Hank Hanegraaff The Bible Answer Man Becomes Eastern Orthodox ☦️

[Fidei Defensor]

The Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaf became an Eastern Orthodox Christian:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/april/how-should-we-respond-to-hank-hanegraaffs-switch-to-orthodo.html

There has been a surge of Evangelicals and Protestants leaving their churches and joining the Eastern Orthodox Church. The reasons vary, but generally it happens when they study Church History and become intrigued by a church they have not heard of. Most of us who aren't Catholic, know of the Roman Church and even know rudimentary details of their doctrines because all Protestant Churches came in one way or another from Catholic Church. The Papacy, St. Peters, The Crucifix, and the various cults are familiar to us, but Eastern Orthodoxy? What is Patriarchate? How have I not heard of this ancient church with its three bar crosses, golden dome churches, and incredible cantoring? Eastern Orthodoxy is in fact older than Catholic Church, and the Church of Rome came out of it with its Filoque reformation (yep, Catholics were reformers, their Doctrine of Trinity which is same as all Protestants is not how Orthodox see it). Eastern Orthodoxy captures the fancy of many wayweary brothers and sisters with its emphasis on the "mysteries" rather than the "answers" approach found in Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. However, upon closer inspection of this very ancient church one discover no answers at all, the most famous Bishop Kallistos Ware from UK when asked about "Are you saved?" and salvation (soteriology) responded in quizzical and labyrinth response that ends with "its a mystery." Actually Jesus Christ and Apostles said salvation is no mystery, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day," (John 6:40), "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16), "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile," (Romans 1:16), "He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household," (Acts 16:30-31), "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it," (Ephensians 2:8-9), "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved," (Acts 4:12), "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him," (John 3:36), and, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved." (Romans 10:9-10).

I spent about three years studying Eastern Orthodoxy. I attended a Vigil, read their history and doctrines, talked with a priest Father P, and even had Orthodox Chant. I can with impunity and unequivocally say it is not the Church of the Apostles, it the Church of Constantine the Great created in 323 A.D. The oldest Orthodoxy is the Byzantine Rite, the Byzantine Empire was a Christian Empire founded by Constantine after his vision of the cross (in hoc sig natius: in this sign you shall conquer). Constantine merged Sol Invictus and the Son of God into one for his pagan people, and only after Council of Nicea did he have better grasp of Christian theology and doxology. The oldest Patriarchate, one of seats of Patriarchs of Orthodox Church is Constantinople, Constantine's City, and all Orthodox dioses recognize the Bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul). What drew Hank Hanegraaf in was the illusion that this church is the ancient Church of Apostles and Jesus Christ. In point of fact, it is Constantine Church preserved in all its detail, unchanged. Take my word for it, I spent years investigating Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism is reformed compared to it, and I can't imagine why the Bible Answer man didn't see through the serpentine roads Orthodox doctrine has, like "God is beyond us, unknowable, unfathomable.." (Kallistos Ware, Part II of The Orthodox Church), which contradicts Holy Scripture, ""This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent," (John 17:3), "and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God," (Ephensians 3:19), "so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and to know God better and better," (Colossians 1:10), "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory," (Romans 8:17), "Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ," (1 Peter 1:13), "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me," (John 10:14, Jesus is God Col 2:9, Titus 2:13-17), "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands," (1 John 2:3), "By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit," (1 John 4:13), and "Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us," (1 John 3:24), "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me," (John 10:27), "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing," (John 15:15), "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need," (Hebrews 4:16), and "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him," (1 Peter 3:18-22). That one doctrine of the Eastern Orthodox Church, not being able to know God is contested by the Holy Scriptures. How Hank Hanegraaff, having know the Bible so minutely and closely did not take notice of this is quite baffling.

 

[OneLight]

We recently had many threads on the same subject that were locked due to the why people treated each other on this topic.  Others had to be cleaned of the hate.  No need to allow another discussion on the same subject only to expect a different result.

Closed.