Bio

Dr. Mike Halsey is the chancellor of Grace Biblical Seminary, a Bible teacher at the Hangar Bible Fellowship, the author of Truthspeak and his new book, The Gospel of Grace and Truth: A Theology of Grace from the Gospel of John," both available on Amazon.com. A copy of his book, Microbes in the Bloodstream of the Church, is also available as an E-book on Amazon.com. If you would like to a receive a copy of his weekly Bible studies and other articles of biblical teaching and application, you can do so by writing to Dr. Halsey at michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net and requesting, "The Hangar Bible Fellowship Journal."

Comments may be addressed to michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net.

If you would like to contribute to his ministry according to the principle of II Corinthians 9:7, you may do so by making your check out to Hangar Bible Fellowship and mailing it to 65 Teal Ct., Locust Grove, GA 30248. All donations are tax deductible.

Come visit the Hangar some Sunday at 10 AM at the above address. You'll be glad you did.

Other recommended grace-oriented websites are:

notbyworks.org
literaltruth.org
gracebiblicalseminary.org
duluthbible.org
clarityministries.org

Also:

Biblical Ministries, Inc.
C/O Dr. Richard Grubbs
P. O. Box 64582
Lubbock, TX 79464-4582

Thursday, June 8, 2017

THE MANIPULATOR





1962: a novel sees the light of print. The author, hostile to Christianity, will begin to manipulate the reader. He tells the story of a Roman emperor set in the 4th century A. D. The writer is an atheist; he’s not writing as an impartial observer. As Christ said, “He that is not with Me is against me. We see his hostility from the start—he refuses to capitalize “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit” along with “Old Testament” and “New Testament.”

His hostility to Christianity begins on page one, so he immediately gets into it. But the way he begins to manipulate the reader may not be noticeable to the average person. To begin the molding of the reader’s mind to get him to find Christianity odious is to begin his 400-page book with a chance meeting of a teacher and his student.

The teacher is writing a letter to a friend in which he describes the chance encounter. The teacher writes, “I was stopped by a Christian student who asked me in a voice eager with malice . . .”

Thus our first introduction to a Christian is to one who is rude; he interrupts the instructor who’s on his way to a meeting and stops with a conversation in a voice which is eagerly malicious in tone. The reader is to understand that this student is not only rude, he has a secret agenda.

The book describes the student as “speaking slowly, watching me all the while.” Not only is he rude; he’s also sinister.

Then, still on page one the teacher, still writing his friend, says, “the bishops arrived like vultures to pray over [a powerful man who’s sick].” Then he adds, “I knew that if he recovers, they wold take full credit for having saved him.” The student is overly joyous because an inquisitor has been appointed to determine the faith of others and because “the days of toleration [of non-Christians are over.” Now, Christians are intolerant.]

The bishops become “vultures” who pray in hopes of bringing glory to themselves. So now, we have the author’s first insults to Christianity, one in the form of a rude believer, the other from glory and power hungry bishops. Then there’s the charge of not being tolerant, which he later details as the Emperor’s appointment of an Inquisitor to examine a person’s faith, along with the student’s saying, “The days of toleration are over.”

Not satisfied with the above, the author has the teacher write, “. . . that pernicious doctrine which asserts that a sprinkling of water (and a small donation) will wash away sin again and again and again.” {Now we get a further glimpse of what he’s reacting against.

The teacher charges the Emperor’s edict against the pagans as being composed of crude Greek like the bishops use, showing a confusion of thought. [Now Christianity is made up of ignorant people.] He laments that if things keep going the way they are, if they don’t strike back at these Christians, these Galileans will destroy the world they love. [For God’s verdict on the world they love, read Romans 1:18-32.

Writing of a eulogy he wrote, he says, “I was able to bring tears even hard Christian eyes.” [Now he portrays Christians as without compassion.] Going on, the takes a sarcastic swipe at the Resurrection: “My head is a tomb quite as empty as the one Jesus is supposed to have walked away from.”

He can’t leave the bishops alone, writing that they are ferocious in hunting heresy, which the professor defines as any opinion contrary to their own. His pen continues to insult as he writes, “They are as ignorant as all mankind.”

He portrays Christians as burning people alive, stoning people, and nailing them up to a church door. To summarize his hatred he writes, “They are as inconsistent, as logic has never been a strong point of the Christians faith.” [The author of the book is as many atheists—proud, feeling superior to others, judgmental. I Cor. 2:14]

He portrays the main character’s education by a Christian teacher as tedious, boring, as his instructor makes him recite for four hours and forced to pray three times a day.

All of this diatribe against Christianity is in the first chapter. The author’s vitriol is just beginning. He’s used stereotypes, erected a straw man—he’s charged Christians with being rude, ignorant, intolerant, and fierce.

What’s going on? What’s happening is that the author is reacting, not against Christianity, but against Roman Catholicism. Even a cursory reading of the Gospel of John would show him that biblical Christianity doesn’t teach that a sprinkling of water and a small donation cleanse one of sin. His is a common error—many take the abuses and false doctrines of the Roman church and shout, “There’s Christianity for you! “

By the time the reader finishes the first chapter, he’s been set up.

Who is this author and what’s the name of his book? An interesting question, but I’ll give him no publicity, only to say that he passed into a Christless eternity in 2012, and God wept.










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