Juan
Antonio Monroy established a number of churches in Spain after
institutional brethren came in contact with him in the mid-sixties. In
reality, I believe that most of the individuals who make up these
churches are simply Evangelicals and some even refer to themselves
as such. In some of these churches you'll find instrumental
music, woman leading prayers, a blurring of the distinction between
the Old and New Testaments, unqualified "elders", a
violation of local-church autonomy (la Junta de la Federación
de las Iglesias de Cristo de España (the Board of the
Federation of the Churches of Christ of Spain) receives offerings
from several churches and redistributes these funds to help needy
saints), etc., etc.
Perhaps
the most serious deviation is that baptism for the remission
of sins is not practiced in some of these churches. One
of our members has a video of his baptism when he was a part
of Manuel Salvador Chacon's group in Seville. (Manuel is
an intimate friend of Juan Monroy.)
He was told to wait until there
was a group of people who wanted to be baptized so that they
could baptize everybody at the same time. The baptism took
place WEEKS after he had made his decision to obey Christ.
Others
in these Evangelical "churches of Christ" have been
baptized weeks and perhaps months after making their confession
of faith before the church. What are their motives in delaying
the baptism of an individual
who believes and has repented?
1) inclement
weather ("too cold" to baptize people in the winter);
2) they wait
until they have a group of people who want to be baptized in
order to baptize everybody on the same day;
3) lack of
water in the baptistry;
4) church designated
days for baptism (one woman recently told me that about thirty
years ago the apostate church in Dos Hermanas had designated
one or two days a year for baptism).
This
is how I would summarize the conversations that I have had with
people associated with Manuel Salvador, Jose Martinez (the Baptist
who taught Salvador), and Juan Antonio Monroy. As much as
they may preach that
baptism is for the forgiveness
of sins, they really don't believe what they say and have, in
practice, adopted the Evangelical teaching that baptism is for
a "public testimony".
After
I preached for the first time in Dos Hermanas (on the purpose
of baptism), one brother approached me after the sermon and admitted
that he didn't even know why he was baptized. Since then,
several members in Dos Hermanas and Seville have been baptized
for the forgiveness of their sins, to remove any doubts as to
why they had been baptized the first time. This is why I believe
a lot of the people connected with Monroy are nothing more than
Evangelicals with different wrappings. Brethren in Dos
Hermanas have told me that Manuel
Salvador has even been known to share the pulpit with visiting
Evangelical preachers.
Recently,
a brother summarized Juan Monroy's ideology by saying that he's
a "sincretista". Webster's says that syncretism
is "the attempted reconciliation or union of different or
opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy
or religion." I'd say the brother hit the nail on the
head! Monroy is the director of the "FEREDE." This
stands for "Federacion de
Entidades Religiosas Evangelicas de Espana" (Federation
of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain). It is probably
the most important evangelical/Protestant association in Spain.
Juan
Monroy's syncretist mentality goes back a long way. The
following information has been taken from the "Olsen Park
Gospel Themes" bulletin, by Samuel G. Dawson, dated July
1, 1980:
"Brother Juan Monroy,
the Herald of Truth representative to Spain, has written many
controversial statements in the monthly magazine 'Restoration',
published in connection with the Herald of Truth. In the
October 1971 issue, on page 25, brother Monroy was speaking in
an article
entitled 'Cuban Personality Converted
to Christ,' and referred to one 'Doctor Jose M. Naredo Vidal,
who performed an important task in the Ministry of Education
during the government of General Batista in Cuba, HAS
BEEN CONVERTED TO THE GOSPEL
OF CHRIST AND IS A MEMBER, ALONG WITH HIS
FAMILY, OF A BAPTIST CHURCH IN
ABILENE, TEXAS.'
"Monroy went ahead to
say: 'The group of Cuban men residing in Spain continues working
with genuine interest to win other compatriots for Christ. From
the 22nd to the 29th of August THEY CONDUCTED A SPECIAL
CAMPAIGN OF EVANGELISM IN THE
TEMPLE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS IN MADRID. THE
PASTORS RODOLFO LOYOLA, JOSE
GONZALES, AND ALFONSO GUEVARA PREACHED.'
"In 'Restoration', April
1972, Monroy wrote under the title: 'Let's Pray for Paul VI'
(the Roman Catholic Pope at that time): 'If in these times there
is on earth one human needy of celestial help, this one is PAUL
VI, POPE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, APOSTOLIC AND ROMAN,
. . .THIS MAN MUST HAVE THE MOST
GRIEVED SOUL SINCE THAT OF THE OWN LORD JESUS IN THE GARDEN OF
GETHSEMANE. NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY NIGHTS PAUL VI MIGHT HAVE
SWEATED DROPS OF BLOOD.'
"In 'Restoration', May
1972, we read of the death of D. Ernesto Trenchard in Madrid:
'On the night of Wednesday, April 19, THE OUTSTANDING EVANGELIC
LEADER, MEMBER OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF BROTHERS, Ernesto Trenchard
died. He was 70 years of age... MR. TRENCHARD SPENT ALMOST
HALF A CENTURY WORKING AMONG THE EVANGELIC CHURCHES OF SPAIN... THIS DEATH HAPPENS WHEN THIS
EDITION OF RESTORATION IS IN
PRODUCTION. AFTER THIS HURRIED NOTE OF URGENCY, IN OUR NEXT
ISSUE WE WILL PUBLISH AN EXPANSION OF THE SAME, DESCRIBING THE
PERSONALITY OF THE SERVANT WHO ALREADY REJOICES IN THE
ABODES OF HIS LORD.
"From the above quotations,
we glean the following:
"1)
That one who has been 'converted to the gospel of Christ' can
still be 'a member, along with his family, of a Baptist church'
in Abilene, Texas.
"2)
That it is right to refer to preachers as 'pastors', and that
it is right for said 'pastors' to conduct evangelistic campaigns
for other than the church authorized in the New Testament in
Madrid.
"3)
That the Roman Catholic Church is 'apostolic'.
"4)
That the worries of Pope Paul VI are comparable to the grief
of our own Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsamane.
"5)
That Pope Paul VI, in his worry, may have 'sweated drops of blood',
just like Jesus.
"6)
[That since Pope Paul VI is 'needy of celestial help' in order
to carry out] his work, then Christians should 'make it our duty'
to 'pray for the Pope' in this regard.
"7)
That God will hear our prayers for Pope Paul VI, conserving the
'serenity in his heart', 'maintaining his mind clearly and giving
illumination to his spirit' while he continues on as Pope.
"8)
That one who died as a 'member of the Assemblies of Brothers'
after almost half a century of work among the evangelical churches
of Spain, nevertheless was a servant of the Lord and now 'rejoices
in the abodes of his Lord.' "
Do
you know what the most incredible thing about this is? There
are institutional churches in the States and in other parts of
the world that continue to back Monroy! One brother told
me that he once attended a campaign in which Monroy preached
error from the pulpit. During this
meeting there were several Spanish-speaking
elders from the United States who also were given the opportunity
to preach; however, they made no attempt whatsoever to correct Monroy's false teaching.
Almost
thirty years later, Monroy has not changed his way of thinking
and the churches with which he is associated are drifting farther
and farther away from the New Testament pattern. In spite
of this terrible apostasy, several have broken ties with Monroy's
movement and now are
members of faithful churches
located in Barcelona, Tarragona, Seville, and Dos Hermanas. We
realize that our numbers are few but we are encouraged by the
thought that God doesn't look at numbers as men do (1 Pet. 3:20; Num.
32:11,12). The most important
thing is that we obey Him in all things (Col. 3:17), whether
many or few.
END MESSAGE