CLASSIC CHRISTIAN TRADITION??
2-25-09
We nearly choked on our oatmeal when we read the letter from our friend and neighbor, Dusty Brown, in Tuesday's Times-Journal. While we are unmoved by criticism of this website, we were flabbergasted to read Dusty's statement about members of the Freedom Foundation, who, he said, are "friendly, pleasant and well grounded in the classic Christian tradition". Either Dusty does not know what the classic Christian tradition is or he is as lost as Duke and his followers.
Anyone interested in knowing what Duke and his followers believe only has to listen to what Duke and his cult members teach in their own words on the www.wewillfindthetruth.com website. The key point at which Duke does not stand in the classic Christian tradition centers on the Person of Jesus. By denying, misrepresenting, or not understanding who the Jesus of the Bible is, the Dukester and his followers can not be Christians in the Biblical sense (the only sense that matters) and certainly do not stand in the classic Christian tradition on the matter of who Jesus is.
Duke has publicly and consistently taught that Jesus is not God. Classic Christianity has always affirmed that Jesus is God, fully divine, fully human, two natures in one person forever. Jesus the Christ has been the Christians' God from the beginning, in all ages, and in all places.
The Scriptures clearly declare that Christ was not only truly man, but that He is also truly God. All divine names and titles are applied to Him. He is called God, the mighty God, the great God, God over all, Jehovah, Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. All divine attributes are ascribed to Him. He is declared to be omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, immutable, the same yesterday, today and forever. He is set forth as the Creator and Upholder and Ruler of the universe. All things were created by Him and for Him, and by Him all things exist. He is the object of worship. All the angels are commanded to fall down before Him. Passages such as John 1:1,14,Romans 1:2-5, I Timothy 3:16 (God was manifested in the flesh), Romans 9:5 and countless others teach that Jesus is God. Even his name, Emmanuel, means "God with us".
Nothing can be plainer than what the Scriptures teach that Christ is truly God, that He is truly man, and that He is one person. It is those who receive Him as God, manifested in the flesh, that He becomes eternal life. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord, that is, whosoever religiously worships Him and looks to Him as his God and Savior shall be saved.
The Jesus of Mark Duke and the House of God cult is not God and is not the Jesus of the Scripture. It does not matter how "friendly and pleasant" members of the cult are, how moral they may now be, or what works they do in the city, if they believe in a Jesus other than the One who is God, they are not Christians and they certainly do not stand in the classic Christian tradition. We deeply regret that some members of our community have been misled by friendly and pleasant people, but are thankful that most Christians in the community understand error, especially error involving the most basic belief of Christianity through the ages.
