|
- Email:
- Subj: Re: AT 304 - Masonic Knight Templars, the Knights
of Malta (Jim Shaw)
Date: 6/17/03 Pacific Daylight Time
From: nobody777@hotmail.com (D.Y.)
To: R421@aol.com
Some of my close friends are just enamoured with Rick Joyner's
teachings and almost seem to take it as seriously as Scripture.
When I have raised non-contentious concerns, WOW, the angry reactions
explode. It's very troubling, especially when I'm not accusing,
but merely asking questions. I actually used to be somewhat of
a "fan" myself (for lack of a better word). I never
had actually heard him speak before, but I always associated
him with Morning Star Ministries and their worship CD's, which
I used to think were pretty cool (they were pretty cool). I also
had read the book Final Quest and started on The Call but never
completed it. That was a few years ago. It's a long story, but
since that time there have been elements of teaching by Rick
Joyner (including what was in those books) and those associated
with his ministry that have caused me to seriously question some
things.
-
- Just doing some general Web searching for information about
the Knights of Malta has been interesting to say the least. There
are plenty of conspiracy websites out there, and those don't
interest me as much as the official sites. The conspiracy sites
could be true or false; complete myth, hype, or perhaps have
a measure of truth - but they are hard to verify. I checked out
the Malta Order's official site (Rhoads chapter) and also the
American chapter's site. Very interesting. I also read Rick's
own answer to the questions about his involvement. It is still
posted on his website. After consulting the source sites, I am
convinced that either Rick is severely ignorant (which I seriously
doubt, given his admitted intimate involvement with the leadership
of this order) or he is just outright lying or wholly deceived.
-
- Rick calls the Order a "Christian Order" and says
that it always has been. This is not true, at least from my research.
I discovered that the Knights of Malta have remained wholly Roman
Catholic since their inception. It is directly under the authority
of the Holy See and the Pope himself. This has been since the
beginning. The only way it can be considered a "Christian"
order is if a person regards "Christian" in the sense
that Roman Catholicism regards their doctrine as being "Christian."
-
- I also discovered through the official web sources that members
must espouse many aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine, including
prayer for the dead, mass, venerating Saints, the Virgin Mary,
and obedience to the Pope. It's their Rule of the Order and has
been since the beginning of the Order. Perhaps they also allow
others to participate in the Order concerning its charitable
features without having to ascribe to Catholic doctrine completely,
but given the fact that Joyner says he was Knighted and he agrees
there are vows and oaths involved, I tend to believe he is well
aware of the doctrines involved and has probably taken an oath
to uphold them. For me this always comes back to terminology.
Rick likes to also use their terminology, i.e. the Faith, Christian,
the Church. A Protestant listening to Joyner would most likely
assume he means the Protestant Church, the Protestant Faith,
and the biblical, Christian Church of Jesus. But the reality
is that this order cares not to uphold anything but Cathoic Church
doctrine. And for Rick to ignore this and not be open about this
verifiable fact, tells me Christians should leave this man alone.
I personally do not believe he is being completely honest and
open about his knowledge of the Order.
-
- The other "Knights of Malta" as I understand it
is a Masonic order of the York Rite. They do not profess to be
related to the Catholic Order and perhaps this is where some
of the conspiracy theories enter. The Masonic order claims the
same history generally as the Catholic Order does so this is
interesting. I know at one time the Pope prohibited Catholics
to involve themselves in Freemasonry, but later this changed
and Catholics were permitted without fear of being excomunicated.
Hmmm... Interesting. Is it possible that the Masonic Orders are
secrety also under the Pope's authority? Either way, it seems
thus far clear to me that the Knights of Malta are definitely
NOT a Christian order in the least, no matter what historical
source you refer to.
-
- There is a lot of Gnostic type qualities to some of Rick's
teachings as well and the whole "Quest" theme he is
fond of is concerning as well. These terms are clearly not biblical
but somehow he is trying to fuse them into Christian terminology.
-
- Having said all that, I am not entirely personally opposed
to a believer using concepts to express spiritual passion such
as Knights and Damsels engaged on a great quest. There perhaps
can be some positive element to the reference to such terminology.
For example, a personal historical favorite of mine is Joan of
Arc. I don't pray to her or venerate her like Catholics do their
saints, but I merely find inspiration from the fact that she,
a young teenage girl, was so passionate about following what
she believed to be the voice of the Lord, that she did great
things giving credit to the King of Heaven. Even the Catholic
Church railed her, excomunicated her and had her burned at the
stake for her unwillingness to give whole allegiance to the Church
and refuse that she had conversation with God. In the end, while
burning at the stake, she forgave her accusers and cried out
the name of Jesus unto her last breath. Something about that
story just inspires me in such a positive way (like reading about
the Christian martyrs), regardless of the other facts like that
she herself was a Catholic. I understand that, but it is elements
of the story that spark a holy stirring in my heart and I believe
God can use that.
-
- Rick Joyner goes beyond simple inspiration from historical
characters to literally trying to parallel these things (the
concepts and teachings of these kinds of groups) with Scripture
and calling them prophetic words from the Lord. In his own words
he stated that God was interested in raising up "Orders"
like unto Malta and even that Malta would be insturmental in
the last days events. He seems to glory in this type of thing
and it moves far beyond simple inspiration; he is consumed with
it and it bleeds through everything he does. Even naming his
leadership meetings "round table" discussions. Roman
Catholics are now admitted in those discussions as well! That
is a verifiable fact! And regarding the fact that so much of
His writings in the Final Quest and The Call are directly opposite
what Scripture teaches, that concerns me immensely. But too many
Christians don't recognize this stuff. And when they ask sincere
questions from the Word they are railed upon and called contentious
and rebellious.
- In His grip, D.
|