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Oprah’s ‘gospel’: Entertainment mogul preaches ‘many paths’ to God
(A Fellowship of Christian Newspapers
special report. This is the first of two parts; the second will be in CNNW’s June issue.)
By Steve Rabey
Oprah Winfrey is such a big star that we know her by one name, like Elvis, Madonna or Bono. She rules an entertainment empire worth nearly $1 billion.
Yet she is so much more than an entertainer. Thousands of articles have been written about Oprah’s rags-to-riches life story and her philanthropy. (Oprah’s Angel Network has raised more than $50 million to fund nonprofit organizations worldwide).
But one of the most controversial aspects of her cultural influence derives from the emphasis she places on religion and spirituality. In 2002 Christianity Today declared she “has become one of the most influential spiritual leaders in America.”
A video called “The Church of Oprah Exposed” was posted in late March on YouTube.com. The video, which refers to Oprah’s viewers as “the largest church in the world,” has since been viewed more than 5.2 million times.
And the operator of a Christian web site calls her “the most dangerous woman on the planet.”
Some may consider that an overstatement, but many of Oprah’s Christian fans are growing increasingly concerned about her promotion of spiritual views that they consider “New Age” or, at the least, incompatible with biblical Christianity.
Lately her favored spiritual teacher has been Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth, a major best-seller that mixes Christian and non-Christian views.
“I used to watch Oprah all the time,” said Southern California resident Nicole Yorkey. “I was hoping that she really was a Christian, so that she could positively influence so many people. Then the last few months she is into stuff that I think is New Age. I don't want anything to do with it.”
Many Christians are talking about Oprah’s gospel. What does she believe? And what kind of “gospel” are she and her associates promoting? The answers are complex and include a mixture of Christian and other beliefs.
A media mission
Oprah is an unlikely mogul. She was born to an unmarried mother and was raised in poverty. She was raped when she was 9 years old and later bore a child who died in infancy.
She has triumphed over tremendous odds, so it should come as no surprise that she has embraced and promoted a self-help approach to spirituality.
Christianity Today writer LaTonya Taylor said: “To her audience of more than 22 million mostly female viewers, she has become a postmodern priestess — an icon of church-free spirituality.”
Oprah speaks less about salvation through Christ than she does Christ- consciousness. Likewise, she describes heaven not as an eternal destination but an inner realm of consciousness. And she dismisses the idea that there is “one way” to God, when she says, “There couldn’t possibly be just one way.”
“One of the mistakes that human beings make is believing that there is only one way to live,” she said. Instead, “there are many paths to what you call God.”
Larry Eskredge, associate director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College in Illinois, said, “Oprah’s theology seems to be a version of America’s secular theology of self-improvement, doing good to others, and the prosperity gospel. She is also able to foster a tremendous sense of community around her TV show. People who watch feel they are involved in a great quest to improve society and improve themselves.”
In fact, The Oprah Winfrey Show is guided by a mission statement that emphasizes enlightenment as well as entertainment:
“I am guided by the vision of what I believe this show can be,” Oprah said in the mission statement. “Originally our goal was to uplift, enlighten, encourage and entertain through the medium of television. Now, our mission statement for The Oprah Winfrey Show is to use television to transform people’s lives, to make viewers see themselves differently and to bring happiness and a sense of fulfillment into every home.”
Guests and gods
Oprah was raised in the Baptist church and frequently uses Christian language. She also uses her show’s influence to promote Christian projects, such as the bestselling book, Mistaken Identity, which was featured on her show the week of April 1.
The book explores how personal faith in Jesus Christ helped two families cope with a heartbreaking mix-up after one family’s daughter was killed and the other family’s daughter critically injured in an auto crash. Five weeks and one funeral later, authorities discovered they had switched the identities of the Taylor University students.
When a representative of the Cerak and Van Ryn families asked Oprah’s staff to provide a roomwhere they could pray together before the show, Oprah asked permission to join them.
But as Oprah has said, at a certain point in her life, “I took God out of the box.” Oprah does not subscribe to the view that Christ alone offers the way to salvation. Instead, she argues that there are many paths to God, and her TV show guests and associates reflect this religious diversity.
Such is the case of Tolle, who has benefited from Oprah’s on-air influence. His A New Earth book sold more than 3.5 million copies in the first four weeks after Oprah added the work to her book club.
Every Monday night millions join a live online class, complete with a workbook and audio meditations and awakening exercises to study the teachings of Tolle’s book.
According to Baptist Press, Tolle draws from Buddhism, Islam and Christianity and teaches that humans should distance themselves from their egos and open up to a “higher self.” Don’t create your own suffering by stressing over the past or the future, Tolle advises. Live in the now. Oprah says this message is aimed at helping people “with spiritual growth” and “the languaging of new consciousness.”
Oprah acknowledges the book may be a difficult read. In a March 23 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, she is quoted as saying, “Don’t expect to immediately understand this book. But keep at it, because we need to change the world.”
Bethany Publishing House in Minneapolis will publish a book analyzing Tolle’s theology this summer. According to a company spokesman, Richard Abanes’ upcoming book, A New Earth, An Old Deception: Awakening to the Dangers of Eckhart Tolle and His No. 1 Bestseller, will expose the dangers of Tolle’s teaching, including his misuse of Scripture, his false teachings on God, and his disagreements with the Bible’s teaching on evil and salvation.
“Tolle’s message is one of many modern versions of the ancient quest to escape suffering and attain peace,” Abanes said. “He denies that he’s offering a religion. But Christians who buy into this are in danger of having their faith sidetracked.”
Oprah also promoted Rhonda Byrne’s book The Secret and a related DVD program. Byrne teaches that the secret of life is in what people think.
“Think about it and it will come to you,” reported Baptist Press. “A Porsche, a cancer-free body, whatever. The Secret aired on Oprah's program and was lapped up by consumers.”
After Byrne appeared on Oprah’s show, the book came next, becoming a best-seller and spawning Secret clubs across the country.
“Millions of Americans are intrigued with this idea that our thoughts create things,” reported Baptist Press. “It's another narcissistic, self-centered lie that denies the sovereign, all-powerful creator God.”
One of the most detailed examinations of Oprah’s spirituality and the beliefs of her guests was published in a 2001 issue of the Christian Research Journal. In “Oprah Winfrey and Her Self-Help Saviors: Making the New Age Normal,” author Kate Maver talked about Tolle, Byrne, Gary Zukav, and Caroline Myss.
Meanwhile, Liveprayer.com founder Bill Keller, who has called Oprah “the most dangerous woman on the planet,” provides a less nuanced overview in his “high-tech cyber debate.” (Keller didn’t really debate Oprah, but created the “cyber debate” by cutting and pasting video snippets into a montage.)
(Continued in CNNW’s June issue)
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