Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church of Dallas
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, the virulently anti-gay senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas, has announced he’ll endorse Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president today during the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C.
As Right Wing Watch notes, it isn’t terribly surprising that Jeffress would endorse Perry over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Not because Jeffress is from Perry’s home state, but because Romney is Mormon. In 2007, Jeffress declared that Romney is “not a Christian” and that, “Mormonism is a cult.”
Jeffress’ statement today may be slightly more subtle, but it isn’t hard to read between the lines:
“Some would argue that there are a number of other candidates who possess those attributes as well. However, once the smoke clears in several months, conservative Christians will have a choice to make. Do we want a candidate who is skilled in rhetoric, or one who is skilled in leadership? Do we want someone who is a conservative out of convenience, or one who is a conservative out of conviction? Do we want a candidate who is a good moral person, or one who is born-again follower of Jesus Christ? I believe that in Rick Perry we have a candidate who is a proven leader, a true conservative and a committed follower of Christ.”
Jeffress, of course, has a long history of anti-gay activism. When he was pastor at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls in 1998, he tried to eliminate gay-themed books from the city’s public library. And after joining First Baptist in Dallas in 2008, he sparked protests with a controversial sermon advertised on the church’s marquee, “Why Gay is Not O.K.”
UPDATE: Jeffress today repeated his claim that Mormonism is a cult. He also said he thinks gays should be barred from serving openly in the military because “70 percent of the gay population has AIDS.”
“It’s a fact that it’s a gay disease so there’s a reasonable reason to exclude gays from the military,” he said.
Watch video of Jeffress’ comments from ThinkProgress below.
Well, well. Count me unsurprised.
If Robert Jeffress and Rick Perry did not have to lie to protect their influential positions, they would most likely be an item. Their staunch anti-gay rhetoric makes them nothing more than closeted homosexuals, in my opinion.
You know, If Perry and Jeffress would just come out already, they’d be much happier. Besides, as my dear friend Paul J. Willams says, “Robert Jeffress is the only man who can lisp on the letter Q.”
Every election the religious haters come out of the woodwork like roaches in the dark…..this in my opinion hater (Jefferson)….only tries to put a plug in for Perry . We have multi religions here in America. And we should for once practice what we preach. Gov. Romney is a god fearing man who is a good family man…a hard working business man and lives as far as we know a decent life. This is all the example we need. No decent parishinors should attent this first baptist church in protest at least for one sunday. I live in Texas and I feel I know that Texans are more broadminded than this hypocrit Jefferson is….D. Enow, Killeen, Texas..
I guess Mr. Jeffress would have to call Jesus Christ and the Christians of the first three centuries a “cult”. Mitt Romney believes in New Testament Christianity, not Mr. Jeffress’ Fourth Century Creeds, which have no basis in the New Testament. Who is calling whom a “cult”?
https://MormonsAreChristian.blogspot.com
Here are the characteristics of a cult:
· Small? Mormons have 14 million members in 132 countries. In America, there are more Mormons than there are Presbyterians or Jews.
· Excessive devotion? Mormons are devoted to the Savior, but in appropriate measure He would approve of.
. Unethical techniques? Ask the pie-throwers to name one.
. Control by isolation? Even if Mormons wanted to, this would be impossible with 14 million members in 28,000 congregations throughout the world.
. Control by threats? Again, evidence? Mormon missionaries may be exuberant, but do not threaten.
. Dependency on the group? The Mormon Church is just the opposite. Mormons want members to be self-reliant and independent so they in turn can help others.
. Powerful group pressure? Only if that’s the way the critics prefer to define love.
. Strange? Guilty as charged. Mormons plead guilty to all the strange things that were done by Christians in New Testament times that were lost during the great falling away in the aptly named Dark Ages, among them temple worship, vicarious baptism for the dead, definition of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as separate but united in purpose, salvation requiring both grace and obedience to commandments, prophets and apostles, unpaid clergy, and continual revelation from God to guide His Church.
Get it right, Carl. It’s the letter “D”………….
Come on, guys. I don’t want these two on my team. While it is true that some gay men and women who are closeted may be hostile to gays as a defensive mechanism, it is wrong to assume that that is always the case. And I don’t think that’s the case here. The reason these two, and people like them, hate gays so much is because they refuse to believe that what we experience is in any way as real as what they experience — that the desire and love experienced in same-sex attraction is even comparable to what they know.
IS IT BIGOTRY TO CALL MORMONS NON-CHRISTIAN?
Is Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church of Dallas a bigot for continually claiming that Mitt Romney, a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), is not Christian?
The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines a bigot as: ” a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.”
Merriam-Webster further defines a Christian as “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.” The LDS Church has as it’s first Article of Faith: “WE believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” (Pearl of Great Price | Articles of Faith 1:1)
Jeffress and others insist publicly, “obstinately,” and “intolerantly” that members of the LDS faith are not Christian. I believe these people are bigoted, and they are obviously creating a new definition of what a Christian is. Some have explained that the rationale for this new definition of Christianity being applied to Mormons is that they do not believe in the traditional Nicene Creed concept of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.
An examination of that rationale shows that the Nicene Creed was created 325 AD under the influence of the Roman Emperor, Constantine. It is recorded that he called the Council of Nicaea in an effort to unify different factions of religion in his empire. Members of the Council determined that the cornerstone belief of Christianity would be the concept that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one substance, even though the Creed also emphasizes that Jesus was begotten of the Father. The Nicene Creed is not in the scriptures and is not scriptural.
The scriptures are clear that Jesus and the Father were separate beings, as witnessed, for example, at the beginning of Christ’s ministry by John the Baptist: “And Jesus, when he was baptized , went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased .” (Matthew 3:16-17)
There are many references where Jesus is praying to the father. One such prayer was in the upper room the evening of the Last Supper: “… I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” (John 17:4 – 5) Then, that same evening, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ pleaded, “…O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39).
On the following third day, when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb the morning of the Resurrection and found it empty, Jesus appeared to her and “…saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17)
In the account of Stephen, as he was being stoned “… being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,” (Acts 7:55)
These, and many other passages, create a Biblical theme about the nature of God, the Father and the relationship Jesus had with him. Part of the Lord’s great prayer at the Last Supper was: ” And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)
There are references where Jesus taught: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30); however, this oneness is made easy to understand when Jesus, again at the Last Supper, prayed to the Father for his disciples: “…that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11), and “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee , that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:20 – 23)
Where does the Nicaean “one substance” concept come from? If this is such an important doctrine, why then, do the scriptures so clearly demonstrate the distinct separateness of the Godhead? I am confident that the authors of the Nicene Creed either misinterpreted or disregarded the Holy Bible in arriving at the “one substance” concept of the Godhead. Could we say, then, that those who believe in the Nicene Creed are not Christian? Not according to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary definition of a Christian: “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.”.
Verl T. Doman verldoman@gmail.com
Cedar Hills, Utah2011
Why do you still cater to this racist, bigoted idiot? this is not the first time he has embarrassed you on TV.
Robert Jeffress is just an attention starved closet queen.
By what authority can Robert Jeffress judge a person or religious group the professes a love for Christ to say they are not Christian? Seems to me that he is wrongly putting himself in the place of the eternal Judge that we all should be more concerned about.
I just listened to MSNBC’s TV interview with Robert Jeffress. When Alex asked him what his definition of a cult is he said that it’s a “religion that has a human founder versus a Divine Founder”. It sounds like the ‘pan is calling the kettle black’ because the Baptist religion which he espouses was founded in 1606 (16 centuries removed from Christ) by General Baptists developed from Separatists/Puritans with 3 leaders i.e. Smyth, Helwys, and Murton. Then in the 1640’s Particular Baptists sprang from Congregationalists/Independants and in the 1650’s the 7th Day Baptists were additionally founded. Sounds like they are all in the same category as Mormans, founded by Joseph Smith i.e. human founders. Am I missing something here?
I am not surprised that pastor Jeffress has come out swinging against what he feels is a threat to his small biggoted world, he is a man on a mission to spread lies and venom laced holier than thou views of those he dislikes. The Mormons are here to stay and they are not going away, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is now the 4th largest denomination in the United States and they are powerful and very influential in every area of national life. The biggoted pastor Jeffress would be hard pressed to influence a dead maggot much less a nation who can judge and choose for themselves who will be our next president, and it will not be based on their faith.
Mr. Robert Jeffress belongs to a church founded by a man who valued the seperation of church and state, perhaps he should live his own religion and keep it that way. He quotes John Jay, well John Jay believed Catholics should not hold public office, so I guess Mr. Jeffress thinks his religion is the only one that should be thought of as being Christian.
The First Baptist Church in America is the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island, also known as First Baptist Meetinghouse. The oldest Baptist church congregation in the United States, it was founded by Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island in 1638.
Roger Williams (near 1603 – between January and February 1683) was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America, the First Baptist Church of Providence, before leaving to become a Seeker.
John Jay
was Anglican, a denomination renamed the Protestant Episcopal Church in America after the American Revolution. Since 1785 Jay had been a warden of Trinity Church, New York. As Congress’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he supported the proposal after the Revolution that the Archbishop of Canterbury approve the ordination of bishops for the Episcopal Church in the United States.[72] He argued unsuccessfully in the provincial convention for a prohibition against Catholics holding office.[73]
In a letter addressed to Pennsylvania House of Representatives member John Murray, dated October 12, 1816, Jay wrote, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”[74]
Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints) are Christians, Mitt Romney has as much right to run for office as President of the USA as any person regardless of race or religion.
I say Robert Jeffress did Mitt Romney a huge favor by bringing up his religion, and hurt Perry by speaking in his behalf. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are both very good candidates and are both good Chritians (Mormons) and have just as much right to be a candidate for President, and become President of this country as all those who have been and will be President of this country.
I have been a US Soldier for the last 35 years, served in Afghanistan, Panama, and all over the world. I would have Mitt or Jon as Commander and Chief any day of the week Mormon or not!
Tim
(Wounded Warrior, Ft. Riley, KS)
I watched Pastor Jeffress’ video from the pulpit of his studio/church and the entire conversation he had taught nothing about Christ but only explained his bigotted opinion of mormonism and how he had to make all followers of him(Jeffress} stand up with him or be considered non-christian. Preaching politics from the pulpit puts you in an interesting position when you claim to not have a political agenda. I can understand feeling like you have to support the home team – meaning Perry – but not by trash talking everyone else. You claim to be a knowledgeable theologian but you obviously kwow nothing of other religions – namely the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints. Christ preached of an unpaid ministry – how much are you making each year Dr. Jeffress?
Rev. Robert Jeffress spoke THE TRUTH. Even though he did not say that Mormonism was a “cult”, IT IS A CULT. When did the truth become hate speech?
Mitt Romney truly, unequivocally believes that he will become a real “god” in the next life and be given his own planet to Lord over, in which he will call his wife, Ann, into in order to populate his planet with spirit children. Now, I ask you, would you truly vote for a man who truly believed he was going to become a REAL GOD AND BE GIVEN HIS OWN PLANET???? Or, would you question his judgment in the highest office in the land? Folks, this is the honest to God (no pun intended) truth. Wake up!
If you want to be responsible before giving Romney a vote based on your feelings, versus, the truth about this man who will become both a god, and a president, this is a must read:
The book: “Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters? The Mormon Church Versus The Office Of The Presidency of the United States of America”. You owe it to your country to inform yourself with the truth before going to the voting booth. There is too much at stake!
https://www.amazon.com/Can-Mitt-Romney-Serve-Masters/dp/1449711995
Rev. Jeffress presides over a cult, so he should have first hand knowledge of what they are and how they work.
“Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters? The Mormon Church Versus The Office Of The Presidency of the United States of America”.
Can a right wing evangelical baptist minister serve two masters? THIS is the real Perry/Jeffress agenda for America and the world!
A Christian Plot for Domination?
Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry aren’t just devout—both have deep ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which says Christians should rule the world.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/14/dominionism-michele-bachmann-and-rick-perry-s-dangerous-religious-bond.html
Poor Mr. Jefferss,his problems from childhood has surfaced …
Mr. Jeffries if you would take the time to read the Book of Mormon you would find that indeed Mormons are Christians. You would also find out how to pronounce the word Moroni,not moronee.
I wonder if the mornmons here understand this is a gay news site, lol.
This CNN response to Jeffress says it all.
Editor’s note: Richard J. Mouw is President of Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical school in Pasadena, California.
By Richard J. Mouw, Special to CNN
Some prominent evangelical pastors have been telling their constituents not to support Mitt Romney’s bid for the presidential nomination. Because Romney is Mormon, they say, to cast a vote for him is to promote the cause of a cult.
I beg to differ.
For the past dozen years, I’ve been co-chairing, with Professor Robert Millet of Brigham Young University – the respected Mormon school – a behind-closed-doors dialogue between about a dozen evangelicals and an equal number of our Mormon counterparts.
We have talked for many hours about key theological issues: the authority of the Bible, the person and work of Christ, the Trinity, “continuing revelations” and the career of Joseph Smith, the 19th century founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), better known as the Mormon Church.
We evangelicals and our Mormon counterparts disagree about some important theological questions. But we have also found that on some matters we are not as far apart as we thought we were.
I know cults. I have studied them and taught about them for a long time. It’s worth noting that people have wondered whether I belong to a cult, with a reporter once asking me: “Evangelicalism, is that like Scientology and Hare Krishna?”
Religious cults are very much us-versus-them. Their adherents are taught to think that they are the only ones who benefit from divine approval. They don’t like to engage in serious, respectful give-and-take dialogue with people with whom they disagree.
Nor do they promote the kind of scholarship that works alongside others in pursuing the truth. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for instance, haven’t established a university. They don’t sponsor a law school or offer graduate-level courses in world religions. The same goes for Christian Science. If you want to call those groups cults I will not argue with you.
But Brigham Young University is a world-class educational institution, with professors who’ve earned doctorates from some of the best universities in the world. Several of the top leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have PhDs from Ivy League schools.
These folks talk admiringly of the evangelical Billy Graham and the Catholic Mother Teresa, and they enjoy reading the evangelical C.S. Lewis and Father Henri Nouwen, a Catholic. That is not the kind of thing you run into in anti-Christian cults.
So are Mormons Christians? For me, that’s a complicated question.
My Mormon friends and I disagree on enough subjects that I am not prepared to say that their theology falls within the scope of historic Christian teaching. But the important thing is that we continue to talk about these things, and with increasing candor and mutual openness to correction.
No one has shown any impulse to walk away from the table of dialogue. We do all of this with the blessing of many leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some of whom have become good friends.
While I am not prepared to reclassify Mormonism as possessing undeniably Christian theology, I do accept many of my Mormon friends as genuine followers of the Jesus whom I worship as the divine Savior.
I find Mormons to be more Christ-centered than they have been in the past. I recently showed a video to my evangelical Fuller Seminary students of Mormon Elder Jeffrey Holland, one of the Twelve Apostles who help lead the LDS church. The video captures Holland speaking to thousands of Mormons about Christ’s death on the cross.
Several of my students remarked that if they had not known that he was a Mormon leader they would have guessed that he was an evangelical preacher.
The current criticisms of Mitt Romney’s religious affiliation recall for many of us the challenges John Kennedy faced when he was campaigning for the presidency in 1960.
Some well-known Protestant preachers (including Norman Vincent Peale) warned against putting a Catholic in the White House. Kennedy’s famous speech to Houston pastors clarifying his religious beliefs as they related to his political leadership helped his cause quite a bit.
But the real changes in popular attitudes toward Catholicism happened more slowly, as Catholic Church leaders and scholars engaged in a new kind of dialogue with each other and representatives of other faith groups, most dramatically at the Second Vatican Council during the early years of the 1960s.
Cults do not engage in those kinds of self-examining conversations. If they do, they do not remain cults.
Those of us who have made the effort to engage Mormons in friendly and sustained give-and-take conversations have come to see them as good citizens whose life of faith often exhibits qualities that are worthy of the Christian label, even as we continue to engage in friendly arguments with them about crucial theological issues.
Mitt Romney deserves what every politician running for office deserves: a careful examination of his views on policy and his philosophy of government. But he does not deserve to be labeled a cultist.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Richard J. Mouw.
This comment is for Mike:
Gays are spirit children of God too, and yes, I am a Mormon.
Tim
All theists are cultists, plain and simple. They all believe in impossible and unprovable things. Theism requires one to maintain a state of willful ignorance, submit to unmerited authority, and stagnate in superstition and fear. Theism is a weapon that has bludgeoned people for millenia, turning one man against another, and individuals against themselves. It has done nothing but hinder social, moral, and scientific progress . Any gay person who embraces theism does a disservice to their fellow LGBT people. End of discussion.