Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation.

The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here.

Freedom In France?
Robert L. Sumner

The French Parliament has passed a new law intended to curb/control “dangerous religious sects,” but which, in fact, could put a number of evangelical groups out of business. It is so frightening to some that they are considering removing “evangelical” from their name to play it safe. One feature of the new law relates to making “mental manipulation” a crime punishable by fines up to $75,000 in American dollars and 5 years in the slammer. This could easily be charged from the average Bible class for youth, if the authorities so interpreted it that way. And it could easily force an end to any evangelistic/soul winning endeavors on the part of any gospel ministry.

The Parliament already has a list of 172 designated sects, which not only includes such admittedly dangerous cults as Scientology and Moon’s Unification Church, but also lists Pentecostalists and other evangelical ministries. On at least 10 occasions in the last two years, just having “evangelical” in a church name or mission statement had gotten people “into trouble,” according to Arnold de Clermont, the president of the French Protestant Federation. One of his colleagues sees the law as a clear violation of separation of church and state, which France has professed to practice for the past century.