Tag: false teacher

Posted in theology

Heresy and false doctrine part 3: Can they repent? Will they repent?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Heresy vs False Doctrine: What are they? Part 1
Heresy vs False Doctrine: What are they? Part 2

In part 1 I looked at definitions of false doctrine and heresy and whether they were two sides of the same coin, or totally different theological issues. In Part 2 I looked at heresy and named some examples of old and heresies coming around again repackaged, naming some modern people who teach them.

In this part I’ll focus on the issue of repentance for the false teacher and the heretic. Does a false teacher or a heretic ever repent? Can they? Should we even pray for them?

After our salvation, some of us become teachers. It’s a weighty and sober task, for teachers will be judged more strictly.

And because we are all human, sometimes even teachers of the Bible sin. They may sin by teaching error, or promote someone who is a false teacher themselves. It is here that the path diverges. Some of these teachers, when alerted to their error, repent publicly. I have read occasionally of these teachers publicly repenting of their false teaching and/or promotion of false teachers. It’s always encouraging to see this.

Others double down and continue teaching the false. Their path marches ever onward toward destruction. Purposeful persistence in error would seem to indicate a hardening of heart of that person. Repentance becomes more distant possibility, but it’s never out of the realm of possibility- because there is only 1 sin that is eternal, and that is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

But is there a moment on that path when a teacher who has taught falsely can return? At what point does God give them over to their error? We know God does this, Romans 1:18-32 describes a hardening process. We know He gave Pharaoh over to his persistent refusal to see or accept God’s truth. We know in the end, judgment comes upon the ungodly heretics (Jude 1:4).

Example: Hymenaeus

We read of Hymenaeus, who is mentioned twice in the New Testament. The first time is in 1 Timothy, written in about A.D. 62-64.

 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20)

We learn that Hymenaeus rejected the faith, made a shipwreck of it, and didn’t keep it. Is he restorable? More on that question in a minute. We learn that Paul put him out of the church for his false teaching.

The second time we read of Hymenaeus it’s a couple of years later in 2 Timothy. This book was written in about 66-67 AD.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid godless and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their word will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:15–18).

Hymenaeus is lumped in with people who promote empty and godless chatter, and what he was teaching was poison (gangrene, other translations, cancer. The Greek word is literally gaggraina). He has gone astray from the truth and is teaching something totally false.

But in the first verse, Paul put Hymenaeus out of the church for a reason. The reason is always restoration. Paul said “so he may be taught not to blaspheme.” So it seems if one can be taught something, there is wiggle room. If someone can be taught something there is room for the light to come and error to be repented of. If he can be taught, the door to restoration isn’t shut, it would seem. Hymenaeus is being punished with a hope for restoration in mind.

EPrata photo

Paul didn’t write, “I put him out so he may be condemned.” Excommunication was a last resort to be sure, a serious consequence of Hymenaeus’ error, but this punishment had the purpose of possibly Hymenaeus learning the truth and perhaps changing his ways.

To that end I have no doubt Paul prayed for Hymenaeus. Paul was a prayer, and a carer of souls.

The situation does not look to be improved a couple years later, Hymenaeus is not recorded as having been restored to the church, but is worse in his teaching. He is persisting in error. This is one of the marks of a false teacher and a heretic.

We also read in 2 Timothy 2:25,

with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may give them repentance leading to the full knowledge of the truth,[underline mine]

This word “if” does not refer to God dithering about whether to grant repentance that a person is begging for. He is not in heaven saying, ‘Hymenaeus is repenting, hmmm, shall I accept it? He did make me pretty mad…’Maybe, maybe not…”

It is simply an acknowledgement from the writer that repentance is in the hands of God. (Acts 11:18). HE gives the person a spirit of repentance. We do not know on our side of heaven which false teacher will be given the opportunity to repent and which will persist unto death and condemnation. So we pray for the person who is in error.

“Repentance of the heart is the work of God the Holy Spirit.” ~Sproul

It is a weighty situation when we see someone sliding into error and then apostasy. We do know that at some point, God gives them over to their error. They will remain in their sin since that is what they have persistently and continuously striven for. God gave Pharaoh over. He gave Saul over. Perhaps He gave Hymenaeus over in between the Books of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy.

And we know this too, Hebrews 6:4-6 LSB says it is impossible to restore some:

For in the case of those once having been enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

These verses do NOT mean a person who is saved and has the Holy Spirit indwelling them, can lose their salvation. No. The New Testament is replete with assurances that faith, once given to a penitent, is of God and will never be snatched away by anyone or anything, including God.

You notice the words in the Hebrews verse- the person was enlightened (had cognitive knowledge) was ‘partaking’ of the heavenly gift, (around Godly events, but not indwelled), and ‘tasted’ (not digested, or consumed). These descriptions describe only a surface believer. Remember, many will say to Jesus on the Day, didn’t we do many works in your name? And He will cast them away because He never knew them.

It’s these people, the surface workers, not the committed believers, who will fall away. If a false teacher is genuine, they WILL repent. Same with a heretic. Of the sad people who ‘deconstruct’ their faith and make a once for all rejection of it, they are impossible to restore. They came close to the Light but turned away to darkness, never to see the Light again.

Should we pray for them?

So, if we accept that the spirit of repentance is a gift from above, and if we accept that some are impossible to restore, and we know that God gives some over to their sin, should we pray for false teachers, heretics, and apostates?

YES.

There is only 1 unforgivable sin, and that rejecting Jesus and dying in one’s sin. Jesus prayed to the Father for forgiveness of those blaspheming Him and mocking and spitting on Him on the cross. But if one blasphemes the Holy Spirit & dies outside of the door of Jesus, then…his sin is eternal. Until the person dies, we never know what his or her heart is doing, and we never know what God has in store for them. False teachers, heretics, and apostates are in SUCH danger, we should actually pray for them more!

Throughout his letter, the author of Hebrews warns his audience of this danger. In the past, they have professed faith in Jesus and claimed to embrace him. Now, because of pressure and persecution from unbelieving Jews, they are tempted to abandon Jesus to restore their peace and comfort. They have experienced remarkable measures of grace in association with the new-covenant people of God (Hebrews 6:4–5), but now they are nearing the brink of falling away from Christ — and Hebrews warns them of the peril: having known the truth, and rejected it, are they now coming into a kind of settled hardness of heart from which they no longer will be able to repent and thus be forgiven?

For Christians today, we need not fear a specific moment of sin, but a kind of hardness of heart that would see Jesus as true and yet walk away — with a kind of hardness of heart incapable of repenting. Again, it’s not that forgiveness isn’t granted, but that it’s not sought. The heart has become so recalcitrant, and at such odds with God’s Spirit, that it’s become incapable of true repentance. ~Dave Mathis

Has one persisted so long in their sin that they have become seared to it? THAT person cannot repent.

But do WE know when that moment is? No. When Pharaoh rebelled after the first plague, was he unredeemable? No. Or the second, third, fourth? We do not know the exact moment when God gives a person over to their sin, so we continue to pray.

Prayer changes US. It acknowledges we are finite, helpless creatures who need God to do anything. It also puts the other person on our mind instead of our own selves, prayer in this way helps us be humble and other-centered.

If you see a person sliding into falsity, or someone who has been church-disciplined and put out, pray for them. It is a serious, serious situation with their eternal soul at risk.

Posted in theology

Heresy vs false doctrine: What are they? Part 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Heresy vs false doctrine: What are they? Part 2
Heresy vs false doctrine: What are they? Part 3

Should we pray for false teachers?
Are false teachers and heretics the same thing?
Can a false teacher repent?
Can a heretic repent?

I’m asked these questions now and then. Since I do a third of my ministry here as discernment, it’s logical I get asked discernment type questions. I’ve wondered the same thing myself. I’ll answer in three parts. I’ll look at false teachers, then heretics, then whether either or both of them can repent.

First, let’s look at the question:

What is the difference between a false teacher and a heretic? Is there a difference?

God’s truth, it is the only thing that matters, the sole standard by which we live.. Yet from the beginning, satan has energized people (or serpents) to pollute the truth.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

The distinctions between what makes a teacher false and what makes a heretic can be muddy. Suffice to say, both are bad, but heresy is worse. Here, Mark Jones at Reformation 21 wrote:

What makes someone a heretic? This topic may be more important than we might think, especially in the world of online discourse. There is a distinction between willfully committing a soul-destroying heresy and committing a theological error.

Yet also this:

To call someone a “false teacher” is to say they are unsaved (see 2 Peter 2:1). …

But then again, Jones said, All heresies are errors, but not all errors are heresies… I understand heresy in the way described by George Gillespie, a Scottish commissioner to the Westminster Assembly:

Heresy is a gross and dangerous error, voluntarily held and factiously maintained by some person or persons within the visible church, in opposition to some chief or substantial truth or truths grounded upon and drawn from the Holy Scripture by necessary consequence.

The key words above are “voluntarily” (not ignorantly) and “factiously” (not quietly, but “stubbornly” [see Ames]) in terms of the manner in which a heretic promotes his or her view(s). Conversely, we may hold to an error, but (thankfully) that error is not sufficiently severe enough that it overthrows the fundamental articles of the Christian faith. –end Mark Jones quote.

The Bible speaks a great deal on false prophets (Old Testament), false teachers (New Testament), and false doctrine. Every New Testament book except Philemon warns or says something about falsity.

As to the difference between a teacher teaching falsely and a teacher who is a heretic, for example, there’s Pelagianism (a notion that original sin did not taint human nature) which is a heresy, but teaching that one must eat or not eat certain foods is a theological error. It’s a false teaching but not necessarily a heresy that makes one outside orthodoxy.

A biblical example is Peter briefly ‘behaving’ falsely. Because his behavior had a teaching component, his behavior undermined the Gospel. Therefore, Paul said he must oppose Peter to his face. Denny Burk said, “In Galatians 2, Paul says that he opposed Peter for not being “straightforward about the truth of the gospel” (Galatians 2:14).”

As a side note I’ll mention here that Peter’s brief foray into falsity was a behavioral action. He was impacting the truth of the Gospel by his behavior- he withdrew from the Gentiles, not sitting with the Gentiles out of fear of man. Often when I write about a truly false teacher’s behavior, her defenders come out of the woodwork screaming that her behavior is an untouchable component because it’s (supposedly) ‘private’, i.e. separate from her teaching. No.

‘Stop judging our favorite false teacher’s behavior and lifestyle! It’s none of your business!’ Oh, yes it is, screeching harridans. Yes it is…

A Bible teacher’s or minister’s behavior is never separate from their identity in Christ, life AND doctrine matters, as Peter’s brief deviation into falsity shows and Paul’s immediate reaction to it.

Apollos briefly taught falsely. “Apollos was a man mighty in the scriptures who taught accurately about Jesus but who nevertheless was only familiar with John’s baptism. In Apollos’ case, his deficient teaching was an error of omission.” ~Denny Burk

Neither Peter nor Apollos could really be termed a false teacher because their theological error was brief and they immediately corrected themselves eagerly with open heart and with humility.

False teachers exist on a spectrum. They can be detected of course by examining their teaching, but if they have been confronted with truth to slay their error and they take some time to consider this, pray. If they take a long time and come out the other side with still believing and teaching the falsity, then they are false. If Peter and Apollos had continued teaching what they taught, after a while we must accept that they are not correcting their error and are false.

When is a false teacher a false teacher? It’s when he teaches falsehood. And the chief characteristic of his teaching is falsehood. ~RC SProul

In modern times, we have seen several known false teachers claim to repent. Naïve Christians should be wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove in these matters. Too many people take these claims of a false teacher’s supposed repentance at face value without a proper measure of wisdom and patience to see of they truly correct over time.

Costi Hinn here with a 1-minute tip on how to detect if a teacher’s repentance for teaching something in error is real or not. Remember, the chief characteristic of a false teacher is that their teaching is identified with error, i.e. “its chief characteristic.”

I would just add that I think there is in the New Testament a clear reservation of that title [false teacher] not just for one who teaches falsely but for one who is uncorrectable and who resists correction. ~Al Mohler

Next part: Heretics, what is heresy and what makes a person a heretic?

Heresy vs false doctrine: What are they? Part 2
Heresy vs false doctrine: What are they? Part 3

Sources consulted in researching this essay:

The Bible

John MacArthur Commentary on 2 Timothy 2:24-25

RC Sproul Critical Questions: What is Repentance?

Nathaniel Vincent: Puritan Treasures for Today: Turn and Live

Posted in theology

Get our allegiances right!

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

People advocate for the false teacher and denounce the person that is calling the false teacher to task. I see this more and more often.

What sparked this observation is another exchange on social media that is true to the adage I’d shared above. Social media is important because it influences both to the good, and to the bad. So, I’ll repost it, with my replies, then share 3 points and some verses from the Bible. People are giving too much sway to false teachers and not enough allegiance to Jesus and I’ll share why this is inappropriate and actually a virtue signal or just an unwise stance.

Beth Moore made a tweet and a man replied.

Back-Up Tambourine Player saw the exchange and commented on it thus- “Incredibly tacky, to be honest. When people we do not like encourage us to do very good and biblical things like memorize and meditate on God’s word and not ourselves, they don’t deserve our ridicule. That’s the mark of an immature mind.”

I replied to Backup Tambouring Player-, “[The] reply to @BethMooreLPM was proper. She’s a preaching rebel, usurping God-ordained role & inserting herself into places God didn’t design women to go. She makes a living off scripture rebellion & turns around & urges scripture memorization? This hypocrite deserves ALL the ridicule“

The man used scripture to call a false teacher to repent. That’s proper. The OP errantly called that “ridicule”. It’s not. One way we pray for the lost is to use scripture. We MUST call a rebel a rebel to their face if they are to repent, not coddle them in their rebellion.

Beth Moore urged people to memorize scripture and the original poster called that ‘biblical and very good’. It’s not, when it comes from an agent of satan.(Acts 16:16-18). The hypocrisy is, Moore urging us to memorize scripture but she ignoring 1 Tim 2:12 and rebellling against it.

It’s troubling that the man who used scripture to call false teacher Beth Moore to repent is seen as “ridiculing”, while false teacher Moore’s words are called ‘biblically and very good’. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, says Isaiah 5:20.

Elsewhere, the original poster Backup Tambourine Player said to someone else, “I don’t mind occasional joking with my theologically opposites, it’s good fun. I just don’t think he has a track record of doing it in kind. And I’m not trying to defend Beth, I don’t particularly care for her teaching. But I say, joke where appropriate!

Lots to comment on here.

Point #1: The original poster mentioned we should not ridicule people we don’t like. That she doesn’t care for Moore’s teaching. This is wise and true. However, Moore is a false teacher. There is more to it than just disliking her personally or not caring for her teaching, as the poster claimed. Perhaps someone doesn’t like her active style at the pulpit. Perhaps someone doesn’t like her accent. Perhaps someone doesn’t like her clothes or her cornbread recipes. Fine. That’s just personal opinions and of course we don’t denounce people based on personal opinion.

However, Moore is a false teacher. This means Moore promotes satan’s agenda, not God’s. The Bible has MUCH to say about what to do when we come across a false teacher. Speaking out against false teachers is a must. It’s not that we don’ like Beth Moore personally, it’s that we don’t like her biblically.

Point #2: The replier to Moore used scripture. Using scripture to denounce a false teacher is biblical. It’s not “ridicule.” A case could be made for using so many emojis in a sarcastic way, but then again, maybe not, it could be a good punctuation for a woman who urged people to study the Bible yet who also hypocritically rejects the Bible parts she doesn’t like. Jesus reserved His most scathing comments for the hypocrites.

Point #3: In this exchange and too many others, people coddle the false teacher while denouncing the one who denounces the false teacher. False teachers are a scourge. They are evil. Yes, evil. There is only Light and dark, narrow or broad, truth and lie. We need NO HELP from false teachers.

Remember in Acts 16 when Paul was “greatly annoyed” with the demon possessed slave girl who kept following him and saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation”? The slave girl was speaking truth. Why did Paul get annoyed? Backup Tambourine Player would say, after all, the girl is “encouraging us to do very good and biblical things“.

Paul was annoyed because we do not need help from satan to declare the truth. Matthew Henry says of the Acts 16 verse,

Satan, though the father of lies, will declare the most important truths, when he can thereby serve his purposes. But much mischief is done to the real servants of Christ, by unholy and false preachers of the gospel, who are confounded with them by careless observers.

Don’t be a careless observer.

There are too many good teachers who “encourage us to good and biblical things“, than to pick the one or two things a false teacher said and give them any credence at all. False teachers are flatterers, they perform and act, they are good at disguising themselves as godly, yet all the while deny the power of God.

Romans 16:18 says –
For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

Matthew 6:1 says – Beware of practicing [performing] your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

2 Corinthians 11:14 says – For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

2 Timothy 3:5 says – holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.

It is stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.“

False teachers like Beth Moore are said in the Bible to be deceivers, promote myths, secretly bring in destructive heresies, upset whole families, pervert the grace of our God into sensuality, are puffed up with conceit and understand nothing, are unfruitful, are from the world, and are impostors. Those are just a few of the things the Bible calls a false teacher, not even all of them.

Disguised as a worker of God, Beth Moore performs. She doesn’t teach, having denied His power.

Why listen to ANY PART of a false teacher when so many good teachers are out there? Do you want to be seen as promoting evil and be aligned with them? Paul would say NO.

If your own test of credibility has found a teacher to be false, or if your own pastor has said so, or if other solid Christians have alerted you, take this information on board. Do not give even a quarter inch to a false teacher even when they seem to say good and biblical things. They are purposely saying these things so as to deceive the unwary and to draw you away.

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16

Posted in Uncategorized

Does “only God know the heart”? Or are there cases when we do too?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Peoples’ responses to calling out a false teacher often (depressingly often) involves a statement such as this:

“You don’t know their heart!”

God is sovereign. God knows the heart. But there are specific times that we do too.

If a teacher’s doctrine has been proven false by comparing it with the Bible, then we DO know their heart! The Bible tells us this. Only God knows the hearts of the people, but if their teaching is not of the Lord, then the God who sees hearts has exposed those hearts to us by the verses of His word!

Their hearts are full of deceit. Colossians 2:8
Their hearts are filled with their own appetites. Romans 16:17-18
 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34 
Their hearts are disguised with light. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Their hearts are full of greed. 2 Peter 2:3
Their hearts are ravenous. Matthew 7:15.
Their hearts are inwardly full of sensuality. Jude 1:4
Their hearts are full of secrets, such as destructive heresies. 2 Peter 2:1
Their hearts are full of intent to exploit. 2 Peter 2:3
Their hearts are full of fleshly passions. 2 Timothy 4:3
Their hearts are puffed up with conceit. 1 Timothy 6:4
Their heart understands nothing. 1 Timothy 6:4
Their hearts are cunning and crafty. Ephesians 4:14
Their hearts serve the creature. Romans 1:25
Their hearts are slaves of corruption. 2 Peter 2:19.
Their hearts deny the Master who bought them. 2 Peter 2:1
Their hearts prophesy lies. Jeremiah 23:26

People undiscerningly reject discernment and accept false teachings, even after confirmation by Bible verse, by thinking that a person can utter blasphemies but still have “a good heart”. No. Do we think that a person can utter falsities or even blasphemies from a pure heart? No, of course not. Out of the heart the mouth speaks.

God does know the heart, that’s true, but He has shown us the heart of the false teacher in His word. He taught us this in His word for the purpose of being mature, discerning, and so we can learn for ourselves in truth and also teach the younger to be edified and strong.

The End Time Blog Podcast Season 2, Episode 276

Posted in theology

Reformation Day is a good day to talk about the Blood on Beth Moore’s Hands

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

An essay in three sections.

  1. The Reformation and what it stood for
  2. Beth Moore and her failure to teach the truth about Catholicism
  3. What the Bible teaches about leaders failing to preach the true word, and encouragement for those who do

1. What was the Reformation about?

October 31, Reformation Day, is a day when Christians bring to remembrance the old Catholic priest, Martin Luther. His inquiry into the scriptures, his spiritual angst over indulgences (a gross monetization of the faith), dismissal of the theology around purgatory, and his disappointment and despair after his trip to Rome, caused him on October 31, 1517 (traditionally accepted date) to nail 95 Theses to the All Saints’ Church in anticipation of a theological discussion. These theses became the foundation for the ensuing Protestant Reformation. We have been discussing ever since.

In his theses, Martin Luther had said that “It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security.” (Thesis #52).

He also said, “They are the enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others.” (#53).

And, in speaking against the gross accumulation of personal wealth by the Pope, that “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.” (#62).

The Roman Catholic Church teaches and preaches heresy. Anyone believing the doctrines of Rome is likely not saved. If they do come to true repentance in the true faith, they soon leave the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), because it is not spiritually profitable to remain. The Holy Spirit who indwells the new believer, would not let them stay.

Ex-Catholic and now fervent Protestant Evangelist Mike Gendron, writes,

“Catholic salvation is based on Jesus plus Mary, faith plus works, grace plus merit, Scripture plus tradition and the blood of Jesus plus purgatory. Catholics do not know that any addition to the Gospel is a denial of the sufficiency of Christ (Heb. 7:25). Any addition to the Gospel also nullifies the saving grace of God, which is the only means by which God saves sinners (Romans 11:6). Catholics, who are victims of this deception, need to be evangelized with the true Gospel of grace.”

ABCs of Evangelizing Catholics

2. Beth Moore’s failure to teach the truth about Catholicism

Beth Moore’s 87 year old mother-in-law died a few weeks ago. Any death is sad, but when the person is likely a non-believer, it’s heart rending. The obituary says, “Mary and her husband John were lifelong, devoted Catholics.” If Mary believed RCC dogma, then she did not believe in the necessary elements of the faith.

“Many of the 70 million Catholics in America were born into their religion and have never examined their faith through the lens of Scripture“. ~Mike Gendron

Beth’s mother-in-law Mary Moore was devoted to errant RC dogma. It’s a tragedy that she’s likely not dwelling in peace now or forever. But another tragedy is her daughter-in-law Beth, who proclaimed with certainty that Mary Moore,

“having entered the holy presence” said, “We are greatly consoled she lived to be 87 and is now not only with Jesus but with the two children she’d buried long ago and grieved deeply and daily.”

No. It’s a tragedy that Beth has compromised on this issue, declaring that a “devoted Catholic” has entered the holy presence of God. I hope Mary Moore has, but only due to last minute repentance in true faith. That post about her mother-in-law’s death on Instagram by Beth Moore got over 21,000 likes, and Moore’s Instagram account has over half a million followers. Beth’s influence and reach could have seen Catholics as a mission field.

But she didn’t. She doesn’t. She never has.

Beth’s own errant doctrine, compromising man-pleasing, or just cowardice, for many years has instead ignored the souls of millions she otherwise could have shared the truth with. There is blood on her hands, sadly. No one who believes Rome will see glory, except on Judgment Day, when the Lord will say “Depart from me, I never knew you!” and the same to false teachers like Moore who poison the faith and confuse the naïve.

Catholics are a mission field. They do not need an influential celebrity evangelical to assure them in their error! However, I and others have warned for over a decade now, that Moore teaches that Catholics are part of the true faith. She taught from her 2002 ‘study’, “Believing God” that Jesus lifted her to another dimension and gave her a view of the global church “as he sees it” which included the Catholic Church. She used an example of various denominations with signs to illustrate this ‘vision’, naming the Catholic ‘denomination’ of St. Anne’s Catholic Church. Her mother-in-law was a member of a church named St. Anne Catholic Church, by the way.

In this screen shot from a video, Moore is teaching from her 2002 ‘Believing God’ study that a Catholic church is simply another denomination along with Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran churches etc

In her 2006 Catholic-influenced Mystical DVD “Be Still,” Moore spoke of lines between denominations being erased, insinuating the lines were between Catholic and Protestant. In effect, she was denying the need for the Reformation and rejecting that severe doctrinal differences separate Protestants and Catholics. She said,

“You know, one of the things that time gives us is that it erases the lines in between people so many different sections of the people of God. Because many years later it doesn’t matter any longer that this person was of this practice in the Christian faith and this person of another. Time somehow blurs those lines and we are profoundly moved by the historical narratives of all their lives, of so great a cloud of witnesses; that we can look back on and see what kept them running the race, what kept them running toward the face of Christ at the end of that finish line.”

In 2012 Moore participated in and led an arena full of impressionable youth in a RCC mystical practice called Lectio Divina at the Passion Conference. Clearly, Beth Moore believes that Catholicism is part of the faith, or if she doesn’t believe it, she acts like it is.

In 2020 Moore didn’t insinuate, she outright called Roman Catholicism a denomination of the faith.

I can understand that living with in-laws who are staunch Catholics is hard when you’re an alleged evangelical. I know they scowlingly objected to her quick and ignominious wedding in an off-white dress (Beth’s words). I understand the tensions when the in-laws remained Catholics all their lives, even when moving from Houston to Tomball, changing Churches from one Catholic church to another in a declaration of their continued loyalty to Rome.

I can understand that Beth’s husband, having been raised Catholic and remained attached to it throughout the marriage, was a hard to reach mission field; Moore has often publicly complained about her husband’s lack of interest in her Baptist church or the things of God, like not being inclined to study the word, or leafing through fishing magazines if forced to come where truth is being taught.

And in 2022, confidently writing on her Instagram to half a million followers that her Catholic M-I-L is in the presence of Jesus in heaven.

Opposing satan’s doctrines often brings tension, rejection, and difficulty. Instead of using her reach if not for her family (who knows if she did, God knows) then for at least the women she draws in to her public events and studies. Yet Moore consistently affirms Rome by her affirmations of Catholics being true believers and simply another denomination of the true faith. But it isn’t.

3. What the Bible teaches about leaders failing to preach the true word, and encouragement for those who do

“And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all people. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.” (Acts 20:25-27).

That’s the Apostle Paul speaking. Other translations say ‘I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God’. As Paul prepared to leave the believers in Ephesus, his conscience was clear. Why? Barnes’ Notes says,

“‘I have not kept back’; I have not been deterred by fear, by the desire of popularity, by the fact that the doctrines of the gospel are unpalatable to people, from declaring them fully. The proper meaning of the word translated here, “I have not shunned” ὑπεστειλάμην hupesteilamēn, is “to disguise any important truth; to withdraw it from public view; to decline publishing it from fear, or an apprehension of the consequences.” –End Barnes’ Notes Commentary

Paul said the same in Acts 18:6, But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.

Hebrews 13:17 reminds us all of the weighty task that leaders have. They will give an account regarding the souls they’d had under their charge. “Obey your leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.”

While we learners have an obligation to submit, the leaders/pastors/teachers have an obligation to preach boldly. Paul and Barnabas did, even facing down a hissing mob of Jews who were blasphemously contradicting their teaching. (Acts 13:46). They must offer the entire teaching. An incomplete gospel is no gospel at all. But the whole counsel of God (with nothing added!) is sufficient to save! What glorious Good News!

Finally, we forget, or ignore, the evilness of false teaching. Spurgeon never wavered on proclaiming the truth and never shrank from denouncing the false. He said of the Catholic mass-

“The mass is a mass of abominations, a mass of hell’s own concocting, a crying insult against the Lord of glory. It is not to be spoken of in any terms but those of horror and destestation. Whenever I think of another sacrifice for sin being offered, by whomever it may be presented, I can only regard it as an infamous insult to the perfection of the Savior’s work.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

For the leaders who are faithful, you have aspired to a noble task (1 Timothy 3:1), and no doubt if done with persistence, humility, and in truth, will hear our Lord say “Well done good and faithful servant… Enter into the joy of the Lord!” (Matthew 25:21). What a day that will be!

Further Resources

Mary Moore Obituary

Is Roman Catholicism biblical? (article, Grace to You)

Evangelizing Roman Catholics with Mike Gendron (video)

The Reformation and the Men Behind it (article, Ligonier)

Posted in theology

Discerning Joyce Meyer: reply to commenter

Posted on by elizabethprata

Elizabeth Prata

Photo source

When I make dogmatic comments on various social media about this or that person being a false teacher, invariably I receive push-back. It usually consists of one of two opinions- either they use ad hominem to accuse me of being critical, judgmental, or otherwise something negative. Or, they say they had a positive experience following the teacher and due to the experience they had, it proves the teacher is true. A sort of ‘I know s/he isn’t false, because s/he helped me!’

Either type of comment displaying zeal without wisdom also usually include some old chestnuts recycled from undiscerning person to undiscerning person. They include, Judge not, don’t touch God’s anointed, did you go to her … and so on.

I say zeal without wisdom and undiscerning, because these commenters know just enough of what is in the Bible but not at all what it means.

Continue reading “Discerning Joyce Meyer: reply to commenter” →
Posted in discernment, theology

A few thoughts on discernment

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote last week that I’d tweeted something about a certain false teacher’s lifestyle, and the tsunami of hate immediately came rolling toward me. It didn’t let up for three days.

As per usual I was called hateful, evil, a troll, jealous, self-righteous, covetous, judgmental, and more. That’s the usual stuff.

I always try to learn from any experiences, especially experiences in contending for the truth. Continue reading “A few thoughts on discernment” →

Posted in discernment, theology

Forget ‘What color is your parachute?’, Beth Moore wants to know the color of the hands that wrote the books on your shelf

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Just as our minds can’t conceive of how MUCH Jesus loves His own, we can’t conceive of how deep sin will go. (1 Corinthians 2:9). Just when we think sin can’t get any worse, it does. (Genesis 6:5).

False teaching is a plague on the church. It destroys the sinner. It hinders the Christian’s walk. It makes a blot on Jesus’s name. It should not be ignored.

For many years Beth Moore has been propagating false teaching. It’s always been there. It’s always been that way, if one cared to look.


Any variation from the true Gospel is devastating. It’s of satan, and we know satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10). It matters not that the package it comes in seems ‘pretty close’ to true doctrine. So what that an N almost looks like an M. It’s not and it alters the word it’s in completely. Moon isn’t Noon. Mail isn’t Nail.

Remove the second ‘b’ from Bible and you get bile. So, pretty close isn’t good enough.

Beth Moore has been twisting the faith for almost 30 years. She is a type of Jezebel spoken against by Jesus in Revelation 2:20. Her mysticism, direct revelation, Bible twisting, lavish lifestyle and more, has caught many an unwary women into her webs of lies. That is what false teachers do, and she is extremely successful at it. Rather than be stricken by Jesus, He has graciously allowed to gather momentum, influence, and followers for all this time. Only Jesus knows how long He will allow her to continue, and whether her comeuppance will happen before her death as well as after. But for now, it is the duty of those who see the N in the stream of M’s to call attention in clarion shouts that this thing is not like the others.

Though one knows God is sovereign, one can still be alarmed that Moore’s power and influence is only growing as time goes on. Of late, in addition to the usual Bible travesties, Beth Moore’s advancement along the wide road has picked up some additional new litter by the side of the way. The litter is wokeness, relevance, and attention to worldly systems.

Perhaps feeling that there were no new theological worlds left to conquer, or perhaps the Bible world was growing stale for her, or maybe she just needed new friends, Moore has plunged into expounding on new vistas having nothing to do with Jesus. As Kris Williams (@Kdubtru ) said on Twitter this week, unrelated to Beth Moore,

Church history has repeatedly and clearly proven one thing: Once the highest view of Scripture is abandoned by any theologian, group, denomination, or church, the downhill slide in both its theology and practice is inevitable.

If one has tendencies to chronicle and track these things, (as I do) one can see that Moore’s downhill slide into ‘wokeness’ began earlier this year. In March to be exact.

Her non-sleepiness was followed by a sudden venture into political waters that same week, with this tweet,

This political awakening was followed by successive and incessant tweets and blogs taking on social justice, racism, and just rebuking the church wholesale. Perhaps you’ve noticed a distinct absence of Bible verses. There are references to biblical principles, and mentions of the Bible, but very few verses and hardly addresses at all. I’ve asked her about this. No response. Her social media is used quite often to bemoan secular woes now.

In April the MLK50 Conference happened. Moore was asked to be a speaker. Moore suddenly ‘woke’ to racial issues and began promoting them as a substitute for Gospel issues.

Moore’s foray into political ‘relevance’ was followed by the famous “Letter to My Brothers” in May of this year which accused basically every Christian man of not liking Moore and thus were misogynists hating on all women since the beginning of the church.

June saw a surge of interest in putting Moore up for president of the largest Protestant denomination in the world, the Southern Baptist Convention. Along the way discussions about women’s egalitarianism, social justice, and a host of other secular, fleshly issues ensued.

By October of this year the powerhouse secular media had taken note of Moore. Both The Atlantic and the Washington Post published lengthy stories about her. New vistas indeed. The Atlantic talked about how she is “taking on Trump”, and the Post talked about how she is “changing the face of evangelical leadership.”

Moore talks about how she stayed quiet for decades but now must speak up, she must. A cynic would say that she has amassed enough worldly goods and influence to risk stepping into secular arenas to conquer, and this seems to be working for her. Maybe the risk wasn’t so large after all.  In the spirit if the breathless titles on the TV show The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, here are three titles regarding Beth Moore’s latest delinquencies.

Beth Moore Challenges Da Man!
(But Metha Leanne Todd pushes back)

This past May’s “Letter to My Brothers” Moore takes exception, on behalf of all evangelical women whether they have asked her to or not, to the “way we women have been treated” in the visible church. And the way Moore herself has been treated, and according to Moore, it ain’t good. There’s a gulf, a huge gulf fixed, between male leaders and women leaders, and that gulf is filled to the brim with disrespect, maltreatment, and perhaps most mystifying of all, ‘peculiarities accompanying female leadership’. Clearly, this must stop.

Her letter did not go unnoticed. Not by the bigwigs, nor by the little people, like this articulate CNA CareGiver in Texas-

The rebuke went on, the above is just an excerpt. Full post here.

Hypocrisy Moment:

From Moore’s Open Letter to Brothers:

A few years ago I told my friend, Ed Stetzer, that, whenever he hears the news that I’m on my deathbed, he’s to elbow his way through my family members to interview me about what it’s been like to be a female leader in the conservative Evangelical world.

Interesting that a religious teacher who claims to have been a slave to Christ for 30+ years, says that when she’s on her deathbed, her only thought will be talking about herself and her life as a “leader,” and not the coming glories she will experience because of the cross and Christ.

Beth Moore battles misogyny!
(But Kathleen Peck pushes back)

Pushing hard on the ‘women oppressed’ mantra, this month Moore was featured in a lengthy podcast interview: Beth Moore on Misogyny: The blurb goes- “Moore reflects on her journey as a woman in ministry, how she developed an authentic style of teaching that ministers to thousands of women, and her battle against misogyny in the church.”

It is an encouragement to see women like Ms Todd above and Ms Peck below, with courage and insights pushing back against false teachers like Moore.

Yes!

Of Interest-
Wretched Radio’s report on Al Mohler’s take on a woman for President of the SBC (11 minutes)
Friel quote from that episode: “Liberalism always starts with women’s issues. It’s the easiest one to get compromise on.”

Hypocrisy Moment:

It’s interesting that Moore, President of her own Corporation, earning a multi-million dollar income, owner of a three-storey office building in Houston, co-signer of her own family trust, and accumulator of four luxury homes and a boat, who has for decades enjoyed acclaim, leadership, and a wide influence and platform within evangelicalism, a woman who is jetted by private plane by one of the largest Christian Companies in the world, (because she makes us so much money, says one LifeWay worker), now complains about the ‘injustices women in evangelicalism’ have endured.

Beth Moore Battles Racism!
(But Dr. Oakley pushes back)

I’d say more about the insipidness of the ‘shade of hands’ tweet, but Dr Oakley nailed it.

Hypocrisy Moment:

There are 10-members on the Board of Directors at Living Proof. Four of them are Moores; Beth, husband Keith, daughter Melissa and daughter Amanda. They are white. Daughter and Board Member Melissa co-writes and researches Bible studies with her mom, Beth. Is it that perhaps “white hands” and only “white hands” at Living Proof  are theologically shaping the clay?

Conclusion

Moore has been in the business of teaching Bible for many years. Moore says she has had some sort of extreme “existential crisis” for the last 18 months, then came out earlier this year as a social justice, women affirming, race promoting warrior rebuking one and all for her own perception of things wrong with the global church. She has been virtue signalling, something Jesus hated (Matthew  6:1, 2, 5, 7, 16, 23:14). Her interests now are politics and secular causes. Drift from her initial mission is obvious.

Only time will tell where this slide will bring Moore, but it is more imperative than ever to raise the cry that this woman is dangerous and should be avoided

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (Romans 16:17).

Posted in Uncategorized

Why responding to a discernment essay by saying “only God knows the heart” is totally wrong and displays a total lack of discernment

Posted on by elizabethprata

When I do a discernment essay, I am often treated to an old chestnut of a comment that is becoming practically standard for those without discernment to post:

He alone is sovereign and fully knows all hearts!

God is sovereign. God knows the heart. But we do too.

If a teacher’s doctrine has been proven false by comparing it with the Bible, then we DO know their heart! The Bible tells us this. Only God knows the hearts of the people, but if their teaching is not of the Lord, then the God who sees hearts has exposed those hearts to us by the verses of His word!

Their hearts are full of deceit. Colossians 2:8
Their hearts are filled with their own appetites. Romans 16:17-18
Their hearts are disguised with light. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Their hearts are full of greed. 2 Peter 2:3
Their hearts are ravenous. Matthew 7:15.
Their hearts are inwardly full of sensuality. Jude 1:4
Their hearts are full of secrets, such as destructive heresies. 2 Peter 2:1
Their hearts are full of intent to exploit. 2 Peter 2:3
Their hearts are full of fleshly passions. 2 Timothy 4:3
Their hearts are puffed up with conceit. 1 Timothy 6:4
His heart understands nothing. 1 Timothy 6:4
Their hearts are cunning and crafty. Ephesians 4:14
Their hearts serve the creature. Romans 1:25
Their hearts are slaves of corruption. 2 Peter 2:19.
Their hearts deny the Master who bought them. 2 Peter 2:1
Their hearts prophesy lies. Jeremiah 23:26

So whenever I expose a testimony as false or a teaching as false, or a teacher as false, using biblical proof, STOP saying that this is a bad activity because “only God knows the heart”. He does, that’s true, but He has shown us the heart of the false teacher in His word. He taught us this in His word for the purpose of being mature, discerning, and so we can learn for ourselves and also teach the younger to be edified and strong.