Raphael Warnock earned his master’s and doctorate at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Dr. James Cone, founder, and father of black liberation theology was his doctoral advisor and close personal mentor until his recent death.
Cone adopted the Marxist tenet that life is a struggle of the oppressed against oppressors. He defined the oppressors as whites and the white church and the oppressed as blacks and the black church. He then redefined the purpose of the Christian faith as deliverance from oppression.
High on the list of concern for Christians, those who are born-again believers who believe in the death burial resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ is that Warnock is more of a follower of Cone than Christ. Dr. Cone writes in his foundational book, “Black Theology and Black Power,” “We cannot solve ethical questions of the twentieth century by looking at what Jesus did in the first. Our choices are not the same as his [Christ’s]. Being Christians does not mean following in his steps.”
This is contrary to Jesus’ words, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).
Paul to the Galatians (2:20) said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Warnock supports unrestricted abortion on demand, gay marriage, transgender biological males competing with biological females.
Scripture says in Hebrews Obey your leaders, [pastors, elders] and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you (Hebrews 13:17). This is a terrifying responsibility and should strike fear into the heart of every pastor. this charge to pastors and elders is so serious because these souls being watched over are eternal. the responsibility for believing the gospel is on the individual. Ezekiel 18:20 makes it plain that it is individuals who are judged for their own sins. But ministers are charged as watchmen, undershepherds of the Great Shepherd with the responsibility of warning sinners of the impending judgment of God. If the pastor does not issue this warning to that hell-bound individual in the body of Christ, the church, God says in Ezekiel 33:7–9, “his blood I will require at your hand.”.
The pastor is responsible for the soul-care of Christians. By neglect or bad example, the pastor may cause one of Christ’s precious children to sin. The Lord gave a stern warning regarding this, “And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.” (Mark 9:42).
Jesus takes the spiritual condition of his saints seriously and values them highly. Hebrews 12 tells us Jesus suffered so that he would “sanctify the people through his own blood.” And Acts 20:28 puts it even more clearly, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
Every pastor’s blood, including Raphael Warnock’s, should run cold at the reading of Hebrews 13:17. Because the souls he must give an account for are not only eternal, they are eternally valuable to Jesus Christ. He bought them with His own blood. This is a sobering responsibility.
Warnock was asked how the pro-choice views of the Democrat Party “square with” his “role as a minister, a leader of a church, a man of God.”
“I believe that healthcare is a human right,” He said “And I believe that it is something that the richest nation in the world provides for its citizens, and for me, reproductive justice is consistent with my commitment to that.
“I believe unequivocally in a woman's right to choose, and that the decision is something that we don't want government engaged in – that's between her and her doctor and her minister. And I will fight for that in the United States Senate, and at the same time continue to fight so women can receive the kind of services that they need in order to have a healthy pregnancy and healthy babies. We have a maternal death rate in this country that is exceedingly high, particularly to be the richest country in the world.”
Referencing his career as a minister and in public service, Warnock added, “I've been focused on women's health, women's choice, reproductive justice. That is consistent with my view as a Christian minister. And I will fight for it.” (Christian Headlines Monday, August 24, 2020).
Warnock’s words & use of Scripture are as deceptive as Satan’s words to Eve and his use of Scripture when tempting Christ in the wilderness. (Gen. 3; Matt. 4; Luke 4; & Mark 1).
The Didache, a first-century document, represents the preserved oral traditions detailing the training of Gentile converts. It is, was an anonymous “pastoral manual”. I can say more on the Didache but we would start down a rabbit trail. To apply it to Warnock’s comments concerning abortion, the 1st century Christians opposed abortion which was practiced by the Romans and others. The Didache was the first Christian statement opposing abortion and infanticide. The Didache as well as the early church father Justin Martyr doesn’t rely on any “new” teaching of Jesus Christ. The Christian sources embrace the prevailing Jewish reverence for human life: anyone deliberately aborting a formed fetus (drugs or surgery) extinguishes a human life; anyone extinguishing newborn infant risks becoming a murderer. In addition, there are variations in Decalogues for Gentile, You will not: kill your son in abortion (teaching of the Apostles); not murder offspring by means of abortion (Didache); not cause an abortion, (Ecclesiastic Cannons of the Apostles).
All that to say that Pastor Raphael Warnock is taking it upon himself to establish his own theology and is telling God Himself that he (Warnock) determines what is Truth. Unfortunately, he will answer to God when judged and answer for all the lost souls that he will be responsible for sending to hell because of his false teaching on that one point.
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