Article published November 28, 2009
Evangelist has a few Q's for O
Says Oprah misleads people on spirituality
Josh McDowell, left, wrote a book addressing spiritual teachings of Oprah Winfrey, center, and some of her guests, such as Eckhart Tolle, right
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By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Evangelist Josh McDowell has some gushing praise and some words of concern for Oprah Winfrey.
"Oprah is a phenomenal woman! Gosh, with her compassion for the kids in Africa and for education and all she does, she's just phenomenal!," Mr. McDowell gushed in an interview.
"But what I take issue with is what she teaches, and the people she brings around her, [which] is taught as truth," he said.
His concern for what he considers to be misleading and false spiritual teachings inspired him to write "O" God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah's Spirituality, recently published by WND Books.
In the book co-written with Dave Sterrett, Mr. McDowell depicts a fictional college co-ed named Lindsey going through some personal strife.
She watches Oprah's television show, taking comfort but also pondering some deep questions, and discusses her spiritual thoughts and feelings with a friend, Avatari - a devout Christian who converted from Hinduism.Mr. McDowell said he chose to address the concerns about Oprah in dialogue form because "you've got to take some of those self-refuting statements and get them out in real life where people can say, 'Whoa!' And I felt a sort of Socratic dialogue between two women would be the ideal way to do it. And it worked."
He said, for example, that Ms. Winfrey and some of the spiritual teachers she brings on her show - including Eckhart Tolle, Rhonda Byrne, and Deepak Chopra - preach tolerance but do not tolerate the Christian viewpoint that salvation for all people is only through Jesus.
"They'll say, 'When you believe Jesus is the only way you're being intolerant of others,'•" Mr. McDowell said. "Well, wait a minute, are you being tolerant of me?"
Most people fail to take such statements to their logical conclusion, he said, citing as another example Oprah's assertion that there is no such thing as objective truth, that truth is all personal and internal.
If a person says there is no absolute truth, then that statement cannot be absolutely true, he asserted.
"If you say there is no truth but the truth within you, then that's a self-defeating statement," he said.
"They'll say that God is not a person, that God is a force and you should look within yourself to find salvation. Then Oprah has the nerve to say, 'Well we don't believe in doctrine.' Now wait a minute! What you're teaching is doctrine. It's a set of beliefs and doctrines."
Mr. McDowell said Ms. Winfrey and her guests are not teaching anything new, but the host's charisma, communication skills, and wealth give her almost unprecedented influence on society.
"When the United States was first hit by a foreign power - Japan and the bombing of Pearl Harbor - a memorial was held in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and conducted by Episcopal clergy.
"When we were hit the second time, on 9/11, the memorial was arranged by Oprah, held at Yankee Stadium, and she was the host. That shows you the influence and power of Oprah."
Mr. McDowell, a 70-year-old dynamo born in Union City, Mich., has written or co-written 120 books. With a passion for reaching young people, Mr. McDowell has given more than 24,000 talks in 118 nations before an estimated combined audience of 10 million youth.
He said that, ironically, the same Bible verse that led Oprah to drift from her Christian upbringing was the same scripture that helped inspire him to become a Christian.
"She heard a preacher that was preaching on who God is, and he quoted Exodus 34:14 where it says, 'Do not worship any other god but the Lord for his name is Jealous, he is a jealous God,' and she said she felt her spirit move within her," Mr. McDowell said.
Ms. Winfrey felt that she could not worship a God who is jealous, and that led her to walk away from her faith, Mr. McDowell said.
"What is interesting is that that's one of the verses that led me to Christ, because I took the time to find out what it meant," he said. "And what it meant is beautiful! What it means is this: You should worship no other god but the Lord for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you!"
He said his reaction to the verse was the opposite of Oprah's.
"I felt, 'Wow! You mean the God that created the universe is really passionate about a relationship with me?'"
The minister whom Ms. Winfrey heard preaching on the topic should have explained the verse better, he added.
"Or he might have, but Oprah just didn't hear it," Mr. McDowell said.
More information on "O God" and the Josh McDowell Ministry is available online at josh.org.
Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com
or 419-724-6154.
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