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Originally Posted by Unregistered
http://www.open-letter.org/
I'm sure most are familiar with this open letter but in case you're not, here it is.
I was wondering today, why has something like this not happened again? Is it because the people who signed this document felt that this was sufficient? Is it because they don't care anymore? Is it because other heresies have come up?
There are a lot of other possibilities and I always prefer to be gracious, especially when thinking of both fellow brothers and sisters. I'm thankful that this was done, but it seems like the Local Churches continue, and no one is addressing it anymore. At least not theologians and pastors of this caliber. Why do you guys think?
And has anyone heard of any of the signers readdressing this?
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I have not heard of anyone readdressing the matter. This press release .pdf
http://www.open-letter.org/pdf/OL_PressRelease is dated January 9, 2007…almost 15 years ago. It’s possible that the threat of lawsuits was enough in that time period that the signatories on the open letter were sufficiently bullied into giving up their “mission”.
The Corporate Statement of Harvest House Publishers still keeps the chronology of the proceedings on its website.
https://www.harvesthousepublishers.c...ate-statement/
Shepherding Words has this to say about lawsuits:
https://shepherdingwords.com/tag/lawsuits/
In its narrative about its litigation against Harvest House, Shepherding Words doesn’t mention (oops!) that it’s failed appeal to the SCOTUS didn’t have enough merit to interest the Supremes in hearing the appeal.
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A Call to Keep Theological Disputes Out of the Courts
On June 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court brought an end to The Local Church’s contentious and unsuccessful six-year, $136 million legal battle against Harvest House Publishers and two of its authors, John Ankerberg and John Weldon. The Local Church and its publishing arm, Living Stream Ministry, alleged they had been wrongly accused of criminal conduct in Ankerberg and Weldon’s book Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.
The high court’s refusal to hear the case is The Local Church’s fourth appeal to be denied since January 5, 2006, when a Texas appellate court ruled in favor of Harvest House and its authors, and stated unequivocally that the Encyclopedia did not defame The Local Church. The court wrote,
If a statement does not concern appellants, it cannot defame them, nor can it injure their reputations....nothing in the book singles out [The Local Church] as having committed the “immoral, illegal, and despicable” actions alleged in [The Local Church’s] petition (emphasis added).
The Texas Supreme Court upheld that ruling, and now the U.S. Supreme Court has done the same.
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http://localchurchdiscussions.com/vB...36&postcount=2
This topic was discussed on this forum at the above link,which includes a list of 20 lawsuits filed by WLee, et al, beginning in 1966.
Nell