Someone asked me to review "The Southern Protestant" which also goes by the name "Southern Israelite." Their website has many false teachings.
DONATE TO THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
On their retractions page, but not because they retracted it:
If you would like to help fund these projects please donate.
They are soliciting donations of money for the purpose of their mission. "They have a heart trained in covetous practices." i Hirelings do not care about their sheep; ii they peddle the Word of God. iii By covetousness they exploit with deceptive words. iv True believers flee from such things. v
From their "about" page:
We affirm the five points of Calvinism.
Calvinism is one of many Protestant denominations which lead to hell.
We affirm Justification by faith alone by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, which is his active obedience to the Law of Moses. (Rom. 3:24, 3:28, 4:5-8, Gal. 2:16) Thus, we agree with Martin Luther that James should not belong in the canon of scripture because it was written specifically against the apostle Paul.
Salvation is not by works, but works do indeed justify. James is not alone in affirming this; John agrees: "those who have done good" and "those who have done evil" will be judged accordingly. vi Paul also agrees: God "will render to each one according to his deeds." vii "The doers of the law will be justified." viii Matthew also agrees: "by your words you will be justified." ix
Seeing there is no soul either in Scripture or in Science, the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell is erroneous. We maintain that the Catholic doctrine of hell is an embellishment of Enochian apocryphal books never considered canonical by the Jews. We maintain that the wicked are annihilated forever in the judgment and resurrection of the dead on the last day.
They can't "see" x it because God has darkened their foolish hearts. xi Without the book of Enoch and the Apocrypha, Scripture affirms the eternal reality of destruction for the wicked.
We affirm the Patriarchal practice of Infant Baptism as opposed to the Baptist idea of Believers’ Baptism which is based on a Marxist anthropology.
Ironically, they affirm the catholic false doctrine of infant baptism.
We affirm the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. We believe that The Covenant of Grace is made with believers and unbelievers as already stated. Thus, passages that seem to teach the loss of one’s salvation (Heb. 10:29) are speaking of people who are in The Covenant of Grace, whether by a false profession or by birth, but are not true believers. The intercession and atonement of Christ completely preclude any possibility of losing one’s salvation.
Those passages "seem to teach" it because they do in fact teach it. Salvation can be lost. That is, God can and does make "true believers" forsake the truth.
Seeing there is no soul, man’s duty in life is not self-actualization or abstract escapism, but is instead taking dominion of the earth through the means that God has established in the Church and State. (Gen. 1:26-28, Psa. 8:4-6, 115:16, Luke 1:72-75, Matt. 13:31-33, 1 John 3:8) We believe it is not only our responsibility, but our sure hope that as true disciples of the Messiah we are the salt of the Earth (Matt. 5:13). We can then expect victory in our efforts at preserving and reforming our communities.
God wonders if any believers will be found on earth when He returns. xii The whole world is deceived by Satan xiii and yet we can expect victory in taking dominion of the earth? This is insanity. xiv
We affirm that sexual immorality is defined by Leviticus 18 and not by the deranged and repressive ethos of the Monastery. The word fornication in the New Testament does not mean pre-marital sex. It means sexual immorality. Paul does not define this word in much detail because Moses already explained these issues in the Torah. Pre-marital sex was practiced by all the Patriarchs in the Bible. Concubines were the mistresses of the Patriarchs in the Bible such as Jacob, Abraham and David with God remaining perfectly silent about it. In Deut. 22:28-29 pre-marital sex is mentioned with an unbetrothed girl but it is not considered a sin requiring an atonement, but is met merely with a civic penalty to ensure the financial enfranchisement of the girl’s father being a loyal countryman. (See also Exo. 22:16-17) Thus, pre-marital sex is a sin for a young virgin woman (Deut. 22:13 et al.) but not for men. It is pertinent for men to know this because in our modern society women are using the power of sex to control men.
First of all, concubines are wives. Secondly, the same law The Southern Protestant claims to affirm says in the very next chapter that men are held responsible for the prostitution of women, saying: "do not prostitute your daughter." xv Prostitution is simply sex outside of marriage. The same chapter says "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." xvi How loving is it to treat a woman like a prostitute so that she is deserving of death? xvii It is possible for men to have authority over women without treating women like prostitutes.
Polygamy is allowed in the Bible. (2 Sam. 12:8) Thus, men cannot commit adultery against their wives. The Bible defines adultery as a man having sex with another man’s wife. (Exo. 20:17) Therefore, adultery can only be committed against another man.
Indeed polygyny is not forbidden by Scripture. But it is still possible for a man to commit adultery against his wife. "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her." xviii It wouldn't be adultery if he simply married them both, but Scripture says adultery is committed against a woman because of the divorce.
Women are not allowed to wear that which pertains to a man such as jeans and other modern work clothing women commonly wear. (Deut. 22:5)
Where does Scripture define jeans as pertaining to men?
There are various other articles on things they have wrong, which I do not feel the need to expose individually. The preceding exposures constitute more than enough material to discredit the group.
- 2 Peter 2:
14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.
- John 10:
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
- 2 Corinthians 2:
17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
- 2 Peter 2:
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
- 1 Timothy 6:
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
- John 5:
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
- Romans 2:
6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
- Romans 2:
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
- Matthew 12:
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- Matthew 13:
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive;
- Romans 1:
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
- Luke 18:
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
- Revelation 12:
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
1 John 5:
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
- See Revelation 6 through 19 to see how things will end. ^
- Leviticus 19:
29 ‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.
- Leviticus 19:
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 22:
21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
- Mark 10:
11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
thanks for the post...
do you have any thoughts on messianic judaism ?
Is there a particular organization you had in mind? True Christianity is Judaism; to call it "messianic" is redundant.
I suppose I am groping a bit here , as recently I have been understanding the two as distinct since the death of Christ was apparently at the hands of, or instigated by, some "Jews" who I understand were rabbis and therefore adherents of Judaism ? How can true Christianity be Judaism if some rather serious adherents of Judaism deny his divinity ? Is what they are calling Judaism then not the real Judaism ?
Tangentially, in my mind this seems to touch on also the "synagogue of satan(curse him and his)" designation. I am trying to untangle some knots here.
Perhaps even more orthogonally , I am also curious what your position is on flat earth cosmology and whether you think the Jesuits are instrumental in promoting the globe earth scientistic position as well as evolution as ways to discredit the Holy Bible and hand the perception of personal salvation back to the Roman Catholic Church , post reformation ?
Is the Roman Catholic Church the antichrist ? Is Rome the whore of Babylon of whom all the nations have drunk of the cup of her fornication ?
I know it's all over the place. Forgive me I am going through a sort of pole-shift in belief right now ...
Christ is a Jew. (Matthew 1) Christians are Jews. (Romans 11) Christianity is Judaism. (Galatians 3:8) What people commonly call "judaism" today is in fact man-made false judaism. How is this surprising when even most self-described christians are not in the truth?
On the shape of the earth, Scripture does not say it is necessarily flat. I don't know who the Jesuits are or what they may or may not have tricked people into believing. Anyone is anti-christ who is against Christ; this surely describes the Roman Catholic Church, among many other false churches.
On Rome being the whore of Babylon, there is something to it. Rome was the legs of iron, (Daniel 2:33) and the man of sin is to come from an empire that is iron mixed with clay. (Daniel 2:41; Revelation 13:1)
With respect to women wearing jeans , what about Timothy 9:2 ?
"likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with MODESTY and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,"
It seems to me that women wearing jeans or other clothing that tends to emphasize the form of the female would be immodest ? Isn't this obvious , as well as reflected in the traditional dress patterns of traditional peoples ? i.e. women in "cloaks" or dresses ?
I don't get why you would split hairs over this ?
I wonder about your contention that "they" (it's really almost totally one guy) are disingenuous for soliciting donations...
The sentence linking to the donations page is this : "If you would like to help fund these PROJECTS please donate."
Now I understand , maybe (again I am a sort of scriptural fool), your objection from a ministerial position , but following the link leads to a "Donate to the Southern Israelite" header - I am not sure it is clear that he is soliciting donations for a literal ministry - perhaps I am mistaken . Perhaps I don't know how to define ministry .
If you suspended your disbelief a bit on the whole issue , and spent some more time perusing the large amounts of work the man has done (all of which was offered for FREE until recently as I understand it - and much of which is still offered freely) , absorbing some of the videos he makes and learning of his struggle , I wonder if you might understand why he is "soliciting donations" ? Perhaps not. Is it (your "understanding" or non-understanding as I think I see it) irrelevant either way ? I don't know .
As far as the Calvinism thing goes I cannot comment as I am ignorant on this issue from either perspective currently.
I am also ill-equipped to comment on his rejection of the book of James , nor am I prepared to argue with your biblical references regarding words and deeds . However , from what I have seen and heard so far , I am sure that the Southern Protestant would be willing to engage you on these issues ... and from the debates I have watched him engage in on yt and bitchute , I consider him a more than fair debater , devoid of disingenuousness. Alas , I am just a man so what do I know...
Regarding your response "They can't "see" it because God has darkened their foolish hearts." :
As far as I can glean , the reason the man takes this position has to do with his rejection of the Neo-platonic metaphysical influence on the modern interpretation of the Bible . I am still exploring but one thing that sticks out is that I heard him referencing "man was made in the image of God " - That is that The Living Man , Adam is the actual image of God , not some abstraction known commonly as the soul . Again , I am still learning but this all seems a bit deeper than you are acknowledging , and imho deserves much more sober consideration of what he means rather than brushing it off so brashly to a "darkened heart". He also believes that God is an actual PHYSICAL being who physically resides above us , above the firmament as is indicated in the Book , not a Neo-platonic metaphysical abstraction as He is understood in this very fallen world .
Juxtapositioning his statement "We maintain that the wicked are annihilated forever in the judgment and resurrection of the dead on the last day." with your following , I suppose critical , statement "Scripture affirms the eternal reality of destruction for the wicked" , it is challenging for me to see a big difference other than that word "eternal" - and that word "annihilation" also comes to mind but I can't exactly explain why . Again I think this a great opportunity for a conversation or debate to clear up , clarify and educate ... something tells me there is a wonderful chance for learning here , either by the participants or the observers .
On the baptism question I am once again not-equipped . I would imagine that he is .
The same for the rest . I certainly see you offering a good question regarding the whole dominion quote and what you say about the End as forecast in Revelation. Also in the question of whether it is a good for man to be engaging in prostitution at the possible expense of the woman’s well-being or standing with God .
Overall , I just feel that you offered a rather quick rejection to this man and his work . I would urge you to spend some more time over there and actually sit down and read some of the stuff he has produced . Also to listen to some of the debates and other video presentations he has done , find out what his asserted intentions are , etc...
If you are not interested in a debate , maybe Darwin Fish would be ?
Anyhow , who am I to ask ... ? I just appreciate the faith and sobriety , as well as the non-compromising dispositions with which all of you approach the issues , and as someone hopefully working my way toward more understanding , and ultimately to salvation , I am just seeking the Truth here ...
Thanks for your time and know that it isn't my intention for any of this to come across as condescending, presumptuous, or insulting . I am very ignorant compared to both of you in my biblical knowledge .
Peace .
If Scripture doesn't say something is wrong, then it is wrong for us to say the thing is wrong. On the issue of what clothing to wear, it's a matter of conscience.
I thought so, but I didn't want to assume or speculate.
It's not one issue. I don't need to look through the rest of his work when so many false teachings can be found on the about page. There is no water to draw from such wells. (2 Peter 2:17) That is to say, there is nothing good to learn by listening to a false teacher. (John 10:5)
Five days is the amount of time between the inquiry and the resulting article. No amount of extra time or research will somehow make acceptable the false teachings already found.
I doubt he would be interested, but I can ask.
You're welcome and don't worry about it.