February 7, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

An excellent new book has been published by Don Jasmin entitled “Why Do Fundamental Schools Go Apostate?”

The book can be ordered from the author at Fundamental Baptist Ministries, P.O. Box 489, West Branch, MI 48661. 989-873-4778 (phone), http://www.fundamentalbaptistministries.com/ (web site).

Jasmin traces the spiritual downfall of two schools founded by D.L. Moody in the late 19th century, and applies the principles to things that are happening in evangelical and fundamentalist schools today.

In this reviewer’s estimation the author makes a bit too much of Moody’s “greatness,” but he also does not draw back from documenting the evangelist’s frightful compromise.

There is an excellent section on the danger of accreditation and the pursuit of “respectability.”

Jasmin also shows that Moody’s schools became the chief location for the translation of the liberal Revised Standard Version in the 1940s and that Hillary Clinton is a product of the schools.

THE REASONS JASMIN TRACES FOR THE DOWNFALL OF NORTHFIELD-MOUNT HERMON SCHOOLS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Actions that occurred during Moody’s lifetime:

a. Moody sent his sons to the wrong educational institutions for training.

b. Moody never comprehended the vital spiritual issues that were raging in the world of his day such as evolution and the destructive higher criticism, and he never concerned himself with those issues.

c. Moody had a serious blind spot regarding the theological apostates and religious compromisers of his day, failing to understand the severe dangers of their compromise and unbelief.

d. Moody made little or no preparation before his death for the spiritual continuation of his organization’s ministries.

e. Only positive exposition, never clear warnings, was welcomed at the Northfield conferences and the schools.

2. Actions that occurred after Moody’s decease:

a. There was no strong pulpit presence at the schools after Moody’s decease; business administrators and educators, not preachers, were the schools’ central figures.

b. There was a loss of evangelistic soul-winning zeal among the faculty who remained after the founder’s death, as well as lack of evangelistic zeal on the part of new faculty and staff. The schools gradually slipped into a dead orthodoxy.

c. The long-time faculty members lost their spiritual discernment and did not resist the gradual downward trends that led to apostasy.

d. New faculty members were obtained from the wrong schools.

e. There was a dichotomy between the spiritual emphasis and the academic thrust, with the academic forces gaining the upper hand. Academics were upgraded, while spiritual concerns were downgraded. Student conduct standards were gradually lowered.

f. So-called academic respectability became a major goal via the accreditation route.

g. Athletics dominated the scene with intermural sports replacing intramural sports.

WHY DO FUNDAMENTAL SCHOOLS GO APOSTATE can be ordered from the author at Fundamental Baptist Ministries, P.O. Box 489, West Branch, MI 48661. 989-873-4778 (phone), http://www.fundamentalbaptistministries.com/ (web site).