Academia: Through the Eyes of a Preacher

By William James Carter I

Academia: Through the Eyes of a Preacher contains a number of research papers completed by Elder William James Carter. The works are presented in their raw, unedited form as submitted to Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary so that readers may learn from the writing errors. These essays presented with minor mistakes included should serve not only to aid in the improvement of student writing but the many references mentioned in the work may help guide academic studies.

Academia: Through the Eyes of a Preacher is intended to be an excellent source for sermon preparations as well as furthering other religious studiesa one-of-a-kind resource to aid students, pastors, lay members, etc.

William James Carter, I is a prominent minister and writer and alumni of highly sought after institutions. He is pastor to some and mentor to others and one who seeks to demonstrate Christ through his actions. But most importantly, he is a father; one who honors the sacred unity of family and one who wants to pastor his own children first. He is academically verifiable coupled with a desire to disciple others and teach them the way of Christ.

William James Carter, II

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512735901

William James Carter I

Elder William James Carter, I is a renowned speaker and one that seeks the growth in God’s people while pointing others to the foot of the cross. He uses a number or forums to that end and would love to hear from you. There are many ways to see what the Elder is doing. You may also contact him via his website if you are planning that event wherein you need a guest speaker. So, visit all the below links and ask to see what the Elder can do with and for you. http://thechristianperspective.homestead.com http://preachercarter.com http://www.faithwriters.com/member-profile.php?id=712 http://collectivefaith.com/preachercarter/

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Copyright © 2015 The Christian Perspective.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover photo courtesy of Olivia A. Carter-Collins

Map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-1830-0 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015919905

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/05/2016

Table of Contents

Preface

Heresies in Days of Old

Main Idea

Introduction

Context

Bibliography

The Nicene Creed: The Trouble that Caused It

Introduction

Thesis

Body

Conclusion

Bibliography

Examination of Learning Theology with the Church Fathers

Going Out to Bring In

Thesis Statement

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

Bibliography

The World of Islam

The Matter of Discipleship

An Administrative God

Diverse Gifts: A Detailed Look at I Corinthians 12:4-6

The Mangrik: Just a Bit Obscure

Background

Missions Survey

Proposed Strategy

Bibliography

Bibliography

Making Disciples

Looking at the Evidence

Just a Reflection

Thesis Statement

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

Growing Christians

Gospel Presentation to Muslims

Bibliography

Examination of God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams

The Rapture: Just Who Will Go

Thesis Statement

Introduction

Body

Bibliography

Examination of Four Views on Hell

Bibliographical Entry

Introduction

Summary

The Literal View

The Metaphorical View

Conclusion

Don’t Be Fooled by the Youth

Examination of Share Jesus Without Fear

Bibliographical Entry

Content Summary

Evaluation

Examination of Concentric Circles of Concern: Seven Stages for Making Disciples

Examination of The Unexpected Journey

Examination of Radically Unchurched

The Temple: A Continuing Work

Introduction

Exposition

Conclusion

Bibliography

The Messiah: Even the Psalmist Saw Him

Conclusion

Bibliography

The Far Reaching Glory of God

Exposition

Bibliography

Phoebe Palmer: The Trouble Within, The Work Without

Biographical Outline

Evaluation

Bibliography

Exegesis of Colossians 3:12-17

Introduction

Commentary

Conclusion

Appendix

Bibliography

Examination of John 14:31 and John 18:1

Conclusion

Bibliography

Communication: Reaching Across Cultures

Thesis Statement

Introduction

Conclusion

Bibliography

Examination of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther

The Inquisition and the Witchcraft Factor

The Inquisition and the Witchcraft Factor

The Catholic Influence

The Witchcraft Factor

Conclusion

Bibliography

The Revealed Christ (Colossians 1:21-29)

Outline

Introduction

Authorship of Colossians

Content

Conclusion

Bibliography

Changing the Walk While Walking the Change: Commentary on Romans 12:1-2 and Ephesians 4:17-20

Introduction

Commentary

Personal Application

Bibliography

Discipline: Another Reason to Celebrate

Victorious Conflict

Upright Walking: Not for the Faint of Heart (Examination of Psalm 15:1-5)

Examination of Why Don’t We Listen Better?

Examination of His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage

How to Help People Change by Jay E. Adams And Telling Yourself the Truth by William Backus and Marie Chaplain

Hurt People Hurt People by Sandra D. Wilson

Boundaries in Marriage

The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson

Movie Review #1: Flywheel

Examination of Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives

Movie Review #2: I Think I Love My Wife

Exhaustive Bibliography

A Little About the Preacher

Endnotes

Preface

It has been said that education presents the idea of bringing forth those things that are within. This is so very true as embedded in us all are so many truths that they cannot be counted. It is God that has filled us with these truths yet many of us choose to hide those truths. The same was true of me. Yes, it was always my desire to go to college. I always desired to excel. Yet those desires never allowed me to see myself with two graduate degrees and a doctorate in view.

This leads to the reason I decided to put this book together. It is different because it is some of my essays written during my Masters of Religion and Divinity studies at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. I have attempted to keep the essays as close as possible to the original that were submitted for grading. The reason for this is because I want this work to be a tool for seminarians to have for not only research, but also to see the mistakes I made so that the same mistakes will not be made by seminarians. Hence, the astute student will see errors I made and work not to repeat those errors.

Some of the mistakes I made are minor grammatical errors. These errors were made, not because of my ignorance of sentence structure, rather because of my rush to complete the assignments and the lack of proofreading. Other mistakes are in the footnotes. Now, it is not my intent to show all the mistakes made. It is my hope that the essays are read for the purpose of learning about the many facets of Christianity as well as the bolstering of academic prowess.

Seminarians are not the only ones that can benefit from this work. Pastors and ministers might also avail themselves of the essays and references herein so as to bolster their studies and research. There are many sources referenced in this work so that the serious scholar will have resources on a number of levels to build personal knowledge. Likewise other teachers would be better equipped to prepare lessons as subject matters range from heretical teaching to church history with talks of counseling and marriage. The essays herein are such that even one essay will prove to be adequate for the formation of a number of lessons.

It should be noted that there were also personal matters addressed in some of the essays. The essay Examination of His Needs, Her Needs is one such essay. This is because much of the work on the graduate level requires significant introspection. This particular essay caused grave introspection on my part and as a result some rather personal matters were made part of the essay. It was not prudent to put those matters in public forum so the items in question were redacted and replaced with a series of Xs. It stands to reason that private lives should remain just that, private.

Now, I encourage all to break out your markers and pens and get ready for the ride. It is a ride that will cause questions to rise and research to occur. Don’t be surprised if you are well prepared for the parsing of some Hebrew and Greek words even while there are attempt to juxtapose the language of days of old with contemporary issues. So, dust off your dictionaries and grab your concordances as the words of a preacher bring forth the idea of education.

This work is dedicated to the memories of my maternal grandparents, the late Rev. William James Smith and Mary Bertha Smith. What an inspiration they were to my life!

There is no way I can overlook the dedication of the one person that stood beside me throughout my academic career. There are certainly no words I can find to properly thank Bishop Johnny C. Carrington, Sr. of the Springs of Refreshing Fellowship of Churches for all he has done and continues to do for me. And, while my hat is off to the Bishop I would be remiss if I ignored Jehovah Jireh who has provided me the ability to succeed in all I put my hands to do.

Heresies in Days of Old

______________________________

A Paper Presented to

Professor Ken Rick

Adjunct Professor, Liberty University

____________________

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for CCHI 301/520_TB_Spring 2007)

__________

By

William James Carter, The 1st

April 15, 2007

Heresies in Days of Old

Main Idea

It has been said may times in many ways that those who do not know (or study) history are doomed to repeat it. While it is uncertain that the heresies in the early church are to be repeated the teachings could have easily torn apart the young church. Heretical ideas, while some of these teachings may have been well intentioned, would have demised the church were it not for some that stood against the teachings. As such, heresies were not only a plague but a growth that imbrued early Christians.

Introduction

The early church was wrought with many difficulties. Among those difficulties were disciples that have turned from the faith by reason of a number of issues. Many of those issues had to do with heresies. There were teachings that would have torn apart the fundamentals of the early church were it not for the early church fathers. This missive will seek to examine several of those heresies which included forms of philosophy and paganism. These issues will be examined in such detail as to bring to light the heretical notions of the fathers of these movements and show how these ideologies impacted the church for the good and bad. While it is impossible to fully scrutinize the many heretical ideologies in this paper, attention will be brought some of those teachings that were clearly against the teachings of the early church as well as against the canon of Holy Scripture. In some instance of discussion there will be brought to light actions of some of the patriarchs of the church which sought to dispel false teachings.

Context

The Old Testament Scriptures end with a promise that Elijah would come and inaugurate a new era (Mal. 4:5)¹. And with this new era there came many heresies that went against the teachings of the Founder of the church, Christ. These heresies included such things as legalism, philosophy, eternity and even the very deity and nature of Christ. This said this writing will seek to examine a few heretical view points that would have nullified the very basis of Christianity were it not for those that took a stand for the sake of the Gospel.

Among the very first heresies was the deity of Christ. One such teaching in the first century was that Christ was derived from a star goddess². This goddess was said to have been adorned by the sun with the moon under her feet and wearing a crown of twelve stars. She was said to be the deliver of the man child who was to rule the nations with an iron rod. He (that is Christ) supposedly escaped from a seven-headed, ten-horned dragon that sought to devour the Child. This fallacy was among the many debunked by Paul.

The Arian controversy also dealt with the deity of Christ. Arius taught that there was One God who is alone unbegotten, alone eternal and alone without beginning³. And, while there was more than enough evidence to show the eternality of God, there was no definitive way of recognizing the Christ. If there was no way of recognizing the Christ then His deity had to be denied. This is exceptionally true if God was alone as Arius supposed.

Many presbyters found this teaching to be less than tolerable. This displeasure resulted in a synod being formulated in about 318. This group of at least 100 determined that the teachings of Arius were contrary to accepted belief and excommunicated him from the church.

Even while this was an issue, there were greater issues concerning the deity of Christ. Many Christians took concern with the notion of the trinity. It was an appearance of polytheism³ and they were not willing to give in to the concept of three-god Christianity. This gave reason for the rise of Monarchianism. Monarchianism is a belief system that presupposes one God⁴ and that belief is accurate according to not only the New Testament but quite evident in the Old Testament. Even with the presupposition of one God Monarchianism had two followings.

The first following was around 190 A.D. which heeded the teachings of Theodotus, a leather worker from Byzantium. The teaching was that Christ was a mere mortal until His baptism. Monarchianism seems to have been spread from Asia Minor to Rome by Theodotus. This theory, denying the intrinsic deity of Christ was considered the adoptionist theory. This is to say that God adopted Christ after He (Christ) began to His (The Father’s) will. There were attempts by this following to use Scripture to support their jaundiced view of Christ³. The church at large did not support this view and so it lost its strength.

The second theory of Monarchianism was that Christ was certainly divine, but saw the trinity as three manifestations of the same God. This was a more acceptable view of the young church in respect to the former idea polytheism. This modalistic view derived from Smyrna to Rome in about the year 200 and because it was so readily believed it thrived for about two centuries. It was an issue that tore at the very foundation of Christendom and was to be debunked by determined apologists.

Modalism or patripassionism (part of Monarchianism) also taught that because the godhead was one Being with three manifestations that God the Father literally hung on the cross¹. It further subscribes to the notion that it was the Father that was born of Mary which made sense in the minds of the modalist. It seemed reasonable that if The Father was incarnate then it was Him that suffered on the cross.

The Council of Nicaea, which met in 325³ negated the notion that Christ was not completely and fully deity. The council went further to write a creed win in part reads:

"We believe in one God, the Father, almighty, the maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God from God, light from light, life from life, only-begotten Son, first-born of all creation, begotten from the Father for all ages, by who also all things are made, who for our salvation was made flesh and lived among men, and suffered, and rose again the third day, and ascended to the Father, and will come again in glory to judge the living and dead. And we believe also in one Holy Spirit".

One would have thought this to be the end of the dispute. It was not. Constantine saw reason for a modification of the creed. He wanted Christ to show as the same substance of the Father and so introduced the word homoousios which, in effect, upgraded the deity of Christ to be of the same substance as the Father. This change in verbiage still did not seem to settle the issue of the deity of Christ. A couple of bishops and Arians refused to accept even the notion of not only the absolute deity of Christ, but that He was the second Person of the Trinity.

While this heresy was among the most grave, there were other issues that were nearly contemporaneous with this heresy that plagued the early church. One such issue was the view that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to achieve salvation⁵. This matter was introduced by the Judaizers who wanted to hold to the traditions of Judaism and accept part of the truths of Christianity. It would appear that they wanted the best of both worlds.

The idea of circumcision did not sit well with the Greeks⁶ who were also adapting to the teachings of the apostles. Among the most outspoken of the apostles was Paul who stood firmly against the matter of works, to include circumcision, to achieve salvation. He argued that because of the work of Christ Jesus new converts to Christendom no longer had to adhere to the Mosaic laws. Because of his stand the extreme ‘Judaizers’ were cut off, or cut themselves off, from the mains stream of Christianity and became the vanishing sect of the Ebionites⁶.

And, while the Judaizers could have nullified the Gospel there was another group that was all but idols to some Christians. There was in place a form of self-denial in the fourth century wherein a certain sect would totally separate themselves from the populace and live among tombs and in deserts. The teachings of the anchorites were such that in order to be close to God there had to be a total separation from anything of the world⁷. This isolation included leaving spouses, friends, children and any physical possession.

Further, anachoresis likened themselves to martyrs because of the self denial. This deprivation included the renunciation of sex. As a result there were problems of the sexual nature that plagued these early monks. The denials were seen as fighting temptation, despite the fact that a number of these separatist were married. It was as if fighting the natural desire for sex and companionship was the absolute will of God.

Even so, these hermits were looked upon as being super spiritual. This had a lot to do with what appeared to be a warding off of what most lived by or were at least accustomed to. There was a denial of materialism (no matter how meager the materials), anger, and gluttony to the point of long fasts. And so these monks were looked upon as being a bit more than mere men, but looked up to almost as though they were little gods. They were basically worshipped because of the lifestyle they chose to live. This admiration was very much like the idolatry that was frowned upon by some in that day.

The Egyptian, Pachomius, organized these monks into an official group⁷ because up until the formalization in about 320 there was no organization among those that chose the hermit way of life. The newly organized group became laborers working in agriculture and other crafts. However, this labor was in conjunction with the spiritual reason they organized. Prayer and study were paramount.

The heretical ideology behind these monks is that they were persuaded that they had to live outside the mainstream to be close to God. Self-denial was an issue that propelled this philosophy, but there is no doubt that those that chose to live as hermits generally enjoyed the admiration of those not so willing to forsake all.

Thus far in this examination heretical ideology gained strength after the birth of Christ. Even so, there were teachings, even cultic ranting that started pre-Christ. One such belief was derived from the ancient cult which celebrated Orphism. This cult began as early as the eighth century before Christ, but it had an indirect impact on the early church⁸.

This unorganized group of zealots gives credence to Orpheus as its founder. This eight century B.C. mythology was centralized on the god Dionysus. Dionysus, accordingly, was "born as Zagreus, the child of Zeus⁸. Apparently this character was captured by a force of evil titans and consumed by them. Zeus had the ability to get hold of his heart and consume it. (This sounds much like cannibalism.) This eating of the heart resulted in Zagreus being re-born, but now but this time as the god Dionysus.

Importantly, Zeus killed the titans, but that men rose from the ashes. This ‘resurrection’ which consequently caused men to have an evil nature, much like the titans, and a divine nature. This brought about a vital teaching of Orphism that the body is the prison of the soul. This ideology was a precursor to the dualistic system of beliefs. It also lends to the notion that Dionysus is credited with being the spiritual savior and that matter is evil.

Early Greek Christians employed this way of thinking with the dualistic idea that light as being good and dark being evil. It was more than obvious that this way of teaching was heretical, and could probably be considered sacrilegious; thusly it was condemned by the early church fathers.

There were other heretical ideologies that had influence on the early church prior to the formal institution of the church. Among the most egregious lines of thinking had to do with philosophy. Gnosticism is one such idea that stands out. And while a primary teaching of the Gnostics had to do with knowledge there were a number of forms of Gnosticism⁹. This quote from page 66 of the reference gives some insight into the mind of those that chose Gnosticism as a way of life. The quote is, "the ultimate is the great abyss of being, described only by negatives-the unknown, the incompressible, the incommensurable, the unfathomable. This abyss is dynamic, and within its fullness (pleroma) differentiations arise by way of emanations. One of the emanations is wisdom."

This rhetoric laden impression of Gnosticism clearly shows that its teachings had more to do with idiosyncratic arrogance than established Scriptural doctrine. Still, there was persistence in the growth of this heretical doctrine. Part of the reason for this growth was because, while the school of Gnosticism did not have a Christian foundation, its followers more than willing to mix the teachings of Gnosticism with the teachings of Christianity. This made the practice much more tolerable to, not only Christians, but certainly other Jews celebrating Judaism as well.

One way that Gnosticism flourished was by perverting not only the Scripture, but God Himself. One such perversion was that because there was evil in the world then its Creator has to be evil. After all, only an evil one can create evil things. Thus, the God of all, Maker of all that is good, has become nothing more than malevolence.

This eastern mythological way of thinking also attacked the very essence of Christ. Gnostic Christians (which is an apparent contradiction in terms) even though they believed that Christ was the Redeemer He could not have had a human body because He came to deliver man from the whiles of the flesh. And, this could not be if He had become a man. Thereby He had to be an apparition. This teaching clearly went against the teachings of the Scripture and the founding fathers of Christendom. This teaching is also a direct contradiction of The Apostles’ Creed.

Further, some early Gnostics taught that the Old Testament was not a relevant part of Christianity. In fact, the word was that the Old Testament was nothing more than a bunch of allegories and as such some of these allegorical teachings went against Christian teachings. One such Gnostic was Philo⁹ whose teachings were that the polygamy of the days of Old Testament fathers was not really marriage to multiple women but marriages to multiple intrinsic worth. Such teachings undermined the essence of Christianity.

Still, this way of thinking does not present a clear picture of Gnosticism. To gain that clarity there must be an understanding of the four points of Gnosticism. The mythological process, paraphrased, is (1) the spiritual realm came from God and was populated by divine beings considered to be divine full of wisdom and power. The Supreme One, in conjunction with other the divine beings was the personification of perfection. Then there was the conviction that the physical world was created in error. This mishap also led to the creation of humans. Thusly, the world was imperfect intertwined with the less than perfect human. The third tier on this ladder of mysticism had to do with the notion that the compassion of the above mentioned divine beings gave light to the humans. Strangely, the reasoning was that Although they had to live in darkness, as if they were asleep even when they were awake, forgetting their spiritual gifts, these human beings nevertheless carried the divine spark of light⁷(pg 50). Finally, in order for these sleeping ones to be awakened a redeemer had to come in to the physical world, present the knowledge they needed in order to return home.

This mythological ideology was underscored by Valentinus, a Roman theologian from 140 to 150³. He gave more detail about the divine spirits mentioned in the above discussion. His persuasion was that thirty spirits came from the Supreme Father in sets of two. Among them was Sophia. The name Sophia means wisdom. So, it is clear to see why, in part, Gnosticism is based on the rudiment of feigned wisdom.

This Sophia was said to have a deep desire to know the Father that she rejected her partner and from herself she birthed an abnormal child whom she named Ialdabaoth. It was also said that she was the reason for certain elements in the world. This was by reason of her passion for the still unknown Father. These elements were shaped by her wayward son into the darkness of the world as it was with mankind. Ialdabaoth also thought himself to be the only god and command homage of his subjects. However, the intervention of Sophia sent light into man so that he could understand the truth.

This truth, according to Valentinus, was that Jesus was in fact the One through which salvation comes Jesus as Light. This light was to rescue Sophia from her passions. Thusly, Jesus was not seen as the Son of God, but rather as one that reveals what God wants. Further, not all could receive this enlightenment; only a select few that seem to have been pre-selected to received this certain spark.

This dogma would have certainly torn the new church. Many were unsure of what they believed and had poor leadership. Yet, despite some of the poor leadership there arose some that stood flatfooted against the ranting of the Gnostics. Church leaders, because of the ever growing strength of Gnosticism were compelled to write treaties condemning Gnosticism as heretical.

Despite the strength of Gnosticism there was another philosophical heretical way of thinking that could have severely damaged the church. Augustine was an adversary of the strong philosophy of Neo-Platonism. Neo-Platonism was deemed to be the one really true system of philosophy¹⁰. This could be attributed to the fact that its teaching somewhat parallels the Trinity³. This teaching, a part of the philosophy taught by Plato was brought to the forefront by a third century philosopher named Plotinus. He was so taken by the teachings of Plato that he sought to have the then emperor or Rome create a city where the townspeople were to live solely by Plato’ teachings.

A preeminent teaching of Neo-Platonism was that a spiritual figure considered One. Accordingly, salvation with this "One could not be wrought with grace, but rather knowledge. Part of the knowledge included the Trinitarian way of thinking which, respectively, was world mind, world soul and individual soul. It was through the pontification of these matters, as well as others, that an individual could become the epitome of what humans are to be.

Considering these heretical ideas and others, to include the teachings of legalism, the early church fathers had a lot to contend with. They had to deal with onslaughts of Judaism and idolatry. And, while these two, on the surface, did not appear to fall in the realm of heretics, they certainly went against the teachings of the Scripture. Thus, the patriarchs of