This is heartbreaking

A while ago I wrote about finding a book called Hell? Yes! by Robert Jeffress. I said that I would post any interesting quotes I found. I honestly don't want to, but some people asked me why I hadn't yet, so here they are. Normally I can laugh at naive heresy like this, but this time it just made me sad. Here is a man with a giant following in Wichita Falls, Texas, who is funny, articulate, and obviously loves God, but he is so misguided that he feels the need to say offensive and hurtful things. He really believes that he is doing God's work, but it's writing like this that pushes more people away from Christianity than it draws in.

Now Jeffress isn't wrong on everything. In fact, most of the time, he's just a little misguided. His beliefs are shared by most people I know, and I believed some of them at one point or another. What struck me about Jeffress wasn't how wrong he was, but how arrogant and pharisaical he was.






Intro: Wimp-Free Christianity
"To be blunt, I'm sick and tired of wimpy Christians, and they're all around us. For example:

• A Christian leader is interviewed on a popular talk show and asked whether a moral Muslim is going to hell. He responds, "That's not for me to decide. We must let a good and loving God make that determination." 
• A Christian mother is invited to offer prayer at her PTA meeting and closes her prayer with "In Your name" instead of "In Jesus's (sic) name" so as to not offend non-Christians in the audience."

Chapter One: Every Other Religion is Wrong

"The greatest evil in today's culture is not theft, rape, or murder. It is intolerance."

"The Scriptures teach that God will reveal Himself to those who sincerely want to know Him. As we saw in Romans 1, every person has received a knowledge of the true God through nature. Just by looking into the sky, any person can surmise that there is a powerful Creator-God. As my former seminary professor Dr. Charles Ryrie used to say, 'While such knowledge is not enough to save a person, it is enough, if rejected, to condemn a person.'"

"(We preacher types like to build toward climax whenever possible.)"

Chapter Two: God Is Ultimately Responsible for Suffering

There isn't really anything quotable in this chapter, but I wanted to show the title anyway.

Chapter Three: God Sends Good People to Hell

(About Jesus' parable about poor man Lazarus) "Many believe that since Jesus used a real name, Lazarus, this is probably a true story rather than a parable."

"Every human creature has been declared guilty, has been sentenced to eternal death, and is simply awaiting final execution in the lake of fire. Those whom God pardons are the recipients of his mercy, and those who experience hell are the recipients of his justice. But neither group is treated unjustly." 

"God has revealed to this little girl the truth of His existence through nature. On a moonlit African night, she can look up into the sky and know there must be a Creator. While a belief in God alone is not enough to save that ten-year-old girl, it is a starting place for her to receive a deeper understanding of God. The examples of Cornelius and the Ethiopian eunuch strongly suggest that those who respond to such a basic knowledge of God will be given further insight into the gospel of Christ."  --So any child who dies a non-Christian didn't want to be saved enough.

"When He comes again He will, without any hint of remorse or regret, pronounce the final sentence on all who have rejected Him."

Chapter Four: Homosexuality Is a Perversion

One of Jeffress's friends brought his gay daughter in for counseling:

The next afternoon Susan, an attractive and articulate high-school senior, came into my office. I remembered years earlier when she had made her profession of faith in Christ and I had baptized her. 

          'You don't really want to be here, do you?' I asked.

          She shook her head.

          I assured her of the confidentiality of our conversation and began by assessing her spiritual condition. Perhaps Susan really was not a Christian and that explained her homosexual behavior (emphasis mine). 'If you were standing before God and He were to ask you, 'Why should I let you into heaven?' what would you say?'

          Without a moment's hesitation, she answered, 'Because I've trusted in Christ as my Savior.' Strike one. 

          Let me ask you a personal but very important question. Were you ever molested as a child?'

          'No, never,' she answered. Strike two.

          Since Susan had been reared in a strong Christian home and had been actively involved in an evangelical church that emphasized biblical doctrine, certainly she must feel some conflict about her actions. 'How do you think God feels about your homosexual activity?'

          After a momentary hesistation, she said, 'I understand now that God created me with these desires, desires that I have had since I was a little girl. For years I have been miserable trying to deny those feelings and have seriously contemplated suicide. But now that I have accepted who I am, I am happier than I have ever been in my life!' Strike three.

Chapter Six: Husbands Are to Be the Leaders of Their Families

"Anything in nature with two heads is a freak, and anything with head is dead!"

"Nothing in the Bible prohibits a woman from leading a corporation, commanding a battalion of soldiers, or serving as president of the US. The only two arenas in which a woman is to submit to male leadership are in the home and in the church."

Chapter Seven: America is a Christian Nation
"There were no Muslims on the Mayflower!"

"In Vidal v. Girard's Executors the justices said the argument of parity was fallacious. One does not have to treat all religions equally in the classroom. Why not? Because other religions (like deism) are "infidelities." America is "a Christian country," the Court affirmed!"
(He loves exclamation points...)