Counter

Pageviews last month

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Is Mike Pearl an Annointed Preacher?

Now, even asking that question will probably turn off some of my readers, but it's just a title, okay? The real purpose of this post is to critique Michael Pearl's approach to exegesis, which is sadly flawed. This isn't the first time I've addressed this question, but perhaps it will be my last.

Now that what was once known as the Cane Creek Community Bible Baptist Church has gone defunct, Mike directs his preaching energies into the video camera set up at "The Door," his small storefront studio in Lobelville, Tennessee. I'll confine my commentary to the opening minutes of his first video, where he begins to expound on Romans 1:1-17.


Mike starts out his Door series by promising, "You're going to learn things about the Bible you never imagined were in it." Alas, we just saw one of the red flags warning us of a cult: Special Revelation.

And Mike does not disappoint, either: Only three minutes into his sermon, he informs us that the Apostle Paul must have been the son of a Roman, "maybe even a Roman soldier."

And this, less than a minute after saying, "The Authorized Version is what we will be studying. We're not going to correct it or change it, We're going to believe every word that's in it, just like it's written."

But what does the Authorized Version say about Paul's father?

"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question."  --Acts 23:6

Paul's father was no Roman soldier; he was a Pharisee from Jerusalem. We read in the same chapter of Acts that Paul's sister's family lived in Jerusalem. Whatever Paul's father was doing in Tarsus when Paul was born, we don't know; but we do know him to be a Jew, specifically a Benjamite. 

Now, how could Michael Pearl possibly make such a blatant mistake?  I don't want to say, but I will say this: he's not a Bible Teacher worth following.

2 comments:

  1. SO sick of this. You can google ANYONE including yourself and find other so called "scholars" finding fault with your exegesis. There is LITERALLY no one immune to microscopic analysis and the subsequent online stake-burning. Physician heal thyself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How could Michael Pearl make such a mistake? Very simple, he's a human being. What a completely ridiculous thing to take issue with, and question the validity of his acumen as a Bible teacher over. I have plenty of problems with Pearl on doctrinal issues, this though? This is a pathetic attempt to slander someone who has tried for many years to get others to accept Christ. Pearl is a very knowledgeable teacher, and absolutely worth listening to. No one should be followed. Second, Pearl did not claim to have any private interpretation, so that's just a straw man attempt to attack him for something he did not say. The Bible is loaded with things that are overlooked by most, that is just a fact. And last, if you are going to try to take someone down for being a fraudulent teacher, come with something of substance. The real purpose of this post is to attack and slander a fellow believer, label him, and attempt to diminish him in the perspective of others. I just so happened to listen to the message in question the other day, and I too thought the man made a mistake by saying that Paul's father was a roman soldier. So what? Mr. Pearl made a mistake, and I have heard him make others, but he is a solid teacher, well worth learning from, and he always encourages others to do their own study, not take his word for anything. That is not the prerogative of any cult leader.

    ReplyDelete

One comment per viewer, please--unless participating in a dialogue.