Listening to whole interview that Perry Robinson did on the link in this article, brings up lots of feelings of sadness and discouragement over what Hank Hannegraaf did to CRI and Walter Martin after Martin died.
I have mentioned this before, but when I first heard about how Hank Hannegraaf took over CRI (sometime in 1996-2000 ?), I became disillusioned with him and CRI, but I kept listening for a while because Dr. James White was on about the King James Version Only version controversy and his discussions/debates with Jimmy Akin and Tim Staples (along with finding Beggar's All, Webster, Eric Svendsen, AOmin, and Triablogue on the web) and I slowly realized the shallowness of the apologetics of CRI and at the same time I had become Reformed /but was still learning how to "put it all together", etc. Hank around that time also promoted Joni Eeareckon Tada's book, When God Weeps, (her PCA pastor at the time Steve Estes, co-wrote it with her) - that was the best book I had read that explained God's Sovereignty and Suffering.
Hank for a while allowed debate on the issue, but he was promoting Joni E. Tada's book and when I read it, it make me think HH was Reformed, but then later he came out against Reformed theology and was very strident against Calvinism and called it "believing that God created us puppets and "Chatty Kathy dolls", (robots, no will at all, etc.)
For details on how the Martin family has been accusing Hannegraaf of sinfully taking over CRI, see here under "Behind the Scenes" - it comports with what Perry Robinson and others have been saying. http://www.waltermartin.com/cri.html
Although I did become disillusioned with him and CRI, I still thought his books were pretty good (as far as they go), and I especially liked his takedown of the whole Word of Faith movement, etc. (Christianity in Crisis, IMO, is still very good and accurately describes the whole Prosperity / healing / Name it - claim it heretical teachings. I did not realize that others did the work and a lot of it was from Michael Horton's work in "The Agony of Deceit", etc.
But now with all the recent information, he seems he was doing the same thing that he accused them of (doing ministry for greed), but on a smaller scale. He was using balanced mainstream Protestant Evangelical doctrine just to make money and used it like a business marketer. His was much for subtle and it seems Perry is right on this. (along with the other former CRI employees that HH got rid of over the years). I was surprised back in the early 90s when Craig Hawkins suddenly was not on the air anymore.
I always appreciated Rob Bowman and Kenneth Samples, and I was also surprised when they were no longer on the BAM show.
The whole thing, if someone takes the time to research and read and listen to Perry's material, is very shameful and grievous and drags Christ's name in the mud; for it has given the heretics like Copeland and Benny Hinn, etc. to use against sound doctrine; and will give others occasion for "the unbelievers to blaspheme" (Romans 2:24).
It would be interesting if Perry Robinson would explain how and why he went from being Reformed to high Anglicanism and then to the Eastern Orthodox church. What kind of Reformed church was he a part of? (Presbyterian or Reformed Baptist ?)
Perry said he took 4 years to read through the Early church fathers. I can respect that. What was hard to believe was that Francis Beckwith claimed it read them all with comprehension in 3 months. (and then went back to Roman Catholicism). I suppose that can be done if one has the time, but it is hard to believe that it is done with actually meditating and thinking through all the historical theological issues and using other books to help on understanding the big picture. ( or I am just incredibly slow and dumb.)
Listening to whole interview that Perry Robinson did on the link in this article, brings up lots of feelings of sadness and discouragement over what Hank Hannegraaf did to CRI and Walter Martin after Martin died.
ReplyDeleteI have mentioned this before, but when I first heard about how Hank Hannegraaf took over CRI (sometime in 1996-2000 ?), I became disillusioned with him and CRI, but I kept listening for a while because Dr. James White was on about the King James Version Only version controversy and his discussions/debates with Jimmy Akin and Tim Staples (along with finding Beggar's All, Webster, Eric Svendsen, AOmin, and Triablogue on the web) and I slowly realized the shallowness of the apologetics of CRI and at the same time I had become Reformed /but was still learning how to "put it all together", etc. Hank around that time also promoted Joni Eeareckon Tada's book, When God Weeps, (her PCA pastor at the time Steve Estes, co-wrote it with her) - that was the best book I had read that explained God's Sovereignty and Suffering.
Hank for a while allowed debate on the issue, but he was promoting Joni E. Tada's book and when I read it, it make me think HH was Reformed, but then later he came out against Reformed theology and was very strident against Calvinism and called it "believing that God created us puppets and "Chatty Kathy dolls", (robots, no will at all, etc.)
For details on how the Martin family has been accusing Hannegraaf of sinfully taking over CRI, see here under "Behind the Scenes" - it comports with what Perry Robinson and others have been saying.
http://www.waltermartin.com/cri.html
Although I did become disillusioned with him and CRI, I still thought his books were pretty good (as far as they go), and I especially liked his takedown of the whole Word of Faith movement, etc. (Christianity in Crisis, IMO, is still very good and accurately describes the whole Prosperity / healing / Name it - claim it heretical teachings. I did not realize that others did the work and a lot of it was from Michael Horton's work in "The Agony of Deceit", etc.
But now with all the recent information, he seems he was doing the same thing that he accused them of (doing ministry for greed), but on a smaller scale. He was using balanced mainstream Protestant Evangelical doctrine just to make money and used it like a business marketer. His was much for subtle and it seems Perry is right on this. (along with the other former CRI employees that HH got rid of over the years). I was surprised back in the early 90s when Craig Hawkins suddenly was not on the air anymore.
I always appreciated Rob Bowman and Kenneth Samples, and I was also surprised when they were no longer on the BAM show.
The whole thing, if someone takes the time to research and read and listen to Perry's material, is very shameful and grievous and drags Christ's name in the mud; for it has given the heretics like Copeland and Benny Hinn, etc. to use against sound doctrine; and will give others occasion for "the unbelievers to blaspheme" (Romans 2:24).
It would be interesting if Perry Robinson would explain how and why he went from being Reformed to high Anglicanism and then to the Eastern Orthodox church. What kind of Reformed church was he a part of? (Presbyterian or Reformed Baptist ?)
Perry said he took 4 years to read through the Early church fathers. I can respect that. What was hard to believe was that Francis Beckwith claimed it read them all with comprehension in 3 months. (and then went back to Roman Catholicism). I suppose that can be done if one has the time, but it is hard to believe that it is done with actually meditating and thinking through all the historical theological issues and using other books to help on understanding the big picture. ( or I am just incredibly slow and dumb.)
I have developed what I wrote above into a fuller article with links and the importance of local church authority and accountability.
ReplyDeletehttps://apologeticsandagape.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/causing-unbelievers-to-blaspheme-god-romans-224/