Welby Watch #3

MODERN THEOLOICAL DEFINITIONS:

No192, A ‘WELBY’ (Well-bye) – A charismatic universalist who passes himself off as an evangelical.

In an interview with Charles Moore of The Telegraph, published on 12th July 2013, Archbishop Justin Welby has declared that he ‘speaks in tongues’. Moore asked Welby, whom he described in his question as an ‘evangelical’ (sic), if he could speak in tongues. Welby’s reply was that he did. He said, “Oh yes.” “It’s just a routine part of spiritual discipline – you choose to speak and you speak a language that you don’t know. It just comes.”

Let’s deal with that issue first. The ‘gift of tongues’ was a sign gift given to the early church. It was first given at the Day of Pentecost, when people gathered at Jerusalem heard the disciples speaking in languages that they had not learned. They were not uttering gibberish, – they were speaking recognisable languages.

Acts 5:5-16 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.

And that amazing sign of God’s presence was immediately followed by the proclamation of God’s Word, – the Condemnation on God upon sin and the call to repent and return to Christ.

This brings us to the next piece of Welby wooliness. Asked by Moore if a person needed a personal conversion experience to be a Christian, Welby said, “Absolutely not. There is an incredible range of ways in which the Spirit works. It doesn’t matter how you get there. It really does quite matter where you are.” Oh yes, Archbishop, – it does! Peter’s sermon contains these words:

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

There you are then. A complete denial of the events of the Day of Pentecost, a reversal and parody of everything that happened that day. In ‘Welby’s World’, the biblical miracle of Pentecost, when people understood the gospel in their own language is degraded to gibberish, and the gospel proclaimed by Peter on that day is denied.

And the results are there for everyone to see. Welby’s compromised church is largely irrelevant, and declining rapidly. On the Day of Pentecost, when God’s power was demonstrated and the gospel faithfully preached, three thousand souls were saved.