CRI Attacks Dave Hunt
by Jackie Alnor, The Christian Sentinel Ó 1995

Dave Hunt’s new book, A Woman Rides the Beast, though it has only been out a few short months, has already received its share of criticism. The loudest critic has been Catholic apologist, Karl Keating, who publishes the magazine, This Rock. In October 1994, Keating debated Hunt before mostly a Catholic audience. We believe Hunt decisively won that debate, and because he articulated some of the main points so well in the ongoing Protestant-Catholic dialogues, we are offering the debate tapes. See our resource list at the end of this magazine.

Most surprising, however, is the criticism already coming out of the evangelical academically-correct side of the church. On the January 11, 1995 broadcast of "The Bible Answer Man program," produced by the Christian Research Institute in Southern California, CRI president Hank Hanegraaff criticized Hunt’s logic.

"Unfortunately, he’s taken Revelation chapter 17 in his latest book in an attempt to prove that the Catholic church is the whore of Babylon," Hanegraaff said in response to a call. "And whereas he’s done some fine work in the past, I am absolutely amazed at some of the logic that he uses in this particular manuscript."

Of course, Hanegraaff wasn’t specific on why Revelation 17 can’t apply to Romanism. That’s probably because he doesn’t have any good reasons. Many Seminaries and Commentaries include the theory of the Roman Church fulfilling the prophecies of the Great Whore.

But history no doubt will repeat itself in CRI’s ongoing dealings with Hunt. When Hunt’s book The Seduction of Christianity came out in 1984, CRI published a scathing review of that book written by Gretchen Passantino, and the entire research department at CRI stayed with Passantino’s line in discrediting that book. Even CRI founder Walter Martin was critical of the book based on Passantino’s observations (although a conversation I had with Dr. Martin at the time revealed that Dr. Martin had not read the book and was basing his criticisms on the word of Passantino).

One of Passantino’s biggest complaints against Seduction was that the author did not follow Matthew 18 guidelines in dealing with the false teachers. However, in a subsequent book by Mrs. Passantino in conjunction with her husband, Bob, called Witch Hunt, they tool a total reversal of that stand, exempting cult watchers against the Matthew 18 requirement when dealing with public teaching.

Seduction isn’t criticized much any more. But Hank Hanegraaff’s own book, Christianity in Crisis, published 10 years after Hunt’s, uses many of the same quotes Hunt exposed as heretical in Seduction, attacks many of the same teachers Hunt exposed, and goes even further than Hunt did in labeling the Word-Faith movement as cultic. (Similarly, CRI was way behind other trend watchers in publishing a book warning of the New Age movement.) If CRI is still around ten years from now and doesn’t join the apostasy its leaders will no doubt come out with their own warnings against Catholic ecumenism when Hunt’s warnings materialize in a one-world church structure headed by a pope.

Time will also vindicate Hunt’s latest book which once again happens to be ahead of its time. Keep Dave Hunt in prayer that he will continue to forge ahead pleasing God and not man.