Wrocław's EST: a prime
example of the advanced ecumenical and liberal downgrade now evident in Union School of Theology (WEST), FIEC, Affinity, Grace Baptist Mission and many other allied agencies and churches. "Words
are not enough. It is action that is demanded." E J Poole-Connor
"Evangelicals
who remain in complacent fellowship with those who deny their faith are
not only failing to stem the tide of apostasy; they are accelerating
the pace. Their very leniency is
eloquent advocacy; it cries aloud to multitudes that what men call
liberalism in religion is far from being the harmful thing that
Spurgeon thought it, for are not they -
outstanding evangelicals - hand-in-glove with those who teach
it?" E J P-C
Most
credit for the background to these articles, and a great deal more,
belongs to my longsuffering coauthor, Peter
Nicholson.
Any flaws or errors are entirely my
responsibility.
Who's
telling the truth? 'I worked
very much in Catholic circles, in those years we started Catholic
fellowships'Malcolm Clegg published lecture 2008 'We
continue to support Malcolm and I am satisfied that he is not
ecumenical; he is quite happy to affirm the FIEC Statement on Ecumenism'Carey BC
06/11/09 'The ministry he is exercising
...is not ecumenically compromised'Gen Secretary FIEC
2/1/2010 'Mr
Clegg encouraged students to attend Roman Catholic masses... [he]
publically stated that he, himself, goes to Catholic masses.'Former student 30/10/2010
Malcolm (Marek in Polish)
Clegg is a missionary sent, defended and supported by Carey Baptist Church in Reading
since the 1980s, who has often participated
in its services#.
He preached there on 17th May 2009,
(a screenshot of his past schedule there).
During ministryat
Carey on 22nd April in 1993, he describes his and his students'
involvement in
Catholic
fellowships (at 46:35 and 50:40), they are portrayed as evangelistic
but even the brief description here suggests cooperation rather than
extrication from Rome, and Carey's pastor then, now WEST's principal,
did nothing.
A seminary
for Satan -
a paragon of modern Polish 'evangelical' decadence, facilitated by the
wilful or blind support of Western agencies.
If you think we exaggerate please examine the data below carefully.
Amongst other work he was still listed as lecturing at EST (or EWST in Polish) seminary as of 2016, despite repeated claims he has retired (archive link 1)(link 2)
*
in Wrocław, Poland. Its website claims, 'EST prides itself on its
highly qualified, international and interdenominational faculty
composed of educators, laymen and clergy from many churches, including
Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Anglican, Catholic...' At a conference it hosted from April
21st to 25th 2010, the college explicitly commends itself 'as a
promoter of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue', and includes
amongst the guests and participants of the conference, 'the Roman
Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Polish and Greek-Catholic', amongst
others.
Depicted above the rector speaking, a meeting in summer
2010, about which he writes, 'About three hundred people came
for the ecumenical service, including a Catholic cardinal,
Eastern-orthodox priests, various pastors, Jewish leader, Muslim Imam,
Vice-Mayor of Wrocław, presidents of various universities, officials,
etc. The service was very encouraging. It was like a beautiful song to
God, like our offering to him, showing our unity and our hope in
Christ'.
On 3/6/09 EST hosted one day
of a highly
ecumenical conference with Muslim imam, Ali Abi
Issa, Director of the Muslim Cultural and Educational Centre, welcoming
the participants, and later explaining the virtues of sharia law.
In
the program, EST is listed as a partner (p3 of Pdf file
in Polish).
Imam Ali's contributions to the College's
theology journal clearly extend well beyond co-belligerency.
In a
similar conference on
24/6/2006, held at Wrocław University, during
the 3rd session Malcolm Clegg was keynote speaker with an address on
'Building bridges between Christianity and Islam'. The Imam was asked during this conference,
Q: Why do you organise such meetings?
AAI: They are a kind of mediation between two cultures. We want to show
the people of Wrocław that we belong to both cultures and that what
mainly divides us is misunderstandings. We are also trying to defend
Islam, which is not only a religion but a way of life for every Muslim.
The seminary continues to host such meetings, the last being on
September 11th 2010. The organisation is shared by EST
officers and Muslims.
On 17th to 24th January
2010 is a week of prayer for Christian Unity throughout Poland,
organised jointly by the Roman Catholic Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches. The Rector of EST writes, 'You
are cordially invited to participate in the upcoming Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity (17-24 January 2010). It is a unique opportunity to
deepen their knowledge of various Christian denominations in the common
discussions and prayers. I invite you in particular to the
session to be held on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 18.00 in
the walls of the Evangelical School of Theology.
Within each session, representatives
of Christian churcheswill
presentthe missionary
activities of their communities. Certainly it will be exciting and
informative event for all of us.' [Emphasis inserted]
The list of speakers prominently includes
Bogdan Ferdek, professor of
dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology,
Wrocław and a devoted Marian. Prof. Ferdek has
lectured at least 5
other times at EST on formal academic occasions, twice in
2008, and three times in 2009. He has also spoken at prayer for
Christian Unity weeks in 21/1/2008
and on 19/1/2009,
both inside EST.
At a 3
day meeting from 30/10 to 1/11/2009, part hosted by EST,
Prof. Ferdek described the groundshifting significance of the Vatican's
joint statement with the Lutheran World Federation, which wickedly and shamefully
eviscerated Luther's stance on justification, and claimed to
effectively reunite him with the canons of the Council of Trent. Piotr
Lorek and Sebastian Smolarz (more below) were apparently both
present. In October 2010, Piotr Lorek chaired the session of the same meeting at EST,
with Prof. Ferdek again in formal and official attendance, as was
Sebastian Smolarz.
Do both Carey and the FIEC
really still think Malcolm Clegg and Wrocław are 'not ecumenical' and
are 'quite happy to affirm the FIEC Statement on Ecumenism'? Or
do they think Archbishop Anchimiuk, Cardinal Gulbinowicz, Prof.
Ferdek (and perhaps even Imam Ali) are the kind of new 'evangelicals' they would
welcome
into their ranks?
Some of Malcolm Clegg’s
lectures
have directly promoted ecumenism. Originally all 15 hours were
published at this URL http://berea.edu.pl/?metody-studiowania-biblii-cz.-1,235,
though they have since been withdrawn. Hard copies of the original
videos are held by the site author.
These files illustrate the
content of these lectures in Polish and their English translations.
Those who perceive inaccuracies in the transcripts or translations are
invited to report them by e mail.
Mr. Clegg and
his supporters appear to have radically diverged from the 1996 FIEC
Council's unanimously agreed statement on ecumenism,(since removed
in 2012) and indicate an ongoing defection from Biblical standards in the FIEC, and the umbrella association
Affinity, to which its leadership is closely intertwined. This aspect of church life must be addressed to sharpen her mission and vindicate Christ.
When 'an evangelical church or leader unites with those of a liberal persuasion who deny essential gospel truths, or with those of a Roman Catholic persuasion who add to the gospel, then great confusion is created. The impression is given either that the evangelical, liberal and Roman Catholic are all agreed when in fact they are worlds apart doctrinally, or that their different messages are equally valid when in fact there is only one gospel. Not only is this confusing but it is also a contradiction of the gospel on which our FIEC churches unite.' FIEC's position on ecumenism before 2012 (since abandoned for a vaguer one).
One is bound to ask, does this not also apply in Poland to missionaries of FIEC churches?
There are also links between WEST
(formerly Bryntirion) and Wrocław's EST's academic
dean and former director of Biblical studies*, Piotr Lorek, who completed his
Ph.D. in Bryntirion in 2006 (his blog reports it concluded in 2005, the EST site 2004), and took a BA at Highland Theological College in 2000, and Sebastian Smolarz, about whom a little more is given below.
Piotr
Lorek claims (#15), that 'Paul probably
thought that the existence of unbelievers ends with their physical
death', and articulated the same annihilationism in the College's journal in 2009. He also
refers uncritically in the same abstract to a deuteropauline
author,
indicating the extent of his doctrinal collapse. In his PhD thesis,
supervised at WEST, he refers to two 'Isaiah' authors, cites Martin
Noth,
an eminent German liberal, with warm approval, who maintained the
blasphemy that the Pentateuch was authored 7 centuries after the Exodus
(conservatively dated) by a post-exilic compiler. His PhD supervisor at
WEST was Dr Thomas Holland, the supervision
was shared with the liberal
Universities of Wales and Sheffield, he completed his studies
at
Tyndale house in Cambridge (2002-3) and at EST. The text of his thesis
was also proofread by another former EST lecturer, Dr Elliot-Hogg and the
pastor at Carey. The work was funded by Blythswood Care
(Scotland). A
public appeal to WEST about this thesis is found here.
Relevant pages of the thesis are here.
There are apparently two sides to EST's dean - the formal side and the less formal side*, from his
current blog. The accompanying video is posted from YouTube
below. (He authored the song Pustka, which seems to contain allusions
to casual sex - a question the author has not denied in
correspondence.) Here is a shameful synthesis of godless music with
evangelism for the Lord's sacred Name. If gold rusts what shall iron
do? If the dean is like this, what hope remains for the seminarians at
EST? Are other graduates and doctoral students at WEST and HTC also
practitioners of this form of evil syncretism, or do these schools
reprove and disown it? If so, it is strange Dr Lorek seemed quite
unaware of Christian objections to and arguments against this godless form of
music and the great sinfulness of using it for worship or evangelism.
It also noteworthy that WEST continues to list him in an 'honour roll' of
previous students and of doctorates,
at the time of writing, despite
knowing about the problems with EST since 24th February 2009.
Minister of light
or
of darkness?
Promoter
of purity
or of vice?
However
it seems the FIEC is also unaware of these, given its shameless
promotion in Together
Autumn 2009 of a 'Christian' girl band, a rapper, a freestyle
dance group and a 'Christian' illusionist at Walton EC in Chesterfield
and of a Jazz Club Cafe in East London Tabernacle, both for 'outreach'
suggests how worldly wise and foreign to a Gospel of repentance and
remission the association's leadership have become. Would E.J. Poole-Connor approve? We
consider he will have fiery things to say in the Day of Days to the
decadent leadership that have succeeded him.
(Video
now removed by its author)
'Exit'
an exhibit of syncretistic 'evangelism', promoted by Dr Lorek. He is
the 'Elton John'-like lead.
Another WEST scholar has strong ties to
EST, Sebastian Smolarz, who is also on the faculty there. Sebastian Smolarz
is supported by Immanuel Presbyterian Church in
Cardiff (see links). Sebastian Smolarz, Piotr Lorek and the Marian
Roman Catholic
theology professor, Bogdan Ferdek, mentioned above,
all participated in a conference on John Calvin's legacy
on 4/12/2009 at EST, and promoted by the Polish Evangelical Alliance
(Alians Ewangeliczny), which like the EA in the UK is neo-liberal. All
three names, the 'evangelicals' and the Marian Romanist professor, also
appear on past theological publications by EST.
Both he and Piotr Lorek appeared at a conference
on the afterlife, again at EST, on the 25th May in 2007, with
the Muslim Imam above, who also spoke on the same
theme.
A short, unanswered appeal to IPC's elders is found here, re its promotion
of ecumenism. An examination of his PhD
thesis, supervised at WEST, its extreme liberal content and
official endorsement is
found here. Short extracts of the thesis are reproduced
here to demonstrate these claims. EST also seems to
entertain radically weak and ungodly views on
homosexuality, in a conference hosted at the college
on 18/9/2010, some strikingly
heterodox things were said by Sławomir Torbus, like the
suggestion that Sodom's main sin was its lack of hospitality, or that
NT texts like Rom 1:26-27 do not explicitly condemn sodomy. The
conference received front page coverage on the college's website.
'Behold,
I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into
great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And
I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know
that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts.'
Rev. 2. 22-23
Various responses and
developments after these charges
'This is all about secondary separation'.
This is a
much more basic issue. Whilst this writer agrees fully with Peter
Masters that the scriptural response to evangelical ministers who
engage in ecumenism is censure as those who have committed a spiritual form of adultery, Carey BC is
engaged in supporting and financing ecumenism directly and has
been for over 25 years, in the person of its emissary. Even those who
oppose secondary separation should see this is in a quite different
league.
'Why not try to resolve
this internally?'
Strenuous
and repeated attempts have been made to try to obtain from Carey and
its elders (past and present) some dissociation with Mr. Clegg's odious
views and practices, and various officers in the FIEC and Affinity,
before bringing this spiritual canker to public notice. The widespread,
though thankfully not universal, lack of concern suggests the problem
is deep rooted and much more pervasive.
In subsequent correspondence,the title of the first BLQ article has been described as 'scurrilous'
by the FIEC, despite the lack of an external investigation into these
charges. To date there has been no FIEC investigation and no official
statement on these charges,
raised since January 2009.
The lightning pace of the recent commendable response (official
website FIEC 23/12/09 - now withdrawn) to a blog post of an unattached
minister, who once preached in an FIEC chapel concerning the alleged lack of disapproval of the FIEC (RMWest 18/12/09) to the racist British National Party was remarkable in contrast.
Why
was a proper dissociation from the racism of an unaffiliated minister
so
much more urgent than a continuing lack of faithfulness to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the Fellowship's own unanimous statement
of policy in a flagship member church, which has hosted several
official meetings for FIEC, over 25 years?
A chronological list of documents highlighting the hideous problems at Wroclaw's EST and associates
The missionary has engaged in ministerial cooperation with extreme ecumenists
and unbelieving liberals like Marek Budziński, Andrej Seweryn and Konstanty Wiazowski who often pray with Roman Catholic priests for unity with Rome, (all three pictured here below behind the missionary). Wiazowski in a sermon preached at a service of prayer for unity with Rome said that “we all believe the same things, we just dress differently” (text published in the PBU’s own magazine).
Yet despite repeated remonstration, Grace Baptist Mission proudly showcase the same worker in their annual 2018 conference.
Budziński at the 9th Gnziezno Cathedral conference, for interchurch unity with Rome.
Churches need
to be more vigilant to test their workers' real convictions on
such matters and the dubious missions they support, or they may find they too are now actively
promoting the pollution of their mission field, and must also give account for this.
'Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.' 2 Chr.19.2b
now known as Union School of
Theology,
24/12/12 The Bible
League Quarterly publishes a detailed and carefully
documented account of
Carey BC continues in December 2011 to host the 'Prepared for Service' course,
despite its own missionary being at profound variance with the declaration participants are required to sign. (link no longer functions)
30/10/2010 A short, but
unanswered appeal to Immanuel Presbyterian Church of EPCEW,
Cardiff, about their lecturer in EST.
22/12/2010 Christianity Explored (CE) joins the ecumenical bandwagon in Poland. CE is sponsored by at least two Roman Catholic organisations there (1, 2) and does not as yet contain a
distinctively evangelical statement of faith in Polish, unlike its English page.
Incidentally, CE and its daughter courses are already sponsored by
Roman Catholic book sellers and churches in the UK, suggesting its content is deemed wholly compatible with or at least adaptable to the Gospel according to Rome.
28/3/12 The FIEC has now withdrawn its Statement on Ecumenism,
perhaps not surprisingly the new Statement of Gospel Unity looks considerably weaker and vaguer in practice than the old, even if the wording looks more vehement.
23/7/12 Thirteen fellowships affiliated to Churches Together have left
the FIEC and one been disaffiliated, and a senior friend pledges that,
'It is not now possible for an FIEC Church to belong to Churches
Together'. This is welcome news, but concerns about the vagueness
of the new
statement remain, as well as about actual practice in the churches.
Endnotes:#Since 26/10, these free geocities sites have ceased to operate, an unedited
copy is provided here.
(The original URLs were:
http://uk.geocities.com/modnar@btinternet.com/08.Page.htm and
http://uk.geocities.com/modnar@btinternet.com/03b.Page.htm.)
*Original pages
have been intermittently removed and then replaced by EST and Dr Lorek
- the links are to copies of Google's cacche, by which their genuineness
could previously be confirmed.
A valuable guide to the fatal errors of Rome in Polish
