Apologetics for the Masses #485 - The Anti-Catholicism of Dr. Robert Jeffress, Pastor, 1st Baptist Church of Dallas

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Topic

Looking at a "weekly devotion" from Dr. Robert Jeffress, Pastor of 1st Baptist Church of Dallas, Tx and analyzing it's anti-Catholic roots.

General Comments

Hey folks,

Three things:

1) Is there anyone among you who is a social media "expert" who would be willing to give me some advice? I am hoping, in the month of August, to get seriously into evangelization through social media. In that regard, I would like to start posting some short apologetics videos on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok (yeah, I know...Chinese controlled...but, I believe in total war on all fronts simultaneously). However, outside of Facebook, I've never really engaged in social media. So, I need some advice as to the best way to go about doing this. Any help, tips, advice, etc. that anyone can offer in regards to filming the videos, posting the videos, promoting the videos, etc., will be greatly appreciated!

Given that, if any of you are on any of those social media platforms, please follow me on those platforms - John Martignoni and the Bible Christian Society on Facebook; John Martignoni on X and TikTok; and bamarogue13 on Instagram. Don't have anything on them just yet - other than Facebook - but, again, hope to start posting soon and could use ya'lls help in spreading them around.

2) For those of you in the Birmingham area, I will be debuting a "Blue Collar Apologetics" weekend retreat at my parish - St.Theresa's in Leeds - on Friday evening, August 23rd, and Saturday morning, August 24th. The times will be 6:30 - 8:30 PM on Friday, the 23rd, and 9:00 - 11:30 AM on Saturday, the 24th. The intent for the retreat is to make this more of a workshop-style weekend as opposed to me just simply giving several talks and you passively listening.

By that I mean, I want it to be a very interactive weekend. I want to hear what kinds of conversations you are having with folks - in person, via email, on Facebook and other social media platforms, and help you learn how to be a more effective and more efficient - and less frustrated - apologist and evangelist when engaging in such conversations. I want you to give me examples from your experiences and we can analyze them and see what you did right and also to see if there were things you could have done better. I want to give you real life examples - from my conversations and other conversations I've seen on places like Facebook - and dissect what was right and what was wrong with how those conversations developed.

I will talk about rules to follow and pitfalls to avoid when engaging in apologetics. You will learn how to shut down even the most aggressive of anti-Catholic evangelists and to plant seeds of truth with all who you engage with. You'll leave the weekend more comfortable with the idea of engaging in conversations about the Faith with family members, friends, co-workers, and so on, and more confident in your ability to do so.

Anyone from high school - maybe even middle school - on up should be able to get something out of this weekend. So, if you want to overcome any fears you may have in regard to talking about the Faith, and to get better at spreading the "Good News" - at explaining and defending the truths of the Catholic Faith - which we are all, as Catholics, called to do, then please consider joining me for this weekend event.

To "register" for the weekend, just go to Blue Collar Retreat Weekend Registration and make a donation of $10/person. If you are coming with family members it's $10 for one of you, $20 for two, and $25 for 3. Any over 3 per family are free. The registration fee is there to simply cover costs for snacks, drinks, and handouts. Space is limited, so register sooner rather than later. And, very important, when you register, either include a note with the donation that it is for the retreat weekend, or shoot me an email immediately after you register to let me know. My email address is: john@biblechristiansociety.com.

I look forward to seeing you there!

3) My wife, Janel, is having surgery on her foot Monday morning. Please keep her, and her doctors, in your prayers. Pray for a successful surgery and a quick and complete recovery. Thanks!

Introduction

This week, I'll be looking at a "weekly devotion" that was sent out by Dr. Robert Jeffress, who you may have seen on various Fox News shows over the last few years. He is the pastor of a megachurch in Dallas - 1st Baptist Church. He's also a bit of an anti-Catholic. Now, since he's been in the national spotlight the last few years, and has, as I said, been on various Fox News shows - often with a host who is Catholic - he appears to have toned down his negative statements about the Catholic Church lately, but here's an example of what he has said in the past:

He described Catholicism as a Babylonian mystery religion "that spread like a cult around the entire world" and "infected the early Church" and "corrupted" it. He described it as a "cult-like, pagan religion" and as showing "the genuis of Satan". He said: "Today the Roman Catholic Church is the result of that corruption. Much of what you see in the Catholic Church today doesn't come from God's word. It comes from this cult-like pagan religion."

In other words, your basic Baptist/Evangelical beliefs towards the Catholic Church. However, in the more recent past, he has said this: "There will be millions of Catholics in heaven who have put their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins." Sounds like he's sort of giving the Catholic Faith its due, right? Wrong. What you need to realize, is that underlying that statement of his about Catholics being in Heaven is the belief that those Catholics who will be in Heaven are those who, essentially, ignored the teachings of the Church and came to a "saving faith" in Christ in spite of what the Church teaches.

There is a subtlety to the anti-Catholicism of many folks like Dr. Jeffress that, if you don't know what to look for, or you aren't paying close attention to the underlying assumptions of what they are saying, you can miss it altogether.

Which is why I want to analyze this weekly devotion of his, so as to pull back the curtain on what he is really saying, and to demonstrate how Protestants will often ignore very important passages of Scripture, if necessary, in order to make a point that "proves" the Catholic Church is wrong in its teachings.

So, first I'll give you the entire devotion - it's rather short - and then I'll repeat it with my comment interspersed.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

The Limitations of Asceticism - Dr. Robert Jeffress - (The Limitations of Asceticism)
"These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence." - Colossians 2:23

Why did Paul warn against asceticism? What’s wrong with a religion based on moral regulations? First of all, asceticism is deceptive. In Colossians 2:23, Paul wrote, “These [restrictive regulations] are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body.” Paul said asceticism has the appearance of wisdom–it suggests that if you clean yourself up, you will be acceptable to God. But the Bible says salvation is by trusting Christ alone. Only through His blood are we cleansed. By depriving yourself of God-given pleasures to make yourself holy, you’re saying, “I don’t need God’s grace. I’m going to clean myself up on my own.”

What does God say about our attempts to make ourselves holy? In Isaiah 64:6, God said our righteousness is “like a filthy garment.” When you have deprived yourself of every pleasure and kept every rule you know to keep, your righteousness is still like a filthy rag in God’s sight. Asceticism gives us the appearance of being clean when in fact we are dirty before God.

Second, in addition to being deceptive, asceticism is deficient. Paul said in Colossians 2:23 that man-made restrictions “are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” Starving yourself of pleasure is of zero value in fighting sin. Deprivation never leads to sanctification–in other words, depriving yourself of pleasure will do nothing to make you more like Jesus Christ. In fact, depriving yourself of pleasure only increases your appetite for sin.

Let me illustrate that for you. I’ve known couples who are in debt up to their eyeballs. They resolve not to eat out, buy new clothes, take any trips, or do anything pleasurable until they get their debt paid off. How long do you think that budget lasts? Eventually the couples go on a spending binge and find themselves in more debt than before. Starving yourself of your desiresis not a good way to budget; instead, you ought to cut back on spending and add some positive habits, such as saving and investing, to your money management.

It’s the same way with your sinful nature. Deprivation never leads to sanctification. The way to have victory over sin in your life is not to starve yourself of pleasure but to feed and strengthen your desire to please God.

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The Limitations of Asceticism - Dr. Robert Jeffress - (The Limitations of Asceticism)
"These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence." - Colossians 2:23

Why did Paul warn against asceticism? What’s wrong with a religion based on moral regulations? First of all, asceticism is deceptive. In Colossians 2:23, Paul wrote, “These [restrictive regulations] are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body.” Paul said asceticism has the appearance of wisdom–it suggests that if you clean yourself up, you will be acceptable to God. But the Bible says salvation is by trusting Christ alone. Only through His blood are we cleansed. By depriving yourself of God-given pleasures to make yourself holy, you’re saying, “I don’t need God’s grace. I’m going to clean myself up on my own.”

My Comments
Actually, Paul is not "warn[ing] against ascetism", unless you want to believe that Paul was teaching something contrary to what Jesus Himself taught. Jesus Himself said that when He is gone, His disciples will fast. We see that in Matt 9:14-15, Mark 2:18-19, and Luke 5:33-35. Fasting is an ascetical practice. We also see Jesus telling His disciples that certain demons cannot be driven out except by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). Then there was the prophetess Anna who worshipped God night and day with "fasting and prayer," (sounds like quite the ascetic) and, because of that, was given the great honor of seeing Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the Temple as a baby for His presentation to the Lord. The Word of God doesn't seem to have any issues with her "ascetism". In fact, it says her fasting was a part of her worship of the Lord. In Acts 13:2-3 and 14:23, the laying on of hands and the appointing of "elders" - i.e., bishops - is done only after prayer and fasting.

What Paul was saying, first and foremost, if you actually read Col 2:23 in context, is that the old covenant regulations of keeping kosher and so on (verses 16-17) - eat this, don't eat that, follow all of these rules and regulations - are no longer in play, and that the Gentile Colossians should not be influenced by those Jewish Christians (Judaizers) who were trying to say that the Gentiles had to keep the Mosaic Law and all the regulations that went with it. There were also apparently some rules and regulations pertaining to fasts and such by other Gentiles who were engaged in the "worship of angels" (v. 18) - possibly the worship of fallen angels, aka false gods (?) - that Paul was saying were null and void.

However, this is not a blanket repudiation of ascetism - fasting and so on - by Paul. Paul was rejecting very specific practices that some of the Christian Gentiles had apparently given in to, that were not in accord with their Christian faith. If Paul was repudiating all ascetical practices, then, again, he was directly contradicting Jesus Himself, Who said His followers would fast when He was no longer with them. And, if Paul is saying that all ascetism is to be rejected, then the leadership of the early Church was out of whack. Because, as mentioned above, the Church leaders were engaging in ascetical practices as part of one of the most important elements of church governance and worship - the appointing of elders and the laying on of hands. And, again, Jesus Himself gives testimony to the power of fasting - which is a form of ascetism - by saying it is sometimes necessary for the casting out of demons.

What Dr. Jeffress is doing here, is setting up a line of argument that pushes the dogma of Sola Fide in contrast to what he sees as a "works salvation" engaged in by some. He is getting a dig in, although he doesn't directly say it, at Catholics and what he believes is a "works salvation" taught by the Catholic Church. But, in fact, this verse from Colossians 2 nowhere says anything along the lines of what he says it says. Nowhere does Col 2:23 imply that "By depriving yourself of God-given pleasures to make yourself holy, you’re saying, “I don’t need God’s grace. I’m going to clean myself up on my own.” Again, this is just his way of setting up his salvation by faith alone argument.

The Limitations of Asceticism - Dr. Robert Jeffress
What does God say about our attempts to make ourselves holy? In Isaiah 64:6, God said our righteousness is “like a filthy garment.” When you have deprived yourself of every pleasure and kept every rule you know to keep, your righteousness is still like a filthy rag in God’s sight. Asceticism gives us the appearance of being clean when in fact we are dirty before God.

My Comments
Oh my goodness! When are Protestants going to ever read Isaiah 64:6 in context?! This verse is not saying that our righteousness or our righteous deeds are "like a filthy garment"!!! I wish they would read Isaiah 64:5, which says, "Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways." He who remembers the Lord in His ways, God will "meetest" him. A person is able to work righteousness as long as they remember the Lord. As long as they do not turn from the Lord. As long as they are not in a state of sin.

In the next verse, though, it says that some of those who were righteous then commit sin and thus, by sinning, have become like one who is unclean. That is when their righteous deeds become like a filthy garment, or a filthy rag...after they have turned away from the Lord. Once they turn away from the Lord, He remembers their righteousness no more. This fits perfectly with what is said in Ezekiel 33:13 - "Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die." How's that for knocking a gaping hole in Once Saved Always Saved theology?

But, Dr. Jeffress, like any good Protestant who comes to Scripture with pre-set beliefs, only cares about those verses that seem to fit those pre-set beliefs and he is more than willing to ignore the ones that don't - even if the verses he has to ignore immediately precede the verses he holds up as "proof" of his beliefs. So, the verse about our righteousness being like a filthy rag fits, but the verse about God meeting those who do righteousness while following in His ways doesn't fit.

And, again, I want to point out that nowhere does Col 2:23 say anything about "making ourselves holy" through ascetism, implying that we don't need God or His grace. And there is no practice within Catholicism that implies such a possibility. There is no "works salvation" in Catholic teaching.

The Limitations of Asceticism - Dr. Robert Jeffress
Second, in addition to being deceptive, asceticism is deficient. Paul said in Colossians 2:23 that man-made restrictions “are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” Starving yourself of pleasure is of zero value in fighting sin. Deprivation never leads to sanctification–in other words, depriving yourself of pleasure will do nothing to make you more like Jesus Christ. In fact, depriving yourself of pleasure only increases your appetite for sin.

My Comments
To point out another verse that directly contradicts his whole theme in this weekly devotion of his, let's look at Luke 9:23. Jesus says, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up His cross daily and follow Me." To follow Jesus, according to Jesus, we have to deny ourselves. That would involve doing things that are directly contrary to what Jeffress says we don't have to do. Jeffress says we don't have to deny ourselves - of anything. We don't have to deny ourselves of pleasure. He says that denying yourself never leads to sanctification. He says that denying ourselves is "deficient". He says that denying ourselves "only increases [our] appetite for sin". Jesus says that denying yourself allows you to follow Him. Who do you want to believe - the Word of God, or the Word of Jeffress?

The Limitations of Asceticism - Dr. Robert Jeffress
Let me illustrate that for you. I’ve known couples who are in debt up to their eyeballs. They resolve not to eat out, buy new clothes, take any trips, or do anything pleasurable until they get their debt paid off. How long do you think that budget lasts? Eventually the couples go on a spending binge and find themselves in more debt than before. Starving yourself of your desires is not a good way to budget; instead, you ought to cut back on spending and add some positive habits, such as saving and investing, to your money management.

My Comments
Really? So, we'll just "cut back" on pornography and add some positive habits to overcome that particular sin? We'll just "cut back" on fornication and add some positive habits to overcome that particular sin? We'll just cut back on stealing from the company and add some positive habits? Instead of "denying ourselves," we'll just "cut back" and add some positive habits? So, let's re-write Luke 9:23 according to the Word of Jeffress: "If any man would follow Me, let him cut back and develop some positive habits and follow Me." No need to actually deny yourself. No need to engage in any ascetical practices. And definitely no need to pick up your cross daily. Just pick it up some of the time and also develop some positive habits.

The Limitations of Asceticism - Dr. Robert Jeffress
It’s the same way with your sinful nature. Deprivation never leads to sanctification. The way to have victory over sin in your life is not to starve yourself of pleasure but to feed and strengthen your desire to please God.

My Comments
I think I just showed in my last comment section that what he is saying here is absolutely absurd and is antithetical to the Word of God. "Deprivation never leads to sanctification?" Where does the Bible say that? Yes, we are to "feed and strengthen [our] desire to please God," however, we must starve ourselves of those things - those pleasures - that do not please God. Again, Luke 9:23 says that in order to follow Jesus, we need to deny ourselves. That sounds like a whole lot of deprivation leading to holiness to me. Where is the taming of the passions in his advice? Proverbs 14:30 states, " A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot." In order to tame the passions, we have to deny ourselves. And look at these verses:

Galatians 5:24 - " And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Sounds like some ascetism going on here. The flesh has been "crucified"! Sounds like those who belong to Christ do indeed have a tendency to deprive their flesh. Sounds like deprivation may indeed lead to sanctification.

Colossians 3:5 - "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." How are they going to do that? By never depriving themselves of anything? It says put those things "to death"! It doesn't say, cut back on what is earthly in you and develop some positive habits.

Titus 2:11-12 - "For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world..." "No, no," Dr. Jeffress says, we don't need to "renounce" our worldly passions, we just need to cut back and develop some positive habits. Dr. Jeffress doesn't think fasting and denial and renunciation and deprivation are possible, because he is thinking folks are trying to do this on their own. But, he is forgetting about the grace of God that allows us to fast and renounce and to deny ourselves, all of which does indeed lead to our holiness and our salvation by following Christ. But, again, all of it only by the grace of God.

1 Peter 2:11 - "Beloved, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to cut back on the passions of the flesh that wage war against your souls and to develop some positive habits." No! "Beloved, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul." Abstain! Do you want to believe Peter, or Dr. Jeffress? The Word of God, or the Word of Jeffress?

Summary
By trying to take a poke at Catholic teaching - even if indirectly - Dr. Jeffress, as does anyone who does the same, ends up tying his theology in knots. By arguing that works play no role whatsoever in one's journey of faith, in one's following of Christ, in one's sanctification, all in order to try and counter what you mistakenly believe the Catholic Faith teaches and practices - a "works salvation" - you end up with a theology that is logically inconsistent and scripturally inconsistent.

Dr. Jeffress must be a smart man in order to have gotten to where he is in life. He apparently, however, has not ever been smart enough to actually examine Catholic teaching from a Catholic perspective. It would behoove him to do so. Let's pray that he does.

Closing Comments

I hope all of you have a great week! Please keep the Bible Christian Society in your prayers...we'll be keeping you and your loved ones in ours.

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