To the Editor:
In light of Wednesday's letters to The D, I wish to make a small but important observation about the two campus ministries frequently mentioned in recent news stories and letters to the Editor -- The Navigators and Campus Crusade for Christ. Although I have no doubt Craig Parker and Owen Fletcher are sincere in their denunciations of Chick tracts and that style of evangelism in general, we should not lose sight of the fact that in their public statements of faith, both organizations say quite explicitly that they believe people who do not share their faith in Jesus Christ and whose lifestyles or "un-Christian" practices betray their unbelief are damned to "everlasting punishment" and to "everlasting judgment and condemnation." They believe in much the same judgment and damnation of unbelievers expressed in the Chick tracts, though they are certainly more tactful in their evangelism. Below are brief excerpts from the Navigator and Campus Crusade statements of faith found on their websites. They deserve everyone's careful attention.
"We believe that all who by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells and gives spiritual life to all believers, enables them to understand Biblical truth, empowers them for godly living and equips them for service and witness. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost." (Navigators at 4/7/99)
"7. Man's nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 8. The salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight. 9. It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word ... 14. At physical death the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing. 15. At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation." (Campus Crusade for Christ at 4/7/99)
