Don’t Be a Charles Templeton

Dearest hijas and hijo,

Have you ever struggled with doubt about God? Have you ever struggled with whether the Bible is actually true? Have you ever struggled with whether the claims of Christ are valid? I mean, Jesus claimed to be God (John 10:30). He claimed to be the ‘door’ (John 10:9) that everyone must enter through. He claimed to be ‘living water’ (John 4:10, 7:38) and the ‘bread that came down from heaven’ (John 6:51) of which if you eat you will never hunger and never thirst. He claimed to be ‘the Good Shepherd’ (John 10:11) who lays down His life for the sheep. He claimed to be the ‘way’, the ‘truth’, and the ‘life’ (John 14:6) to which everyone who seeks after God must come through Him. He claimed to offer eternal life to everyone who believes in Him (John 11: 25-26, see also John 3:16). He invites everyone who is thirsty to come and take the water of life without cost (Rev. 22:17). His claims were exclusively for and about Himself. He left no doubt that He was not being inclusive concerning any other way, any other religion, or any other path. It was through Him alone, and no one else.

Christ’s claims also included His warnings of judgment, and we mustn’t ignore those warnings of judgment. Jesus spoke of hell more than any other person in Scripture. He used words and phrases such as torment of fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, hell of fire, a place with the hypocrites, outer darkness, eternal punishment, the sentence of hell. He says through the writer of Hebrews: “It is appointed unto men once to die, then comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27).

The story of Charles Templeton (1915-2001) is instructive. He was an evangelist in the same mold as Billy Graham, preaching to crowds of thousands during his early evangelistic career. He met Graham in 1945, the two became friends, and were evangelistically touring Europe together with Youth For Christ in 1946. They were given the moniker “The Gold Dust Twins”, after a popular washing powder product of the times. It was said that Templeton was even more gifted than Graham in his preaching and evangelistic messaging.

So, what happened? Sadly, Templeton walked away. Much like some people I know, or perhaps some people you know, who start strong, even going to church regularly, singing the hymns and being involved in the life of the church, but at some point they walk away. Whether they suffer persecution for being a Christian or the lure of the love of the world (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life, 1 John 2:16) they simply turn their back on all that and walk away. Like the parable of the soils in Matthew 13 and Luke 8, they are either stony ground or thorny ground. They bear no fruit. Jesus reminded us poignantly, “By their fruit you will know them” (Matt. 7:20). The Apostle John states it simply:

“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19).

Templeton walked away. He started doubting. He doubted God’s Word. He doubted the claims of Christ. He doubted everything about what he thought he believed. At the end of Templeton’s life he penned a book titled Farewell to God. In it he outlines why he walked away. A major reason was his disbelief in the Genesis account of creation in six normal 24-hour days, a mature and recent Creation thousands of years ago (not billions and millions), and a global and universal year-long world-destroying Flood that wiped out all mankind save eight.

In this Flood the destruction of humanity was total save those eight on the Ark (Gen. 6:17, 7:21-23). Templeton found that he could abide none of it. He chose to believe the secularists when it came to understanding scientific prognostications. He bought into their worldview. He tried to meld what he believed the secularists were saying scientismally [my word, from root scientism] (see my post the seduction of scientism: a warning) with what he knew the Bible to be saying Scripturally, and found there was incontrovertible discord and dissidence. He believed the scientism instead of the science, for if he had truly investigated the claims, he would have found plenty of scientific evidence to support his Scriptural understandings.

If I had one thing thing to say to those I love who have walked away from the faith, it would be this, “Please, please, please, don’t be a Charles Templeton!” “Return to the joy you once knew concerning Christ.” “Remember the gladness and satisfaction and exuberance you once expressed in singing the old hymns.” “Return to those familiar passages of Scripture you once cherished and which satisfied the longing of your soul.” “Return to all that!” “Don’t die in your sins and spend eternity agonizing, weeping and gnashing your teeth in frustration in outer darkness and eternal punishment wishing you had made a choice for Christ.

Accept His invitation to you:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ‘YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Bend the knee of your rebellious heart in submission to Him:

THEN I WILL SPRINKLE CLEAN WATER ON YOU, AND YOU WILL BE CLEAN; I WILL CLEANSE YOU FROM ALL YOUR FILTHINESS AND FROM ALL YOUR IDOLS. MOREOVER, I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART; AND I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM YOUR FLESH AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH. AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES, AND YOU WILL BE CAREFUL TO OBSERVE MY ORDINANCES. AND YOU WILL LIVE IN THE LAND…AND YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE [person] AND I WILL BE YOUR GOD (EZEKIEL 36:25-28).

All my love,

Dad

Vaya con Dios!