Previously in this blog, I have written about two cults that exist in New Zealand: Destiny Church and Gloriavale. Well another prominent cult that we have here is the Exclusive Brethren, and more specifically a hardline branch of it called the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (hereinafter PBCC). Unlike Destiny Church or Gloriavale, this cult is not "native" to New Zealand (it didn't start here). But it is quite active in this country. A day or two ago, a detailed report about them was issued by Radio New Zealand (it has also been picked up by other major media outlets here). It is by Ruth Hill, and you can check it out here. Four different former members of the PBCC relate their experiences. I am not going to go over all the details of what they went through. Read the article I linked to for the full story. What I am going to do however is quote some key sentences from the article that demonstrate very clearly how this church is indeed a cult.
"The Doctrine of Separation means godly Brethren must hold themselves apart from the sinful world.
This includes members of their own families who leave the church - or are thrown out.
Hales' word is law. His sermons are regularly published in "white papers" and distributed to 50,000 Brethren world-wide." (My emphasis)
The "Hales" being referred to in that paragraph is Bruce Hales, who is described in the RNZ report as "the church's world leader" (so basically its pope) and a "Sydney furniture salesman". Separation is particularly dear to the Exclusive Brethren generally, and especially to the PBCC. In fact, it was a major reason why the Exclusives split from the Open Brethren (which nowadays represents the mainstream of Brethren belief) in 1848. The Open Brethren were willing to let anyone who attended their church partake in their communion provided they were born again, whereas the Exclusive Brethren believed communion should only be for members of the local assembly (as they like to call their churches) or a Brethren assembly generally, hence exclusive and separate from other churches. John Nelson Darby, who founded the Plymouth Brethren initially, led the Exclusive breakaway group. To begin with, they were relatively sound, but got progressively more extreme as time went on. While many Exclusive Brethren branches actually have reasonably similar theology to their Open counterparts, the PBCC has gone in a particularly hardline and extreme direction. Their ideas of separation are an example of their extremism. Notice how it says that they "must hold themselves apart from the sinful world". This means removing themselves from the world as far as possible and living in their own little separate space, but this is actually something the Bible tells us NOT to do:
"I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world." (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)
Biblical separation is a thing (for example, we should separate from those who preach false doctrines and remove wicked things from our lives), but this separation is not isolation, and this is where cults like Gloriavale and the PBCC go astray. We're not meant to live completely cloistered lives. The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles didn't shut themselves away. They were very much involved with the world around them, although they didn't partake in the world's wicked deeds. So they were separate in that sense. But not in the sense of living a life of total isolation. Moreover, that isolation actually allows wickedness to flourish, especially evils like sexual abuse. (What could be better for a predator than to have a victim that is shut off from most or all people who could help them, and who is moreover scared to talk to the outside world for fear of being damned for all eternity?) Which is exactly why sexual abuse is common in such environments.
To be fair to the PBCC, here is their own definition of the Doctrine of Separation. On the surface, it sounds quite Biblical. For example, they say, "Separation represents a moral distinction between what is right and what is wrong, what is righteous and what is unrighteous." That is, on the surface at least, correct. The thing with cults though is that they tend to use their own dictionary. So they say one thing, but secretly mean something else. In the case of the PBCC, they don't define what's right and wrong by the Bible, but by the words of Bruce Hales (and his own particular interpretations of the Bible). They also claim that "Our practice of separation does not preclude interaction in the broader community", and that may be true up to a point, but it's pretty obvious from the testimonies of these people and other former leavers that interaction with those the PBCC deem unbelievers is pretty limited.
Notice also that the word of Bruce Hales is law in the PBCC. Just like Neville Cooper's word was law in Gloriavale before he died. This is another classic hallmark of a cult. Instead of living by the commandments of God, people in cults live by the commandments of men who pretend to represent God. "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:9) This is exactly how the Roman Catholic Church, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Gloriavale and many, many others operate. Indeed, Hales' "white papers" would be pretty much on a par with a Papal encyclical if you're part of the PBCC. In other words, they're held in the same sort of esteem, and certainly given far more weight in these institutions than the Word of God. OK, on to the next excerpt.
"Simmons said that was the moment when he realised he could no longer believe in Hales, who is venerated by church members as 'The Elect Vessel'."
How is this any different to the way the Catholic Church venerates the Pope as the so-called "Vicar of Christ"? The fact is that it's not. And by the way, a common meaning of "venerate" is "worship". The two words are virtually synonyms. So whether they admit it or not, the PBCC members basically worship Bruce Hales. They hold him in the exact same esteem that Catholics do the Pope, or Mormons their "prophets", and so on. This type of man-worship is very, very typical of cults. We are meant to worship God alone, not men. In fact, here is what Peter (the so-called "first Pope") did when someone tried to worship him: "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man." (Acts 10:25-26) Peter knew the First and Second Commandments, and he also knew full well that he was not God, but a mere man and therefore not to be worshipped. Just four chapters later, people also tried to worship Paul and Barnabas, but they too would have none of it:
"And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts 14:11-15)
So it is completely wrong to worship sinful men instead of God, but every time you come across a cult, some sinful man (or group of men) or woman is elevated above all the rest and treated with the sort of reverence that should be reserved for God alone. This results in them lording it over their followers, which is something else the Bible forbids Christian leaders to do:
"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)
"And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth." (Luke 22:24-27)
"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:1-3)
The word "Gentiles" is often used to represent unbelievers, and indeed is used interchangeably with "heathen" in the King James Bible. What the Word of God teaches us here is that controlling and dominating other people is something that the unsaved do. Born-again Christians who want to have a leading role in their church need to have a servant mindset. People like Bruce Hales, Neville Cooper, the Pope of Rome and their ilk are like Diotrephes, mentioned in John's third epistle: "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not." (3 John 9) Diotrephes loved to be the top dog. And as the next verse shows, he also loved to lord it over his flock: "Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating
against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth
he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and
casteth them out of the church." (3 John 10) Notice that Diotrephes' weapon of choice was excommunication. If people didn't do what he told them, he kicked them out. This exact same tactic is used by the PBCC (and indeed, many cults) when people refuse to submit to their control. Much of the Radio New Zealand report deals with this, in fact. Not only the excommunication either, but the way those on the outer are treated.
Some more from the RNZ article now:
"'The Doctrine of Separation is undoubtedly a theology and a principle that is taught and maintained by the church and their leaders, whom they believe are the infallible manifestation of God.
'It's a complete myth to say it's the individual's choice.
They are quoting one of the former members, Lindy Jacomb. The above quote is all her words. Notice that word "infallible" - the Catholic Church teaches papal infallibility. So again, there's a parallel. Just as Roman Catholicism teaches that the Pope is infallible, the Exclusive Brethren teach that their "Elect Vessel" is infallible (along with perhaps other senior leaders). They do this because they of the exact same spirit as Catholicism. This spirit is not the Spirit of God, but the spirit of antichrist (and note that in the last days, the final Antichrist will also be a man who sets himself up to be worshipped as God - see how it fits the pattern?). Any time that a man or woman is being treated like God, or a god, and lording it over their flock and demanding or expecting worship, the spirit of antichrist is at work.
Another classic characteristic of cults is that they teach works salvation. Hand-in-hand with works salvation is the heresy of conditional security - the notion that you can lose your salvation. If you can't be saved by works, you certainly can't keep or lose your salvation by works either! Funnily enough, one way you can "lose salvation" in a cult is by leaving, or by associating with those who have (because the cult's Diotrephes forbids it). It's a great way to keep control of people, which is always, without fail, one of a cult's main aims.
The article goes on to report that Jacomb started asking questions (always a risky move in a cult). Which leads me to the next relevant quote:
"Unable to find satisfying answers to her questions, she started reading the Bible - something Brethren are not encouraged to do.
While they go to church meetings every night and several times on Sunday, the focus is on the teachings of Hales.
However, scripture only made her more confused because it seemed to contradict how the Brethren lived." (My emphasis)
What kind of "Christian" organisation discourages its members from reading the Bible? One that is of the spirit of antichrist. Guess what other organisation has an extensive track record of discouraging and even outright prohibiting the reading of the Bible among its members? Yes, the Roman Catholic Church. So another startling (or maybe not so startling) parallel. Same spirit behind them, same evil tactics. Notice also how the focus of PBCC meetings is on the teachings of Bruce Hales. Many other Exclusive Brethren branches (and a lot of Open Brethren ones too) set great store by the teachings of John Nelson Darby. The same pattern is evident in many other cults (e.g. Mormons revere the teachings of Joseph Smith, Seventh-Day Adventists set great store by the teachings of Ellen G. White, and on it goes). The doctrines and commandments of men are held in greater esteem in these institutions than the doctrines of God.
I'm going to finish up with a couple of comments by another former member, Peter Hart (as quoted in the RNZ article):
"You can't speak out, you can't speak your mind and it's a real strain because that's your whole life: the Brethren are your only friends, your only social life - it's very intense."
"Hart said everyone was 'terrified' of Hales, and he doubted anyone would do anything significant - like take legal action against an ex-member - without his blessing. [...] 'You're not allowed to think for yourself. One saying in there is from the leadership: "You do the doing, we'll do the thinking".'"
A very common tactic of abusers is to isolate their victims. They don't usually do it by force (outright prohibition) but cunning manipulation (e.g. "Those people don't understand us - you'd really be better off without them" or "They might not believe in you, but I do, so why keep bothering with them?" and so on). Cults operate in much the same way. "Forget about those people in the outside world, they're just evil and against us. We'll look after you." "You want to go to Heaven, don't you? Stick with us, then." The purpose of such isolation is not protection, but control. When you're isolated, the abuser or cult has you exactly where they want you. This is why many people struggle to leave cults - because they know it will likely mean losing all the relationships they have built up inside the cult over the years. And that can be an extremely tough thing to face.
The remark about people being "terrified" of Bruce Hales highlights another key characteristic of cults, which is that they operate by the fear of man. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." (Proverbs 29:25) And one of the worst nightmares for the leader(s) of a cult is when people start thinking for themselves. By the way, God is all for us thinking for ourselves. That is why He has given us the ability to reason. In fact, he even invites us to reason with Him! "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) And in the New Testament, we are commanded to prove all things: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21) You can't do that without thinking for yourself. Accepting everything you are told at face value, without questioning anything, is a recipe for deception, and also for being controlled. "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going." (Proverbs 14:15) "Simple" is regularly used in the Bible to mean someone who lacks discernment or understanding.
That about covers the Radio NZ report. There is quite a lot more to it, so do click the above link and read the whole thing for yourself. I just wanted to focus on some specific points that illustrate ways in which the PBCC can justifiably be termed a cult. Before closing though, I'd like to look at a couple of things on their own site. First, their official "gospel". They put a lot of emphasis on street preaching (nothing wrong with that in itself), and on their page about it, they give this summary of their gospel: "Eternal Salvation is held out to all men, simply by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord; “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10 v 9)" Notice a very important thing missing here: repentance. Before you can truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you must repent - grieve over your sin and be sorry to God for the sins you have committed against Him. "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21) "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32) "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Corinthians 7:10) Godly sorrow is repentance towards God. The sorrow of the world, on the other hand, is sorrow towards yourself or other men. Judas had worldly sorrow after he betrayed Christ: "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:3-5) So we see here that Judas felt repentant over his sin. He felt bad for his treachery. There was just one problem: his repentance was not towards God. If he had repented towards God, he would have confessed his sin directly to God and asked God for forgiveness. Instead of that though, he went to men (priests, no less!) and confessed his sin to them instead! That is a perfect picture of worldly rather than godly sorrow. The repentance of Judas was horizontal rather than vertical. Notice also the final outcome of his worldly sorrow: he committed suicide. Now not everyone who experiences worldly sorrow over something will kill themselves. However, this can be a root cause of suicide. But I digress. The reason why repentance towards God is so important is because it results in a humble heart. It's hard to remain proud when you confront the full awful reality of your wickedness and how deserving you are of judgment for your transgressions of God's law. God has no time for the proud in heart. But when you truly humble yourself before Him in repentance, you are ready to be saved. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:15) "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (James 4:6) "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18) "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:17) The only way that you can have a broken and contrite heart over your sins is if you repent towards God. The PBCC miss this. Other cults miss this. In fact, even so-called mainstream Christian churches often miss this, which is why there are a lot of false converts walking around who may believe a lot of right things, but lack repentance. That is why you can come across a lot of professing Christians who are full of pride like the Pharisees of old. (I used to be that type of "Christian" myself.) It is also why the PBCC leadership behave as they do. They have never repented towards God, they have never humbled themselves before Him, and therefore they have never been born again, because their hearts have never been in the right condition to receive God's grace.
Incidentally, believing on Jesus Christ does not merely mean accepting Him as Lord, so the PBCC are off on that as well. (In any case, the reality of joining the PBCC is accepting Bruce Hales as lord.) It means believing that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It also means understanding that He shed His blood for us. "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22) "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14) "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5:9) There is nothing you can do to save yourself - no works of righteousness that you can bring. All God requires of you is a truly repentant and humble heart, and faith in Jesus Christ. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
So that's how to really get saved. To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord but have no repentance or humility in your heart over your sins will be about as much use to you as converting to some other false religion. Just acknowledging who Jesus is simply isn't enough, because even the devils know Him: "And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ." (Luke 4:41) "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19)
So even going by their own Web site, where of course they downplay the role Bruce Hales has, it is still clear that the PBCC preaches a false gospel. One other thing about them is that despite using the King James Bible for most of their Scripture quotes, they actually prefer another version. They prefer John Nelson Darby's translation of the Bible, even though it uses corrupt texts like the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, and not the Textus Receptus (Received Text) on which the King James Bible is based. They state, "While they piously respect the King James Authorized Version, and any other decent translation, they believe that the translations made by John Nelson Darby (JND) (1800-1882) are more accurate." And they acknowledge the texts he used for his translation: "For the New Testament, he translated from the texts agreed by the great nineteenth century Editors of the Greek text: Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf and Tregelles. Where the editors differed in their judgement as to the correct reading in a particular passage, JND consulted the texts of the original Greek manuscripts: Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, Bezae etc." (Emphasis mine)
So, not only do they have a corrupt gospel, but they use a corrupt Bible version. That said, the Bible version you use does not have a bearing on your salvation. Gloriavale is a cult like the PBCC, but Gloriavale uses the KJV. Still, a corrupt Bible version just lends itself that much more readily to corrupt doctrines.
One thing the PBCC has in common with Gloriavale is the forcible separation of families when people depart from it. There is a world of difference between family leaving you or maybe casting you out when you become a Christian, and being forcibly separated by a cult that wants to keep control of its members at all costs. My heart really does break for the people who have to go through this sort of thing.
In conclusion then, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is like all other cults in that it preaches a false gospel and is ultimately centred on a man and not God. It has the exact same spirit of antichrist that all cults and false religions do. Doubtless it has its good points, but it is not something that truly born-again believers should be having anything to do with (although by all means take an opportunity to share the real Gospel with any PBCC members you may come across, and remember to be gracious to them). Soon I hope to finish and publish my big study on the characteristics all cults have in common. Keep an eye out for that some time this month.
No comments:
Post a Comment