Every Christian has heard of the coming "Great Apostasy" and wondered whatever could cause this. It was always this big mystery - one of those burning questions we hope to notch off as answered before we die. The answer lies in the 1800s, back to the middle of the 19^th century when most church denominations had only one branch. Then, there was a sense of unity. The Civil War did more than split our Nation; it separated denominations on social issues. Once divided, churches weakened against an invading enemy.

Ten years before the turn of the century, Marxist "social gospel" was introduced to major American seminaries and schools of divinity. Theologians returning from studies in Europe and Germany planted these seeds. They espoused the very poison that changed Europe's spiritual and moral fiber.

Walter Ranschenbusch graduated from the prestigious Rochester Theological Seminary in 1885 thoroughly indoctrinated with "Illuminism" that substitutes faith in God with faith in man. Seven years later, Ranschenbusch, Leighton Williams and a group of like-minded individuals organized "The Brotherhood of the Kingdom" to promote their radical beliefs of Fabian Socialism, which embraces evolutionary socialism rather than revolution. "Walter Ranschenbusch declared: "If ever Socialism is to succeed, it cannot succeed in an irreligious country. It must start in the churches."

And so it did.

Another Marxist, Reverend F.D. Huntington in New York, occupied himself establishing America's branch of the Christian Socialist Movement - the religious arm of the Fabian Socialist Society. By 1900 the Marxist plan to infiltrate American churches was fully on track.

Photo: Rev. F.D. Huntington (1819-1904), pastor of the South Congregational Church of Boston 1842-1855, and in 1855-1860 as preacher to the university and Plummer professor of Christian Morals at Harvard. He then left the Unitarian Church, resigned his professorship and became pastor of the newly established Emmanuel Church of Boston. He was the first Protestant Episcopal bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York.

In February 1900, 25 leading churchmen met to establish the National Federation of Churches, most of which were ardent Fabians. One of Ranschenbusch's English protégés was Communist Harry F. Ward. In the 1953 hearings of the House Committee of Un-American Activities, Manning Johnson testified "Dr. Harry F. Ward, for many years, has been the chief architect for Communist envision and subversion in the religious field.… He was a member of the Communist Party while I was a member… I would say that he is the Red Dean of the Communist Party in the religious field."

One year later, the National Federation of Churches met in Philadelphia, which eventually gave birth to a much larger Communist organization and changed America's history. In 1902, they met in Chicago with numerous prominent NFC clergy actively involved.

Next came the Committee on Correspondence comprised of radical ministers or laymen. They toured America's seminaries infusing them with their propaganda. Deliberations in New York on November 15, 1905 influenced thousands of religious persons thereafter and it was then that the Federal Council of Churches, now the National Council of Churches, was formally proposed.

By 1907 the groundwork had been laid and Dr. Rauschenbusch returned to England fully committed to Fabian thinking to subvert America's churches.

At the end of 1908, Rauschenbusch and Harry Ward set up a 9-day conference in Philadelphia that officially formed the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America (FCC) with 29 representatives of Protestant and Eastern Orthodox denominations. They chose the same constitution by Socialists at the 1905 Inter-Church Conference on Federation and adopted Ward's "The Social Creed of the Churches". The latter had been submitted to and approved by Nikolai Lenin, founder of the Bolsheviks, leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR. By 1914 the FCC had become one of the major propagandists for Marxist America.

On February 10^th of that year, conspirators met in the home of millionaire Andrew Carnegie and designed plans for "the Church Peace Union", which was connected to the FCC. By the early 1920s, the Communist Party had a good foothold to infiltrate American churches led by Harry F. Ward, Jerome Davis, William B. Spofford, and Albert Rhys Williams.

[Davis not pictured, had well-known Communist stripes. He spent his youth in Japan and from 1916 to 1918 in Russia. Davis started a doctorate simultaneously at the Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University. Later he was kicked out of office in the American Federation of Teachers because of his long pro-Soviet, pro-Communist record and was identified in numerous pages of Government hearings as one of the top Communist Front joiners in the U.S.]

In testimony, former top Communist Benjamin Gitlow told the House Committee on Un-American Activities: "This group wielded tremendous influence in the religious field and did Trojan Horse work in advancing the Communist conspiracy in religion. The number of clergymen who followed the Communist Party line grew by leaps and bounds."

Harry Frederick Ward Jr. (1873-1966), English-born American Methodist minister and political activist who identified with the movement for Christian socialism. He's best remembered as first national chairman of the ACLU from its creation in 1920 until he resigned in protest of the organization's decision to bar communists in 1940.	Jerome Davis (1891-1965), prominent American socialist politician of the early 20th century and a founding member of the Communist Party USA. Gitlow reached the summit of his political life as a Communist Party leader shortly after the conclusion of the 1928 campaign, when on March 16, 1929, Gitlow was named to the 3 man Secretariat at the helm of the Communist Party.	William Benjamin Spofford, Jr. (1921-2013), 4th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon in 1969. From 1979-1984 he served as Asst. Bishop of Washington. His early ministry was in Boston and Detroit parishes and later in Parkville, MO. 1953-1956 he vicar of the parishes in Weiser-Payette-McCall, Idaho. Spofford returned to Boston and spent 4 years as Chief of Chaplains at Mass. General Hospital and in 1960 became dean of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Boise.	Albert Rhys Williams (1883-1962), American journalist, labor organizer and publicist. He is most famous for writing memoirs in favor of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia as both witness and participant. In Russia, he met and talked with Lenin on multiple occasions and stayed there until September 1918. Back in the U.S., he worked as a pro-Soviet and Communist activist.

Dr. Ward traveled to Moscow in 1924 and 1929 to plan with Stalin how to use American churches in furthering the goals of the International Communist Conspiracy. In '25, Ward travelled to China where he lectured throughout their clergy. At the Communist International meeting it was agreed that "the missions and church institutions in China could be used… to cover up Communist espionage activities… "That was also the case in this country, where the Federal Council already had a budget of $350,000 and an office in Washington from which it promoted Communist interests.

By 1935, Communists had fully infiltrated America's churches. The FCC revealed their cooperation to push the Communist line issuing a report that ultimately called for:

• A world government of delegated powers
  
• Complete abandonment of U.S. isolationism
  
• Strong immediate limitations on national sovereignty
  
• International control of all armies and navies
  
• A universal system of money
  
• Worldwide freedom of immigration
  
• Progressive elimination of all tariff and quota restrictions on world trade and
  
• A "democratically controlled" international bank
  

They've obviously obtained the majority of their goals.

In 1945, the Federal Council of Churches was one of only 42 NGOs - non-governmental organizations - invited to send delegates to the international conference in San Francisco. This was significant because the FCC called for the founding of the United Nations, presided over by Communist agent Alger Hiss.

After a beating from Conservatives in the 40s, the FCC took on four important agencies: the Church World Service, the Interseminary Committee, the Protestant Film Commission, and the Protestant Radio Commission. It was on November 29, 1950 the name formally changed to National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., but they maintained their old Marxist leaders.

"In the formal constitution of the National Council of Churches in Cleveland, one representative from each of the participating denominations signed the official book ('Dies Committee on Un-American Activities') which became the Document of Record. Eleven of these 29 signers of the official book have public records of affiliation with pro-Communist enterprises.... There were 358 clergymen who were voting delegates to the constituting convention.... Of these clergymen, 123 (or 34%) have had affiliations with Communist projects and enterprises. That represents a high degree of Communist penetration. The overlap between the old Council and the new was almost complete.…

"The Communist Party, U.S.A., has instructed many of its members to join churches and church groups, to take control whenever possible, and to influence the thoughts and actions of as many church-goers as they can.... The party tries to get leading churchmen to support Communist policies disguised as welfare work for minorities. Earl Browder, former head of the American Communist party, once admitted: 'By going among the religious masses, we are for the first time able to bring our anti-religious ideas to them.'"

MORE FAITHS FALLING FOR UNIVERSALITY

"The Spirit and Truth Sanctuary, founded in 2012 by Pastors DE and Brandi Paulk is one of a growing trend toward ecumenism. If that surname sounds familiar that's because DE's family was embroiled in decades of scandals. One involved a Sarah-Abraham-Hagar scenario among others. Coming out of a Charismatic church Pastor Paulk embraces Universalism, the belief that all people will be saved regardless of what they've done or believed. Behind the pulpit is a beautiful stained glass window blazing with symbols of many faiths surrounding a dove. Over their clerical robes they wear stoles stamped or embroidered with the same symbols as their logo:

"Paulk even penned a book, The Holy Bible of Inclusion. Numerous publications are devoted to this topic like:

• Bishop Carlton Pearson's The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God and Self

• Richard Scott Thornton's Inclusive Christianity: A Progressive Look at Faith

• Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts Christian Inclusiveness, Witness Lee's The All-Inclusiveness and Unlimitedness of Christ

• Steven Greenebaum's The Interfaith Alternative: Embracing Spiritual Diversity

• Reverend Stephanie Rutt's Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Interfaith Worship Manual

• Ted Brownstein's The Interfaith Prayer Book

• Dr. Eboo Patel's Interfaith Leadership: A Primer

• Matthew Fox's One River, Many Wells

"In one of the most bizarre and dangerous statements ever uttered by a pastor, this has to be in the top 10. Every pastor, minister and priest this author has heard preach, at the end of sermons, issues an altar call or a call to decision where people that want the gift of salvation must make a purposeful conscious choice to tell God what you've done wrong (list your sins), promise to not do them anymore, ask forgiveness, ask the Lord into your life and accept the gift of salvation. It's not something left all loosey-goosey. Just because Jesus offers salvation as a gift doesn't mean you automatically get it and don't have to actively accept it. On this Pastor Paulk has something else to say.

"Whether or not we must 'choose' of our own free will to be saved or not has become a huge subject of controversy of late among Christians. Those who argue that we must use our free will to make a decision would say that each of us is saved by our own faith in Jesus and the work He did on the cross. "Ephesians 4:8-10, however, says this: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

"So, if Jesus is the 'author and finisher' of our faith, and if Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are 'saved' through faith that is 'not of ourselves' but rather is the gift of God, then is it really our faith (our decision) that saves us? Or does our faith in the finished work of Jesus merely connect us to what He has already completed? In other words, do we have faith in Jesus, or do we have faith in faith?" This tunnels into the absurd." (Prophetic Perils: End Time Events Revealed, pp. 389-389)