Bible Studies

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Part 5 continues where Part 4 ended.

I'll quote a small part of the next section of the Appendix, which is titled, "Excerpts from 'Salvation and Apostasy' by Dale Moody." "Salvation and Apostasy" is section 55 in Moody's book, "The Word of Truth: A Summary of Christian Doctrine Based on Biblical Revelation" [Eerdmans, 1981] (pages 348-365). Moody's viewpoint is all the more interesting because he is a Southern Baptist scholar. It is well known that Southern Baptists along with most other Baptists are strong for the viewpoint once saved, always saved. Moody started teaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1945.

"There are several warnings in the Synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark, and Luke] about the danger that disciples may fall away, but perhaps the plainest passage is...the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:9-15). Some only hear the word of God without believing it, but those in a second group 'believe for a while and in a time of temptation fall away' (8:13). A. T. Robertson [a Southern Baptist scholar known especially for his expertise in New Testament Greek] comments: 'Ostensibly [apparently] they are sincere and have a real start in the life of faith.' ("Word Pictures in the New Testament" [Nashville: Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1930], Vol. II, page 114.)

Superficial believers are not the only type that falls away. The thorny ground in the Parable of the Sower represents those who hear the word of God, 'but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature' (8:14). Those who hold fast the word of God 'in an honest and good heart' are the only ones that 'bring forth fruit with patience' (8:15). It is amazing how preconceived dogmas blind so many to the realism of this parable. It happens before their eyes in so many ways, but they refuse to see what is so obvious" (page 349).

Now I'll quote part of what Moody says in his last subsection, titled "Apostasy in Tradition" (pages 358-365). "Warnings against the danger of falling away from faith may be noted in every New Testament writing but Philemon, which has no doctrinal discussion at all! Why then has this teaching been excluded in much of the Christian theology of the West? The answer on examination comes home loud and clear: tradition has triumphed over Scripture. At least three distorted traditions and interpretations may be noted in Western theology." Moody goes on to discuss Augustinianism, Calvinism, and two branches of Evangelicalism that have their roots in Calvinism.

The next three sections of the Appendix are titled, "Excerpts from 'Apostasy: A Study in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in Baptist History' by Dale Moody

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