Fake<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen does Faith News become Fake News?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cYou shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.\u201d <\/em>(Exodus 20:16)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis has become \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fake News is indeed the scourge of our times but sometimes we need to follow the narrative and take into account different interpretations of an event. Nothing is ever black and white, truth is an ever-moving target, it is not an absolute.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen does Faith News become Fake News? <\/em>The malaise of relativism is not just an illness in our culture, it has also found \u2018spiritual\u2019 expressions too. Let\u2019s face it, every spiritual expression that is not grounded in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is \u2018fake news\u2019. And it can be of the most dangerous variety, if it has the appearance of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2026 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (<\/em>2 Timothy 3:5)<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe commandment, in its most basic sense, speaks of leading others astray and we can all be guilty of this, not just through the fibs, peccadillos and downright lies that sometimes escape through our lips in our daily interactions, but, more importantly, how we are communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. There are problems within and problems without, because the tiniest bit of yeast can infect a whole batch, even if it got there accidentally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, for example. They are only relevant to this discussion because of their seeming omnipresence on our high streets, shopping malls, train stations, with their big smiles, smart appearance, colourful stands \u2026 and corrupt message! How many innocents have been lured into their web of deceit, delivered with earnestness but owing its origins to the darkest of places? Surely it is harder to correct subtle error received through the JWs, than to deliver the truth to an open, expectant, unsullied heart. They represent danger of the highest order because they talk our language and reference our Saviour, but their version of Christ is not the Son of God but a created being and therefore powerless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is John 1:1, using the Jehovah Witness New World Translation:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHere is John 1:1, using the New International Version<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe only difference is a single letter and a capitalisation but it\u2019s a monumental difference. The JW\u2019s take on Jesus, the Word, is that he is merely \u2026 a god<\/em>. \u2018Just one of many\u2019, is the implication, and the lack of a capitalisation signals the low esteem in which he is held by them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnother verse that they twist is John 14:11, where the relationship between God and Jesus is stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am in union with the Father and the Father is in union with me.<\/em> (New World translation)<\/p>\n\n\n\nI am in the Father and the Father is in me.<\/em> (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Jehovah Witness believes that Jesus was just a human being, despite a whole swathe of Scriptures that say otherwise, a problem they side-track by producing their own \u201cversion\u201d of the Bible that \u201cre-interprets\u201d all of the difficult passages. The next time you meet a JW, ask them to explain John 20:28, as their version seems to have made a \u201cboo boo\u201d here, with an acknowledgement that at least Thomas thought Jesus was God, even if Charles Taze Russell (the founder of the JWs) didn\u2019t!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In answer Thomas said to him: \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nBut, seriously, their error concerning the Person of Jesus is so damaging that, by Biblical standards they are not even saved. Yet they have been promised heaven and eternal life (of sorts \u2026 if they have earned it!). They have been sold a dummy and we must pray earnestly for the hundreds of thousands of lost souls held in such a bondage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we have just seen an example of the danger of Christian Fake News<\/em>, or Fake Faith<\/em>, to which we can add the Mormons and others. But then we have the danger within<\/em>, of the problems within our own camp, mainstream Christianity, that seems to have grown from a single worshipping group of believers in Acts 2, to a smorgasbord of spiritual spaghetti, with over 40,000 denominations, a number growing daily as there will always be clever chaps with bright ideas, a ready smile, a smooth tongue and a posse of gullible followers! <\/p>\n\n\n\nThis is an extract from the book, Sinner\u2019s Charter: Are the ten commandments for today?<\/strong>, available for \u00a310 at https:\/\/www.sppublishing.com\/the-sinners-charter-260-p.asp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5th August 2023 Fake When does Faith News become Fake News? \u201cYou shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.\u201d (Exodus 20:16) This has become […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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