Glenn Beck is a False Prophet

I’ve written before about the problem I see with Evangelicals listening to and following the political vision of Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck has increasingly conflated his political views with his religious views. This causes me alarm for two reasons:

First, as someone who describes himself as an expert historian on the United States, Beck’s credibility should be questioned because he has chosen to be a Mormon, a religion that is demonstrably false historically. If he has so easily “drank the Kool-Aid” (his own words for his acceptance of the Mormon religion! -watch the video in the above link) concerning this false religion even when the historical facts are stacked against it, why should we accept his other conclusions on American history?

The second alarm is this: Increasingly, Beck is positioning himself as a cross between political commentator and religious prophet. On his FOX NEWS television show and especially on his radio program, Beck speaks as an evangelist – preaching against the evil darkness that is engulfing America that God has called him and his followers to battle. He sees himself as a modern-day prophet from God and that he is called to lead America out of this present darkness.

Beck has been promoting a new book that will be called “The Plan,” in which Beck says he will “provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps that each of us can take to play a role in" the "Refounding" of America. Beck will “unveil” The Plan “at the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall” on August 28, 2010 (the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech on those same steps).

I have no qualms with anybody seeking to create peaceful political movements based on their ideological convictions. This is what makes America great.

What I have concern about is this: Beck seems convinced to be on a mission from God. And he is telling his audience that if they are not with him and “The Plan,” then they are in danger of being against God and his Prophet.

Listen to this clip from April 20th Glenn Beck Program (Premiere Radio Networks):



Let me call it as I see it: Glenn Beck is a false prophet.

He is telling people that he and his Mormon friend and co-host Pat Grey are "feeling" something – a feeling that is coming from God. (Later in the clip, Beck says that he and Pat went home to pray and to open their Bibles. We must remember that the "Bible" that Glenn Beck and Pat Grey consults is the Book of Mormon).

Beck says to Pat, “'The problem is that God is giving a plan, I think, to me, that is not really a plan.' And I stopped myself because I didn’t want to utter those things out loud, if that’s not exactly right, and it’s not.”

"It’s not" what? At first I thought Beck was saying that it’s not a plan from God, but then he kept talking about it -- “The problem is that I think the plan that the Lord would have us follow is hard for people to understand.” So, The Plan is indeed from "The Lord," and it is indeed being revealed to Glenn Beck. So what he must be saying that "it's not" right that he thinks that The Plan is "not really a plan" (whatever that means!).

But even as Beck is making no sense in that statement, he still believes that he is the Prophet from God that will reveal God’s "Plan" to us! But he is working from an inner "feeling," and he believes that The Plan will be hard to understand. And so he asks his listeners, “I beg of you to help me get this message out, and I beg of you to pray for clarity on my part."

What is "The Plan?" We don't know the details yet, but Beck does say that "The Plan that He would have me articulate, I think, to you, is ‘Get behind me.’ And I don’t mean me, I mean Him. ‘Get behind Me. Stand behind Me.’”

For evangelicals who want to be involved in the political process, I think it is time to jettison Glenn Beck. He believes that his political views are directly from God. He is claiming to be a prophet. This is something that evangelicals must not stand with; and in fact, it is something that we must publicly stand against. We saw evidence of Beck's false gospel when he recently told his audience to leave their churches if they believed their churches taught “Social Justice.”

And now, Beck has crossed the line. He is presenting himself as a prophet from God.

He has the audacity to tell his audience to “Get on your knees! Turn to Him!” (What “Him” is Beck talking about? The false god of the Mormon faith?) and that this god is giving him “The Plan” and that the message of The Plan is "Get behind me.”

That phrase that Beck chose, I think, is telling: “Get behind me!”

There was a moment in Jesus’ ministry when one of his disciples said something really stupid, something contrary to God’s will. What did Jesus say to Peter? “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Amen.




I took the time to type out what he said below, so we do not miss what Glenn Beck is saying here:

…Yesterday, when I walked out of the studio, I looked at Pat and I almost said to Pat, I said, “I can feel it coming.” He said, “I know.” He said, “It’s just that, they are just, they are just strong in power and focus.” And I said, “It’s just, it’s darkness! I can just feel it coming.” And I, I started to say, I said, “The problem is, is that,” and I stopped. Because I don’t want to utter something like this without really thinking it through, but what I was about to say is, “The problem is that God is giving a plan, I think, to me, that is not really a plan.” And I stopped myself because I didn’t want to utter those things out loud, if that’s not exactly right, and it’s not. That time of reflection took me about thirty seconds as Pat stood there, going, “(inaudible) did he forget we were having a conversation?”

And I said, “The problem is that I think the plan that the Lord would have us follow is hard for people to understand. But I’m telling you, here’s what I feel with everything in me, and I... If you’ve listened to this program – oh, are they going to use this against me – if you’ve listened to this for a long time, you know who I am. And you know that many of things I’ve done and said that have put me in, you know, harm’s way one way or another, they always start at the same place, they always start at my gut or my heart, and then I figure it out as we go along. All the stuff that I feel has been important on the show has been things that I felt and didn’t understand.

I say, because of my track record with you who have been here for a long time. Because of my track record with you, I beg of you to help me get this message out, and I beg of you to pray for clarity on my part. The Plan that He would have me articulate, I think, to you, is “Get behind me.” And I don’t mean me, I mean Him. “Get behind Me. Stand behind Me.” I truly believe I have done years now of reading the Founders, their diaries, their letters, the Pilgrims, their diaries, their letters. I’ve read the first-hand letters; I’ve held them in my hand. The exchanges between the Founders, I’ve held their actual letters in my hand. I have seen it with my own eyes. And I will tell you that God was instrumental and they knew it! They knew they had very little to do with it! They just stood where they were supposed to stand! And they said the things that they were supposed to say as He directed! Some of them lost their way, some of them got it wrong, they got back and forth…they were human. But that’s what He’s asking us to do…is to stand – peacefully, quietly, with anger, quiet with anger, loudly with truth.

Faith is the answer. Get on your knees! Don’t let it take a September 11th. Please, get on your knees – I don’t care what church you go to, no church at all, I don’t care! Turn to Him!