By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: In this discernment essay I critique Beth Moore as an example, arguing false teachers persist by God’s design to test, refine, and reveal believers, warning that longevity, sincerity, zeal, and eloquence do not confirm theological truth.
I posted the following on my social media this week:
“Remember, @BethMooreLPM announced last month that next April 2027 will be the final Live event of her career (coinciding with her 70th birthday.) She won’t be hosting any more large scale events after that but she will still write and speak. The fewer women to hear her false teaching, the better! Yay! Only 365 more days until Living Proof Live will close down and undiscerning women, new Christians, and women in general saf(er) from Moore’s contaminant.”
In the old days writing anything against Beth Moore I’d have gotten run out of town on a rail. This week I did receive pushback, but just a very few comments, and they were graciously written.
False teachers are a scourge. They have been present in the faith since the beginning. In the New Testament the church is warned in 26 of the 27 books about false teachers and their negative impacts. Many of the Apostles have written with advice, warnings, and commands about false teachers.
We know from understanding the sovereignty of God that He allows false teachers and in the Old Testament He allowed false prophets). Nothing escapes His attention and there is not one maverick molecule in the universe (said RC Sproul). It is all orderly and according to His plan, even the parts we do not understand.
But the Bible has kindly revealed some of the reasons Jesus has allowed the installation of false teachers to the church, so that we may indeed understand in this point.
1.Jesus allows false teachers because He is testing us. In Deuteronomy 13:1-3 it specifically says that He is testing us. Even if the false prophet’s sign comes true, this is no indicator of theological credibility.
2.Jesus allows false teachers to purify our faith. 1 John 4:1 says “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God“. The testing is a process that purifies our faith and strengthens it. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 is the same.
3.Jesus allows false teachers so that those who are approved may become evident among you. (1 Corinthians 11:19). False teachers act like a magnet to attract unbelievers and to repel true believers.
People assign credibility to false teachers for the wrong reasons. WIth teachers like Beth Moore who have been around for so long, they think that because the teacher has lasted for so many decades they must be solid. That was one of the comments I received.
No. Longevity is not an indicator of solidity.
Some people think that the false teacher’s zeal or energy is an indicator of their genuineness.
No. There is true zeal and false zeal. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached on this subject so clearly: True Zeal and False Zeal: A Sermon from Romans 10:1-2
Sincerity is no indicator of whether a teacher is true or not. Many of them are sincere in what they teach, genuinely believing it to be true. Many other false ones know they are teaching wrongly but are sincere that they want to keep going because they want the applause/approbation/money/fame whatever it is that keeps them ticking. John MacArthur said,
“Many of these false prophets are going to look like the real thing, they’re going to be very pleasant, very sincere people, talk about Jesus, talk about the Bible, talk about salvation, completely inoffensive, anxious to please everybody, accommodating to other people’ viewpoints, rarely critical of others, praised by many, condemned by few. Large crowds will gather around them and listen to them and think they’re great, and they’ll be shoving those large crowds on the broad way that leads to destruction.”
Smooth talk/ability to speak is no indicator of whether a teacher is true or false. Yes, teachers must be ‘able to teach’ (1 Timothy 3:2), but they must teach a rightly divided word. (2 Timothy 2:15). Moses said he was slow of speech and tongue. Jonathan Edwards spoke slowly and carefully, avoiding histrionic gestures and often read directly from his notes. Do not depend on speaking skill to test a teacher. Of course false teachers speak well, it’s their livelihood. The ultimate false teacher, the Antichrist, will conquer by smooth talk and flatteries. (Daniel 11:21).
False teachers may exhibit longevity, zeal, sincerity, and/or smooth talk but those are not necessarily indicators of the state of their genuineness. Keep your Bible handy to test all things, dear sisters, hold on to what is good.
Further Resources
Wolf Week # 5: Why does God allow false teachers?
The Pathology of False Teachers
Video: These false teachers’ prophecies are ABSURD… Join Todd Friel and Justin Peters as they discuss issues which the congregation should be willing to separate over, and the wildly inaccurate prophecies of false teachers.
the-end-time.org 
I just ran across your post on FB about Beth Moore and was wondering why you were calling her a false teacher. Could you explain? Thank you
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Thank you for the question. There are a lot of reasons that indicate Beth Moore is a false teacher. I have a compendium of links that review and critique her teachings- her books, lessons, speeches, or behavior from theologians, pastors, female Bible teachers, and myself. I’ll post that but also answer your question. https://the-end-time.org/2017/12/03/all-beth-moore-critiques-here-in-one-place-newest/
Destroys the sufficiency of scripture. The Bible declares the canon closed in Revelation 22. Yet for decades Moore has claimed Jesus speaks to her. She puts ‘his’ words in quotes. This cannot be true since Rev 22 says not to add or take away anything from this book. If it is true, it’d be scripture and we all must obey, and it’d make her an apostle.
She prophesies. SHe says Jesus tells her specific things that are not in the Bible and to turn around and tell others. This makes her a prophet. Yet since the canon is closed we are not receiving any further revelation. Therefore she is a false prophet.
Mysticism. She participates in current trends, unbiblical trends such as mysticism. She jumped on the Catholic-lite Lectio Divina and Contemplative prayer activities when they were popular. Both of those are unbiblical activities.
Poor hermeneutic. She has publicly described her interpretive process- she waits for the ‘Lord’ to deliver to her a word. (Direct revelation again, and again, unbiblical). Then she makes an acrostic out of the word. She then cobbles Bible verses together relating to this word, out of context and across OT and NT. Then makes a lesson out of it. I’ve personally heard her describe this process several times over different years, so it’s not just a one-time, rookie mistake. Worse, the lesson is always ‘me centered’ and not Christ centered. In her lessons we do not learn more about Jesus, we learn about ourselves. Mainly, Moore.
She preaches in church to men, violating 1 Timothy 2:12.
She refuses correction, is unteachable. Apollos was corrected, he was humble enough to accept it. In just one example I can think of, When Dr Owen Strachan corrected her, she was less than accepting. In another case, a pastor had tweeted to the general public, not even to Moore, asking women to dress modestly in summer. Moore replied, “Dude, there is no world in which we ever want to hear the word bra from you again. Mind your own unders.” Language and behavior unbecoming to a mature woman supposed to be modeling a Titus 2 language and behavior.
Feminist Lifestyle: Gone from home a lot when her kids were little. The Atlantic article and interview with her even noted her ambition and feminist lifestyle. The kids, now adults, wryly said in that article “We ate a lot of takeout”. Yet Proverbs and the NT advises women to have a primary orientation to the home. Moore never had an orientation like that. It was office, LPL travel (first class planes no less), and book writing, always.
Those are just a few theological and lifestyle/behavior examples of what makes her false. TY again for the question. Check out the link for deeper or more explanations.
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I’m also glad to hear that Beth Moore is closing up shop even if she will continue to have some influence. I warned two different churches that seemed pretty discerning that they should not use Beth Moore’s teaching materials for women’s Bible study. Both heard me but didn’t follow my advise. I still consider these churches pretty solid but allowing anything with Beth Moore’s name into your church says something.
I have been much more keen to understand the Bible after stumbling onto so many of the false teachers. I learned a lot from Ken Silva of Appraising Ministries before he passed away in 2014. Thankfully, his site is still up and is still very informative on many types of false teachers:
Here is just one of his posts on Beth Moore that he did only several months before he went to be with the Lord:
There are other good discernment sites but I appreciate that you know the truth about Beth Moore. So many in Christian circles either don’t know enough to have issues with her or don’t care.
God’s blessings…
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I can’t believe it’s been 12 years since Ken has passed. Back in 2010 when I first began questioning Moore’s teaching, he and only 2 other men that I could find online had said anything negative about her. One was Chris Rosebrough, the Christian Pirate. The other was just an unassuming (but discerning) pastor.
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Yes, at that time few had caught on to her problematic ways. I also find Chris Rosebrough to be ahead of his time for the most part. It’s always good to see a LCMS Lutheran who is on top of things. I once belonged to that church. Thank you for your reply and
God’s blessings…
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