All Posts in Category "History"

An historical overview giving the background of the writing and publication of the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, the structure and language of the book, attempts to engage the authors and publisher in Christian fellowship, the discoveries made during the lawsuit, and the decision of the Texas Court of Appeals in the case and that decision’s shortcomings and dangerous implications, as well as a surprising development leading to greater recognition of the members of the local churches are genuine believers.

January 21, 2015 ECNR, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, John Ankerberg, John Weldon, lawsuits, litigation, Robert Hawkins

An historical overview giving the background that produced The Mindbenders, the “war” declared by leaders of the New Covenant Apostolic Order (NCAO) on the local churches, the libel suit filed and the resultant withdrawal of The Mindbenders, and the aftermath of the case.

January 14, 2015 EOC, Evangelical Orthodox Church, Jack Sparks, NCAO, New Covenant Apostolic Order, The Mindbenders, Thomas Nelson

A general overview of the three cases in which various local churches and church members appealed to the courts for relief from libelous accusations (Timeline)

March 6, 2014 Christian World Liberation Front, cult accusation, CWLF, ECNR, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, History, John Ankerberg, John Weldon, lawsuits, libel, litigation, Neil Duddy, SCP, Spiritual Counterfeits Project, The God-Men, The Mindbenders

The articles on this site responding to criticisms of the local churches and the ministry of Witness Lee are centered around three primary issues—the Trinity, God’s complete salvation, and the practical expression of the church. The first round of responses were published in the 1970s in response to the criticisms of inexperienced apologists who had a limited understanding of biblical truth and even less of the ministry of Witness Lee. After an interim in which many additional resources presenting Witness Lee’s teachings were published, beginning from 1999 Harvest House Publishers and others associated with that company raised the same issues again, essentially repeating those earlier accusations without regard to the responses or other writings already published. Those renewed criticisms called forth a second round of responses.

March 6, 2014 church ground, deification, denominations, division, History, lawsuits, litigation, mingling, Norman Geisler, oneness of the believers, Open Letter, response, Ron Rhodes, scholars, Trinity, Triune God, Walter Martin

A chronology of the events in November and December 2001 leading to the filing of a libel complaint against Harvest House, John Ankerberg, and John Weldon for the publication of the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. The events in these two months show the local churches seeking Christian reconciliation versus the duplicity of Harvest House and its authors in negotiating in bad faith and initiating legal action.

December 7, 2013 ECNR, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, John Ankerberg, John Weldon, lawsuits, litigation, Robert Hawkins

An index of the letters of protest written by representatives of Living Stream Ministry, the local churches, and the co-workers of Witness Lee prior to the filing of The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al, the libel litigation concerning the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

December 5, 2005 ECNR, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, index, John Ankerberg, John Weldon, letters of protest

The libelous books The Mindbenders and The God-Men shared a common background that involved Jack Sparks and the Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF), an outreach to the radical student subculture at UC Berkeley; the New Covenant Apostolic Order (NCAO), a misguided attempt by Sparks and others to lead evangelicals into Eastern Orthodoxy; and the Spiritual Counterfeits Project (SCP), a CWLF startup dedicated to attacking religions with roots in the Far East.

December 5, 2005 Brooks Alexander, Campus Crusade, Christian World Liberation Front, CWLF, History, Jack Sparks, SCP, Spiritual Counterfeits Project, The God-Men, The Mindbenders