Letter to the Editor
Pharisees & Sadducees
Dear Editor:
Like your recent correspondent, I am also an admirer of Bishop JC Ryle, and have benefitted greatly from his writings. One of his articles which seems perennially pertinent deals with Christ’s warning to be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
As Ryle explains, our Lord “foresaw that the two great plagues of His Church on earth would always be the doctrine of the Pharisees and the doctrine of the Sadducees. He knew that these would like two large rocks, between which His truth would be perpetually crushed and bruised until He came the second time. He knew that there always would be Pharisees in spirit, and Sadducees in spirit, among professing Christians… He knew that during the time that the Church existed, until His return, there would always be some who would add to the Word, and some who would subtract from it.”
It appears the GAFCON leadership has given heed to one half of this warning only; they have decried those who have subtracted from the Word, denying biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality, and those who cast doubts on the miraculous in the Bible and the saving nature of Christ’s death and his resurrection. But I am astounded that they have so little to say about those who would add to God’s Word, with sacred tradition, papal decrees and the teaching of the Magisterium. Why this silence? Why is there a blind spot? Do they think Christ’s warning is of little relevance today?
EM Brown
London
