. Just before Herod has him killed, John says, “He is already here.” Nothing is said about Herodias and her daughter’s part in his death—or the fact that this was all due to his preaching on the subject of marriage and divorce.

Gary W. Summers

*altered format from original publishing to correspond to aired episodes