Glenn Beck and the Gospel?

This was written by a close friend of mine, Tim Thetford, and originally posted on his blog at Please Convince Me.

I was encouraged by a friend to watch Glenn Beck on his show last night. They were blown away by the things that he was saying. It wasn’t the politics. It was the gospel. For those who don’t know, Glenn Beck is a conservative television and radio personality and is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) or Mormon. Let me say up front that I am not out to bash Glenn Beck or Mormons or the LDS church. I am simply saying that what Beck is describing is for the most part traditional, orthodox Christianity and not what Mormonism teaches.

During last night’s show, with regard to Black Liberation Theology, Beck replies that what is missing, is grace. He continues (full transcript at the bottom of the post),

“You’re saved by grace. (SAVED BY GRACE appears on the screen.) You cannot earn your way into heaven. You can’t! There is no deed, no random act of kindness, no amount of money to spread around to others that earns you a trip to heaven. It can’t happen! It’s earned by God’s grace alone. By believing that Jesus died on the cross for you, this is what Christians believe, as an individual; you make the choice. You know what I think is the biggest sin is; the biggest problem we’re going to have when we get up to the pearly gates? Even Christians who say, ‘Yeah, I accepted the atonement.’ Did you really? Did you really accept that gift? Did you really unload all the stuff that you had done in your life and give it to Him (pointing up)? That’s how it works… You really have to have a change of heart. That’s where the deeds come in. It’s the change of heart. May I quote the book of James 2:20? ‘But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?’ (FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD appears on the screen.) What does that mean? Our work is a demonstration of our faith.”

Now, we know that Mormonism and orthodox Christianity use many of the same words, like God, Jesus, grace, salvation, atonement, etc. but have radically different definitions, but here, Beck describes grace as alone what saves you. He says that the atonement is a gift that we accept by believing that Jesus died for us; that it is about a change of heart and that works are a demonstration of our faith. All are true, but none fall within the range of Mormon teaching.

In The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.70, the prophet, the mouthpiece for God in the LDS church says,

“One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation”.

The apostle Bruce McConkie writes in Mormon Doctrine that

"Unconditional or general salvation, that which comes by grace alone without obedience to gospel law, consists in the mere fact of being resurrected. In this sense salvation is synonymous with immortality; it is the inseparable connection of body and spirit so that the resurrected personage lives forever."

McConkie teaches that “grace alone” only gets you resurrected to stand before the judgment throne.

He wrote,

"those who gain only this general or unconditional salvation will still be judged according to their works and receive their places in a terrestrial or a telestial kingdom. They will, therefore be damned."

Because God the Father does not reside in the terrestrial or a telestial kingdoms, Christians would not call these places Heaven. To get to Heaven (the celestial kingdom in Mormonism) requires more.

McConkie continued,

"Conditional or individual salvation, that which comes by grace coupled with gospel obedience, consists in receiving an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God. This kind of salvation follows faith, repentance, baptism, receipt of the Holy Ghost, and continued righteousness to the end of one's mortal probation" (Mormon Doctrine pp. 669-670).

The Bible tells us that grace is a free gift. To further complicate things, Mormonism teaches that grace is earned “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23) and is only sufficient “if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength” (Moroni 10:32).

According to Mormonism, the atonement is both unconditional and conditional. The unconditional part gets you unconditional salvation (resurrection but not Heaven, see above). The conditional part, the part that gets your sins forgiven so that you can be in Heaven with God the Father, requires that you “apply” the atonement by fulfilling the requirements.

lds.org defines atonement as,

“Jesus Christ redeems all people from the effects of the Fall. All people who have ever lived on the earth and who ever will live on the earth will be resurrected and brought back into the presence of God to be judged…

Although we are redeemed unconditionally from the universal effects of the Fall, we are accountable for our own sins. But we can be forgiven and cleansed from the stain of sin if we "apply the atoning blood of Christ" (Mosiah 4:2). We must exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized for the remission of sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

This is essentially the conditional or individual salvation that McConkie described, but apparently now “gospel obedience” and “continued righteousness to the end of one’s mortal probation” have been removed. But, both statements contain the need for repentance, part of which according to Mormonism is

Abandonment of Sin. Although confession is an essential element of repentance, it is not enough. The Lord has said, "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them" (D&C 58:43).

Beck continues,

“We want to concentrate on liberation theology and traditional Christianity, because one is a perversion, and if you get into the churches and you start teaching some perversion of it, it’s going to be a radically bad outcome. Now (James) Cone himself has argued that the Bible is insufficient to know what social justice is. Do you know why? Because social justice isn’t in the Bible. He says you need Marxism to understand what Christianity means. Now I have to tell you, I don’t think and I think that most Christians would agree with me, that Carl Marx speaks for God. I don’t think so. What do you say that we 86 Marx here. Thanks, but no thanks.”

Here Beck holds up traditional Christianity as the standard against which this departure, liberation theology, is compared with. Mormonism teaches that in fact, it is traditional Christianity that is the perversion. What God had originally given through the prophets (essentially Mormonism) was altered and lost due to the great apostasy. “Plain and precious truths” were removed from the Bible so that a restoration was necessary. Mormonism teaches that key requirements necessary to be exalted to the celestial kingdom aren't 'in the Bible.' Mormonism teaches that the Book of Mormon and latter-day revelation are needed 'to understand what Christianity means.' So messed up was traditional Christianity that when Joseph Smith as a young boy asks Jesus which denomination of Christianity he should join, Jesus responds that, “answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors (Christian pastors and preachers) were all corrupt.”

Beck states that,

“To receive His salvation, you accept His forgiveness of sins and live your life according to His will. That’s what every Christian church in the country, in the world believes. This is biblical.”

Again Mormonism teaches that forgiveness of sins comes by the process of repentance which includes forsaking that sin. To be forgiven of all sins, you need to forsake all sins. This impossible task of perfecting yourself is a far cry from “accepting His forgiveness.”

Beck calls it “the gospel” without adding the requirements found in the “Mormon gospel” and says, “The only way out of this mess is God and if we lose our way to Him, we are in trouble.”

I agree! So what’s going on here? Beck doesn’t seem to be simply presenting Christianity as a basis for American ideals, but seems to be saying that these are his beliefs as well. Many Mormons want to be seen as Christian but still hold to heretical views of salvation. That doesn’t seem to be the case here.

Is Beck being deceptive? Is he seriously confused? Is he uninformed about what the LDS church teaches? Is he coming to a saving knowledge of salvation by grace alone in Christ alone? I don’t know. I do think that many LDS and Christians unfamiliar with Mormonism will be seriously confused by this presentation. Pray for him. This is a guy who is seeking the truth with regard to philosophical ideas and American history. Maybe he will do the same with regard to Mormon history as well.





(FULL TRANSCRIPT)During last night’s show, with regard to Black Liberation Theology, Beck replies that what is missing, is grace. He continues,

“You’re saved by grace. (SAVED BY GRACE appears on the screen.) You cannot earn your way into heaven. You can’t! There is no deed, no random act of kindness, no amount of money to spread around to others that earns you a trip to heaven. It can’t happen! It’s earned by God’s grace alone. By believing that Jesus died on the cross for you, this is what Christians believe, as an individual; you make the choice. You know what I think is the biggest sin is; the biggest problem we’re going to have when we get up to the pearly gates? Even Christians who say, ‘Yeah, I accepted the atonement.’ Did you really? Did you really accept that gift? Did you really unload all the stuff that you had done in your life and give it to Him (pointing up)? That’s how it works. Now I don’t believe that that means that now, you know like Constantine, who died, was baptized, is like, ‘I got a lot of things, I gotta be a King, I gotta kill a lot of people, baptize me when I’m dying.’ I think that’s kinda, you’re trying to work the system there. You really have to have a change of heart. That’s where the deeds come in. It’s the change of heart. May I quote the book of James 2:20? ‘But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?’ (FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD appears on the screen.) What does that mean? Our work is a demonstration of our faith.

We want to concentrate on liberation theology and traditional Christianity, because one is a perversion, and if you get into the churches and you start teaching some perversion of it, it’s going to be a radically bad outcome. Now (James) Cone himself has argued that the Bible is insufficient to know what social justice is. Do you know why? Because social justice isn’t in the Bible. He says you need Marxism to understand what Christianity means. Now I have to tell you, I don’t think and I think that most Christians would agree with me, that Carl Marx speaks for God. I don’t think so. What do you say that we 86 Marx here. Thanks, but no thanks.

But I am also wise enough to know that people will say, ‘Yeah but Glenn Beck is a Mormon! He's not even a real Christian.’ You can believe what you want. I will tell you that I am a man that needed the atonement more than most people do. I appreciate the atonement. I accept Jesus as my Savior. I know that I am alive today because I did give all of it to Him because I couldn’t carry it anymore.

But I know the game that people play, so don’t take this from me. Not only did I call Anthony Bradley on Black Liberation Theology, I also called Richard Land. He is the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. I wanted to make sure that I would be saying the same thing as mainline Christianity would say. Same exact definition of individual salvation, as opposed to the perversion of collective salvation. (Here Beck is comparing individual salvation to the liberation theology idea of collective salvation. He isn’t referring to individual salvation as described by McConkie above.) We talked. I said Richard, ‘salvation is an individual relationship between the individual and God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, right?’ Jesus said, John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth and the life." (“I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.” appears on the screen.)

I cannot be saved for you. I cannot save you. I can’t even save myself. If you are a Christian, you believe that Jesus can save you. If you just tuned in, boy this has got be the weirdest damn episode you’ve ever heard of the Glenn Beck program. There is a point to this, and it is a crucial point that you understand.

When Jesus died, He died for everyone that ever lived. If you are a Christian, you believe that. It was a collective act. It was an act that covered the collective. Everybody who had lived and everybody who will live; the entire collection of people, but it must be accepted personally, individually. Got it? I want to show you the difference here. (walks over to chalkboard) Here is traditional Christianity. Jesus died, two thieves over here. He took on the sins of the world by choice. The empty tomb represents that He conquered death. He was not a victim because He did it by choice. He’s not a victim, He’s a victor. He was a conqueror. He conquered death. Got it? To receive His salvation, you accept His forgiveness of sins and live your life according to His will. That’s what every Christian church in the country, in the world believes. This is biblical. Now, the perversion of the concept of collective salvation, (which is) you accept His forgiveness; you! accept His forgiveness and then you live your life according to His will, meaning do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That’s what it means. This is where it becomes the typical political show, or the news of the day show. Let me bring this now to Barack Obama…”

Beck then explains Liberation Theology, giving numerous examples by way of film clips and compares it to what he has described, calling it, “the gospel” and says, “The only way out of this mess is God and if we lose our way to Him, we are in trouble.”