The Jesuit Philosophies of Inculturation and Building Bridges have made their way into Adventism

On July 15, 2021, Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Jesuit Order, gave a rare interview about the work, mission and identity of Jesuits. The interview was conducted by “Alfa and Omega,” a Catholic publication connected to the Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain. The Jesuit General was asked specifically about “inculturation and building bridges with other religions” to which he replied:

“In the first place, I would say that inculturation is not a discussion in the Society, it is part of life, and not now, but forever. The ability of the Jesuits from the beginning to try to understand where they were is amazing … That puts us before a new challenge: that of interculturality. It is one thing to be multicultural – to be able to live different cultures – and it is another to be intercultural, to achieve that diversity enrichment because I give what I am and receive from others. Variety is a wealth and you have to take advantage of it … The trend of the globalized market is to homogenize because it is what produces the most benefit. The trend of inculturation and inculturality is the opposite: to develop, to maintain diversity.” [1]

“Incultration,” “building bridges” and “diversity” are part of the “life” of the Jesuits. What does this all mean? Well, the question posed to Jesuit General Arturo Sosa about “building bridges with other religions” was asked in the context of another interview that “Alpha and Omega” did with the former Jesuit General Adolfo Nicolás, Arturo Sosa’s predecessor. In that interview, the outgoing leader of the Jesuits, Adolfo Nicolás, revealed how “inculturation” helps us to perceive other religions differently. This is the same Jesuit doctrine adopted by Ganoune Diop, as we will see later. But now notice how Adolfo Nicolás explains that with “inculturation” the Jesuits are able to go from seeing the “devil” to seeing the work of God’s “Spirit” in other religions:

“Not being able to understand that other religions are the best that a culture can offer. Asian cultures, for example, have produced Buddhism: this is its best fruit. And yet there was a time when we thought, I also thought, that this religion was a product of the devil, and it turns out that it is the work of the Spirit. Today we understand this better.” [2]

This shift in emphasis, from no longer seeing the devil to seeing the Spirit of God, is part of the life and work of the Jesuits. It is, according to the current Jesuit Superior General, their life, “forever.” This is part of the same Jesuit philosophy of perception versus reality established by Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order when he said:

“To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it” (Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 13th Rule). [3]

“To be with the Church of Jesus Christ with but one mind and one spirit, we must carry our confidence in her, and our distrust of ourselves, so far as to pronounce that true which appears to us false, if she decides that it is so” (Ignatius of Loyola, Prayer for Generosity). [4]

This is the work of the Jesuits. They say that darkness is light, light is darkness, error is truth, truth is error, the devil is the Spirit of God and the spirit of God is the devil as long as it serves Rome’s purposes. God pronounces a woe to all those who engage in this type of distortion of truth and reality:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter … Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 5:20, 24.

This new emphasis on distorting reality is making us accept that the different religions, be it Islam, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, the worshipers of Mother Earth, Spiritualism or paganism, are all part of the work of the Spirit of God. This is exactly what the Jesuit universal brotherhood of Pope Francis (Fratelli Tutti) teaches. Everyone will be saved. Everyone is connected. We are all one.

The new ecumenical/Jesuit emphasis teaches us to ignore apostasy, ignore sin, ignore evil, ignore truth and ignore Christ and focus only on our common points of interest. This deception is transforming all religions into a worldwide fraternity (Fratelli Tutti) where we all act as if we are part of the same brotherhood no matter what you believe.

This is the disastrous mission of the Jesuit Order. They are distorting the work of Jesus and the church; and tragically, the Churches are now looking to find common ground and agree with everyone else by diluting the gospel of Christ. This creates a big problem because there is still heaven and there is still hell. There is still truth and there is still error. And if we allow people to live in falsehood, error and sin, then we really don’t love them because we are jeopardizing their salvation by not proclaiming to them the fullness of the everlasting gospel.

Over the past 60 years, these Jesuit ideas have proliferated. Their proposals have infiltrated all churches with the deadly heresy that says it doesn’t matter which religion you belong to because everyone is special and unique and everyone will be saved anyway. Many Seventh-day Adventist leaders have been working for years to find common ground with the other churches. They are buying into the lie that says: “In order to achieve worldwide peace and unity we have to stop emphasizing our differences and focus only on our common beliefs.” And this is also what Ganoune Diop has embraced and is teaching not only to Adventists but also to the entire world.

Building Bridges, Understanding Religions, Seeing Differently and Deadly Dialogue

Ganoune Diop, Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, has been promoting the same Jesuit ideas of inculturation and building bridges. This is what he does. The National Council of Churches through its official outlet, the Associated Church Press, described the work and mission of Ganoune Diop. Ganoune Diop expressed the following during an annual convention of religious communicators:

• The belief that all human beings are created in the image of God is the most powerful reason for building bridges of understanding among religions.
• If we believe that, we start looking at people differently (Editor’s Note: This is the same Jesuit inculturation and terminology adopted by the Superior Jesuit Generals Adolfo Nicolás and Arturo Sosa when they stated that we should no longer see the devil but the Spirit of God).
• The love of God is what motivates us to build bridges.
• Diop compared today’s interfaith bridge-builders to the coming together of nations following the devastation of World Wars I and II. The United Nations was founded, he said, by people who decided, “Instead of fighting one another, let’s build something.”
• In order to build a bridge, he added, “we need to know who is on the other shore.” This means getting beyond labels such as Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc., to understand “the people behind the names.”
• “We build bridges in order to have a space where people can communicate,” he added.
• Diop held up Jesus Christ as the model for those seeking to build interfaith relationships. [5]

Ganoune Diop also produced a DVD calling for “building bridges and identifying areas of common understanding” with “Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity” (Rome). The title of the DVD is called “Understanding World Religions and Contemporary Cultures” and is available from AdventSource, the official leadership resource center for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America. [6]

The true Seventh-day Adventist message becomes null and void when we embrace the Jesuit doctrines of inculturation and bridge-building. The notion that Adventism is just one option among many, that no further warnings against apostasy are needed, and that the work of finding common ground is more important than focusing on our differences is having a negative impact on our mission. What has happened for the last 60 years is that interfaith dialogue has replaced real evangelism.

Dialogue is the way we now want to reach the world. Talking to others about what they believe and what we believe is the new mission. After these bridge-building encounters, the different religious leaders say: “Now you know what I believe and I know what you believe, so let’s all go home and remain friends.”

This is NOT how we should interact with the world. We were called to proclaim the gospel and seek to baptize souls and bring them salvation. To dialogue is not to proclaim. Dialoging has caused many to stop proclaiming the fullness of the everlasting gospel and the Three Angels’ Messages, including the mark of the beast, the seal of God, the little horn, the investigative judgment, the sanctuary message, and the need to call people out of Babylon.

We are no longer acting like Jesus who proclaimed: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). No. All that some Seventh-day Adventists want to do is talk about all the good things that the Vatican and other churches are doing, even as Rome is imposing her deadly wine upon the world. Why can’t we see this? When Adventists engage in dialogue with Rome, there is no talk about error, sin, apostasy or repentance. Why is that? Jesus actually proclaimed truth and was hated and rejected; but not by all. The apostles also proclaimed the gospel. They also exposed deadly heresy. People’s hearts were “cut,” thousands were baptized, sinners repented and salvation was obtained (Acts 2:37-41). And in this last generation, people have the right to hear God’s final warning message of salvation. They should have the opportunity to respond to the Three Angles’ Messages.

The problem today, thanks to the Jesuits, is that we have forgotten that our first duty to those outside our faith is to proclaim the final warning message of Revelation 14:6-12. Jesus, Paul, Peter, and the early church preached the gospel of repentance to non-Christians. Our Adventist pioneers sent missionaries around the world to proclaim the everlasting gospel to non-Adventists, not to dialogue with pagans.

There is an attitude of deadly indifferentism towards the revealed and unchangeable truths of our historic Seventh-day Adventist faith. The authoritative teachings of God’s word are not the problem. The problem lies with many of our leaders. There is an planned effort to misapply, reinterpret, and misrepresent our historical teachings. If we don’t identify this problem, if we don’t reject the false Jesuit philosophies of inculturation and building bridges, and if we don’t get rid of all the Jesuits and Jesuit-trained leaders who promote their deadly heresies, we never will be able to recover our calling and get back on track.

Jesus never told us to assume that everyone is saved. Christ commanded us to evangelize the world with the fullness of the gospel so that souls could be baptized and experience salvation (Matthew 28:19-20). We are also commanded to call people out of Babylon so that they can become part of God’s commandment-keeping people in these last days. But this sacred emphasis is being reversed by certain “actors” today.

What will eventually happen if we continue down this path? We will end up believing that it doesn’t matter if we are Adventist, Catholic or Evangelical. Since we all share the same basic common values, that’s really all what matters. If that’s true, then what will happen when Seventh-day Adventists are pressured to violate that Sabbath during the mark of the beast? If it doesn’t matter what we believe and if we are all going to be saved anyway, then what will happen when faced with the threat of death for not accepting the papal mark of apostasy? We are going to abandon the faith because, after all, it doesn’t matter; all religions are the same. Tragically, that’s where the Jesuits are trying to lead us.

The ONLY mission entrusted to us as Seventh-day Adventists is to bring salvation to souls through the preaching of the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14. How will the world receive salvation? It is only when the faithful communicate God’s message to the world. Both the gospel and the preaching of the fullness of the gospel have been instituted by Christ Himself. Without these two components, salvation would be impossible. The truth must be boldly proclaimed without fear and hesitation.

“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” 1 Corinthians 9:16.

Sources

[1] https://alfayomega.es/arturo-sosa-sj-despojemonos-de-la-seguridad-de-que-lo-sabemos-todo/

[2] https://alfayomega.es/en-todo-esta-dios-y-en-todo-se-encuentran-signos-de-su-presencia/

[3] https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ignatius/exercises.xix.v.html

[4] https://www.heartablaze.com/ignatius-of-loyola/

[5]  https://www.theacp.org/2017/05/01/bridges-between-faiths-are-more-necessary-than-ever-dr-ganoune-diop-tells-religious-communicators/

[6] https://www.adventsource.org/store/adult-ministries/personal-ministries/understanding-world-religions-and-contemporary-cultures-36433