I have been quite busy as of late, but there is one issue that I feel is dire enough that I have to come back and just call it as I see it. Oprah Winfrey has flipped her lid!
I am not an Oprah fan. I think, or should I say thought, that she had a good heart, called herself a Christian, and actually tried to help people when she could. So I was rather unaware of her crusade to bring the human race to a higher state of consciousness. A co-worker brought this to my attention.
Oprah has a radio show, for those that are like me and really didn’t pay too much attention, on XM radio; the show is called Oprah and Friends. Well the big stink came when Oprah began to promote a book entitled “A Course in Miracles”; not only did she promote the book, but it is now a daily lesson on her show. This book is said to be a Christian book, but in looking deeper, there is a lot to question about this!
I will admit, I have not read the book and have added this to my to-do list. My church wants me to teach a Sunday School Series on “Christianity vs. Modern Media” and this, in my opinion is WAY BIGGER than Harry Potter or Da Vinci Code put together! But let me share with you what I know so far.
Looking on the Barnes and Noble site at “A Course in Miracles”, I see a very tiny description and no excerpts, no customer reviews allowed, no….nothing but this:
When Columbia University professor of medical psychology Helen Schucman began hearing a voice, she transcribed what she heard. She eventually identified the voice that she was hearing as none other than Jesus, delivering a message of compassion and forgiveness for the modern world. This book sold millions of copies worldwide and is currently used in thousands of study groups.
OooooooooK! So Jesus Christ spoke to this woman directly. He did not speak to anyone else like he did after his death when he visited hundreds to spread the message. Nope! He just talked to Helen Schucman…and we are buying it hook, line, and sinker! Does that not seem a little odd to you right there? Why are we not questioning this more? I will leave that point alone for now simply because this is against what the Bible teaches us about the message from Christ. Even for the Spiritual Gift of speaking in tongues it says there will be someone there to translate, meaning two people! But we should just accept that when Helen began “hearing voices” it is Jesus himself. I have my doubts.
To make it seem even more realistic, she breaks the book into verses and such just like the Bible. And from my internet research about this book, mind you I have not read it myself yet, it appears that the book teaches more about you are god and can forgive your own sins and move on. Well if that is true, why the need for Jesus Christ to die for our sins and then come back to tell a single woman….”nope, didn’t mean it! I did that for fun; you can forgive yourself!” As a Christian, I have to call this for the blasphemy that I see it as.
Now, Oprah did not stop there! She has put her “Oprah Book Club” stamp of approval on a new book called “New Earth” which also is being preached on her “Oprah and Friends” XM radio show. Again, I have not read this book and again it is on my to-do list. However, this time, the wonderful folks at Barnes & Noble.com have included an excerpt from the book which is chapter 1 and the “Purpose for this Book”. Just from the first two sentences of Chapter 1, you can see this is not a Christian book!
Earth, 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. Prior to this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary transformation in the life of plants, the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of years.
From this you can see he believes in evolution over creation. And then he goes on to say some things evolve and some don’t…. that goes against the very principle of evolution…
Most crawling reptilians, the most earthbound of all creatures, have remained unchanged for millions of years.
Some, however, grew feathers and wings and turned into birds, thus defying the force of gravity that had held them for so long. They didn’t become better at crawling or walking, but transcended crawling and walking entirely.
Within the “Purpose for this Book” section, he clearly calls Jesus a mortal man and merely a “messenger”
The messengers—Buddha, Jesus, and others, not all of them known—were humanity’s early flowers.
Be very careful my Christian Brothers and Sisters! This is not a good thing since Oprah TV show alone is sitting at about 10 million viewers a day, and then you must add in the XM listeners and so forth. My own wife will by a book based on that “Oprah Book Club” stamp, so that in itself may trick someone into reading it. I must say my wife would know this was junk just by reading the cover though!
You can see both of these show sections on her XM site at http://www.oprah.com/xm/xm_landing.jhtml
We must spread the word, Oprah is raising up false prophets and spreading completely untrue filth and labeling it Christianity to make a few bucks!
…thanks for the warning! I’m going to take a closer look – -
-cs
http://chrisschellenberg.com/
I will say a few things.
1. I believe in a round about way that Oprah is looking for God, not found him yet mind you, just looking.
2. Ms. Schucman should have stated what the message of Christ was on the flap of the book.
3. Incidentally, Jesus spoke to Paul, and He still speaks to individuals. Many people dream about Him. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit can do all things! No one can bar them from speaking to people if they want to.
Berry Like Gold
http://berryrose.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/berry-like-gold
Because Oprah is not a Christian, I consider her to be dabbling. The woman has everything except God. Let us pray that she finds him.
She never said she was a Christian and I don’t belive she is. It is up to us as Christians to beware of false teachings. Thanks for the book warning. It is amazing what people pass off as Christianity!
I have read the Course in Miracles, twice. I also read the teachers manual and the other section of the three section trilogy that is about application. It is, no matter what one’s religious orientation, a crock. As far as Tolle’s book, I can’t comment as I have not read it. I read his first book, the Power of Now. It has some good ideas, but not Christian by any means.
Please do yourself a favor and read the books that you are so afraid of before you continue to comment on them. I love the course in miracles and have been reading it for over twenty years. I love the bible and have been reading it regularly for my entire life. I read them both daily. They both invoke the presence of God, they both light up my heart with love and gratitude and renewed appreciation for each and every human being alive today whom these books speak to. God is love. We are here to be instruments of this love. We are here to live that love, to forgive that we might belong to the peace that passes all understanding and pass it along. I was somewhat leery twenty years ago when I first started studying the “course”. So leery that I acquired the entire bible on tape and listened to it for hours every day as I was reading the course and doing the workbook lessons. That year was truly transformational for me. I nearly died from my worldly ways and with the help of those two books I was literally totally changed, back on my walk with God, the Holy Spirit guiding my ways, through love, bringing me peace and understanding and the sincere desire to bring love to those whom are still frightened, living without the Holy Spirit, harming each other. My life since has been a testimony of the amazing redemptive power of God. Jesus died so that we may LIVE. Live to be love and be loved. He opened up this possibility. Eckhart Tolle’s New Earth is a wondrous teaching with the potential of waking up those whom are caught up in the ways of the world and helping them to return to their true nature of love. It’s a beautiful book. God is surely pleased with Oprah and Eckhart’s willingness to share his love. There ability to gather hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world together at the same time to all “be still and know that I am God” is phenomental and can only bless. I participated in the ten week online study group with Eckhart and the hundreds of thousand others whom are awakening to the promises of Jesus, experiencing the comforter he left us and becoming more alive in his ways. Thank you Oprah for allowing God so much time and bringing us all together to honor his presence simultaneously. It’s been a powerful experience. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to share with all the world the power of our awesome God. thank you, thank you, thank you. Mary
I made a big point to say that I have not read ‘A Course in Miracles’ yet and there is little information about that book. But I have read the first chapter of ‘New Earth’ and will be picking up these two books for further study.
Based off the first chapter of ‘New Earth’, I can say with confidence that the book is not Biblically sound. And with Oprah’s comments, such as in the video on the other post, I really have to get concerned that she is leading people away from the Biblical Christ and to her own manifestation of Christianity.
I am not saying that the message of love each other and some of their other points are bad ways to live your life. My issue is that they are pushing their own new age postmodern beliefs and calling them Christianity, which is clearly not. Add to this is her vast popularity and influence, and she will lead many blind sheep away from the true message of Jesus Christ.
I was reading a blog today that was suggested to me and he brings about awonderful line from Spiderman: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Oprah is not showing that responisbility to the true word of God and that is the issue.
I hope you are able to gain as much from the books as I have. Many people whom participated in the online course with Oprah and Eckhart found enormous gains from reading the book. Many Christians found that after reading A New Earth, they were able to read the Bible and gain a much deeper connection to the scriptures. It did not take away from their love of God but brought them closer to Him. I watched the entire ten week program. I saw so many people all over the world grow in wisdom and clarity. I saw and heard so many people become more focused on their spiritual nature and return to the true message of love. I commend Oprah for allowing this sharing to happen. What a gift she is to the world. The world is a much better place as a result of her sharing. I’m sure the Lord is smiling upon her.
Well as I have said I have read the two sections (not a complete chapter and B&N preview lead me to believe). I have already marked up several passages that are not biblically based and are really nothing more than his opinion. I am planning to go over this book, chapter by chapter as I read it…mind you I read a bit slow because I am usually running around doing things in real life. =0)
I do not have a problem with anyone telling people to be nice and play well with others; that is just a good way to live. But when someone of Oprah’s status starts spouting off these new age doctrines and passing it off as modern Christianity and fooling Christians from the path God intended, I have issue.
you’re free to have your issues. Oprah is doing a wonderful thing. She is bringing the message of Love to the masses. I have been reading the bible and the course in miracles both for twenty plus years. They are both beautiful and true. Oprah is not leading blind sheep. The blind sheep are the ones following organized religion which has become very non-christ-like. Jesus said it’s in everyone of us. All the things I do, you can do and more. This is the age of miracles. The miracle is love. We can love one another as he loved us. We can open our hearts to our indwelling Christ presence. Oprah is a profound bearer of light in this world so sorely in need. God is working through her. I honor her for listening to the truth and using her influence in such a positive way. She has done more for this earth in the last few months than you or I can ever hope to do. Yeah Oprah. Praise the Lord. She is a true christian, acting christ-like and following his real vision not the dogma that has developed since he lived and died for us so that we might know the truth, that we might live a life of abundant joy. She’s living the truth. She’s helping others’ to discover the indwelling christ presence within their own hearts. “It’s within you” Jesus assured us. Oprah is helping people to discover this. She is not leading people away from God but closer to him.
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John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
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Oprah Winfrey: There couldn’t possibly be only one way with millions of people in the world!
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When Oprah denounces Jesus Christ as the way to Heaven, which Jesus himself has said He is the only way, then Oprah is no longer practicing Christianity. It really is that simple. The only organized religion that I am quoting is the Bible that you are carrying.
Again, I do not have a problem that they are telling people to live good lives. The problem is that Oprah is not practicing Christianity, she is not promoting Christian theology, but yet she claims she is and is drawing people from the path that the Bible has set before us.
http://beyondfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/godtubecom-pray-for-oprah/
I believe that when Jesus said that… he meant the only way to get to heaven is to be Like him. Through his example, be the love that he is teaching. What else could he have meant? You can’t knock on his door then take the elevator to heaven. You can only accept him into your heart and become like him. Thus, through his example we can attain the state he himself claimed we are capable of. Oprah is not denouncing Jesus Christ in any way, shape or form. I watched every show. She is promoting him. I have heard so many beautiful testimonies about this book “the new earth” bringing people closer to God. Bringing people to a deeper understanding of their own church’s teaching. And best of all, inspiring them to return to their churches. Many, many disillusioned people have found a renewed interest in opening their hearts to the love that is inevitably inside them. They now want to return to the church. They want to see the Christ vision manifested on this earth and they are now more willingly following in his ways.
So you are saying that no matter what your religion, no matter what you call God, no matter what faith, or no matter what you believe, you proclaim, as long as you live the best life possible then you are saved.
That really isn’t what the Bible teaches. Sorry.
As for A New Earth, I am almost done with my review of Chapter 1. You can discuss it on that post in a little bit.
Read what this guy says ( http://unrhymeable.blogspot.com ) I think he has it right. I want to know more about this writer. Maybe we need to be stronger Christians. Muslims hate over cartoons, we don’t want to be seen like that do we.
Argh! I had this nice comment all typed out and lost it because my session timed out. LOL
The basics of it was this. The author of the post is correct that there is a lot of evil in this world that we don’t see or choose not to see; and we should do something about it. True fact there.
Does the blood diamonds have any weight on Oprah and Tolle leading people away from Christ? Nope!
Has anyone called for a burning at the stake for Oprah? Not that I have seen and if you read my letter to Oprah, you would see that is clearly not the case here. I just feel people should be very aware that the things she is teaching as Christianity are actually far from it.
Do we lump all non-believers into some hate group that we need to attack as that author suggests? No. There are some that might, but you will not find that here.
Finally I will end with my main thought from all of this. When someone of Oprah’s media power begins to pull people from the Jesus Christ by twisting and misrepresenting the Bible, then we need to stand up and pull back. I hope Oprah does find a biblical basis to preach from. That would be great and do so much good it is not even funny. But right now, she is leading the flock astray.
IMO, Eckarht Tolle’s New Earth isn’t inconsistent with Christianity. I’m certain it isn’t inconsistent with many Christian churches’ view of Christianity.
When Christ said “I am The Way and the Light,” there was no New Testament, and no Church. It is Christ, and not the Church or the New Testament that is the way and the light.
You are 100% correct that Jesus is speaking of himself when he said “I am the way”, however Tolle tries to change it to “what Jesus really meant was my(Tolle’s) view on enlightenment”. There are good points in Tolle’s book and things in there that many Christians should consider, but the book itself actually leads people away from Jesus Christ and God to follow Tolle’s own views instead.