The Church of Oprah Winfrey (Part 1)

The Church of Oprah Winfrey (Part 1)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

Some people wish to be “religious” or “spiritual,” but they do not wish to follow the Holy Scriptures. They reject the Church that Jesus built, and establish in its place their own brand and concept of “church.” Hundreds of human religions have been formed from the rejection of Bible truth. Some of these have been fairly inconsequential, while others have affected millions of people. The more popular, charismatic, wealthy and influential the founder/leader of the new movement, the larger and faster growing that movement.

One of the newest of these religious movements is that of the talk show host, Oprah Winfrey. In her determination to help people with their problems, Oprah has delved into the spiritual realm. And while Oprah may have helped a lot of people through various psychological hardships, she is no prophetess. To the contrary, her new concepts of God amount to blasphemy. Oprah has the help of prominent new age philosophers like Eckhart Tolle, whose works are prominently featured on her website. Tolle speaks and writes much about “enlightened perception” and “conscious awakening.” His concepts bear a striking resemblance to those of Buddhism. God is not seen as a transcendent personal being, but as a feeling. Heaven is not a real place, but a state of mind. Oprah Winfrey said, “God, in the essence of all consciousness, isn’t something to believe, God is, and God is a feeling experience and not a believing experience. If religion and God for you is about believing, then it is not truly God” (Oprah Winfrey, In a Recorded Interview With Eckhart Tolle).

Oprah's "God" is not a supreme being, but a supreme essence and feeling. This is completely contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The Bible teaches that God’s existence is independent of man’s thoughts, feelings and actions (Acts 17:24-29). God is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), and He does not change (Malachi 3:6). He preexisted the universe (Genesis 1:1).

Oprah’s religion also denies the concept of sin. And with no sin, there is no need for any type of sin sacrifice. Her religion focuses upon the development of a certain mental state that is free of negative thoughts. One can see how this new religion has such an appeal to its millions of followers. There is no doctrine to learn, no commands to be obeyed and no risk of damnation. (More to come…)

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.