In February 2008, Christianity Today ran a glowing cover story about Evangelicalism's recent embrace of medieval Roman Catholic mysticism entitled The Future lies in the Past.¹ The article traced the beginning of the movement as follows: "The movement seems to have exploded in a 24-month period in 1977-1978, which saw the publication of Richard Foster's bestselling Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth and Robert Webber's Common Roots: A Call to Evangelical Maturity."²

In this article I will show that Foster's "journey inward" is unbiblical and dangerous. I will show that most of the spiritual disciplines that he calls "means of grace" are no means of grace at all—but a means of putting oneself under spiritual deception.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is central to living Christianity. Charismatics have emphasized the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives and see His power as what separates them from "dead religion." It is true that he Holy Spirit must be present and active in the life of a believer; this is the very claim that the Reformers made, especially Luther. The reformers and Charismatics agree on this. They disagree, however, on something just as crucial – their understanding of how the Holy Spirit comes and how He is active in the lives of believers. This understanding of how the Holy Spirit exercises His authority in both individuals and the church is where Charismatics have wandered from the foundations of the Reformation.

Many people concerned about Donald Whitney's endorsement of Richard Foster and Dallas Willard (two popular evangelical mystics) have asked me to review his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. These people have wondered how someone who claims to be Reformed2 in theology and teaches at a seminary known for Reformed theology could endorse Foster and Willard. They also wondered if Whitney's own teaching contains Foster's and Willard's same errors. This article is my answer to these requests.

If you truly know the Lord Jesus as Savior, you likely have felt too sinful to safely take communion at some point in your Christian life. The irony is that the better we do in regard to sanctification, the more concerned we are about sin in our lives. That being the case, the idea that partaking of the Lord's Supper might put us under judgment can be rather troubling.

The concept of being judged at a banquet found in 1Corinthians 11 is not at all unique but fits a pattern...

A pagan is anyone who lacks special revelation from God. And had God not spoken in the manner described in Hebrews 1:1, 2, everyone in the world would be a pagan. This is to say that each of us would have to guess about the nature of the spiritual world we live in and develop techniques in order to contact or manipulate our world. We would wonder how we could manipulate the "gods" to better our situation. We would create a class of shamans with special abilities to contact and manipulate the spirits. That is what every pagan culture looks like.

Sadly, that is what the church looks like when...

Recently I spoke with a friend from another state who recounted to me how he had lost fellowship with a long-time Christian friend because of an eccentric doctrine the friend had gotten caught up in. The particular doctrine claims Jesus' teachings are not "for" the church, that the Great Commission is not binding on the church, that there are at least two different gospels, and that the gospel of grace was totally unknown until Paul received it. When my friend tried to correct his friend...

Some environmentalists with neo-pagan worldviews (e.g., Al Gore) have posited the “truth” of CO₂-induced global warming, defined the production of CO₂ as “sin” and thereby made all humans guilty of a holocaust-like assault on planet earth. Even if CO₂ is doing what this group says it is, there is no way to repent of this “sin” because human beings cannot live without putting more of it into the atmosphere. Essex and McKitrick’s book (both are Canadian college professors) confirms my conclusion that the global warming scare is more religion than science. The book begins and ends with chapters about what the authors call “The Doctrine of Certainty.” We shall begin by examining this “Doctrine.”

Mark Virkler recently presented his seminar, Hearing God’s Voice – Guaranteed, at an “Equipping Conference” sponsored by International Lutheran Renewal. The conference was designed to teach Christians how to hear the voice of God. Some friends expressed concern that family members were planning to attend the conference, so I wrote the following article and passed it out at the conference as a brochure. Then I attended part of the conference.

This article explores the idea of apostles in the church throughout church history. In it I will show that the restoration/Latter Rain idea that fuels the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is unbiblical and dangerous to the well-being of Christians who become part of it.

Fifteen years ago we published Issue # 1 of CIC on the topic of binding and loosing.¹ That article was written to correct a false use of the term by those teaching spiritual warfare. We argued that the term binding and loosing concerns entrance into the kingdom, and what is or is not binding on Christians after they have been added to the church. We demonstrated that our interpretation is not unique and that every major scholarly exegesis of this passage also supports this meaning. We also showed how the apostles practiced binding and loosing in Acts 15 when they met to determine if the Law of Moses was binding on converted Gentiles (they determined that it was not). Now it is now time to bring out some important implications and applications of the true meaning of binding and loosing.

A few years ago an area pastor took out advertisements in one of our local Christian periodicals. These ads issued both a proclamation and a challenge: “Christians are required to observe the Sabbath on Saturdays, and I invite anyone to debate me on this subject.” The challenge was eventually accepted and I proceeded to attend the public debate. At the time of this debate I was engaged in expository work on both Galatians and Hebrews. As I listened to these two men debate the issues, I compared their views to what I was learning through my studies. What struck me was this: the theological issues that the first century church struggled against are just as pressing 2,000 years later.

There are no extraordinary Christians; but being an ordinary Christian is an extraordinary thing. How I wish I would have understood that when I was a new Christian. But I didn’t. Soon after my conversion I began a quest to become the best possible Christian. In so doing I fell prey to teachings that promised me a Christian life superior to that of ordinary Christians. What I did not know was that I had embraced pietism. I didn’t become an extraordinary Christian and I did walk straight into error.

Hank Hanegraaff, radio’s “Bible Answer Man,” includes the following statement in the introduction to his new book, The Apocalypse Code: “Make no mistake: this is not the stuff of ivory-tower debates. The stakes for Christianity and the culture in the controversy surrounding eschatology are enormous!” With the stakes so high, he’s entered the fray—writing on the subject of the end times.

Several years ago I published an article about Matthew 24:34 where I claimed that “this generation” was a pejorative term about rebellious Jewish leadership. In today’s article I will support that claim by providing a range of meaning study of the term “generation” (Greek genea) as used in the New Testament.

To a Christian, praying to God is privilege, a blessing, and a Biblically defined responsibility. We are called to pray. But a genre of literature exists that I call “prayer secrets.” Practitioners claim to have discovered new avenues of prayer that can create power...

“What’s your spiritual gift?”  I have heard this question asked and answered many times. In my experience, the most common response to this inquiry is:  “I have the gift of ...

The Bible tells us that God has spoken, infallibly, finally, and authoritatively through people He chose as mediators of His revelation. The Bible further tells us that Christ’s words to us were confirmed through eyewitnesses, the apostles. Can a believer receive special revelations that become God’s personal, revealed will for his or her life?

Many Christians labor under the notion that there is an unrevealed, perfect will of God for their life that must be discovered in order for them to truly please God. I know because I used to believe that myself...

I recall a conversation I had with an individual early in my Christian life regarding the high calling of living in light of the Gospel — the need for devotion to the Word, the need for prayer, the need for fellowship, and the task of evangelism. His response took me aback: “All those are fine for some,” he noted...

In the 1940’s, a missionary’s daughter disillusioned with traditional Christianity invented a new ministry called “inner healing.” Agnes Sanford claimed that during an out-of-body experience that supposedly brought her back to before her birth as a pre-existent soul, Jesus asked her to come into the world to...

The restoration of prophecy for every believer was important to both Luther and Calvin. The alternative was that only the teaching magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church had the authority to prophesy. Luther often cited 1Corinthians 14:31 as proof of Rome's error in this regard...

In Deuteronomy, God tells us that He can raise up prophets who, through the Spirit of God, reveal the future or give His people guidance. Found in both the Old and New Testament, these prophets were chosen to be God's mouthpiece to speak God's words...

Many times, after publishing an article that disputes the claims of someone's published work, I am asked if I had talked to the person privately. There are those who claim that debating ideas in the public arena should not happen unless there was...

A key idea in the contemporary evangelical movement is that revival can be engineered. The Purpose Driven Web site says, “Peter Drucker called him [Warren] ‘the inventor of perpetual revival’ and Forbes magazine has written, ‘If...

Questions from readers prompt the writing of many CIC articles. The most frequently asked question that I have not addressed until now concerns free will. I thoroughly researched this topic nearly ten years ago. The reason for the delay...

Practices called “spiritual disciplines” that are deemed necessary for “spiritual formation” have entered evangelicalism. Recent encounters with this teaching narrated to me by friends caused me to investigate these practices. The first experience...

The Tsunami caught the world’s attention. Most recently major hurricanes have filled the news. These natural disasters have raised a question in the minds of many Christians—“Is this God’s judgment?”...

If we compare what the Apostle John said with what a famous Church Growth advocate says, we encounter a problem. John says that the world will not listen to a true, unsullied Christian message. Rick Warren says that anybody...

We are in the midst of a radical change in evangelicalism that has left countless Christians starving for God’s Word in their churches. Proponents of the change have labeled as “divisive” those who resist the movement away from gospel preaching...

My favorite TV show as a teenager was Green Acres. On the show was a county agent by the name of Hank Kimball whose job was to answer technical questions for farmers. Mr. Douglas, a misplaced New York Lawyer and wannabe...

We are awash in information about how to have healthy and successful churches. Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven church movement claims to have trained many thousands of pastors around the world. The website for this movement states the...

Several months ago a friend of mine, who puts on seminars, publicly pointed out the errors of several well known teachers who promote mystical practices.  Shortly thereafter he invited me to attend a meeting with some leaders of his church to...

A soldier in Iraq emailed CIC a few weeks ago. His message exposes an alarming trend in evangelicalism: to replace the Bible with man-made programs. Here is a portion of the email:...

There was a king in Israel who decided that he could set up his own way of coming to God. This king’s story will provide a needed warning for those today that do likewise....

Recently I was asked to speak at a seminary. Before the meeting I had lunch with a couple of the professors, one of whom had spent many years as a missionary in Taiwan. The former missionary recounted a story that illustrates the reality of the...

Twenty years ago I received a phone call from a woman who claimed to have a word from God for me. She began prophesying, “You are a great man of God, full of power, and God is going to use you in a powerful way. You are going to...

A few months ago a friend phoned to ask if I had ever heard of Rick Warren. “Yes” I replied. “Why are you asking”? He said, “I just got kicked out of a Bible Study for bringing my Bible to it.” That is how the idea for this article came to me....

A few weeks ago my wife and I were driving to the house of some close friends, listening to a tape of Dr. Ed Smith, the founder of Theophostic counseling, who was preaching at a large evangelical church in our city. As we listened, my wife...

In 1977 I was in a ministry that specialized in inner healing and deliverance. People came to us from all over the country seeking release from hearing voices, addictions, emotional trauma due to past hurts and abuses, and many other forms of...

Matthew 24:34 is a difficult passage for Bible interpreters. The problem is that Jesus appears to be predicting that the generation of Jews alive when He made the prophetic predictions found in Matthew 24 would also be alive to witness the...

Romans 8 offers profound, eternal comfort to Christians. In it Paul assures us that all true Christians shall ultimately be glorified and conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, 30) and that nothing in the entire created universe can...

The Bible is the revealed will of God. The Bible is inspired by God, inerrant and authoritative. It contains everything God has chosen to reveal to us. Through the Bible we know God’s plans, purposes and moral will. Only the teachings of Scripture...

There are many hurting and disillusioned people who grew up under the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. They are disillusioned because the church that they were told is their only hope of getting to God has been found to be scandalous....

Scripture is the only objective revealed Authority until the return of Jesus. By seeking or claiming additional authority in subjective words beyond what is written in Scripture, many pursue lawlessness and sin...

An alarming convergence of theological and cultural trends in contemporary evangelicalism is pushing gospel preaching out of many churches. Even in “Bible believing” churches, people are being asked to make a “decision for Jesus,” without being...

It is the nature of fallen man to gravitate to works righteousness and self help. Religious solutions that offer promises of success for those who know the secrets will always be popular. Quick, easy, and rote answers sell. The book by Bruce...

Jabez is an obscure person mentioned in only two verses of scripture: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. These verses offer no introduction, nor is there any reference from other scripture. From these...

There is a recent genre of Christian literature that goes far beyond the fiction of Dante. We can read privileged individuals expound their meetings with Jesus, visitations to heaven, conversations with departed souls, and other incredible, mystical...

The Colossians were being threatened by a "philosophy” that, if believed, would make them plunder of false teachers who denied the sufficiency of Christ. In the last issue we examined the key tenets of this teaching and explained the...

The danger of being “taken captive” by the same heresy that was threatening the Colossians is as real today as it was in first century Colossae. The Greek word for “taken captive” means “to carry off as spoil. The plunder of the battle turns out...

Oftentimes when a passage is unclear it is used to support false teachings. Because when many Christians are unsure of the meaning of a passage, they are less able to discern erroneous teaching based on the verses in question. This is surely...

Since the horrible events of September 11th, prophets are lining up to claim to either have predicted them or to have the key to God's purposes behind them. There are many who claim to be prophets to nations like the Old Testament prophets....

On December 31st, 1997 a modern prophet by the name of Bob Jones said this: I have been tellin people for a year to get out of Los Angeles. They tell me they are really brave out there. I am not that brave...

Today a popular movement is making brash claims about itself. The movement claims that God is raising up a huge wave of end times prophets and apostles who will be instrumental in subduing entire nations and eventually the whole world...

In this paper we discuss New Testament Apostles today from the viewpoint that there is no biblical authority that supports the end time restoration of the office of apostle: therefore, there are no...

A popular “revival movement” claims that latter day apostles and prophets will fulfill this promise in John by doing greater miracles than Jesus did, both in quantity and quality. Their claim is that a new wave of apostolic power will transform...

"The newer, the better." So goes much of our modern cultural mindset. Sadly, this type of thinking has crept into how many view the Old Testament Scriptures. Many believe the Old Testament has "passed on" (so to speak) and the New Testament has replaced...

The Hebrew people were not bashful about voicing their complaints to the Lord about the problem of evil and suffering. Their laments about evil make up make up a large body of literature in the Bible which includes Job (parts of it), Habakkuk, many...

It might surprise many that John considered himself to be living in the last hour with contemporary "Antichrists” and that he saw the need to warn Christians about such individuals. Many consider an "Antichrist” to be a person who is "against”...

It was Paul's practice to go first to the Jews when he entered a new city. This was his procedure: "And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence ...

We've all seen 'em. They have been the "fashion fad" of many in and outside the church over the last few years. They began to appear on wrists in the mid-90's, and the "W.W.J.D.?" craze is still going strong...

A current best selling Christian book, The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney, addresses a theme that is similar to Paul's concern in Philippians 3 to die to everything else, and through faith be found in Christ. It is Tenney's similarities to Paul's...

How could the apostle Paul, after describing the glorious truths of justification by faith and our position in Christ (dead to sin and alive to God Romans 3-6), then characterize himself as being "wretched?" This seems so shocking that some...

Ever since the fall, humanity has been engaged in an age-old struggle against the power of sin. Sin, being defined as "both fallen humanity's state of separation from God and as a person's purposeful disobedience to God's will as evidenced in concrete thought...

The Bible, history's most published, studied, translated and quoted book, is also its most misused and misinterpreted book. Cults and false religions use it to their own ends and others simply misinterpret it. That this occurs so often leads...

In recent years, some evangelicals have rekindled an old controversy by asserting that God does not have exhaustive foreknowledge. That is to say that He does not know everything that is going to happen. This is an old controversy. For...

The apostle Paul, after years of ministry in Ephesus and the surrounding areas, called the elders of the Ephesian church together for a final word before his departure. In this touching scene, Paul bared his...

Two men met another man as they were walking down a road. They were having a private discussion when the third man began questioning them. The third man soon dominated the conversation. Throughout the rest of their journey, the man began with the books of Moses and proceeded to explain to them, verse by...

Through the world’s eyes, surely Noah looked to be quite the fool. For 100 years he constructed a gigantic ark on dry land. While he did this he called people to repentance, for the Scriptures proclaim he was a "preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). I imagine Noah was...

If Christians experience suffering, tragedy or sorrow, they are likely to receive unrequested counsel from comforters like those who advised Job. “What did you do to get yourself into this situation?” is...

In recent years, a couple of individuals have written hot selling books in which they claim to relate their experiences of visiting heaven and/or hell. When Paul mentioned ...

Nineteenth Century evangelist Charles Finney is often credited with being a major force in the so-called "second great awakening” in America. The converted lawyer is well known for making shocking ...

God's purpose for Christians is that we might bring honor to His holy name as we enjoy our relationship with Him for all eternity. Since the nature of fallen humanity is such that our primary motivation is to...

What would be an appropriate Christian response to the following objections: "Israel's unbelief nullifies God's faithfulness, God is unrighteous in inflicting wrath, faith nullifies the Law, our continued sin would...

How often we find our beliefs about causes to be wrong. We encounter a problem, invest time and effort to solve the problem -- only to find that the object of our efforts was not the cause of the problem at all....

This passage raises several important questions. Is it possible for true Christians to fall away from the faith and not only become apostate, but irredeemably so? If so, is the Biblical doctrine of the...

Many popular teachers question God's sovereign rule over His own creation. Their unbiblical scenario goes like this: God made Adam the ruler of the world; Adam committed "treason" and turned the rightful...

Have the gifts ceased? Many have argued "yes." They reason that the completion of the canon of the New Testament (the written form of the apostles' teaching) makes spiritual gifts superfluous. Since the...

All evangelical Christians believe in being baptized in the Holy Spirit; but how and when one is baptized in the Holy Spirit is disputed. Since the advent of the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth...

Many Christians view holiness as a threat rather than a promise. They assume that calls to holiness involve legalism or some manner of inappropriate demands being made upon them. What they do not...

One of our readers submitted an interesting question which can be summarized this way: "Is there not a difference between salvation and discipleship; and is not any equating of the two a subtle inclusion of...

A great irony of redemption history is that God consistently chooses to work through the unexpected. Whenever there is an apparently good candidate to be a leader, God passes him up for someone with...

Rarely does a week go by that I do not hear or read of the latest "great move of God that is going to win the world for Christ and usher in the great revival that will happen before the return of Christ."...

In recent years, an old debate has rekindled: Is the King James Bible the only valid translation of the Scriptures for English speaking people? G. A. Riplinger has published a book that...

Popular television faith teacher Marilyn Hickey has published a book entitled Break the Generation Curse that claims to help Christians break curses that are coming upon...

These passages show that for the apostles, the key truth that must be affirmed by orthodox believers but is denied by heretics is the teaching of Christ. Accepting Christ and His teaching is essential to authentic...

The New Testament presents the body of teaching to which the apostles expected Christians to adhere. It is heresy "airesis" in the Greek, meaning "to choose" to depart from the truth that was once for all...

In Ephesians 4, Paul calls us to preserve unity while we seek a perfect unity that does not yet exist. How we are to go about this is very confusing to many Christians. Do we seek to unify all organizations calling...

The contrast between technological progress and social regress is an enigma. Technology has made much of life easier and accomplishments in health, transportation, communication, and information...

Last year my wife and I participated in a home Bible study that studied the book of Revelation. We had just contemplated the portion of end time judgement that will involve the horrors of the plague of...

Can we trust our destiny to a God we cannot see? Biblical faith says we must. Paganism can be attractive because humans find it difficult to trust and hope while faith has not yet become sight...

In the last issue I discussed the age-old tendency of God's people to be lured into the beliefs and practices of the pagans. I will now address the particular mode that pagan religion has taken in our day...

God warns His people not to allow the pagan world to lure them into its beliefs and practices. From Genesis (e.g. Sodom and Gomorrah) to Revelation (e.g. the great harlot Babylon) we read such warnings. God has...

Any observer of contemporary American ways of thinking and acting can readily see that so-called "common sense" has deteriorated into common non-sense. Commonly accepted standards of proper...

Paul's concern for first century Christians was that they would have the discernment to distinguish good from evil. Our need now is as critical as theirs. Because of the information revolution we are bombarded...

Biblical Christianity is not merely one of many competing religious philosophies, nor is it merely a system of belief and practice that will hopefully make one a better person. Biblical Christianity is an intimate...

The hope this passage refers to is that we might be like Jesus when we see Him (1John 3:1,2). The problem to which it refers is sin. Sin mars the image of God in us and sin keeps us from being more like...

Because the doctrine of the end times (eschatology) has caused so much dispute in the church, many have determined to sit on the sidelines. Over twenty years ago I first heard someone say, "some are...

The New Testament shows that the battle for the minds and souls of human beings concerns "the truth," the message of Jesus Christ and "the lie," the message of the evil one. We either become disciples of...

Nothing puts Biblical Christianity at odds with modern culture more dramatically than its claim to have the exclusive way to God. Somehow it seems arrogant, intolerant, and naive to think that only through a...

We live in a day in which commonly believed lies have colored the beliefs of most of society. Ironically, the one lie that may be doing the most damage is the one that says that it is impossible for anyone to...

The pagans rejected the Creator and chose to worship the creature. We now live in days of revived paganism and its confusion of the Creator - created distinction. This distinction means that the triune God...

God's will for our lives as Christians is sanctification. Sanctification does not happen through good intentions, but through the sovereign intervention of our Heavenly Father. Our responsibility is to agree...

Some suggest that many Christians are suffering from an identity crisis and prescribe mega-doses of self-affirmation as the cure. A Christian friend recently handed me a bulletin insert that was distributed in a...

Last month I asserted that human actions have significance and that we are accountable to God for "deeds in the body" (2Corinthians 5:10b). We have all failed, leaving us with a guilt problem. This...

The last two months we have examined the issue of Self-esteem. A related matter that bears directly upon this question is that of behavior or performance. Because many teach that high self-esteem is an important prerequisite for personal and...

Last month's commentary ended with a quotation of this verse: "Because you say, `I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I...

How one ought to feel about himself has become a significant issue for Christians. This topic did not receive much debate in previous generations since most Christians agreed that we are prone to pride and ought to have more humility. They...

Will Bible Study Kill You? "If you study Scripture too much you will become spiritually dead because, `The letter kills and the Spirit gives life.'" Most of use have heard this argument against Biblical scholarship. Whether based upon experience in...

Babies are wonderful, so are baby Christians if one means those who have recently come to the faith. The author of Hebrews, however, is speaking of babes of a different variety. These "babes" are in a state of perpetual infancy. They lack...

A teaching that has been popular since the nineteenth century says that Jesus died for our sicknesses as well as our sins. Matthew 8:16,17 & 1 Peter 2:24 are the passages cited as proof. The doctrine is called "physical healing in the...

The word "gospel" is familiar to most people in America, but its meaning is confused or obscure for many. Some equate "gospel" with television hucksters whose ulterior motives are quite transparent, causing many to disregard the message....

During the last century, many Protestant denominations have embraced religious liberalism as their guiding theology. There are numerous theological issues that separate liberals from conservatives such as belief in the inerrancy of Scripture...

The focus of the last several issues of CIC has been Biblical counseling, specifically as it concerns sin as the basic root problem of all human beings. There is another important related issue: things that have happened to a person over which he...

In the last two issues we examined some of the deficiencies of secular counseling and secular theories about human attitudes and behaviors and we proposed that God's word contains the necessary...

Last month we explored some shortcomings of modern psychology's approach to healing of the soul. I suggested that Biblical counseling, based on the prescription of 2Timothy 3:16,17 was a better alternative for Christian people. This month...

Is the person who is trained in Scripture, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and called by God to minister to the lost and hurting adequately equipped to counsel? For centuries of church history, the answer was an unequivocal "yes." Modern...

As we approach another presidential election in America, it seems the chasm that separates the beliefs and attitudes between groups of people is deeper and wider than ever. The emotions and convictions are just as fervent on both sides of...

The New Testament claims to be Jesus Christ's teachings, will, and purpose for the church in written form. God has spoken to us in Jesus Christ and His word is full of meaning, power and authority. God cannot lie, so His word is...

The idea of God anointing someone, as with many other important truths, has its roots in the Old Testament. The Theological Dictionary of The New Testament states: "Anointing that is meant to restore or to enhance physical well-being...

Balaam, the mad prophet, serves as a prototype for false teachers who will arise in the last days and trouble the Christian church. The stern warnings of 2Peter 2 are for those who would follow in his path. The false teachers to whom Peter refers...

A few weeks ago as I was driving to the church in the morning I turned on one of our local Christian radio stations. A popular faith teacher was proclaiming that God created Adam to be the "god of this world." He said that when Adam...

Last month we discussed the Biblical meaning of "binding and loosing" as used in the gospels. To bind is to forbid by doctrinal decision, to loose is to permit. Examination of the teachings and practice of the New Testament apostles reveals...

I bind you, Satan!" is uttered in thousands of prayers every day in America. "Spiritual warfare" books that teach Christian how to "bind Satan" are hot sellers. Not only is Satan himself subject to continual verbal "binding," but a whole host of...