Today is the 80th anniversary of the death of A. T. Robertson, one of the greatest Greek scholars who ever lived. His career as a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is truly remarkable. And yet, his heart beat for the spread of the Gospel.
A funny video has been making the rounds lately. In it, Victoria Osteen, the wife of feel-good false teacher Joel Osteen, speaks about the relationship between man and God in what can only be described as “worthless drivel.” This is followed by a quick 2-second response by Bill Cosby. Here’s the video…
While the Coz’s response is dead-on accurate (and funny), this is really no laughing matter. Thousands upon thousands (if not millions) of people are being deceived by the false gospel of the Osteens. Al Mohler, the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has taken a more measured approach in his response to Victoria’s comments.
“America deserves the Osteens,” he said. “The consumer culture, the cult of the therapeutic, the marketing impulse, and the sheer superficiality of American cultural Christianity probably made the Osteens inevitable. The Osteens are phenomenally successful because they are the exaggerated fulfillment of the self-help movement and the cult of celebrity rolled into one massive mega-church media empire. And, to cap it all off, they give Americans what Americans crave — reassurance delivered with a smile.”
The Bible warns us over and over again to be vigilant in the teaching of the true Gospel because teachers like the Osteens are coming…
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.” — 2 Timothy 4: 1-4
“False teachers are God’s judgment on people who don’t want God, but in the name of religion plan on getting everything their carnal heart desires,” he said during a sermon. “That’s why a Joel Osteen is raised up. Those people who sit under him are not victims of him, he is the judgment of God upon them because they want exactly what he wants and it’s not God.”
In his response to the Victoria Osteen video, Mohler pulls no punches in his conclusion about the situation. “Prosperity Theology certainly sells books and draws crowds in the United States,” he said. “But what does it possibly say to a grieving Christian wife and mother in Iraq? How can it possibly be squared with the actual message of the New Testament? How can any sinner be saved, without a clear presentation of sin, redemption, the cross, the empty tomb, and the call to faith and repentance? Prosperity Theology fails every test, and fails every test miserably. It is a false gospel, and one that must be repudiated, not merely reformatted.”
Thideology™ 