Posted on 10/19/2007 9:32:33 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Night before last Osteen continued his prime time tour promoting his new book. My cell phone rang at 1am from a friend who was rather incensed with the soundbyte that come at the very end of this segment on Larry King LIVE. Larry asks Joel the question if Mitt's Mormonism would keep him from voting for him. Osteen steered fine initially saying, that what he had read demonstrated that he was a man of character. But then Osteen veered into the unforgiveable - being a theological dufus:
"I've heard him (Mitt Romney) say that he believes in Jesus as his Savior, just like I do... I hadn't studied it deeply and maybe people don't agree with me..."My friend who dialed me after I was in a deep sleep, called me the next day asking if I had seen it. He also wanted to know intensely if what Osteen said was in fact an endorsement of Mormonism.
On the technical side of things - the answer is yes. If Joel Osteen believes that he and Mitt worship the same "Jesus" then Osteen is a heretic and should never preach again at least certainly not in evangelical churches.
More LIKELY what happened was that he was careless. (He even fesses up to it by saying he hadn't "studied it carefully.")
Which in a very small snapshot demonstrates Osteen's problem start to finish. He's a nice guy, he gives great "power of positive thinking" pep talks. But for Heaven's sake - some one please recognize that he is either willfully negligent or completely incapable of understanding the his own theological beliefs - and as such should not be considered a Pastor in any sense of the word.
Nice guy, seems like a very good man - but a complete theological dufus.
"Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong."How can you not know what you believe?
Huh?
Maybe believing is just that, a belief and not actual knowledge of something. I think the 2 are different.
“Joel Osteen”
Didn’t his Dad used to pitch for the Dodgers?
What a putz and embarrassment JO is.
It is not really what LDS believes, he apparently does not know what he believes.
I think Osteen was just “playing it safe”.
It’s hard to tell if he was following the Biblical advice to generally
try not to “give offense”.
Or he was just being “politically correct”, which of course is the
much less palatable explanation.
Folks, save the flames...I Do NOT carry water for the Mormon Church
or for Joel Osteen.
No, Osteen’s dad was a minister. May have even had a seminary degree. Joel took over his church. No seminary education for Joel for sure. Not that it is needed (necessarily) but it sure helps people stay away from the theological danger zones to have some formal training.
This is something that pisses me off quite a bit.
First, I agree that Osteen is “softer” than I’d like him to be.
However, he is stating that Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is their “personal savior”, correct?
Are Mormons not allowed to have faith in Christ as God’s son through which they gain atonement for their sins due to the fact that they’re Mormons?
An Osteen endorsement means nothing to the serious theologian.
Thank goodness!
Yes, we are “allowed” to have faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. It is not liked that we do not have faith in Jesus Christ as a PART of God.
Is that the way all the mainstream denominations are headed?
Its not news when liberal mainline denominations spout their false teachings. Osteen is an AOG pastor and considered very influential among evangelicals.
Smilin’ Joel.
I know, but I was thinking of Joel’s lack of clarity on a topic that needs clear Biblical teaching, no beating around the bush. The Bishop was clear, just not Biblically correct.
Ignorance, maybe?
Absurd, whether in respect to religion or not.
Why? Many people believe in an afterlife, yet they certainly do not have actual knowledge of it.
Do you believe in electromagnetic fields? Gravity? Matter? Your own existence?
Although I am Catholic so I don’t believe in Joel Osteen’s religon, I can say that if more people were like him it would be a much better place. It stuns me that he gets bashed so much. He is living a very God like life. Obviously if God did not want him to live the way he does, he would not have been given the gifts he has to run his religion. Is he going to Heaven? I have no idea and would not be arrogant enough to say one way or the other. I wish other FREEPERS would be the same.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.