Not recommended teachers/authors/speakers

Early in 2016, Michelle Lesley compiled a list of women teachers, speakers and authors that should be avoided like the plague. In October she added several women to the list (here). There’s no guessing necessary as to why Michelle doesn’t recommend certain high profile Christians because she includes examples of their flawed teaching; likewise, she names some of the wolves those on the list choose to partner with. Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Victoria Osteen and Christine Caine, to name a few.  The Bible urges believers to do their homework (Acts 17:11) for the reason that “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1).

Now take a look at Michelle’s list:

I get lots of questions about particular authors, pastors, and Bible teachers, and whether or not I recommend them. Some of the best known can be found above at my Popular False Teachers tab. Below are some others I’ve been asked about recently, so I’ve done a quick check (this is brief research, not exhaustive) on each of them.

Generally speaking, in order for me to recommend a teacher, speaker, or author, she has to meet three criteria:

a) She cannot currently and unrepentantly preach to or teach men in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12, nor can she currently and unrepentantly be living in any other sin (for example, cohabiting with her boyfriend or living as a homosexual).

b) She cannot currently and unrepentantly be partnering with or frequently appearing with false teachers in violation of 2 Corinthians 6:14ff.

c) She cannot currently and unrepentantly be teaching false doctrine.

I am not very familiar with the women listed below and have not had the opportunity to examine their writings or hear them speak, so most of the “quick checking” I did involved items a and b (although in order to partner with false teachers (b) it is reasonable to assume their doctrine is acceptable to the false teacher and that they are not teaching anything that would conflict with the false teacher’s doctrine). On a few of these, I have also enlisted the help of theologically sound friends who are more familiar with these women than I am.

Just to be clear, “not recommended” is a spectrum that runs from “I would not label this person a false teacher because her doctrine is generally sound, but because of some red flags I’m seeing with her, you won’t find me proactively endorsing her or suggesting her as a good resource. There are better people you could be listening to.” (Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Kay Arthur would fall under this category) on one end, to “This person is a complete heretic whose teachings may lead you to an eternity in Hell. Run!” (Joyce Meyer and Rachel Held Evans would fall under this category) on the other end. Most of the teachers I review fall somewhere in the middle (leaning toward the latter).  Continue reading