Kuligin The New Apostolic Church 63 THE NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH Victor Kuligin Christianity is exploding on the African continent. Some reports have put the number of new Christians every day at between 20,000 and 50,000. By all counts, Christianity has clearly become the majority religion in sub-Sahara Africa. But such raw numbers can be very misleading. How many of these new believers are being discipled? How many regularly attend church? If we checked back in five years, how many would still consider themselves to be Christians, or how many would bear fruit as disciples of Christ? These are hard questions to answer. 1 One imported church which has enjoyed great growth on the African continent is the New Apostolic Church (NAC). With over ten and a half million members worldwide in over 72,000 congregations, the NAC is a church to be reckoned with. Nearly three-fourths of its membership is in Africa, making it one of the largest single denominations in the entire continent.2 The NAC is a European product that has found strong roots in Africa with nearly sixteen times more members in Africa than in Europe. From the surface, the NAC appears to be just another Protestant denomination, but a deeper investigation yields some disturbing theology and practices in this church. We will take a look at the NAC's doctrines after we provide a brief historical sketch of its origins. Rev. Victor Kuligin is a Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology and Church History at Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary in Windhoek, Namibia, where he has been since 1996. He earned his MA in Biblical Studies from Wheaton Graduate School, USA and MTh in Church History from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He is currently working on his DTh in Systematic Theology, also from Stellenbosch. 1 For instance, Operation World reports that Namibia is 92% Christian. However, recent studies done by the Southern Baptists put the number of born-again believers around I 0% of the population. 2 Most of the information attained in this article comes from the NAC's official websites. For the demographics just stated, refer to http://www.nak.org/news/20040128-d.html. This site is in German. 64 Africa Journal ofE vangelical Theology 24.1 2005 NAC Historical Synopsis The NAC formed in a very unique manner, so says its official history, History of the New Apostolic Church.3 England, Scotland and Germany all contributed to the founding of this denomination. Scotland is the best place to begin our overview. In 1826, a small Bible study and prayer group began to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit as exhibited in New Testament times. They were convinced of the immanent return of Jesus and prayed for an outpouring of the Spirit like that at Pentecost. They were also praying for revival in the Anglican church. James Grubb began to prophesy in the Spirit (p. 14), and a woman, Mary Campbell, who had tuberculosis and was near death, began to speak in tongues. James MacDonald, moved by the Spirit, wrote a letter to Campbell telling her that the Lord would heal her and to get up, which she miraculously did. Similar events like prophesying, tongues speaking, visions, and gifts of healing, were also experienced in England around the same time. It was believed that this was the fulfillment of Joel2: 28-29: "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." The History reports many such events.4 Under the leadership ofEdward Irving, the first congregation in London was formed around 1830, and it is for this reason that they were nicknamed "Irvingites." Irving ultimately was kicked out of his Church of Scotland for the events of a charismatic nature that occurred in his church. In another part of the country, William Caird became pastor of a church in Albury which "became the centre of the work of God. Here stood the chapel of the Apostles, here the twelve Apostles lived, and in this chapel each Sunday one of the Apostles celebrated Holy Communion" (p. 24). Along with a church of Congregationalists in Bishopsgate, and an Irish Anglican church in Southwark, 3 The following historical material comes from this publication. There is very little central information on the NAC and one is usually forced to look at individual church websites to accumulate information about the church. The following website provides links to various NAC sites around the world: http://www.nak.org/text/12-gb.htrnl. 4 We should note that these events took place in a country not accustomed to such charismatic activity, and several decades before the explosion on the world scene of the Pentecostal movement. Given the latter, such events do not seem as strange to us today as they would have in the early nineteenth century. Kuligin The New Apostolic Church 65 AI bury became one of the three main churches of this "Apostolic" movement. At about the same time, a Catholic priest Johann Lutz, experienced similar "revival" in his parish. It is this interdenominational aspect of the movement which the NAC leadership point to as proof that it was a genuine revival from God. A key event during this time was a prophecy by Henry Drummond who called John Bate Cardale to be an Apostle. liVing was consulted and he encouraged Cardale to accept this "revelation." As more such events occurred, the organization that resulted grew to a visible form and became known as the Catholic Apostolic Church (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church). The church was comprised of people from a variety of denominations and is considered one of the forerunners to the Pentecostal movement. By 1833 five Apostles had been called in England and by 1835 there were seven congregations in the area of London. On 14 July 1835, the last of the twelve Apostles was called.5 This was considered to be God's will and it was believed that the Lord would come again before any of these Apostles died. By 1860, though, only six of the Apostles still lived, and in Germany a Prophet of the church there called two more Apostles. The church in Albury did not agree with this ordination and subsequently excommunicated the German church, yielding the Restored Apostolic Mission Church. Many such splits occurred in the Apostolic movement such that today there are over twenty churches that can find their roots in this movement. 6 Jumping ahead, in 1897 Friedrich Krebs gained enough support to declare the recently deceased Friedrich Swartz the "Chief Apostle." Another split occurred over this matter, and the New Apostolic Church eventually formed from the followers of Krebs and some other congregations. In 1907 the name New Apostolic Congregation was used for these new churches, and in 1930 the name was changed to New Apostolic Church. It should be noted that the NAC gives a very pretty picture of its roots, consistently referring to them as the "will of God." What actually happened around 1830 is tough to discern, but it seems clear that in a generation or two, many saw this movement as a chance to gain power. In his succinct pamphlet 5 The Apostolic movement moved to America in 1834 and France in 1835. 6 The largest of the split-offs occurred in South Africa and became the Old Apostolic Church, with about six million members in Southern Africa according to 1992 statistics. 66 Africa Journal ofE vangelical Theology 24.1 2005 Inside the New Apostolic Church, ex-NAC member Stephen Langtry shows that in many key districts in the twentieth centwy, much of the leadership and hence power of the church has been handed down through certain families (pp. 20-21). The Chief Apostle, so Langtry reports, made over $1.2 million Rand in 1995.7 Key Doctrinal Beliefs of the NAC One has to understand that the NAC is not like a Reformed denomination-or some such group that spends countless hours producing literature that clearly expounds its theological positions. In fact, it is extremely difficult to obtain NAC literature if you are not a member of the church. Most of the following information, then, comes from a few publications from the NAC (the aforementioned History, Questions and Answers concerning the New Apostolic Faith8, Our Family, House Rules and Creed, and House Rules), from an extensive interview I had with the Bishop of the NAC in Namibia, and from their numerous websites. We will begin with their view of God. Doctrine of God: The NAC seems to be very orthodox in this regard. For example: "God is a spiritual, eternal, infinite, triune, perfect and completely independent being. He is the Creator of all earthly and heavenly realms" (#16, Questions). There seems to be nothing wrong with their doctrine of God, which would appear reasonable given that the NAC originated from a number of Protestant denominations. In the section, "Who is Jesus Christ?" (#102, p. 39), it says this: "Jesus is the only begotten eternal Son of God, and the promised Redeemer. Jesus is God and man embodied in one person (see also #115 where it states that Jesus was God and man united). This is clearly orthodox, but is it really what the church teaches? If we dig further, there are some disturbing things discovered concerning their view of Jesus. In my interview with the Namibian Bishop, he 7 Stephen Langtry, Inside the New Apostolic Church (Claremont, South Africa: Forum Project, 1999). At the exchange rate at the time, $1.2 million Rand was roughly equivalent to U$330,000. Langtry has also written about the NAC in an article in Today Magazine, "Calling up the Dead," June-July 1999, 24-27. 8 This publication is the closest thing we have to a "systematic theology" of the NAC, and we will rely heavily on it. However, the NAC intends to replace this publication with a new, more thorough catechism, "The New Apostolic Faith." Per e-mail correspondence with the head of Media relations for the NAC, Peter Johanning, this will not be completed until2008/2009. "The important message here is that the Church will abolish the book "Questions and Answers" in favour of the new fundamental principles" (http://www.nak.org/news/20040603-73-gb.html). Kuligin The New Apostolic Church 67 said that the Son was created by the Father and viewed the creation account in Genesis as sort of spiritual metaphor. In other words, on the fourth day God created the sun, moon and stars, and the Bishop likened this to God creating the Son (sun), the Apostles (moon) who reflect the light of the Son, and the children of God (stars). This view is confirmed in Langtry's account (p. 45): "In the outline for Confirmation Class Lesson 5 (pll) and Lesson 24 (p57) the New Apostolic Church says, 'Jesus the light of the World, was created by God before the sun and the moon. "'9 To complicate matters, #104 of Questions states that Jesus was born of the virgin, a "real human being" (p. 40). So in one place we see it confirmed that Jesus is truly God, but in another place we see that Jesus is viewed as a creature. So which is it? Could this possibly be a typical characteristic of a cult commonly referred to as "double talk?" In other words, in their official literature the NAC maintains a Trinitarian view of God's nature, but in more private teaching they teach something different? It is difficult to determine at this point what is the official position. Consulting the ten creeds of the NAC does not help us much either. The first three creeds are just a restatement of the A~stles' Creed, with the remaining seven more closely associated with the NAC. 0 What complicates matters even further is that the NAC prides itself on having ministers with no formal theological training! "Following the example of the Early church all the ministries of the New Apostolic Church are laymen in the sense that they have neither studied theology nor been trained at any theological college" (p. 6, House Rules and Creed). As the Bishop of Namibia told me, with a sense of pride, they would rather "rely on the leading of God's Spirit."11 This may sound very spiritual, but we do not have to think very long about it before we realize how much confusion can result from such a practice. It may be one reason why confusion seems to exist as to the nature of Jesus and God. 9 On the same page, Langtry also references an educational video circulated by the NAC South Africa (South Western Region) entitled "Vineyard Workers' Seminar" which teaches that Jesus was created on the first day of creation. 10 Their creeds can be found here: http://www.nak.org/text/Il-gb.htrnl. 11 This the NAC officially refers to as "timely impulses of the Holy Spirit." See http://www.nak.org/le/le-gb-O I 05 .htrnl. 68 Africa Journal ofE vangelical Theology 24.1 2005 Tbe Office of Apostle: There could be another explanation for the lack of theological training of the leadership, and that may be found in the strong authoritarianism found in the position of Chief Apostle of the NAC. It is the belief of the NAC that the true church of Jesus cannot exist apart from the Apostles to whom Jesus gave his authority. Often it is likened to someone having a key to a door. You cannot go through the door unless someone unlocks it, and the Apostles have been entrusted with the keys to God's Kingdom. In fact, much like the Roman Catholic Church justifies the office of Pope, so does the NAC justify the modem office of Chief Apostle by appealing to Matthew 16: 18. However, the NAC has a different sort of "twist" on it. Unlike the RCC which believes there has been a continual apostolic succession since Peter, the NAC says that the office of Apostle died out with the death of the Apostle John. They cite reasons like persecution of the church and great traveling distances in the Roman Empire, which made it impossible for John to appoint a successor (#187 and #188 of Questions). To make matters worse, not until the Apostolic movement in the 1830s were there any Apostles (they refer to this as the "dead period"). This is no small point, since the NAC believes that without an Apostle, there can be no true church of Jesus and hence no possibility of salvation. So for nearly 1800 years of the history of mankind post-Christ, there has been no salvation possible. "However, since they lacked the Apostle ministiy, they could not perform the work of salvation" (#191 of Questions; 'they' refers to churches that existed after John's death). A look at the ten creeds of the NAC also bears this out. As we already noted, the first three are simply a restatement of the Apostles' Creed. Articles 4 and 5 deal with the office of Apostle, the next three with the sacraments (in which the apostles also play a prominent role), article 9 with the second coming of Jesus, and the last dealing with submission to secular authorities. The strong impression one gets from these ten creeds is how important the Chief Apostle and lesser apostles are, and how minimal seems to be the role of Jesus. Put another way, what is striking is what these creeds do not say. For example, they say nothing of the death of Jesus as a vicarious, substitutionary Kuligin The New Apostolic Church 69 atonement,12 and although the Apostles' Creed is a well-loved document of Christianity, it is inadequate for establishing the deity of Jesus. Nothing is said about the authority of God's Word (in fact, nothing is said about the Bible, period), yet much is said about the authority of the office of apostle. For example, from the Creed we learn that: • All rule and authority in the church come only through the apostles, • Only they have the power to forgive sins, • Only they have the power to confirm the gift of the Holy Spirit, and • Only they have the power to appoint all other church officers. The other NAC literature bears this out when it discusses the role of Apostle. Consider these statements: • "Obedience of faith is the subordination of the human will to the will of God, which for the New Apostolic Christian is manifested in the Apostles' doctrine" (#303 of Questions). • "The Apostle is, by the will of God, the deputy of Jesus Christ in His Church, who - filled with the Holy Spirit and the will of Jesus to save mankind - is entitled to reconcile men with God through the power of Jesus and in His name" (#163, see also #164). • The Lord's congregation, his church, will be "perfected by the activity of the Apostles" (#166). • Peter is called the "visible head upon earth" of Jesus' church. "The position of Apostle Peter is equal to that of the present Chief Apostle" (#180). • "The Chief Apostle, as the visible head of the Church, is the highest authority in all matters." He is "the Lord's representative on earth" (#226). • And from the New Apostolic Creed, item 4: "I believe that the Lord 12 Article 7 speaks of the "once brought eternally valid sacrifice and the bitter suffering and death of Christ." It is difficult to understand precisely what the NAC believes in this statement, simply because there is nothing stated in the Creed about man's sinfulness and the need for atonement. However, what is clearly stated is that, regardless of what the sacrifice of Christ did, its benefits can only be received through the Chief Apostle. Another striking omission in the Creed is the "how'' of salvation, as there is nothing said in the Creed about justification by faith. Of course, one could argue that the office of apostle stands in this position, which only bolsters the impression that the NAC is more about the Chief Apostle than about Jesus Christ. 70 Africa Journal ofE vangelical Theology 24.1 2005 Jesus rules His Church through living Apostles until His return, and that He has sent and still sends His Apostles with the commission to teach, to forgive sins in His name, and to baptise with water and the Holy Spirit" (#299). Also, from Langtry's pamphlet come these statements: • " ... there is only One whom we can thank -our great God and His Son, Jesus Christ! Them we see in the flesh in our beloved Chief Apostle, the one who leads us" (p. 16). • "No one on earth is comparable to the Chief Apostle who alone has the key to save. To him the power, authority and gifts have been granted from God to redeem" (p. 18). • "The present-day Saviour (speaking about the Chief Apostle) is therefore the firm foundation of our faith. He is the hub of the entire work of salvation, in this world as well as in the beyond, and there is no substitute" (p. 18). • "The New Apostolic Church is a fellowship of souls, who, fully comprehending their heavenly calling, allow themselves to be led by the Apostles of Christ, because through them alone do they receive the virtues of Christ and therewith the righteousness which is valid before God" (p. 22).13 As can be seen, the role of apostle and especially Chief Apostle cannot be over-estimated. He has the power and authority to lead, as the only representative of Jesus on earth, and he has the authority to forgive sins and hence save. In short, his word is law. This makes things all the more interesting when we realize that on any given Sunday, all the NAC congregations in the world hear the same message, and that message is prepared by the Chief Apostle. This serves to remove the notion that the Word of God stands as the primary authority of the NAC, and bolsters the impression that the Chief Apostle and he alone embodies all authority in the church.14 13 Langtry has gleaned the above quotations from various NAC materials including sennons and letters from the apostles. 14 "There is no manuscript, and nothing is read out to the congregation. As preparation for all Divine Services, there is only a briefletter, the so-called "Word of Life" published by the church administration, which contains the text to be read out from the Holy Kuligin The New Apostolic Church 71 The NAC is the only church of Jesus Christ on this earth (#216). This makes perfectly good sense when one considers that a true church of Jesus can only exist where there are Apostles, and the NAC is the only one that has the true Apostles. 15 The Sacraments: At the heart of the NAC are the sacraments of the church, for through them salvation is granted by the Apostles. They can be characterized in the following manner: Baptism - washes away original sin Communion takes away recurrent sin Holy Sealing gives the Holy Spirit Baptism is the first sacrament that a person in the NAC receives, as the NAC practices infant baptism. It is called "the essential prerequisite for receiving the Holy Ghost" (#254). Baptism is only valid when ratified bl the church (#265), and baptisms in other denominations are not valid (#267).1 Communion cancels all sins committed after baptism. The church holds communion weekly, and absolution of sins occurs before the partaking of the elements. "The absolution is the announcement of grace, while Holy Communion is the confinnation of the fact that all debts have been cancelled" (#275).17 Scriptures accompanied by some additional thoughts - the church ministers commissioned to conduct a Divine Service put their trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to provide the words that will be spoken. ln the Bible we read that the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, "Take ye no thought what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." The priests of the New Apostolic Church still rely on this age-old word today" (http://www.nak.org/text/3-gb.html). tS The "dead period" from the time of the death of John to the present Apostolic ministry also serves to cleverly undercut any authority of the Roman Catholic Church, which by rights should have the apostolic authority, given the logic of the NAC. However, by severing the apostolic succession of previous centuries, and then restarting it again with the founding of the NAC, the NAC puts itself in the place of the RCC. 16 The NAC also has confmnation, although it is not considered a sacrament. It is normally done after age fourteen, when a baptized member confmns his commitment to God (#296). 17 "Holy Communion preserves the eternal life of the soul, offering it the security of remaining in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. our Saviour and Redeemer (cf. John 6:5 l-58)" (http://www.nak.org/text/4-gb.html). 72 Africa Journal ofE vangelical Theology 24.1 2005 Lastly is the sacrament of Holy Sealing. Also called baptism with the Holy Spirit, Holy Sealing is considered the "most important part of rebirth" (#281) and can only be administered by the Chief Apostle or Apostles by the laying on of hands (#289). In this sacrament, a person receives the Holy Spirit.18 These sacraments form the core of NAC soteriology. A story will help clarify how important the sacraments are. Consider two men, one who had never taken communion, and the other who just did on Sunday. Come Monday morning, both men are killed in a car accident. According to the NAC, the first man's soul was very dirty because he had never had his sins wiped away through communion. However, the other man's soul was very clean, since he only had the sins remaining that he had committed between partaking of communion and his death. So what exactly happens to these two men? Their individual situations are dealt with in the following NAC ritual. The "Services for Departed Souls": One of the most interesting aspects of the NAC is its view that dead people can still be saved through the intercession of the living, and it may be the chief reason why the NAC has been so well received in Africa. This is done through the "Services for Departed Souls," held three times per year in every district. In the Service, two members act as "vessels" who then partake of the three sacraments, baptism, communion, and Holy Sealing. A "departed soul" is able to come and participate in these sacraments, thus securing salvation for itself. In the example earlier about the two men killed in a car accident, in both cases the men would need to come to such a Service in order to have their sins cleansed. Even the man who had just had communion the day before would have to come. Also at these meetings it is not uncommon for people to have "visions" where they can actually see the departed souls coming to the Service. The NAC justifies these beliefs through a number of ways. First, it argues that this is precisely what Jesus did during the time between his death and resurrection. He went into the "realm of the dead" and preached the Gospel there (#143) and therefore, "From the example of Jesus we conclude that after His departure into eternity, His Apostles and servants were to continue the work which He had commenced" (# 145). 18 "It is the basis for a complete renewal of the inner man" (http://www.nak.org/text/4- gb.html).