A Prophet for an Un-discerning Church [Beth Moore]

Mortification of Spin ^ | January 12, 2015 | Todd Pruitt

[Gamecock]

If you want to get people mad at you (I mean really mad) just criticize Beth Moore’s teaching. Trust me on this. Many a young pastor has found himself being roasted over the rhetorical bonfire of women’s ministry meetings for daring to raise concerns about Beth Moore’s rather exotic approach to biblical interpretation. 

But those who don’t much care about popularity or physical safety have in recent years been willing to challenge some of the outrageous claims and troubling teachings coming from Beth Moore. It would be one thing if Beth’s claims of direct revelation, sloppy exegesis, and squishy ecumenism were confined to a small corner of the church. The trouble is that Beth Moore is hugely popular which means she has a lot of influence. 

If you are wondering why I am writing something critical of a popular Bible teacher then you must be new here. Remember the name of the website – “Mortification of Spin.” Keep in mind also that Beth Moore is a public and highly influential teacher. That means that her errors must be confronted publicly. If you study the Bible you will see the prophets, Jesus and apostles doing the very same thing in their own day. 

Beth Moore has been pushing for a kind of ecumenism between Baptists and Charismatics and Roman Catholics and Prosperity heretics that ignores essential Christian doctrines. In Beth’s ecumenism, the doctrines of God, Scripture, salvation, and the church do not seem to matter nearly as much as her vision of “unity”. Hers is an unbearably light unity for it cannot bear the weight of biblical distinctions. And to make matters worse, if you disagree with her ecumenism you are standing in the way of Jesus’ vision for the church. How do we know that Beth’s vision is Jesus’ vision for the church? Because she told us so HERE.

It is, I suppose this shallow ecumenism which explains Beth’s willingness to praise and partner with false teachers such as Joyce Meyer. If you are wondering why this is a problem then I assume it is because you do not know what Joyce Meyer preaches. 

Beth also claims direct revelation from God. Her claims that God speaks to her are ubiquitous throughout her books and preaching. It is these divine revelations that supply the gravitas for Beth’s extravagant claims. If you watched the video clip above you have already seen her claim to have received a prophetic vision directly from Jesus concerning the future of the church. 

The following is an excerpt from Beth’s book The Beloved Disciple which captures once again her ease in receiving revelation from God. In this case Beth and God come up with a whole new term to add to the church’s lexicon (You may want to contrast Beth’s casual reception of revelation with that of the apostles and prophets). 

Beloved, I am convinced one of our severest needs is pure rest. Not only sleep, but refreshment and recreation. Recently God spoke to me about capturing what He and I are calling "Sabbath moments." Like many of yours, my schedule right now is particularly tough, and I see no time in the near future for a number of days off. God spoke to my heart one Saturday morning while I was preparing for Sunday school: "My child, in between more intense rests, I want to teach you to take Sabbath moments." I wasn't certain what He meant. Just that morning God confirmed His desire for me to drive all the way to the other side of Houston to the medical center to visit a patient with brain cancer. I was very thankful for the privilege of visiting this patient, but I knew in advance it would be tough emotionally and far from restful.

I fought the traffic across Houston, then visited with my new friend and her husband while choking back the tears. They have two young sons, and unless God performs a miracle, their mother will go home to be with the Lord before they are grown. I got in my car and prayed. I pulled out of the parking garage, fighting the tears. A few blocks later as if on autopilot, I turned my steering wheel straight into the parking lot of the Houston Zoo!

Christ seemed to say, "Let's go play." And that we did. I hadn't been to the zoo in years. I heard about all the improvements, but I never expected the ultimate: Starbucks coffee! (OK, so I don't have all my health issues down pat.) Can you imagine watching a baby koala take a nap in a tree on a rare cold day in Houston with a Starbucks grande cappuccino in your hand? Now that's a Sabbath moment! God and I had a blast. 

 - Beth Moore, The Beloved Disciple, (B&H Publishing: 2003), 220.

Just as Sarah Young’s Jesus in Jesus Calling sounds much like an American woman steeped in contemporary therapeutic language, so the Jesus of Beth Moore’s vision seems to suit an affluent American demographic. As you consider the condition of the church in the prosperous west alongside the persecution and suffering of so many Christians in the majority world do you think that “one of our severest needs is pure rest” along the lines of playdates with God to Starbucks and the zoo? 

I’m in favor of rest. More importantly God is in favor of rest. He created a cycle of days with the wonderful gift of rest in mind. God gave man the Sabbath day as a gift precisely for the purposes of ministering rest to our bodies and minds. I’m not sure when God decided to add “Sabbath Moments” to the mix. Is it God’s way of recognizing that most American Christians do not take their rest on the day God has set apart and made holy for that very purpose? Beth does not tell us. She simply claims that God chose to speak to her directly and together they coined a new term. 

I’m not saying that we cannot enjoy good gifts from God. I am as grateful for good coffee and cute koalas as the next guy. But the words quoted above illustrate well the utter weightlessness of contemporary evangelicalism, particularly that which is peddled to Christian women. If I were a woman I believe I would be insulted by such nauseating triviality. 

What Beth Moore is describing in her experiences is what we call “direct revelation.” Revelation means to unveil or make known. The doctrine of direct revelation means that God speaks directly to someone apart from any mediation. We understand that direct revelation was given by God to the prophets and apostles and was ultimately inscripturated as God's written word. Protestants have historically denied continuing revelation. We believe that God's Word is His chosen and sufficient means to speak to his people. Indeed the Southern Baptist Convention has clearly denied continuing revelation and affirmed the sufficiency of Scripture.

And yet Beth Moore’s books and studies are published by Broadman & Hollman (B&H) and sold in Lifeway stores. Both Lifeway and B&H are Southern Baptist entities and Beth Moore a member of a Southern Baptist Church. So why does the Southern Baptist Convention publish, promote, and sell teaching that clearly departs from historic Protestantism and is against its own doctrinal positions? Follow the money my friends. Follow the money. 

[RnMomof7]

LOL..Just saw that my former PCA is doing one of teachings again.. discernment is so lacking there,,,they just want to keep the “little ladies” happy ..and the do like her :)

[Lakeshark]

My wife has done many of Beth moore's studies, she just read this article and says it's really not giving a fair presentation of her in any way. She's telling me the article is wrong, not giving an accurate idea of what Beth Moore does at all. She is teaching how to apply scripture to women and that's what she's doing, and she does it fairly well. She NEVER claims she is giving a new revelation, if you hear the video, it's clear she's NOT doing that.

The problem with the article is that it shows NOTHING of any substance that she is in contradiction to scripture. Nothing.

The examples cited are silly, nothing but nit picking for no good reason. It appears the author is suggesting there is no Holy Spirit. Is he suggesting that the Holy Spirit does not indwell a believer, come along side them, or lead them to truth? If so, he may want to reread the Gospel of John.

If he is, and it sure appears he is saying that, then it's he who is misleading the church.

[Gamecock]

Mom, care to comment?

[Lakeshark]

Did you write the article?

[Gamecock]

No. Why?

[Lakeshark]

Just wondered, it seemed there was something personal there.

I do trust what my wife is saying, it appears the author is simply wrong and misleading, and you ought to consider that.

You could nit pick any great Christian leader in the same way, from Augustine, to Luther, to Calvin, to John MacArther, to anyone who is a teacher in any church.

It's not helpful. When you find something she is saying that contradicts scripture, then you've got something. So far, it appears to be just nit picking with no substance.

[RnMomof7]

She has no pastor check her “teaching”, so she teaches heresy without anyone to stop her. I sat through one where she gave a description of the Trinity that was pure Modalism, when I pointed it out to the leader..shoulders wee shrugged...like “so what “?? ...

Many women have no interest in Theology, many do not know how to read scripture in context or how to have scripture interpret scripture..so her teaching is fine fodder for other women that do not know the true from the false

She teaches self help as if it is scripture. Scripture can not be properly read if it is read for “what does it say to me” ..It says one thing..exactly what God means it to say . Unfortunately Beth does not know what it says,so she teaches what SHE thinks it says .

Women like the optics of her tapes ..and her sweet feminine presentation.

Take time to listen to this

http://www.extremetheology.com/2010/03/beth-moores-dangerous-bible-twisting.html

[Lakeshark]

Kindly link to what you heard that was Modalism, at this point I'll just say I'm skeptical.

Start pointing to something concrete please, give us quotes that are wrong, quotes that are genuinely against what scripture says. What I read and linked to in the article is silly, and would convict anyone who has been the best of teachers in the church.

[gov_bean_ counter]

It says one thing..exactly what God means it to say

And whose teaching or interpretation (pick a denomination or person) of same do you propose most accurately reflects God's meaning.

[Gamecock]

If Mom said she heard Moore teetering on Modalism, I believe her. As far as I am concerned she has impeccable credentials.

Since your wife has Moore material, and you want to defend Moore, why don’t you find us an orthodox Trinitarian statement?

[RnMomof7]

I heard this many years ago at the church I attended then .. can not remember the name of the tape.. She comment that she is wife , mother and teacher and that is like the trinity.

It hit me because I had used a similar analogy once.. only to find out that was modalism and a heresy Pastors should listen to every take before they use it as a teaching tool

[RnMomof7]

And whose teaching or interpretation (pick a denomination or person) of same do you propose most accurately reflects God's meaning.

No one has the whole truth.. BUT if someone stands up and presents herself as a teacher, she should do it under HER pastor and have him check the FUNDAMENTAL doctrine to make sure it is correct (yes there are some truths that all Christians agree on)

She teaches that she has "special revelation from God..that she was "lifted up"...none of this comports with Southern Baptist teachings ..it is in fact gnosticism ,,(having secret knowlege)

[Gamecock]

That is clearly modalism.

[avenir]

I don’t know anything about this lady but just reading the bit about visiting the cancer patient and then running off to frolic with God in the city zoo with a Starbucks in hand was priceless.

I know cancer must be tough, but this lady needs a Sabbath moment, people!

I am thankful to be a nobody, cause I shudder to think of every stupid thing I say being recorded for posterity (hey, FR doesn’t count!).

[kjam22]

The examples cited are silly, nothing but nit picking for no good reason. It appears the author is suggesting there is no Holy Spirit. Is he suggesting that the Holy Spirit does not indwell a believer, come along side them, or lead them to truth? If so, he may want to reread the Gospel of John.

Yep

[SusanS]

I've spent the past two years carefully examining Moore's teaching after going through one of her studies and finding it highly questionable from the start. I too have discovered Modalism in her teaching. I haven't seen anyone else point this out anywhere. Today I did a google search, “Is Beth Moore trinitarian?” and I've been going through everything that popped up. Nothing...until I scanned through all the comments here and found your comment.

Please do tell me where you found Moore's description of the trinity that “was pure modalism”.

Thanks!

[redleghunter]

Christ seemed to say, "Let's go play." And that we did. I hadn't been to the zoo in years. I heard about all the improvements, but I never expected the ultimate: Starbucks coffee! (OK, so I don't have all my health issues down pat.) Can you imagine watching a baby koala take a nap in a tree on a rare cold day in Houston with a Starbucks grande cappuccino in your hand? Now that's a Sabbath moment! God and I had a blast. - Beth Moore, The Beloved Disciple, (B&H Publishing: 2003), 220.

You just can't make this stuff up .

[redleghunter]

Sounds like pastors and elders need to sit in on these ladies Bible studies.

If some think “well are the women elders reporting back” then they already have a problem.

Some of these churches are so large they have dozens of break out groups. One guy I work with told me he left a church because it was too large. He said that some of the break out groups were teaching error and the pastor did not know what was going on. So now que in your anigif of the bottomless pit.

[redleghunter]

Most of these modern devotionals are like candy. You are Better off with using Spurgeon for a daily devotional IMO.

[redleghunter]

but I’m not ready to deny that the Holy Spirit was given to us to teach, direct, and grow us as Christians. In guidance that applies often to just us.

I hear you and many pastors like John Piper agree. However, one must question if going to Starbucks for an $8.00 caramel machiatto fits your description.