Minister Says Everyone is Born Again...

Bible Teacher Claims Christianity Misrepresents the Gospel

PR Log (Press Release) – May 09, 2010 – Augusta , GA – For years, a preacher who grew up in the Baptist church and appeared on television shows like the 700 Club taught people they had to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior to receive the gift of salvation and to be “born again.” His name is Mike Williams, a Bible teacher who has appeared with well known evangelicals as Pat Robertson and the late John Osteen, father of Joel Osteen. Williams now preaches what he calls the “True Gospel.” Williams says the phrase “born again is taken out of context by traditional Christianity.” "Born again" is only found in the Gospel of John and I Peter in the New Testament. According to Williams, all people were "born again" through the accomplishment of Jesus Christ as a direct result of his death and resurrection. Just as all human beings fell into sin through the action of Adam, all people are found righteous by God through the act of who the Bible describes as the "last Adam", Jesus himself. This, of course, flies in direct conflict with traditional Christian theology. Nonetheless, Williams persists. “The Gospel is completely misdiagnosed by orthodox and evangelical Christianity alike,” says Williams. He is far from being alone in this declaration. According to Williams, the New Testament refers to a Gospel of grace and peace. There are many individuals, groups and concepts such as “Universalism” that make the claim that all people are redeemed through Jesus Christ. This is a major departure from the Christian tenet which states that one must believe in Jesus Christ or fear eternal damnation. Williams does not call himself a “Universalist,” but says the claim that all are universally redeemed is true and his teaching, using the Bible exclusively, explains why. "The word Gospel in the Bible is translated 'good news'. And if there's one thing I know is that there is no bad news in the good news,” says Williams. "Traditional Christianity tends to speak of grace, which is the gift of God without requirements, but it tries to bind that unconditional gift to some moral code. This is completely contradictory to grace." according to Williams. Williams says it is common in Christianity for individuals and denominations to develop entire doctrines by linking disparate Bible verses from various books to support their doctrines. Although he also teaches from the Bible, Williams consistently keeps verses in the context of chapters and chapters in the context of entire books of the Bible, which draws a much different picture than that presented by the Christian religion. According to Williams, Christianity likes to base an entire doctrine or belief on a verse or two taken out of context to which he replies, “I see your verse and raise you a chapter.”