BETH MOORE THE MYSTIC
By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Jan 11, 2012 in Beth Moore, Current Issues, Features, Southern Baptist Convention
The non-denominational outreach Apprising Ministries was blessed to have been a leader among the soldiers against error who have pioneered the mission field of online apologetics and discernment ministry.
It’s been a great run and I remain thankful to have had this time thus far despite the often harsh criticism. Sadly, the current new downgrade of the Christian community has now caused works like this to also take much friendly fire.
As spiritual darkness spreads, the false philosophy postmodernism has made this a rather gelatinous generation scared of its own spiritual shadows and terrified to make theological stands of virtually any kind. I have said before that, if an Arius were to arise today, I’m guessing it wouldn’t be very long before he’d be offered a publishing deal with an evangelical publishing house…say…like Zondervan.
Even the Protestant Reformation is up for grabs now in spiritually spineless evanjellyfish. For example, we have the SBC’S Beth Moore Merely Pretending To Be Protestant, which we’ll return to in a moment. First however, the record is clear that the popular Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore does not hold to cessationism, which she says is “an extreme teaching in the Body of Christ.”
See for yourself:
This clip, and the last two following later, come from her 2002 series Believing God (BG); which as you can see below is still promoted today by Lifeway—the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention:
Being that this LifeWay-sponsored BG Online Bible Study is from 10 years ago, we are safe to assume that the SBC does not feel what you’re about to hear from Beth Moore is out of line with the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It’s against this backdrop here I’ll remind you again that just a bit ago Beth Moore And John Piper Lead Lectio Dovona-Lite At Passion 2012.
As I pointed out in Beth Moore Seeking Direct Revelation From God At Passion 2012 Moore tells us herself she was apparently doing so along with the other speakers:
I didn’t take many pictures during the sessions because I didn’t want to be distracted and miss God. I wanted to worship and to receive a word myself! I know you get that.
(Online source, emphasis mine)
It seems to me that if she meant in Scripture then she wouldn’t have to worry about “missing” what God has to say and can “receive a word” from God at any time, no? Be that as it may, today Beth Moore looks as if she’s become aware of this kind of recent criticism as she tweets:
Well, I must say this really is pretty much the very definition of the word. However, leaving that aside, Moore would continue with her Twitter discussion concerning her fear:
Here’s the finish:
Apparently Beth Moore’s placing herself among the teachers and leaders getting “hit constantly & misunderstood.” I can only speak for what I’ve written; but I’m hard-pressed to see where I’ve done so with her. Take for example the clip below from the Be Still DVD released in 2006 by 20th Century Fox. She’s seen praising a Roman Catholic mystic and includes herself when speaking of Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP), which is a form of meditation in an altered state of consciousness.
You’ll hear Moore use contemplative-speak concerning “a true lover of God” to lavish praise upon this person who “spoke about practicing God’s presence” in CCP. I still wonder why Moore apparently felt that she needed to obscure the fact she’s speaking of apostate Roman Catholic Carmelite mystic Nicholas Herman (1614-1691) aka “Brother Lawrence.”
I ask again; by what criterion can someone who died a slave to a false gospel be considered a true lover of God? Now, as far as my saying Beth Moore receives—at least on occasion—direct revelation from God apart from Scripture, it’s pretty hard for her to prove me mistaken when she says things like this:
What God began to say to me about five years ago, and I’m telling you it sent me on such a trek with Him, that my head is still whirling over it.
He began to say to me, ‘I’m gonna tell you something right now, Beth, and boy you write this one down, and you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it:
“My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief. My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief.” And He said, “Startin’ with you.”
Listen for yourself:
In closing this, for now, it’s crystal clear below that Beth Moore is not talking about the Bible, but rather, is speaking about some sort of vision allegedly given to her by God:
to beg to differ with people that are ten times smarter than I am. But I want to say to you I see something different than that. I see God doing something huge in the body of Christ. I do not know why I have had the privilege to get to travel around, see one church after another…one group of believers after another, interdenominationally, all over this country, but I have gotten to see something that I think is huge.
And I’ll also suggest to you I am not the only one. And tonight I’m going to do my absolute best to illustrate to you something that God showed me out on that back porch. He put a picture…I’ve explained to you before I am a very visual person…so He speaks to me very often of putting a picture in my head.
And it was as if I was raised up looking down on a community, as I saw the Church in that particular dimension– certainly not all dimensions, not even in many, but in what we will discuss tonight, the church, as Jesus sees it, in a particular dimension.”
(Online source, emphasis mine)
I told you elsewhere this is from her BG series, which I have, so I know it isn’t taken out of context. To anyone but someone blinded by devotion to Beth the following is crystal clear:
1) Moore is speaking of the universal Church, i.e. the Body of Christ; 2) she’s claiming extra-biblical revelation via a literal vision God showed her, and 3) it supposedly enabled her to see the Church “as Jesus sees it.”
There’s simply no way around this, period. It’s very important you keep that in mind as you watch this final video clip, which is taken from a section after God Himself allegedly gave Beth Moore a literal vision that afforded her the ability in a “particular dimension” to see the Body of Christ “as Jesus sees it.” Now watch as Moore illustrates the “something different” she sees “God doing” in the Church, i.e. “the body of Christ.”
You’ll see she includes the Roman Catholic Church:
A couple of quick questions come to mind: Is God really now ok with the Roman Catholic Church anathematizing His Gospel? Were the Protestant Reformers really wrong? I think we’re safe to answer both: No; which means, Beth Moore did not receive that vision from God and we need to reject it.
It is a vivid example why we should practice the proper Christian spirituality of sola Scriptura and turn away from charismania such as this. And in the end, if Beth Moore doesn’t wish to be associated with mysticism then she needs to stop creating confusion, repent, and retract these teachings. Publicly and immediately.
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