THE PEPSTER'S SIDEBAR: THE FOLLOWING IS THE EXPANDED VERSION OF A PREVIOUS POST TITLED,THE HARBINGER'S CRITICS: THOSE WHO PAWN CONTROVERSY AND MAKE THEIR LIVING FROM IT THAT I POSTED EARLIER ON JULY 11TH, AND THE SECOND TO A THREE-PART DEFENSE OF DR. DAVID R. REAGAN'S WRITE-UP IN DEFENSE OF THE HARBINGER, CONTAINING DAVID JAMES' BROADSIDE AGAINST IT, WHICH IS ANSWERED POINT BY POINT IN PART THREE OF THIS SERIES.
This is part two of three of a public response to the latest broadside from David James, who is at the epicenter of The Harbinger controversy and has with the help of the Berean Call, launched a year and a half-long theological public objection against The Harbinger and its author, Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.
Below is my reply to a post David James has on his web site - point by point - and it is followed by Dr. David R. Reagan’s courageous article in defense of The Harbinger and it author, Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn against his critics. I applaud Dr. Reagan's remarks in the article which follows.
Below is my reply to a post David James has on his web site - point by point - and it is followed by Dr. David R. Reagan’s courageous article in defense of The Harbinger and it author, Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn against his critics. I applaud Dr. Reagan's remarks in the article which follows.
On his website for July 7th, David James has the following exchange with an inquirer named Paul. We examine it here, because it serves to illustrate for everyone who reads it how David James promotes his book, while trashing the work of another – Jonathan Cahn’s - which is really what his book is primarily about.
In fact, David James entire premise is to trash The Harbinger, but he prepares his readership to accept what he has to say before they have read The Harbinger and can make an intelligent analysis of both books for themselves.
Were Mr. James candidly not only promoting his book, but also objectively a sincere seeker after truth, he would’ve reworded what he has written here, and in other places in the following manner:
“Rabbi Jonathan Cahn has written a book that he says contains factual information in the narrative of a fictional novel. It is called The Harbinger. I have written a book – The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? – where I present my own objections to various points that Rabbi Cahn presents. I would encourage everyone to purchase a copy of Rabbi Cahn’s book, read it for themselves, then purchase a copy of my book, read for themselves, and decide which is right.”
But this is not what David James does at all. He has written a polemical work that trashes another author’s work, and attempts at every turn to promote his work at the expense of the other’s, claiming for himself and his work unique exclusivity of being correct and biblically sound, while charging that Rabbi Cahn’s book is not and is to be avoided at all costs.
WRONG. I read The Harbinger. I have also reviewed The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? and I wonder whether David James read the same book I read, because I am astonished at the inaccuracies and gross misreading and misrepresentations in his book.
WRONG. I read The Harbinger. I have also reviewed The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? and I wonder whether David James read the same book I read, because I am astonished at the inaccuracies and gross misreading and misrepresentations in his book.
David James didn’t read The Harbinger; David James read into The Harbinger and then wrote and published what he read into it. Case closed.
DAVID JAMES’ EXCHANGE WITH A READER ON HIS WEBSITE:
Paul on July 7, 2013 at 2:55 am said:
Well, I read down to Aug. 9, 2012 and first of all I’m impressed how you respectfully respond to the all the comments. I’m working on a novel with a Christian worldview. My greatest fear is being picked apart by all the doctrine Nazis out there. All books written by men have bones in them. It’s like eating fish. Chew carefully, enjoy the meat and spit out the bones. I think Cahn’s book has some good meat in it too. I enjoyed the meat and think I spit out most of the bones. If we approach all books that way, I think we’d all be less critical when we get to the bones. Warn others about the bones, but don’t throw out the whole fish. Maybe the reason you’re so gracious is you realize there will be bones in your book too. Hope so anyway.
Paul Little
Reply ↓
David James on July 7, 2013 at 3:43 amsaid:
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the kind comment.
I assume you read my article – and if so, you see that I acknowledge the good stuff in Cahn’s book. But there are several things that make his book different than simply a novel. Had it just been a novel then no one would have said anything about it and it would not have created the greatest controversy within the church that anyone can remember in decades.
The first major problem is that it is not primarily a novel. At the beginning of the book, the author’s note is that it is all real – meaning that the fiction is just a framework for telling the reader what he believes are facts. This is demonstrated by the companion DVD, “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” – which is the same content minus the fictional framework.
The second major problem is that his biblical problems are not just minor details or even more significant doctrinal differences as exist between denominations – it is a wholesale mishandling of the Word of God at multiple points.
The third major problem is that there is a serious misrepresentation of historical facts and trying to create parallels between 8th century BC Israel and America.
There are other problems, as well – but when there’s more bones than meat, there’s a serious problem.
A few months ago I was speaking at a pastor’s conference in the Philippines and discussing the matter of biblical discernment. Your eating fish illustration is one that I used there because they eat a LOT of fish in the Philippines – and told them that this is a very bad strategy – and asked two questions that really drove home the point to them:
1. Have you ever swallowed bones you didn’t mean to swallow?
2. Do you think you’ve ever swallowed bones that you didn’t realize you swallowed?
Here’s the thing we need to keep in mind concerning Christian fiction. It is either fictional theology (which is heresy) or theological fiction – meaning that fiction is simply being used as a vehicle to teach theology – and in your case, you will be teaching a Christian worldview, which is simply a theological grid through which we understand life / reality.
Although fiction might serve as a popular genre for communicating to a broad audience, if we’re communicating truth in fictional form (as Jesus did with parables) we are obligated before the Lord to be accurate. The story can be anything we choose, but the theological truth we communicate must be accurate – and it is no different than preaching a sermon and using an illustration to make our theological point.
So, if we put something out there with the purpose of communicating a Christian worldview, we can’t hide behind the idea that “it’s just fiction.”
I don’t doubt that there are some issues in my book as well – but even as the founder of a Bible institute and a Bible teacher of over 25 years, I had three theological readers, three editors (who are among the best in the business) and have a total of eight endorsements from other Bible teachers who went through my book before it was published. This is a theological gauntlet that few books ever go through. That doesn’t mean that it is completely free from error – but I took every possible step to make sure it was as accurate as possible.
So, while I wouldn’t necessarily discourage you from writing a novel with a Christian worldview – I would suggest a great deal of caution and that you make sure you have at least a couple of very good theologians go through it first to make sure you have it right and can defend what you say biblically – because when you publish you’re taking up the mantle of a teacher and the Bible teaches that teachers are held to a higher standard of accountability.
I’m not gracious simply because I think my book might have problems. I try to be gracious because that is what believers should be like. Whether I’m always successful is a different question, unfortunately.
Dave
MY OBSERVATIONS:
There is so much that David has written here – subtle and not so subtle – that we must sift through what he has written and examine how much of it is a proper approach to writing a Christian book – fictional or otherwise. Let’s look at it statement by statement and peel its layers away to expose it to the light of truth. David James starts out alright. He writes,
I assume you read my article – and if so, you see that I acknowledge the good stuff in Cahn’s book.
He must acknowledge this, because not to do this would make him appear as a person with an “ax to grind,” someone with an ulterior motive against Rabbi Cahn and his book, and David must keep up appearances. But no sooner does he write this, he immediately disrobes himself in his next statement.
But there are several things that make his book different than simply a novel. Had it just been a novel then no one would have said anything about it and it would not have created the greatest controversy within the church that anyone can remember in decades.
Well, to begin with, in this statement, as he does in his broadside against Dr. David Reagan (below in this post); without knowing it David James makes a self-incriminating admission – he writes “Had it just been a novel then no one would have said anything about it” – incriminating himself and his colleagues and other critics of The Harbinger as being the first to create and then stir up the controversy over the book.
He then follows contradicts his own admitted self-incrimination with a direct attack against the book, writing “and it would not have created the greatest controversy within the church that anyone can remember in decades,” charging it with creating not just the controversy itself (which he admitted in the first half of his attack that he and his colleagues had begun, but that the book itself had “created the greatest controversy within the church that anyone can remember in decades.” So here we see where Mr. James not only incriminates himself and his colleagues as having begun the controversy, but where he contradicts his own self-incrimination by falsely charging the book, and its author with creating the controversy, after he admitted that he and his colleagues had first initiated it by their comments about it, as he writes – “no one would have said anything about it.”
We begin to see here a pattern where David James unravels and unknowingly incriminates himself and his colleagues, and contradicts his own statements under the same breath. Later on we will see also how his statements contradict the Holy Scriptures themselves when put side by side with his contentions.
As to whether the book is within the genre of fiction or fact, we can now address that question. It is both. How can that be? I’ll explain. The Harbinger is a novel. It is novel, because it contains three fictional characters interacting at various locations. One of the characters – Nouriel Kaplan is retells his encounters with a man he calls “the prophet” to another character names Ana Goren. The interaction between these two fictitious characters (Nouriel Kaplan and Ana Goren) over a conversation one of them had (Nouriel Kaplan) with another fictitious character (the prophet) is the narrative that’s presents the factual elements the book describes.
What is contained in the story – in the narrative – is the element of fact within the fictional narrative. It is fact because it deals with real events and personages. The events and personages described to us by Kaplan’s retelling of what the prophet said to him serve to illustrate what the Harbingers are and their relevance to our nation and to its fate according to the biblical pattern which God uses in dealing with nations and His people.
Well, David James’ first problem is that it is a novel. He writes:
The first major problem is that it is not primarily a novel. At the beginning of the book, the author’s note is that it is all real – meaning that the fiction is just a framework for telling the reader what he believes are facts. This is demonstrated by the companion DVD, “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” – which is the same content minus the fictional framework.
But he forgets that the Holy Scriptures contain in various places – both in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and in the New Testament examples of how God uses stories as allegories and metaphors to teach His eternal truths, and as warnings. Jesus used parables to teach God’s Word. David James’ contention that for him is a problem that The Harbinger is a “primarily a novel” is his own problem, not the reader’s or anybody else’s. He tries to use it as a legitimate bone of contention to use against it in order to advance his own straw man arguments against the book.
It is a novel – a work of fiction containing facts, because it contains three fictional characters interacting – two of them at various locations, while the story is being told by one of the participants to those various meetings. What is contained in the story – in the narrative – is the element of fact within the fictional narrative. It is fact because it deals with real events and personages. The events and personages serve to illustrate what the Harbingers are and their relevance to our nation and to its fate according to the biblical pattern which God uses in dealing with nations and His people.
The second major problem is that his biblical problems are not just minor details or even more significant doctrinal differences as exist between denominations – it is a wholesale mishandling of the Word of God at multiple points.
This is a matter of David James’ personal opinion, because he has read into The Harbinger’s narrative things that are not there, but that his own mind has created and replaced the narrative of The Harbinger with. Mr. James has mistaken this interpretive figment of his own imagination with having a biblical approach to fiction and its application as a teaching tool of God’s Word. He is grossly wrong in this assumption as we shall see.
The third major problem is that there is a serious misrepresentation of historical facts and trying to create parallels between 8th century BC Israel and America.
Again, this is David James’ personal opinion based upon a misreading of The Harbinger, resulting in his reading into it things that are not there, but that his own mind has created and used to replace the narrative of The Harbinger with his own. This narrative of his sees what he calls wholesale mishandling of the Word of God at multiple points… a serious misrepresentation of historical facts and trying to create parallels between 8th century BC Israel and America.
To be sure, there is NO mishandling of God’s Word at multiple points, and there is NO serious misrepresentation of historical facts. Neither does Rabbi Cahn try to “create parallels” between 8th century Israel and the United States, as David James alleges. All of these direct false charges by Mr. James are nothing but gross hyperbole used by him in order to create the fiction he presents as fact to support such charges.
The Harbinger recalls historical events in ancient Israel, then goes on to describe in vivid detail the events and people connected to them that form a prophetic pattern of warning before judgment (first seen in ancient Israel) preserved for us in the Holy Scriptures, and their prophetic ramifications and significance to this nation which are now repeating themselves in America. Nothing at all of what David James claims.
Because the writer to his website uses the oft-used analogy regarding sermons and teachings that contain material he and we may not agree with and find doctrinally objectionable to, James shares the following story to serve as his illustration of a point he is trying to make, but is not even tangentially connected in any way to narrative of The Harbinger, only just in David James’ mind.
There are other problems, as well – but when there’s more bones than meat, there’s a serious problem.
A few months ago I was speaking at a pastor’s conference in the Philippines and discussing the matter of biblical discernment. Your (sic) eating fish illustration is one that I used there because they eat a LOT of fish in the Philippines – and told them that this is a very bad strategy – and asked two questions that really drove home the point to them:
1. Have you ever swallowed bones you didn’t mean to swallow?
2. Do you think you’ve ever swallowed bones that you didn’t realize you swallowed?
Here’s the thing we need to keep in mind concerning Christian fiction. It is either fictional theology (which is heresy) or theological fiction – meaning that fiction is simply being used as a vehicle to teach theology – and in your case, you will be teaching a Christian worldview, which is simply a theological grid through which we understand life / reality.
Nobody in their right mind swallows bones. David James deftly uses this illustration to prepare his reader for what he has to say next against The Harbinger while appearing to speak objectively in broad terms. A very clever ploy on his part. As for Christian fiction, we’ve already mentioned above that the Lord Himself taught in parables, which are a form of fiction to communicate the truths of God’s Word.
The fictional aspect of the novel is the easy part, it is the Scriptural truth that the author conveys that must be true to Scripture and to the teachings of the Word of God regarding salvation and faith, the godhead, the deity of Christ and His substitutionary role as our atonement for sins, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the ascension of Christ to the right hand of God to act forthwith as our Advocate and High Priest before the Justice of Almighty God, the resurrection of the righteous to their eternal rewards; the resurrection of the unrighteous to judgment and everlasting punishment, the existence of heaven and the existence of hell, and the lake of fire – in short, the novel must have its facts right. It does not need to present all of these elements to speak the truth, but wherever any of these elements appear in the narrative, it must be presented as it is told by the Scriptures and not deviate from its meanings. The Harbinger passes muster in all this.
Although fiction might serve as a popular genre for communicating to a broad audience, if we’re communicating truth in fictional form (as Jesus did with parables) we are obligated before the Lord to be accurate. The story can be anything we choose, but the theological truth we communicate must be accurate – and it is no different than preaching a sermon and using an illustration to make our theological point.
This I agree with, as would any conservative Evangelical Christian and their approach to Christian fiction. Rabbi Cahn agrees with this, and took this into mind before he decided to write The Harbinger as a work of fiction containing historical events which he recounts in his book. He has taken great pains to be accurate and forthright, as well as being biblically accurate, and he has succeeded in accomplishing this, regardless of the claims of his critics.
So, if we put something out there with the purpose of communicating a Christian worldview, we can’t hide behind the idea that “it’s just fiction.”
Nobody suggests this. So does David James suggest this? No. But why bring it up? To create in his reader/s the impression that this is what Jonathan Cahn either advertently or inadvertently sought to do when he wrote The Harbinger.
The next step is to cleverly compare his own book’s preparation and promote it as having been thoroughly vetted, while in the process without directly saying it; imply that The Harbinger did not undergo such vetting. And by so doing claim his book superior to Jonathan Cahn’s and Jonathan Cahn’s book inferior to his. David James promotes his book over and against anothers. And this is precisely what he follows with in the next lines.
“I don’t doubt that there are some issues in my book as well – but even as the founder of a Bible institute and a Bible teacher of over 25 years, I had three theological readers, three editors (who are among the best in the business) and have a total of eight endorsements from other Bible teachers who went through my book before it was published. This is a theological gauntlet that few books ever go through. That doesn’t mean that it is completely free from error – but I took every possible step to make sure it was as accurate as possible.”
The reader will also note how he unnecessarily sells himself as a credentialed “founder of a Bible institute and a Bible teacher of over 25 years,” and goes on to describe the vetting of his book as having “three theological editors” but anyone who has published a book will tell you that every literary work has at the very least two or more editors – there is the editor who edits the original manuscript submitted, then there is another who reviews the work – if it is a history book, an accredited historian will review the work for accuracy, if it is a theological work, it is inspected by people who are competent in their profession to review such work for biblical accuracy, and then it goes to the copy editor for a final inspection to correct spelling and typographical errors, then on back to the author for one final examination so changes can be made to the manuscript before the work goes to print.
All of this process is what goes into publishing a book. It can take months, and in some cases years. David James’ work was what is known in the industry as a “rushed job,” what is originally planned to be a story in a monthly journal that develops over a month or so to become a book, and rushed to print. Most readers do not know this, and Mr. James will not disclose it to anyone for good reason.
David James uses his claim that his work had undergone some unique vetting in order to claim for his work something that almost every literary work undergoes, but which he as an author knows, realizing that most readers are not aware of – that all of this is part of the process, it is not unique to his book, or to Rabbi Cahn’s. But, he deftly uses the process to create in his readers the impression that somehow his work is superior to the rest simply on the basis of the process it has had to go through to get published without telling them that this is the normal publishing process. So he continues…
“So, while I wouldn’t necessarily discourage you from writing a novel with a Christian worldview – I would suggest a great deal of caution and that you make sure you have at least a couple of very good theologians go through it first to make sure you have it right and can defend what you say biblically – because when you publish you’re taking up the mantle of a teacher and the Bible teaches that teachers are held to a higher standard of accountability.
No disagreement here, but again, what he writes is meant to ingratiate himself and promote his book as superior because of the “vetting process” it had to undergo before publishing, though he failed to mention that most literary works go through this process anyway. His work is not unique or superior for it. He concludes…
“I’m not gracious simply because I think my book might have problems. I try to be gracious because that is what believers should be like. Whether I’m always successful is a different question, unfortunately.”
Dave
The “graciousness” that David James lays claim to having is best illustrated by the year and a half long campaign he has launched against a fellow member of his faith, who during said period has not done a single thing or said anything either in his own defense against Mr. James’ accusations, or against Mr. James and his colleagues.
Previously I have made the following observation about many of The Harbinger's critics:
Previously I have made the following observation about many of The Harbinger's critics:
By coining the term “discernment” and fashioning it into a new ministry or new office, rather than the Scriptural application of it as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 12:10); not only do Cessationists claim these gifts ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age, but they’ve invented an entire new ministry around the discerning of spirits to mean arguing with other Christians over doctrinal differences, and [have] called it “discernment.” This is how far they have strayed from the Word of God while claiming just the opposite. It is time to wake up to this and see it for what it is.
When someone spends the better part of their time arguing against someone else for preaching repentance and salvation because they do not approve of how that other person is doing it; [or where even true repentance and salvation have taken place and in great numbers across the nation], [they continue to criticize and question it,] then you know that there is something seriously and fundamentally wrong the people doing this. And this is precisely what they do all of the time. They are now writing books specifically targeting other Christians while peppering their books with enough false prophets and heretics to make these books look legitimate.
Because many of the critics of The Harbinger are self-avowed Cessationists, as David James has admitted being, any writing, fictional or otherwise, that smacks to them as one that can be interpreted as “prophetic,” not necessarily as “prophecy” but as simply “prophetic,” they will take issue with and attempt to contradict, because Cessationists DO NOT believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit as described in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, in the 12th chapter, is acceptable for today.
Cessationists believe that the gifts of Holy Spirit ended in Apostolic Age, yet there is no place in any book of The Bible that promotes such heresy. It is nothing less than a blanket denial of certain gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the selective promoting of others such as evangelism, teaching, and helps.
Cessationists believe that the gifts of Holy Spirit ended in Apostolic Age, yet there is no place in any book of The Bible that promotes such heresy. It is nothing less than a blanket denial of certain gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the selective promoting of others such as evangelism, teaching, and helps.
Therefore, any written work – fictional or otherwise – that they deem “prophetic” or as promoting “prophecy,” is eschewed by them, and written off as heresy, and false teaching. By extension, though many of them may claim otherwise, they are giving Rabbi Cahn “the personal treatment,” if the reader knows what I mean. And they've been doing this for a year and a half. This is aberrant and wrong. In thirty-seven years of knowing and walking in God’s grace, I have never witnessed anything like it. It is simply not normal. And it is not Christian.
Having heard all of the sermons given by Rabbi Cahn on The Harbinger – recorded in a series of CDs and DVDs upon which The Harbinger is based, but much more broad in context and illustrations than the book, and having read and studied every element and Scripture in The Harbinger, as well as illustrations and studies provided in The Harbinger Companion with Study Guide, and listening to a new message titled The Harbinger Continues; I have become very well acquainted with the internals and details of the overall message and overarching call to repentance, and salvation in Christ that is evident throughout all of these.
This is why when looking over Mr. James’ book, and reading Mr. James’ contentions in it, and in his postings; I’ve reached the conclusion that he has read another book. What Mr. James writes is not in The Harbinger. It simply isn’t.
This is why when looking over Mr. James’ book, and reading Mr. James’ contentions in it, and in his postings; I’ve reached the conclusion that he has read another book. What Mr. James writes is not in The Harbinger. It simply isn’t.
But it isn’t just this that troubles me. What he sees and reads into a narrative is real and true to him, and to anyone unacquainted with that narrative, but who may receive his observations on it as fact without having read the narrative for themselves.
The implications of this are enormous. How many people have accepted what David James said and written about The Harbinger at face value without doing their own homework on the matter? How often has this happened? At this point, honestly because reputations are at stake, and ministries may lose credibility as a result, I do not believe any of these gentlemen and women will come forward and confess that they rushed their opinions before doing their homework.
We know that Jimmy DeYoung and Brannon Howse did not, because in an interview Howse gave to Jimmy DeYoung in 2012, both of them had admitted that they hadn’t read the book and were not planning on reading it, and even warned others against it. In that interview Jimmy DeYoung admitted that his opinions about the book had been formed entirely upon the word of one man; David James, what he called his “resident scholar.” What may have been originally as a misreading of The Harbinger by David James, has since ballooned into the greatest controversy perhaps in Evangelical Christian History.
Do I question these men’s salvation? Of course not, what I question is their works, and I bring it up because of the manner and methods they’ve employed to destroy Christians – with Jonathan Cahn being the one they’ve chosen to make an example of – but by no means have exclusively directed their attacks against.
They have criticized other legitimate Evangelical leaders such as Pat Robertson, Dr. James Dobson, Pastor James MacDonald, the Reverend Billy Graham, and many others with whom they hold certain doctrinal disagreements and guests they’ve had on their programs, or people some have visited with.
We know that Jimmy DeYoung and Brannon Howse did not, because in an interview Howse gave to Jimmy DeYoung in 2012, both of them had admitted that they hadn’t read the book and were not planning on reading it, and even warned others against it. In that interview Jimmy DeYoung admitted that his opinions about the book had been formed entirely upon the word of one man; David James, what he called his “resident scholar.” What may have been originally as a misreading of The Harbinger by David James, has since ballooned into the greatest controversy perhaps in Evangelical Christian History.
Do I question these men’s salvation? Of course not, what I question is their works, and I bring it up because of the manner and methods they’ve employed to destroy Christians – with Jonathan Cahn being the one they’ve chosen to make an example of – but by no means have exclusively directed their attacks against.
They have criticized other legitimate Evangelical leaders such as Pat Robertson, Dr. James Dobson, Pastor James MacDonald, the Reverend Billy Graham, and many others with whom they hold certain doctrinal disagreements and guests they’ve had on their programs, or people some have visited with.
This type of behavior and the eighteen month long scorched earth policy of continual discreditation, accusation, and outright false reports are nothing short of the type of thing that Jesus says the devil does, because He has said that he’s a liar (John 8:44) and a thief, who comes to rob, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), what’s more, he is known as the accuser of the brethren. (Revelation 12:10) What kind of Christian spends the better part of over year’s work on doing such a thing? What kind of ministry spends almost their entire energies devoted to targeting mainline ministers within the Body of Christ? Not just false teachers and cultists, but mainline Evangelicals like Rabbi Cahn, James MacDonald, Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, and others?
All one has to do is read The Harbinger for oneself, then read The Harbinger Companion with Study Guide, and the upcoming book by this writer, and then examine what The Harbinger's critics say, and they will readily see for themselves that not only what they claim is factually incorrect and inaccurate, but it is in many places outright misleading and nothing but lies.
It is either done intentionally, which makes these men, complicit as false witnesses, or if it is done because of one man’s misreading of The Harbinger, as I contend, then, it is equally misleading and deceiving those who read their criticisms of Rabbi Cahn’s book. Either way, it is an eighteen month long campaign of that should have ended long ago. Nothing short of that. In part three of this series, Lord willing, we shall compare what Mr. James writes to Scripture and allow the reader to determine for himself the truth of what he claims.
There biblical methods throughout Scripture that serve as examples of how differences in doctrines and incomplete teachings are dealt with, and we can see them employed properly in a respectful manner where scholars differ as to interpretation of – let’s take for example, above all things, something as fundamental to our faith as Messianic Prophecy.
There biblical methods throughout Scripture that serve as examples of how differences in doctrines and incomplete teachings are dealt with, and we can see them employed properly in a respectful manner where scholars differ as to interpretation of – let’s take for example, above all things, something as fundamental to our faith as Messianic Prophecy.
A perfect example of how one scholar can differ with another without being disrespectful, or accusing the other scholar of teaching false doctrine, or of being a false prophet and teacher is the methods used by Dr. Michael Rydelnik. In his powerful little book, The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic?, he differs with many of his esteemed colleagues on how Messianic prophecy ought to be interpreted, but nowhere does he resort to the type of ad hominem attacks that The Harbinger's critics have resorted to in their differences with Rabbi Cahn’s book. They don’t claim to be personal, but they really are, and very personal.
The sign of a true Christian and true scholar is the ability to differ with a colleague on a topic without bringing into question either their teaching or calling. When one calls another a “false teacher” and “false prophet” and uses other epithets that best describe someone who does not ascribe to the fundamental tenets of the Christian Faith, then they are crossing the line between disagreement and personal attack.
Many of The Harbinger's critics have crossed this line often in their attacks of other Christian Evangelicals with whom they disagree. For the better part of a year and a half, they have engaged in the most extreme form of this against a New Jersey Pastor, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn and his New York Times bestseller, The Harbinger. We shall see below specifically how David James does this in his own words.
In order to destroy a ministry all one has to do is claim that it teaches heresy and that its leader is a “false teacher,” whose “teachings contain serious error” and then work their way from there. They don’t even have to question one’s salvation, because it is much easier to claim heresy than to question salvation.
Such discreditation does its own work, because considering the state of Evangelical Christianity today, and the huge biblical illiteracy that is rampant among professing Christians, most people won’t even bother to examine the facts for themselves, but will go by the word of these “respected” authorities within the so-called “discernment ministries” proliferating the Internet today.
They write books specifically targeting other Christians for the smallest of what is to them to be major infractions to their brand of “orthodoxy,” drawing quick conclusions about places those whom they target have visited, or people they’ve been seen with, or statements they’ve made that sounded to them aberrant, or tied to NAR, or Dominion Theology, or Kingdom Now Theology, etc.
And by listing just enough false teachers, false prophets, and cults layered in between, they give the false impression that all of those whom they’re attacking are in fact the false teachings of the cults, when amongst this number are genuine servants of God whom they’ve targeted for discreditation.
There’s enough in the mix of people they target to make their contentions to appear legitimate and be correct all of the time. But they are not correct all of the time, and especially with regards Jonathan Cahn and The Harbinger.
And this is how many of them lure the unsuspecting in to their way of thinking which they call “biblical.” We shall see how David James does it here in the article cited below point by point. One can claim that their opinion is bibilcal, but their claim does not make that opinion biblical. It is after all, just one's opinion.
And by listing just enough false teachers, false prophets, and cults layered in between, they give the false impression that all of those whom they’re attacking are in fact the false teachings of the cults, when amongst this number are genuine servants of God whom they’ve targeted for discreditation.
There’s enough in the mix of people they target to make their contentions to appear legitimate and be correct all of the time. But they are not correct all of the time, and especially with regards Jonathan Cahn and The Harbinger.
And this is how many of them lure the unsuspecting in to their way of thinking which they call “biblical.” We shall see how David James does it here in the article cited below point by point. One can claim that their opinion is bibilcal, but their claim does not make that opinion biblical. It is after all, just one's opinion.
Take a copy of the Christian classic by Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, and compare it to any one of their works, and you’ll see what I mean. The Kingdom of the Cults focused on the cults and compared their teachings with verses right from God’s Word. It did not attack ministries and people within Evangelical Protestant Christianity, but aberrant teachings outside of the Body of Christ – outside of the church.
Yet much of the contentions of The Harbinger's critics are nothing more than religious claptrap wrapped in a false mantle of orthodoxy and Christianized jargon most of us are familiar with, in order to dullen our spiritual senses, and lure us into believing a false narrative based upon an wholly inaccurate reading of what is claimed somebody wrote.
When somebody is hitting you with unsubstantiated charges of being a “false teacher,” and “teaching heresy,” going through your teaching ministry looking for whatever they can find to claim your sermons “contains serious errors,” and misquoting your work to support a premise against you that has no basis in fact or reality; this is not only very personal, but very destructive and very deceptive, and is nothing but bearing false witness against another.
It is not Apologetics, nor is it any form of discernment; stalking someone for a year and a half to discredit them, it is slander; it is libel, it is speaking evil of another, and it is bearing a false witness against your neighbor. THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL BEHAVIOR, AND NOT HOW CHRISTIANS CONDUCT THEMSELVES WITH ONE ANOTHER.
It is not Apologetics, nor is it any form of discernment; stalking someone for a year and a half to discredit them, it is slander; it is libel, it is speaking evil of another, and it is bearing a false witness against your neighbor. THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL BEHAVIOR, AND NOT HOW CHRISTIANS CONDUCT THEMSELVES WITH ONE ANOTHER.
Summing up what I’ve written here, the kingdom of God is not advanced by internal strife, dissensions, and division, nor is it promoted when one believer attacks another. Differences of opinion are going to exist, because no two people think absolutely alike, but we can all agree on the essentials of our faith.
In grace, we must allow and respect differences of opinion, but not allow these differences of opinion to divide us, or use them for such purposes in publicly outing one another while claiming that such differences of opinion are sacrosanct possessing all of the weight and authority of Scripture, and packaging it as though it were.
It is an opinion, nothing more, based upon a theology – again, an expression of another opinion that interprets and expresses a doctrine, based upon how a Scripture verse, or a Scripture passage, or a Book of the Bible is read and interpreted. And we’ve already admitted that disagreements are allowed in such cases as long as it does not deny the most basic and fundamental tenets of our faith.
In grace, we must allow and respect differences of opinion, but not allow these differences of opinion to divide us, or use them for such purposes in publicly outing one another while claiming that such differences of opinion are sacrosanct possessing all of the weight and authority of Scripture, and packaging it as though it were.
It is an opinion, nothing more, based upon a theology – again, an expression of another opinion that interprets and expresses a doctrine, based upon how a Scripture verse, or a Scripture passage, or a Book of the Bible is read and interpreted. And we’ve already admitted that disagreements are allowed in such cases as long as it does not deny the most basic and fundamental tenets of our faith.
If one’s theology contradicts the text of God’s Word, or violates in any way its spirit and intent, its purpose, and is at variance with God’s plan of salvation through the cross of Christ, and His plan for all of mankind as the Bible outlines it, then it is time to dispense that theology or whatever aspects of it that is at variance to God’s Word (because theology is NOT God’s Word, but man’s attempt to explain it), and embrace the Word of God and what it says.
There is a stark difference between seeking to defend the faith against outsiders who would misrepresent it, and slander it to destroy God’s work and impede sharing the Gospel; which is the legitimate a correct role of Apologetics.
Where such a role is twisted and degenerates is when it is misappropriated and is used to divert one’s attention from the church’s primary concern, consecration to Jesus Christ – sharing salvation through the preaching of the Gospel – and rather to focus one’s attention and priorities almost exclusively, if not exclusively inward to set one’s sights and train them to target legitimate ministries to publicly discredit and marginalize them to the point of destroying the work and legacy of another servant of Christ over a disagreement, and then call this “Discernment.”
This is what this polemical campaign against The Harbinger and its author, and his ministry – has become. Many of The Harbinger's critics have now stalking Jonathan Cahn’s every move and public statement. THIS IS NOT SCRIPTURAL, THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL BEHAVIOR, THIS IS NOT HOW DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRETHREN ARE HANDLED, AND DOES NOT HONOR CHRIST IN THE LEAST.
Where such a role is twisted and degenerates is when it is misappropriated and is used to divert one’s attention from the church’s primary concern, consecration to Jesus Christ – sharing salvation through the preaching of the Gospel – and rather to focus one’s attention and priorities almost exclusively, if not exclusively inward to set one’s sights and train them to target legitimate ministries to publicly discredit and marginalize them to the point of destroying the work and legacy of another servant of Christ over a disagreement, and then call this “Discernment.”
This is what this polemical campaign against The Harbinger and its author, and his ministry – has become. Many of The Harbinger's critics have now stalking Jonathan Cahn’s every move and public statement. THIS IS NOT SCRIPTURAL, THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL BEHAVIOR, THIS IS NOT HOW DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRETHREN ARE HANDLED, AND DOES NOT HONOR CHRIST IN THE LEAST.
On Worldview Weekend’s Wednesday, July 17th broadcast, Brannon Howse had a guest who was grilled in a church he spoke at by its pastor and some of its congregants, according to Brannon’s guest, Justin Peters. In this interview, Justin recounts to Brannon and his audience how for 90 minutes, one of the churches he visited challenged him from the platform as he spoke. A friend of mine reviewed the exchange between Howse and his guest, and part of it follows:
Justin: ...people were challenging me, and grilling me and... led by the pastor, by the way. And really taking me to task for over an hour and it was...
Brannon (interrupting): Right there on the platform, in front of everybody...?
Justin: Yea, in front of everybody...
Brannon: So the pastor didn't, like, call you back into his study and say, "Hey, Justin, I've got some concerns. Here's what they are..." - bring in a couple of the elders - "Here are our concerns..."? They just - you're right there on the platform and, wham, they just start going at ya?
Justin: Yes, yes - start going after me...
Brannon (in the background): WOW!
Justin: ...and, in front of everybody. And the pastor basically dressing me down and telling me that I was wrong and one of the elders wrote a question for the Q&A and he took me to task on what I taught the night before about how God does and does not speak to us..."
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If Brannon Howse thinks it was wrong for these people in this church to publicly out this speaker in front of everyone for his opinions about some other preachers, why does he do the same to other Christian Evangelicals, and justify what he does with every broadcast?
Anyone who attacks Christian Evangelicals over doctrinal or theological matters, or for any other reason that such a person deems justified and “biblical,” DOES NOT glorify Christ or preaches salvation, because the main focus is away from Christ and salvation, and redirected towards other Christian Evangelicals for the purposes of attacking them.
Christ is not glorified in the least with such behavior. It is nothing more than religious gossip, and this is why the Scriptures speak so strongly against it. ANY FORM OF GOSSIP IS JUST THAT, EVEN IT IS PRESENTED AS “CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH” AND “DEFENDING THE INTEGRITY OF THE BIBLE."
Christ is not glorified in the least with such behavior. It is nothing more than religious gossip, and this is why the Scriptures speak so strongly against it. ANY FORM OF GOSSIP IS JUST THAT, EVEN IT IS PRESENTED AS “CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH” AND “DEFENDING THE INTEGRITY OF THE BIBLE."
There many in today's "discernment ministries" that proliferate the Internet, that are nothing more than today’s insidious version of the cult, because instead of attacking the faith from outside of it, this Postmodern version of a “Christian” cult attacks the body of Christ from within. Its protagonists and promoters wear the guise of respected and well-known ministers and shepherds, and they may have begun as such; but have since become and presently are, nothing more than ravenous wolves devouring and destroying all they can find in the name of “contending for the faith.”
We are not meant to contend for the faith with those whose faith is the same as ours, as many of The Harbinger's critics mistakenly believe; we are to contend for the faith with those whose faith is not the same as ours, who profess other faiths.
Until they understand this fundamental difference, they will keep destroying and decimating ministries and lives, as they sow the seeds of discord much as Korah and his group did to Israel from within its ranks. The Scriptures light the way, as the Holy Spirit imparts these examples from Israel’s past to bring before us the knowledge of God’s Word how these things occur when they manifest themselves either in a church, prayer gathering, or Bible study.
Until they understand this fundamental difference, they will keep destroying and decimating ministries and lives, as they sow the seeds of discord much as Korah and his group did to Israel from within its ranks. The Scriptures light the way, as the Holy Spirit imparts these examples from Israel’s past to bring before us the knowledge of God’s Word how these things occur when they manifest themselves either in a church, prayer gathering, or Bible study.
THE PEPSTER
As a man thinks within himself, so he is.
Proverbs 23:7a
The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.
Proverbs 16:33
"Do not petition G-d to go where you are going; rather find where G-d is going and travel with Him."-- Unknown Jewish Wise Man
"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer not neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.".--- Author Unknown
"It’s not failure, but the fear of failure that stops most people.”-- Philip Anschutz
"THERE IS NOTHING MORE FRIGHTENING THAN ACTIVE IGNORANCE." -- Goethe
"To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth." - Unknown Author
“ A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us. ”— Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Truth is in history, but history is not the truth." - Nicolás Gómez Dávila
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Jonathan Cahn
by Dr. David R. Reagan
People love pillow prophets. They hate true prophets. Pillow prophets tell people what they want to hear. They cry, "Peace and safety!" when danger is imminent. True prophets warn of danger and cry for repentance.
When Jeremiah told the people of Judah that it was God's will for them to surrender to the Babylonians and go into captivity, he was demonized as a false prophet and a traitor, and the people tried to kill him.
In like manner, Jonathan Cahn has been the victim of irresponsible and vicious attacks. He has been accused of "parading as a prophet." Others have branded him a "false prophet." These charges are reckless, unwarranted and un-Christ-like.
Jonathan Cahn's message is thoroughly biblical. It is not based on any new revelation from God. Rather, it is based on the biblical principles that govern God's relationship with nations. These are principles that I outlined in detail in my 2003 book entitled America the Beautiful? The United States in Bible Prophecy (revised editions in 2006 and 2009).
False Prophet?
The charge that he is a "false prophet" is downright ludicrous. His message is that America is in rebellion against God, that God has placed remedial judgments upon us, and that if we do not repent, God will deliver us from judgment to destruction. I ask you, "What part of that message is unbiblical?"
Furthermore, the Bible defines a false prophet as one who prophesies events that do not come to pass. If Rabbi Cahn prophesied that a specific event would take place on a specific date and that date were to come and go without the event happening, then he could legitimately be labeled as a "false prophet." But he has done no such thing.
He is simply declaring biblical principles. He is reminding us of the following truths:
•That when a richly blessed nation like ours sets its face against God, the judgment of God will fall upon it.
•That the only way for a rebellious nation to avoid the ultimate judgment of God — namely, destruction — is for it to repent.
Misuse of Scripture?
Others have attacked Rabbi Cahn because they argue that he has taken a scripture directed to ancient Israel (Isaiah 9:10) and has applied it to the United States. Again, I ask, "What is wrong with that?" If the scripture is applicable, why not apply it to our nation?
Actually, we do that all the time. The Psalms and Proverbs were written to the Jewish people, yet we apply them to ourselves. Should we reject the 23rd Psalm because it was not specifically addressed to the Church?
Incredibly, Rabbi Cahn has been criticized for applying 2 Chronicles 7:14 to the United States. It reads as follows:
[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Are we actually going to contend that this scripture applies only to Israel? Are we really going to argue that if the professing Christians of this nation were to sincerely repent of their sins and the sins of our nation, that God would ignore it?
This particular scripture contains a timeless principle about repentance that even applies to pagan nations. Thus, when God sent the prophet Jonah to the pagan city of Nineveh with a message of "Turn or Burn!" the Lord changed His mind when the king put on sack cloth and ashes, repented, and called for the whole city to do likewise.
Or consider the seven letters contained in the second and third chapters of Revelation. Each one was addressed to a specific church located in the area of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). Do the letters apply only to those specific churches? Of course not! They are just as relevant to the Church at large today as they were when they were written to the seven specific churches in the First Century.
Jumping to Conclusions
Many of the criticisms of Rabbi Cahn's message are based on unwarranted conclusions that people have jumped to in an effort to find something to criticize. For example, he has been accused of teaching that America is in a covenant relationship with God. The fact of the matter is that he has never said that. He simply notes that America's founding fathers believed that, and therefore they consecrated the nation to God.
Another unwarranted conclusion is that he teaches Isaiah 9:10 was a prophecy about the United States rather than Israel. Again, Rabbi Cahn has never made such an assertion. What he teaches instead is that the ancient pattern of judgment that occurred in Israel is now recurring in America, and in "a stunningly precise way."
A Book and a Sermon
As I reported in a recent issue of this magazine, I was not particularly impacted with Rabbi Cahn's book, The Harbinger. Its writing style was not my cup of tea. But so what? It greatly impacted tens of thousands of others, and I was immensely impressed with the overall message of the book. It contained a biblical message that I believe the American people desperately need to hear, and I was delighted over the book's success as it rose to the top of the best seller list.
What impressed me even more was Rabbi Cahn's sermon which he presented at the recent Presidential Inaugural Breakfast in Washington, D.C. As I watched it on YouTube, I was transfixed by the frank, biblical content of the message and by Rabbi Cahn's powerful, anointed delivery of it.
The message presented a stark, bone-chilling indictment against this nation for thumbing its nose at God. It was a hardhitting prophetic message that took great courage to deliver. I urge you to watch the 35 minute message on YouTube. (You can find it easily by googling Cahn's name.)
Christians should be giving Rabbi Cahn a standing ovation, and many have. But some leaders of discernment ministries have tried, instead, to crucify him.
I know a genuine prophetic voice when I hear one, and as I watched Rabbi Cahn deliver his powerful message, I realized he was a prophetic voice raised up by God to warn this nation of its impending doom and to call us to repentance.
He is the successor to David Wilkerson who began delivering the same message in the 1970's. At that time Wilkerson was the darling of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. But the moment he began to call this nation to repentance and warn of God's impending judgment, he was mercilessly attacked as a "false prophet" and was accused of misusing scriptures. Many churches stopped handling his books and speaking invitations were canceled. He was condemned for preaching a "negative message."
Christian McCarthyism
The current unbridled, petty and vicious attacks on Rabbi Cahn smack of what I would call "Christian McCarthyism." For those of you who might not be familiar with what I'm referring to, let me explain.
In the 1950s a wave of anti-Communism swept this nation and a Senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy decided to ride the wave. He started holding Congressional hearings during which he made wild allegations against many people, accusing them of being either Communists or Communist sympathizers. In the process, he ruined the lives of many people.
Senator McCarthy met his Waterloo when he decided to attack the U.S. Army, claiming many of its top officers were tainted by Communism. This action hurt him in two ways. First, it turned President Eisenhower against him. Second, the Army hired a defense counsel who would surprisingly prove to be very formidable. I say surprisingly because the attorney, Joseph Welch, seemed to be someone who would be eaten alive by McCarthy. That's because Mr. Welch had a high, squeaky voice and an elf-like appearance.
As Mr. Welch began to demand that Senator McCarthy present evidence of his allegations, the Senator decided to go on the attack. He started accusing a young lawyer on Welch's staff of being a Communist sympathizer. Welch interrupted the Senator and cried out in a wailing voice, "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness..." When McCarthy resumed his attack, Welch interrupted him: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
This was one of the first Congressional hearings ever to be televised, and it exposed the Senator for what he was — a shallow, irresponsible, arrogant power-seeker who was willing to destroy other people in order to gain the limelight.
In like manner there are hyper-critics within Christianity today who are yelling "Apostate! Apostate!" over matters that really amount to nothing. If a person speaks to a group they disapprove of, they label him an "Apostate." If he has a different viewpoint from theirs about a non-essential doctrine, he is branded an "Apostate." If he compliments someone they don't like, he is relegated to Hell as an "Apostate."
An Appeal for Sanity
Grant Phillips, a Bible teacher in Kentucky who has pastored six churches in his lifetime, recently responded to the hysterical critics of Jonathan Cahn with these words:
Look folks, many of us need to... stop nitpicking everything the Lord is trying to tell us and just listen to what He is saying in whatever manner He chooses to say it. Even in my own experience of writing articles, every now and then, someone emails me who just wants to nit-pick at something I wrote while missing the message of the article. The phrase comes to mind, "They're so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good." We need to humble our hearts and stop being so self-righteous.
In my personal correspondence with Jonathan Cahn, I have discovered that he has a very Christ-like spirit and a great sense of humor. In responding to his critics, he has killed them with kindness, refusing to respond with the same invective they have used in attacking him. He has dealt with issues and not personalities.
And his sense of humor has helped him to put the criticism in perspective. Let me give you some examples:
•In response to crazy allegations that he is somehow involved in advocating the prosperity message of the Word of Faith Movement, he wrote: "I not only speak against those doctrines regularly, but my author's photo [shown on the cover of this magazine] was taken at Sears Budget Photo!"
•In response to an assertion that he is advocating Replacement Theology, he wrote: "I'm Jewish and a believer. In order to subscribe to Replacement Theology, I'd have to replace myself with myself. I'm open to trying, but it just strikes me as a lot of work to end up no better off than when I started!"
•In response to the nutty charge that he is espousing principles of Mormonism, he wrote: "Okay, I was once into Donny and Marie Osmond, but when they started singing 'I'm A Little Bit Country, And I'm A Little Bit Rock and Roll,' I drew the line. You see, I don't believe in mixing doctrines."
•In response to the absurd allegation that he is involved in some way in Masonry, he replied: "It's true. I once had involvement with Masonry. It happened when I appeared as a guest on the Jackie Mason Show. But he's the only Mason I've been involved with. And I renounced his comedy soon after the show."
My Personal Stance
The nit-picking, Pharisaical hyper-critics of Christianity need to be reminded of the wisdom of Gamaliel which he shared with the Sanhedrin Council when they arrested Peter and the apostles and desired to kill them (Acts 5:29-33). Gamaliel stated that if what the followers of Jesus were teaching was false, nothing would come of it. "But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them." He then added, "You may even be found fighting against God" (Acts 5:38-39).
The pit bulls of Christianity can growl and yap and snarl all they please, but anointed messengers of God like Wilkerson and Cahn will prevail because they are speaking the truth. I stand with them, and I am proud to do so.
Together with them, I cry from the depths of my heart, "Wake up America! You are blaspheming the very God who blessed you. He has sent prophetic voices and remedial judgments to warn you and call you to repentance. What will be your choice? Repentance or Destruction?"
