This past Sunday in applying the principles observed in the Apostle Paul’s frequent recommendation of good and faithful teachers and his bold and courageous naming of bad and unhelpful teachers, we provided a list of some contemporary “Christian” teachers to avoid. As you might expect, this generated a number of emails and questions – all of them asked in a gentle and humble spirit, but all of them interested in more information about why some of these folks were “not recommended”. Pastor Evan suggested to me that rather than answering all of these emails individually it might be useful to send out a general blast with a few lines on each teacher and some links to reliable resources providing more in depth treatment. I trust that you will receive this as an effort at faithful shepherding and not an attempt to sow discord within the body.
Here are the teachers we suggested avoiding:
1. Joel Osteen
2. T.D. Jakes
3. Joyce Meyer
4. Rob Bell
5. Brian McLaren
6. Kenneth Copeland (and Gloria Copeland)
7. Creflo Dollar
8. Benny Hinn
9. Pat Robertson
10. Kenneth Hagen
11. Joseph Prince
12. Miles Monroe
Perhaps the simplest way of dealing with this list would be to divide it by category. The following teachers are generally identified as advocates of the “Health and Wealth Gospel” or as it more commonly referred to, “The Prosperity Gospel”.
Prosperity Gospel Advocates:
1. Joel Osteen
2. Joyce Meyer
3. Kenneth Copeland (and Gloria Copeland)
4. Creflo Dollar
5. Benny Hinn
6. Pat Robertson
7. Kenneth Hagen
8. Joseph Prince
9. Miles Monroe
The Prosperity Gospel or The Name It And Claim It Word Of Faith movement is essentially a modern day example of what theologians refer to as “over realized eschatology”. The basic mistake of this group is to transfer blessings that ultimately belong to the coming eternal Kingdom of God and to transfer them wholesale into the here and now. While orthodox Christianity says: “When we get to heaven God will wipe away every tear from our eye and grant unto us eternal rewards” the Prosperity crowd says: “You can have your best life NOW! You can be healthy now, you can be rich now!” The secret is usually in using “Power Words” or in adopting “positive thinking”. In truth, these ideas have nothing to do with the Bible and are adopted from parapsychology and New Thought philosophy. The teaching is contrary to Scripture, reflects awful hermeneutics (handling of the Bible) and leads to despair in some, worldliness in others and distraction in all.
For a complete discussion of this movement watch the YouTube seminar by Justin Peters at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IGHf5Z01Wg
Or read this article:
http://www.9marks.org/blog/errors-prosperity-gospel
For a full length treatment read the book “Health, Wealth and Happiness” by David Jones and Russell Woodbridge. You can purchase this book at:
The second group of teachers to avoid would be classified as “Post Modern Revisionists” and would include the two best known spokespersons of that group:
1. Rob Bell
2. Brian McLaren
These folks strike me as far less dangerous than the prosperity crowd because their teaching is far more complicated, far less appealing and offers nothing of tangible benefit. Joel Osteen suggests that you can smile and talk your way into heaven on earth, Brian McLaren basically just talks you out of believing in the authority of the Bible and the existence of truth. That tends to sell fewer books. Bell and McLaren play well with first year university students questioning “absolute EVERYTHING” but tends to be too dark and empty to carry mass appeal. Bell looked to be the more dangerous of the two a few years ago with his massively popular “Love Wins” but his subsequent departure from mainstream Christianity (he’s now writing TV scripts and conducting multi-faith spiritual retreats in California. Seriously!) has eviscerated his credibility and influence. His recent coming out in support of homosexuality has further distanced him from mainstream Evangelicalism. For a “Bell update” click here:
The last teacher on the list is T.D. Jakes. Jakes denies the Trinity so ..... that pretty much explains why he is on the list. He is part of a group that was kicked out of the mainstream Pentecostal movement that is sometimes referred to as “Oneness Pentecostals” or “The Jesus Only Pentecostals”. They do not believe in three persons, one substance, but rather believe that there is one God who acts in three different ways, like a man who has three different hats or a man who is a farmer, a husband and a father, but is only one man. This is an actual, old fashioned heresy. Best not to read his books. J
Some of you in your emails said something along the lines of: “But most of what Joyce Meyer/Joel Osteen/T.D. Jakes says is really solid and Biblical – can’t we just skip the bad parts?” It is true that Joyce Meyer may help you lose weight but her ideas are all flowing from a flawed and poisonous root. The nature of heresy is that it sounds mostly true. Its sounds mostly true because it is mostly true. The best heresies are 90% truth. Those are the ones that hook people and cause the most damage. Not many Christians are buying books written by Mormons or JWs – those heresies are too obvious for most people. But the Prosperity Gospel? Sounds almost true and that’s the problem. If a person holds to root misunderstandings about the nature of the Gospel then everything they say is rooted in error and functions to draw you away from truth into falsehood. Beware.
I hope that helps. Again, the purpose here is not to disturb unity, the purpose is to expose error and to help good Christians avoid hurt and harm. If you were wondering about the people on the Prosperity Gospel list, do go and watch the seminar by Justin Peters; you will find it useful.
In Christ and with the Help of the Holy Spirit,
Pastor Paul