The following article by Stoyan Zaimov of Christian Post is posted for informational purposes and not as an endorsement of CP. Zaimov’s story contains an interview with Jill Martin Rische, the spokesperson for most members of Dr. Walter Martin’s family, where she reveals that they’re requesting that Hank Hanegraaff leave his leadership post at Christian Research Institute (CRI.) As of this writing, daughter Cindee Martin Morgan has not called for Hank to step down. In May, Morgan stated her view of the controversy in a piece titled “Christians Are Jumping to ‘Shameful Conclusions’ About Bible Answer Man’s Conversion to Orthodoxy, Says Daughter of CRI Founder.”
CRN has reported on Hank’s conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy since the news broke in April. You can follow the story here.
Now to Stoyan Zaimov’s piece:
Family members of Dr. Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute, are calling on current CRI president Hank Hanegraaff to step down due to his conversion from evangelicalism to Eastern Orthodoxy.
A majority of the family members have signed a statement asking the “Bible Answer Man” to leave his leadership post.
Jill Martin Rische, the eldest daughter of Dr. Martin and who leads Walter Martin Ministries alongside her husband, Kevin Rische, told The Christian Post in a phone interview on Thursday that she and many other evangelical Christians were “shocked an [sic] surprised” when Hanegraaff was formally received into the Eastern Orthodox Church back in April.
She argued that Hanegraaff has since been teaching a blend of Eastern Orthodoxy and evangelical Christianity on the “Bible Answer Man” show, which she called “fundamentally dishonest.”
Related:
Bible Answer Man Renounces Evangelical Christian Faith
[Added 7/16/17] Walter Martin’s daughter, Cindee Martin Morgan, was accused by Dr. Martin’s eldest daughter of being “untruthful” in her article at Christian Post in May. Cindee and her husband Rick created a video response in order to allow Walter Martin’s own words to show that Cindee was neither untruthful, or mistaken. View the video here
See CRN’s excellent Research Paper on the Roman Catholic Church