"So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O [thou] man of God, [there is] death in the pot. And they could not eat [thereof].” ( 2 Kings 4:40)

"So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O [thou] man of God, [there is] death in the pot. And they could not eat [thereof].” ( 2 Kings 4:40)

In Part one, we considered the godly principles and aspirations that marked the founders of those Christian publishers known as the “Big Four” (Baker, Eerdman, Zondervan, and Kregel). In this article, we will document the sad departure from those principles and aspirations, not only by the above named publishers, but others who falsely describe themselves as “evangelical”.

The major evidence of the shift of these “Christian” publishers (?) away from Christian doctrine and practice is their endorsement of Roman Catholicism. Eerdmans publishes 'Karol Wojtyla: The Thought of the Man Who Became Pope John Paul II', by Rocco Buttiglione. On the Erdman’s web site, we read, “The achievements of John Paul II in recent years cannot be overstated. Led by this man and his profound contribution to Catholic social thought, the Catholic Church has become the world’s single greatest voice for democracy and human rights. Protestants, too, have found in Pope John Paul II a brave and steadfast Christian pastor.” (emphasis ours).

Not only is this “man of sin” (i.e. The Pope) celebrated by Eerdmans, Baker (not to be outdone!) currently celebrates the apostasy of former evangelical author Francis (“Frank”) Beckwith, from evangelical faith, back to the damnation of Romanism (‘Return to Rome’, Brazos/Baker pub. ‘Brazos’ was actually begun by Baker, as an outlet [$$] for Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and “Liberal Protestant” heresy).

As a sure consequence of imbibing Romanist error, these publishers have now thrown any discernment to the winds, as shown by their willingness to print and distribute virtually any heresy. From Baker (‘God of The Possible’), we have the tortured “interpretations” of heretic Gregory A. Boyd who attempts (from Scripture [?]) to “prove” that God does not know the future (cf. Eccl. 3:14, 15; Isa. 46:9, 10; Acts 15:18; Eph. 1:11). Though Scripture calls Christianity “pure religion and undefiled…” ( Jas. 1:27), the “Christian” publishing of our day continues their conspiracy of denial on this point, with their endless (unscriptural) mantra, “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion”. Thus, the Navigators publish ‘The End Of Religion’, authored by “Emergent” wanabee Bruxy Cavey (“Sick of religion? So was Jesus”, the author enthuses).

Furthermore, truth itself gets the “pretzel” treatment from Zondervan, via Roger E. Olsen’s ‘How to be Evangelical Without Being Conservative’. In the chapter, ‘Truth Without Certainty’, Olsen lets the “cat out of the bag” as to where his sin-darkened heart is really at: “My point is not at all that none of the Bible is historical, but I am arguing that some of it can be history-like without necessarily being historical. I have used Jonah as an example of a biblical character who may not have lived and yet can serve as a great example to us. But Abraham, for example, is a different matter. I have talked to people who claim to take the Bible seriously but who do not believe Abraham ever existed; to them he is a mythical or legendary figure in the Old Testament. That’s harder to accept than Jonah! Abraham is a (if not the) key covenant figure in the Bible other than Jesus himself. With whom did God make a covenant to bless the nations of the world if not with someone named Abraham? The historicity of Abraham is crucial to the biblical drama in a way the historicity of Jonah is not.”

This is nothing short of infidelity, and arbitrary infidelity, at that! According to Olsen’s pontificating, Abraham is “real”, but Jonah is not. The question then becomes: “Did Christ really rise from the grave?” Since, biblically, Jonah and Christ “stand or fall” together (cf. Matt. 12:38-45), Olsen and his ilk cannot answer the question.

Thus, these attacks upon religion and truth are really attacks upon Christ Himself. B. Cavey actually dares to pit James against Jesus in his anti-religion diatribe! After quoting James 1:27, where the Apostle confirms Christianity as “religion” (Gr. “threskeia”), Cavey unbelievably declares, “Jesus never calls people to threskeia religion…” (op. Cit. P. 232)

As Romanism turns a blind eye to sin and ungodliness, so these publishers, following Rome’s lead, now provide a platform for the ungodliness of our age. Navigators founder Dawson (“Trots”) Trotman would literally turn over in his grave, if he were to read Matthew Paul Turner’s perverse, childish, ungodly work, ‘What You DIDN’T Learn from Your Parents About Sex’ (‘TH1NK’, published by NavPress). Besides the titles obvious violation of parental authority (cf. Eph. 6:1-4; Col. 3:20, 21), the shamefully perverse content of this book actually caused it to be removed from certain Christian bookstores and distributors. Infinitely worse, are the ‘Biblezines’, ‘Cosmopolitan’-esque “bibles”, geared for and catering to, young people who are thoroughly tainted with the ways of this ungodly world. Though multiple examples of shallow, insipid silliness could be culled from these productions, we will let one suffice from Thomas Nelson’s ‘Align’ biblezine (‘The Complete New Tetsament For Men’), which declares on its cover: “Sexcess: Success With The Opposite Sex”

In this article, we have only “scratched the surface” of the mountain of perverse, unbiblical, Christ-dishonouring “poison” currently being spewed forth by these ungodly, profit-driven “publishers”, into the “pot” of Christian publications. Truly, the response of the godly to all this mess is, “we cannot eat thereof!”

Over the next two months, we will consider the causes of the current crisis in Christian publishing.