(photo UMC Communications)
Bishop Melvin Talbert

But retired Bishop Melvin Talbert, the ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Church, not only blew the opportunity to tell the world about God's gift to humanity through Christ's sacrificial death on the cross for their sins, but he preached a different gospel and he affirmed universalism. His comments may have helped some viewers move to an eternity apart from Christ, because what he clearly said was that other roads also lead to salvation, including those caught in the twisted world of Islam.

Moreover, Talbert seriously warped Scripture during his appearance and misrepresented it -- declaring that it calls for things it does not, and in doing so he misrepresented the Christian faith and betrayed the Wesleyan tradition of his own denomination. This is heresy, folks. It is part of an increasing flood of apostasy, a falling away by so called Christian leaders in the Main Line denominations. Few leaders today represent the face of apostasy and the voice of treachery and treason within Christianity better than Bishop Talbert.

The other three Protestant leaders represented their Savior, Jesus Christ with various degrees of strength. Bob Jones II, president of Bob Jones University looked forward to the future when the "Lord Jesus comes back" and brings a lasting peace. Popular Christian author Max Lucado (though weak with a discernable message) affirmed the desire to "reach out and love your enemy is exactly what Christ calls us to do." John MacArthur of the Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, was the strongest of the Protestant leaders with his message: "There is only one true and living God, and that's the God of the Scripture, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if you aren't praying to that God, you are praying to no one."

But Talbert said something different. "I have talked with Muslim leaders," he said. "They are on their way just as certain as I'm on my way. And what we need to do is to be tolerant with each other and not assume that our way is the only way." At press time the transcript was still on line. Click here to access it at CNN.com.

Talbert also implied that Jews – those who reject Jesus as the Jewish Messiah – may be on their way to heaven. Since the host, Larry King, is Jewish, here is what Talbert had to say: "My responsibility is not to convert all other religions, but to live the Christian faith in the face of those religions. Are you going to say that my – our friend on the show tonight who is Jewish is on the wrong path?"

Well Bishop Talbert, and I am speaking directly to you here, although we are to be tactful with the way we witness, the answer is absolutely yes. This is a basic biblical truth that even my 10-year-old son knows from a cursory reading of the gospels. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). In Acts Chapter 4 when Peter and John were arrested the brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin – the leadership of the Jewish religion they declared, "neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The name they were referring to, of course, was the name of Jesus. They were threatened for specifically using the name of Jesus as the only way to salvation, and all of the disciples except John were killed for their faith in Jesus, yet this is the very truth that Talbert will not affirm. In not doing so, he has denied the faith.

Jesus specifically came for the Lost Sheep of Israel (Matt. 10:6, 15:24), he said. He added that if he be lifted up -- crucified -- that His death would draw all men to him (John 12:32). Jews need a savior. Paul said in Romans 10:1 that "my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." Despite what Talbert told the world, he is tragically and dangerously mistaken. The Bible contains perhaps hundreds of additional verses that declare Jesus to be the only way to peace with God. "Narrow is the way," Jesus declared (Matthew 7:13). How can Talbert miss the most important truth of the gospel while claiming to represent Christianity?  In fact Jesus’ message and death of the cross for our sins IS the Gospel.

It’s because Talbert disagrees with Jesus, and according to evidence gleaned from various news reports that have tracked his life during a long career as a Christian leader, he has spent much of his life disagreeing with Christ. Listen what he further told the world on "Larry King Live" under direct questioning by King on the issue of salvation:

KING: "So therefore the other religions have to be wrong."

TALBERT: "No, I don't say that at all."

KING: "If you believe your religion is right. The other religions are wrong."

TALBERT: "I believe my God is large enough to be inclusive of all human beings who were created in God's image and that includes those religions that are not Christian."

This latest controversy, however, is not new with Talbert. He has been brought up on discipline charges before the UMC in the past, with various evangelicals accusing him of lying and of deliberately defying church law. In more recent years he has angered many within Methodism for his promotion of homosexuality -- even sanctioning gay marriages in direct defiance of his church, not to mention Scripture. He has infuriated so many evangelical UMC pastors in the California-Nevada conference that many of them left. There have been many calls for his resignation over the years from sincere Bible believing Methodists. And with this issue of The Christian Sentinel, we are also calling for the UMC church to defrock him of his ministerial credentials and to remove him immediately as ecumenical officer. He is a blight on the faith that many have died for over the years. It is a faith that was "once and for all delivered unto the saints," Jude wrote. We'll give you suggestions on how you can help us at the end of this article.

But Talbert wasn't through with his false doctrine and deception on the May 11 "Larry King Live." He seriously misrepresented the Bible. In his drive to bash the Bush administration's march to war with Iraq, Talbert participated in a television commercial to denounce the war. And while we respect Talbert's concerns in this area, we don't appreciate his Scripture twisting as a way of projecting his personal biases. After John MacArthur pointed out that Jesus urged his disciples to get a sword for self protection, Talbert responded, and ignored the clear scripture passage (Luke 22:36) MacArthur was referring to.  "I respond to that absolutely not!" He exclaimed.  But what was there to disagree with? Wasn’t MacArthur simpy stating what the Gospel of Luke said? Then Talbert twisted scripture to fit his own agenda:

"Jesus followed in the footsteps of the prophets Joel, Micah and Isaiah and they were the prophets of God in the Old Testament," Talbert said. "And those prophets challenged nations to beat their swords and spears into pruning hooks and plowshares and that meant using investments for war, for feeding children." But is this what Joel, Micah and Isaiah have to say? Indeed these Old Testament books all contain singular passages of beating swords into plowshares. But Talbert missed the clear point of it all, and these passages say nothing about his idea that this future action would be "for feeding children." Let's look at these three instances in these books.

Joel 3:9 calls for the nations to "prepare for war," and in verse 10 it calls them to "beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears," but this time frame recorded is clearly after the second coming of Jesus Christ when Jesus will be here ruling the world. It clearly states that two verses later as Christ will be sitting in the Valley of Jehoshaphat to "judge all the surrounding nations." This is also in sequence after the "Day of the Lord," a time of war and judgment that is discussed in Chapter 2 that will lead to the coming of the Messiah.

We are never called to beat our swords into plowshares now. And Jesus, along with the prophets Joel, Micah and Isaiah, never called us to do that as Talbert claims. (In fact, Jesus, never called for the Roman government, one of history's most brutal governments, to stop its war-like ways.) Instead he would preside over that after he comes back, and when he referred to what the state of the world would look like just prior to His return, he said the world would be full of "wars and rumors of wars." In misrepresenting Jesus and the biblical record, Talbert is lying and has grievously perverted the Word of God. In fact, the scriptures report that Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of the continuation of violence it would see until He would return again at the second coming (Matthew 23:37-39).

To make sure I was hearing Talbert correctly on the King show, I obtained the transcript. I then contacted Bishop Talbert by an E-mail address provided by the UMC communications office. "Are you saying that it is possible for a follower of Islam to find salvation in that religion, or a Buddhists, for example, or what about a Shinto worshipper or others?" I asked, continuing that "yes, you did say, `for me, salvation in Jesus Christ is the way,' but you seemed to strongly imply that salvation could come through other means for other people, or did I hear you wrong?"

Talbert respectfully replied back by E-mail and said, "I say again, for me Jesus Christ is the way (emphasis added). As for other religions, I leave that to God." He also referred to a UMC document on Interreligious Relations (that in many ways turned out to be an unbiblical document after a close analysis. More on this in a future edition of the Christian Sentinel). Talbert’s response was also wrong. Jesus Christ is not just for me -- He's for everyone, and that includes Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and even UMC bishops. To deny that is to deny the faith and make a mockery over our endeavors to fulfill the great commission, which is the general command Christ gave to all those who call upon His name. He said to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…" Matthew 28:19. This is precisely what Talbert does not believe in. After all, he said, the Muslims "are on their way just as certainly as I am on my way." If that is true, then we have no need for a savior, since Muslims do not believe Jesus died on the cross for their sins, and Islam teaches in mosques all over the world that God's name is Allah and he has no son.

Defrock Talbert now. He should not have the authority to ever speak in a UMC church again under any circumstances. Pressure the UMC leadership to remove him as their ecumenical officer. Click here to access a listing of the council of bishops and write or E-mail them with your demand. Don't give up. If you are a UMC member contact your local bishop's office or the office of your local District Superintendent. Also express your outrage to Melvin Talbert. His E-mail address is bishopmel@netzero.net. His home address is 108 Rausch Dr., Brentwood, TN 37027-4447. See also my sidebar article on the outrageously high salaries of the UMC bishops.

I personally come from a United Methodist background, and I believe that God called me out and I voted with my feet years ago due to people like Talbert who are simply "hirelings" (John 10:12-13), bent on destructive liberal political and social action rather than to a commitment to Christ. However, I still agree with Wesleyan doctrine and I affirm that most United Methodists are committed to Jesus their Savior. If they are called to remain in the UMC, I would urge them to get involved with the Good News caucus, a group of Bible-believing men and women that have still not bowed to Baal (I Kings 19:18).