The writings of the Apocrypha should not be regarded as part of Scripture: 1. they do not claim for themselves the same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings; 2. they were not regarded as God’s words by the Jewish people from whom they originated; 3. they were not considered to be Scripture by Jesus or the New Testament authors; and 4. they contain teachings inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. We must conclude that they are merely human words, not God-breathed words like the words of Scripture. They do have value for historical and linguistic research, and they contain a number of helpful stories about the courage and faith of many Jews during the period after the Old Testament ends, but they have never been part of the Old Testament canon, and they should not be thought of as part of the Bible. Therefore, they have no binding authority for the thought or life of Christians today.
Wayne Grudem

Released South China Church prisoners re-arrested by Chinese police

Released South China Church prisoners re-arrested by Chinese police

by Glen on 2002-10-15 21:25:20

Four women who were turned loose by the Jingmen Intermediate Court last week have been re-arrested by officers of China’s Public Security Bureau (PSB), and sent away for three years of “re-education through labor.”

The four women had been released only hours earlier after a re-trial ordered by the Hubei Province Supreme Court. They had planned to file a lawsuit against guards and officials who had tortured them repeatedly during their incarceration.

Feng Ping Xiang, 32, Xicun Meng, 27, YingPing Li, 28, and Xian Zhi Liu, 31, were arrested only hours after the court had freed them. They had been facing prison sentences from two years to 12 years before the retrial.

“The police in Jingmen clearly acted to prevent these women from suing them,” said Todd Nettleton, spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs. “How could they possibly have committed a new crime in the few hours they were free?” The four women were sexually molested and repeatedly tortured–including having electric shocks to their breasts and genitals–until they signed documents saying that Pastor Gong Shengliang had raped them. Gong, the founder of the South China Church, was convicted on rape charges last week and sentenced to life in prison.

“Obviously, the Chinese government thought Christians around the world would forget about these women once they were released from prison,” said Nettleton. “We have not forgotten, and we urge Americans to write or call the Chinese embassy to request the release of these Christian women. After all they have already suffered, they should not spend another day in a labor camp.”

Police in China can send a prisoner away for up to three years without a formal trial or formal charges.

China’s President, Jiang Zemin, will be meeting with President Bush in Texas later this month.

“We hope that President Bush will raise this case with President Jiang, and urge the release of all South China Church Christians,” said Nettleton.

Reported at www.persecution.com