Category 5
Verdict: Beth Moore is a priestess of the Social Justice Gospel
Preface
One of the more divisive names in evangelical subculture is Beth Moore. This verdict is a compilation of evidence weighing whether or not she is a false teacher. This is not an explanation as to why the Social Justice Gospel is heretical. For the purpose of brevity, as this post approaches three thousand words, this verdict is not intended to explain why this particular heresy is heretical. The resource for that can be found here. And this resource is the foundation for much of this assessment. Furthermore we suggest also reading our resource on the rating system. This verdict was initially a Category 3 but has been updated to a Category 5 based on the Social Justice Gospel findings compiled. This verdict does not present an exhaustive supply of evidence for the purposes of brevity and touching upon different areas of focus.
Associations with obvious heretics
One of the first areas to look at is associations. Beth Moore’s social media account follows several heretics, that are more obvious than she is accused of being. The list of those she follows on Twitter includes but is not limited to:
- Andy Stanley
- Kyle J Howard
- Christine Caine
- Rachel Held Evans
- Jen Hatmaker
- Karen Swallow Prior
- Jackie Hill Perry
- Jonathan Merritt
- Jemar Tisby
But the association with false teachers is most certainly not limited to social media where the influence is clear. She has had numerous television appearances with Joyce Meyer, Brian Houston, Joel, and Victoria Osteen on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the distribution channel that sustains the Prosperity Gospel. The Bible is clear on its instruction to not associate with heretics.
Core Audience
This examination is not done with everyone a verdict is requested for by readers.[1] However, it is corroborating evidence, though not decisive, for the conclusions made herein. In an era of social media, the concept of echo chambers is widely used. From observation a significant amount of Moore’s audience are accounts that affiliate themselves with theologically apostate denominations.[2] This is worth keeping in mind with the concept of preaching to the choir on social media.
Social Justice Gospel
The main portion of this verdict is focused on the questions of Beth Moore’s involvement on this issue. This portion will be divided into three questions: is the Social Justice Gospel heretical, is Beth Moore spreading the Social Justice Gospel, and is Beth Moore intentional or incidental in doing so?
Is the Social Justice Gospel heretical?
We advise reading this white paper on the Social Justice Gospel which is the framework for our declaration of this false gospel as a foreign religion from Christianity. Because of this, we are moving forward with the premise that the Social Justice Gospel is a heretical, thereby rendering this portion to three main questions.
For the record, Beth Moore has recently opined on this and would disagree. In a discussion with Janet Mefferd, she said this:
I reply in good will. Whether or not we share the same views on social justice, those I hold are because of the gospel of Christ & the Scriptures & not because of a departure from them. Where we agree, however, is on my poor & hasty judgment on the viral video. I am deeply sorry.
She views this as a secondary or perhaps tertiary issue. The Evangelical Dark Web recognizes that this is a gospel issue that threatens the church
Is Beth Moore spreading the Social Justice Gospel?
There is an exhaustive catalog to choose from to argue this claim. For instance, we could look at who Beth Moore associates with, her core audience, her changing stance on homosexuality, her egalitarianism. All of these are sections that have specific coverage and contribute to the larger compilations.
Critical Race Theory
Critical Theory, also referred to as Cultural Marxism, is the application of the Marxist dynamic of the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat dynamic to group dynamics ranging on several demographics. It’s atheistic in nature while also holding an idolatrous view of power. With regards to racism, it is a means to charge members of the body with sin they have not committed if they are white.[3]
I understand exactly what many of you meant in that it was the red blood of Jesus shed for our sins that saves us and not the color of his skin. I certainly agree with that. But to say the color of his skin doesn't matter is to disregard part of the eternal & perfect plan of God.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) July 28, 2020
This is the reductionist Christology where the race of Jesus is of significance, aside from fulfilling the prophesy and plan of God. Aside from that, Jesus’ melanin was likely indistinguishable from other Mediterranean civilizations like the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. Yet Beth Moore believes skin color to be important. This stems from the belief in Critical Race Theory which when paired with Christianity reduces Christ to a victim of oppression.
Sowing Division with baseless charges of racism in church
Beth Moore made the serious claim alleging a prevalence of white supremacy in the church. She has not backed up the claim with evidence or identified a perpetrator of racism in the church.
In case anyone else is asking who’s actually defending white supremacy. There are lots of ways to defend it. Some are just more passive. Some deny it’s even an issue. (What are you smoking??) We can’t be unclear any longer on this sickness.If you don’t see it, you’re not looking. pic.twitter.com/WtunpWHOhP
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) April 30, 2019
Because she made a serious allegation of sin but let it remain unsubstantiated, we conclude that this was sowing division for the sake of feeding her own agenda. The Bible instructs in Romans 16:17-18 to avoid such people. It is also important to note she can make baseless accusations of racism (which is a sin) by applying Critical Race Theory which asserts that being white makes one a racist. However if we accept the Cultural Marxist definition of racism and white supremacy, then we must conclude that these are not sins.[4]
Consider this quote by Beth Moore below:
If you’re gonna let a little name-calling keep you from standing up for what you believe according to the Word of God is gospel truth, you ain’t ready. White supremacy has held tight in much of the church for so long because the racists outlasted the anti racists. Outlast THEM.
They’re going to call you a Marxist, a liberal (their worst possible derision) & a leftist. They’re going to make fun of your “wokeness” & they’re going to say you’ve departed all faithfulness to the Scriptures. If you teach or preach, they’ll say you are a false teacher/prophet.
And they do this because it is effective. There will be people who believe them. And this is why it has worked for generations. The names in the name-calling may be different but the fear it triggers is the same. No servant of God wants to be seen as unfaithful. So we tone down.
Can’t say this strongly enough: Stay in your Bibles. Read the OT prophets & watch for verses noting God’s displeasure over injustice. Note divine judgment. Start w/ Isaiah. Pore over the Gospels & watch what compelled & repelled Jesus. Read Acts thru Revelation. Read, read, READ.
Stop being intimidated. Don’t enter into the name-calling war. Hold onto your heart as you stand firm. Jesus said a tree is known by its fruit. Gal 5:22-23 lists the fruit Jesus prioritizes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control.
The white supremacist way has produced terrible fruit. ENDURE. In regard to the ones who will believe you’re on the slippery slope, just keep serving Jesus faithfully. They are looking for you to go off the deep end in a few years. SO DON’T. Stay faithful to Jesus. Time’ll tell.
The reason why Beth Moore does not name names in not simply because she is erroneously throwing around accusations of sin. Beth Moore is using a Marxist definition of racism and white supremacy. It’s is also important to note that this is Beth Moore tripling down on the Social Justice Gospel after receiving a lot of recent pushback for it.
Standpoint Epistemology
Standpoint epistemology is the process by which, in this instance of Beth Moore, someone’s race or gender, impacts their theology. Consider this image below
Beth Moore asserts that she needs to expand her library to make sure nonwhite voices are represented. The context of Moore’s words affirm a belief that there is white theology and nonwhite theology. The underlying belief here is that a person’s race impacts their ability to see the truth of Scripture. This ignores hermeneutics and the training that anyone can receive to come to the proper interpretation of the Bible.
Conclusion
It is clear that Beth Moore is a proponent of Critical Race Theory, but it is worth noting that she is not the biggest name doing so within the Southern Baptist Convention.
Affirmation of homosexuality
Michelle Leslie in the summer of 2019 penned an open letter to Beth Moore asking her to clarify her position on homosexuality. This was after presenting recent evidence of Beth Moore being intentionally ambiguous on the issue. The key evidence that necessitated the open letter was further added to by Elizabeth Prata are:
- Public associations in person, at conferences, and on social media lauding people in the SSA and gay arenas, without accompanying warnings about the sin itself. This was discussed more explicitly in the Open Letter to Beth Moore that I and 5 other ladies signed and published, and was actually one of the reasons the question was originally put to Moore;
- Her refusal to answer a direct question as to whether homosexuality is a sin;
- Her writhing under the microscope, exhibiting behavior that slandered, taunted, and deflected while still not answering the simple question;
- The discovery that Moore had secretly deleted the entire discussion about overcoming homosexuality as a sin from her Kindle version of the book Praying God’s Word, re-published in 2009, and not explaining that deletion to her readers;
- Moore’s weak and emotional answer as to why she omitted the biblical discussion on how to overcome homosexuality;*
- Moore’s video.
*In in this letter she describes a young person reading a book in that says homosexuality is a sin and says it would be unbiblical to cause those feelings in someone.
The open letter to Beth Moore asked these 5 questions.
- Do you believe homosexuality is inherently sinful?
- Do you believe that the practice of the homosexual lifestyle is compatible with holy Christian living?
- Do you believe a person who dies as a practicing homosexual but professes to be a Christian will inherit eternal life?
- Do you believe same sex attraction is, in and of itself, an inherently sinful, unnatural, and disordered desire that must be mortified?
- Why have you been so silent on this subject in light of your desire to “teach the word of God?”
Instead of responding and answering these questions, Beth Moore blocked and made backhand comments about those who asked in the first place. Since the letter’s signing, Beth Moore has flip flopped on the issue which is documented by Michelle Lesley which is documented by Michelle Lesley.
Egalitarianism
Michelle Leslie, in her work on Beth Moore, documented:
Beth also preaches Sunday morning sermons to the entire congregation (including men) in churches (see also “preaching to men” link above). The screenshot below refers to Beth preaching the Mother’s Day Sunday morning service at the Tomball, Texas campus of her home church, Bayou City Fellowship, on May 12, 2019 (read more here).
One cannot deny that Beth Moore has a history of preaching to men (see below for a recent example). This alone does not make her a false teacher or a heretic, as it is a secondary biblical issue. However she is the darling of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC went to great lengths to combat women preaching during the Conservative Resurgence, because this issue was a proxy for the modernists within the church to spread their belief of Biblical errancy. But the issue has not gone away within the SBC despite the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.[5]
The issue of egalitarianism is perhaps the main driver of Moore on other issues where she has deviated from orthodoxy. Even this tweet promoting social justice was seeded in a belief in egalitarianism.[6]
This era will be one for the history books & I dang well will not have my great grandchildren seeing their foremother’s face on an article like this. Girls, you may be unwelcome in some circles to preach but carry a sign to peaceably protest & I promise your presence will preach. pic.twitter.com/bLsMmaLytI
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) June 7, 2020
The issue of egalitarianism is a launching pad for other bad doctrines. Critical Theory has a feminist branch which make this Marxist theory compatible with her egalitarianism.
Is Beth Moore knowingly or incidentally spreading a false gospel?
This question is worth asking because even the Apostle Peter was caught up in some false teaching when it came to the Judaizers. But make no mistake, this was a damnable heresy at the time in the early church.[7] Similarly the Social Justice Gospel is a damnable heresy, perhaps the greatest threat to the church, at least in America. There are three major prongs of this movement, Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, sexual immorality, and egalitarianism and feminism. Beth Moore is very much entrenched in her belief in egalitarianism. This opened the theological floodgate to teachings on Critical Race Theory and scrubbing her book’s words on homosexuality.
Part of this comes off as Beth Moore attempting appease the world. For instance, when Beth Moore outright slandered Nicholas Sandmann, this was a virtue signal going along with what the rest of social media and leftist media was doing. There was nothing to address, for the viral video was a nonstory, despite the rage.[8] Mary Beth Brown at the Western Journal writes:
When I heard about the settlement of the $250 million defamation lawsuit between The Post and the Christian pro-life student, I was instantly reminded of how shocked, embarrassed, and saddened I was when I saw what Moore had tweeted about Sandmann. I thought, wow, she sure is not what she pretends to be. But then the words of Christ came to mind, “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
What turned a popular and entertaining women’s Bible study teacher into a person who was triggered by a boy in a red MAGA hat with an uncontrolled response, like Pavlov’s dog, into an angry social justice warrior?
It is worth returning to the comparison with Peter and the Judaizers. The issue of gentiles becoming Christian was a novel issue in the first century. Even though the Judaizers were in the wrong, they were motivated by their own theological understanding of how to tackle this new phenomenon. But the issue of Marxism is hardly new. The Social Justice Gospel does not merely add works to the Gospel, it’s an alternative religion with its own original sin and repentance. The evidence clearly shows that in some capacity, Beth Moore dabbles in not one but three of this religion’s major attack fronts on Christianity.[9] Therefore, the final question on this matter is one of culpability. In the interest of charity it is necessary to ask: is it more charitable to assume Beth Moore is ignorant to the false gospel she is promoting or intentional? This is a debatable matter which only God knows the answer. This verdict will conclude the latter due to the overwhelming evidence of her perpetuating the false gospel and a demonstrable calculating behavior.[10] This calculation was not made in the first edition of this verdict, but to some degree this calculation is the difference between a Category Three and a Category 5.
Narcissistic Preaching
This section is largely taken from the article Beth Moore preached ‘happiness’ at Social Justice church
Regardless of how one may feel about that particular doctrinal issue [women preaching], the message preached by Beth Moore was substance of narcissism that should not be preached in any church by any pastor. The message focused on achieving personal happiness, her social media experience, some incoherent rant about humility an imprecise note on fellowship. Much of her sermon was aimed at shouting down her opponents. It was an unbefitting message of self-love, but not substantive to merit a video response like Steve Furtick’s modalism or Andy Stanley’s Marcionism.
The review of the sermon that Beth Moore gave denotes extremely narcissistic[11] preaching that ultimately focused on self-love and her personal opponents. The church she gave this sermon at is a believer in the Social Justice Gospel.
Poor Exegetical Teaching
This section is draws from Matt Slick at CARM who does not conclude that Beth Moore is a false teacher but instead places a recommendation against using her as a bible teacher.[12] This is just one example of the documented ones at CARM of exegetical errors.
Quote: “as stated in the introduction to this book, we may not always be sure God wills to heal us physically in this life of every disease or prosper us with tangible blessings, but He always wills to free us from strongholds. You will never have to worry about whether you are praying in God’s will concerning strongholds. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). (Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds, by Beth Moore, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, Tenn., 2009, p. 36, italics in original)
Response: The context of Gal. 5:1 is dealing with being under the law (Gal. 4:21). Paul contrasts children under the law and “children of promise” (Gal. 4:28). Paul was warning the Galatians about being enslaved to the Mosaic law, which is why he says in the next verse “… that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.” Beth Moore has improperly applied a verse, taking it out of its original context and meaning, and used it in a manner for which it was not intended — as the biblical context demonstrates.
A widely shared article titled A Pastor’s Wife Breaks Free of Beth Moore: A Testimony confirms Matt Slick’s analysis and further expands upon is citing
I researched Beth Moore for countless hours. I watched her teaching clips online. I checked multiple reliable sources, comparing all I found to Scripture. It led me to a shocking conclusion -Beth was not teaching sound doctrine.
Matt Slick’s findings also denounce false beliefs she practices.
We must be very careful when listening to a teacher. Beth Moore, in my opinion, is not to be trusted to properly teach from the word of God. She is leading many astray with her approval of contemplative prayer, personal revelations, and faulty biblical exegesis. Yes, I know that many claim to have been helped by her. That is fine, but the experience of feeling helped is not where truth lies. Rather, it is God’s word that is the standard of what is good and bad, not if we are helped through the world of pop psychology in Christian terminology. Therefore, I cannot endorse Beth Moore.
Motivation of Wealth?
The Bible speaks of wealth being a motivation for false teachers. Since Lifeway is a Southern Baptist entity, of which she is a benefactor, then perhaps the only reason Beth Moore stays in the SBC is because the money is good, or to infiltrate, because she clearly does not align with its teachings.
Conclusion
The cumulation of false teaching that Beth Moore dabbles in has made her one of the most public figures within the Southern Baptist Convention pushing the downgrade.[13] Those in the Southern Baptist Convention who oppose the trajectory of embracing Critical Race Theory are vehemently opposed by Moore. She has taken an adversarial position against theologically orthodox Baptists. Since the sufficiency of Scripture and the Social Justice Gospel are gospel issues, Beth Moore’s adversarial stance against orthodox Christians cannot be ignored.
Part of the issue with Beth Moore is her systemic pattern of leading a ministry, counter to scripture from preaching to men and associating with heretics. She refuses to address legitimate criticism of her teaching and makes baseless accusations of sin against fellow believers. She is propped up by the heresy peddling Lifeway.
12But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
1 Timothy 2:12-13 NASB
The application of Genesis 3 in 2 Timothy shows that the Bible interprets Eve as being deceived by Satan (though Adam defied God). The lesson from 2 Timothy 2:12-13 is that Paul does not permit women to be elders in the church because of the susceptibility for deception. Beth Moore’s ministry is a case study on the negative application of this verse. It started off dabbling in egalitarianism and is presently deep in the false Social Justice Gospel. For these reasons, she is a Category 5.
Updated 10/2019
Updated 08/2020 – a new version
[1] This was not an audience requested verdict, as this was initially done before Evangelical Dark Web started taking requests.
[2] Episcopalians would most certainly fall under this category.
[3] Again we will refer to the white paper on the Social Justice Gospel
https://evangelicaldarkweb.org/social-justice-gospel/
[4] Under Critical Race Theory, racism is defined as a system; therefore, racial minorities cannot be racist. If a racial minority cannot commit racism, then one can easily conclude that racism is not a sin. White supremacy is equally broadened to be systemic rather than ideological. Biblical ideals such as individualism and meritocracy are seen as white supremacy. See White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo or the video series on Evangelical Dark Web’s YouTube page rebutting the book chapter by chapter.
[5] The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 codified complementarianism into the Southern Baptist Convention. Despite this, not all SBC churches are compliant.
[6] In a reply to this tweet someone suggests “Also, find a new circle” to which Beth Moore replied “Yes!”
https://twitter.com/BethMooreLPM/status/1269486663232864258?s=20
[7] See Acts 15
[8] I would contend that there was nothing noteworthy about the original incident involving Nicholas Sandmann, until it became apparent that leftist media outlets doctored a video to defame his character.
[9] CRT/I, sexual immorality, and egalitarianism / feminism
[10] Beth Moore is far more calculating in her words and behavior than for instance a Steven Furtick or a more shock jock type teacher.
[11] What makes this especially narcissistic is that Beth Moore is inflating
[12] This conclusion is not very recent
[13] See “By What Standard” Founders.org/cinedoc
7 Responses
Thank you for your diligence, Beth Moore has sunk more deeply into worldly culture than I thought. Celebrity status and popularity are rare among those who preach, “Pick up your cross and follow Me”.
We need more brave brethren to stand for the whole counsel of God.
Press on brother.