Three Reasons Why Rick Warren is a Heretic Stephen Bedard, April 27, 2013August 6, 2021 One of the figures in current evangelicalism that is very controversial is Rick Warren. Many evangelicals love Rick Warren and many evangelicals have major problems with Rick Warren. Some people see Rick Warren as the arch-heretic. While technically his theology is orthodox (he affirms the Trinity, deity of Christ, salvation by grace, etc.), that does not mean that he can’t be a heretic. I am going to share three reasons why Rick Warren is a heretic. 1) Rick Warren is known for his role in helping the poor, hungry and sick. This of course is a liberal heresy. Christians should only preach spiritual salvation. Once there is assurance of heaven, our job is done. There is no biblical support for Christians helping those who are suffering (Leviticus 19:9-10, Matthew 25:31-46, Galatians 2:10). 2) Rick Warren is known for being too respectful to people of other religions, especially Muslims. Although Rick Warren does affirm salvation by Jesus alone, he is willing to work with Muslims on certain projects and is respectful towards them when he talks to them. This of course is unacceptable. Christians should blast people of other faiths and use every opportunity to destroy their false beliefs. Our job is not to connect with other people, our job is to argue how correct we are and how foolish everyone else is. The fact that Muslims keep coming back to Rick Warren and are willing to hear what he says tells us that he is not being harsh enough. There is no biblical support for being respectful toward people of other faiths and of building bridges where we have things in common (Acts 17:22-34). 3) Rick Warren is far too popular and respected by non-Christians. He is often found on secular talk shows and news programs. Non-Christians, instead of hating him, seem to respect him. This is a clear indication that something is wrong. A person’s orthodox theology can be measured directly by how much they are hated by non-Christians. If non-Christians like you, you must be a heretic. True preachers of the gospel are despised by non-Christians and are continually mocked. There is no biblical support for Christians being respected by non-Christians (Acts 2:46-47, 5:13). This proves that Rick Warren is a heretic. If you are confused by my arguments, please look up the Bible quotations. Please read my followup post: Three Reasons Why Rick Warren is Not a Heretic. Liked it? Take a second to support Stephen Bedard on Patreon! Related Posts Three Reasons Why Rick Warren is Not a HereticA number of years ago, I wrote a blog post called Three Reasons Why Rick… Three Reasons Why God ExistsWilliam Lane Craig shares three reasons why God exists and three reasons why God exists. Top Three Reasons Why the Bible is Reliable Apologetics and Theology Blog HeresyHereticRick WarrenSatire
1) If you’re liked by non-Christians, you’re a heretic. 2) You’re liked by non-Christians. 3) Therefore, you’re a heretic. Well I guess I can’t argue with the logic! Reply
This is my first time coming across your writing, is the article ment to be serious or sarcastic….? Reply
They key is to check the Bible passages I listed. But the short answer is that it is satire. I do not really think Rick Warren is a heretic. Reply
Your three reasons/accusations against Rick Warren are all irrational and full of flaws…please try to give more reasonable and believable accusations before you post such things against a man of God… Reply
Please read the Bible references that I included. But to make things plain, that was a satirical response to the critics of Rick Warren. Reply
I was like… OMW! I’m glad I scrolled down through the comments! So, since I’m here, I have a question: A friend posted something about the “Emergent Church” and Rick Warren on Facebook. According to her, it’s bad. I was previously unaware of the term Emergent Church. Can someone please point me in the right direction? I’m Baptist in my beliefs, so what’s the deal? Thanks! Reply
In a nutshell. Thessalonians says “the end cannot come unless there is a great falling away”. the falling away is actually apostasy in greek which means a rejection of truth.. So Rick Warren is part of this apostate church in practice.. BUT if you know the truth of the Bible, Rick will agree with you. He just wont preach it. Rick is really part of the NWO one world governement and one world religion movement. He is a member of the CFR. This NWO ( new world order ) movement wants “everyone to get along”. The problem with this is that the Lord Jesus Christ is divisive !! after all Jesus said ” if they hated me they will hate you also”.. Rick tells people what they want to hear.. ( so we can all get along , he is not being weak or a coward he is following the agend of a guy called Peter Drucker ) homosexuals are told “i dont oppose gay marriage” Christians are told “I support marriage” http://youtu.be/Kr3UGVghWww see video of Rick speaking , judge for yourself what he said.. a full documentary here http://youtu.be/kxY3VbBHTkY emergent church is the next generation of the apostasy. Reply
Thank-you Tim for posting you are a voice of reason. I pray that the church will open her eyes to these emerging church teachers. Reply
Oh my goodness! You’d best be careful Stephen, next thing you know Westboro Baptist Church will either be wanting you to join them, or picketing your blog! 😉 Reply
I see you as a nasty, spiteful man, devoid of grace. I think you need to re-read how Jesus handled his detractors. Reply
I concur with you, Andy. His snarky “humor” confirms two things: – Satire is the lowest form of wit. – “ye shall know them by their fruits” Can’t recall Jesus rebuking and belittling his naysayers with the exception of the Judaic hierarchy. In this instance, The Lord himself may have admonished Stephen’s approach for misrepresenting how Jesus wishes us to live – that ol’ Golden Rule ideal. For a non-believer to stumble upon this inane commentary without proper context will leave said person bewildered and possibly accepting such skewed statements as reliable and worth believing. I am no fan of Rick Warren as he is a motivational speaker at best. He proffers a gospel that in many ways, is diametrically opposed to Scripture but those unwilling to research his teachings accept them wholecloth. In both cases, Rick and this blog, both should be avoided. Reply
Stephen, As a former Saddleback member (I didn’t leave for unsavory reasons, just found a different, much smaller church), I enjoyed your post about Rick Warren. Still, sad as it is, I think we have to be careful when using satire. Our cultural climate and the degraded reading abilities of many, many average Americans has left us without the cognitive capacity to recognize satire. This is something I’ve been concerned about, especially with on-line sites that normally would be funny, like the Babylon Bee, but that I think the average “reader,” will unfortunately take as serious and in a wooden, prima facie sense. Love your blog, but perhaps just reconsider whether or not satire can or should be used to edify the church in our cultural context today. I wish it were possible, but it may not be. We have to respect the fact that many in the church just don’t have this level of literary sophistication and we need to reach them too. Just a thought. Reply
Thanks for your thoughts. Interestingly, I received a positive response from Rick Warren’s former pastor. I use satire sparingly but I do believe it has a place for challenging Christians. But I hear your warning. Reply
Wow, you nailed it Stephen. I definitely think you’re onto something here. Too often we see a very large portion of American evangelicals behaving in very aggressive manner. I’ve been thinking about it myself quite a bit. In fact their alliance with with Republican Party is mind-boggling and in my opinion not consistent with the biblical worldview. Warmongering, xenophobia, racism, guns, tax cuts for rich Fox news, Bill O’Reily, Glenn Beck, etc is what comes to mind when I think of the Republican Party That is not to say that the Democrats are significantly better because of their social views. I don’t even know how a sincere Christian could vote today when both parties are really out of whack for different reasons… Reply
Excellent article. I wish more people could learn how to read satire. Still, those of us who can read it appreciate it. 🙂 Reply
I do understand satrie but this crosses the line of satrie and stupidity. I understand you point but as a non believer I see this as a vicious self centered attack. Reply
Hey! Don’t blame the education system for people being devoid of senses of humor! Obviously it is the church that causes a lack of understanding of satire! Reply
Obviously they all know how to read or they wouldn’t have left comments. And maybe they were all homeschooled. Ok and you do get my sarcasm, right? I don’t have to spell it out for you, do I? Reply
ok, the fact that several people believed this and others got offended at the humor is a sad commentary. This is why the world thinks we are a bunch of clueless, thin-skinned people. C’mon folks. Reply
just because you help the poor doesn’t make you outright a heretic, just because you are kind to muslims doesn’t make you a heretic. so if you’re respected by non-christians, you’re a heretic? i questions some teachings of rick warren, he is quite off the true gospel but i i have no problem with his lifestyle. the author is way over the line. Reply
I am seriously concerned for the people that are reading this and not getting it…I guess some folks are so intrenched that they can’t see anything beyond their own very narrow minded point of view. Regardless, it was a fun read, thanks for again drawing a line back to what matters most. Reply
Wow for a min there I was extremely confused. even concerned, By the time I was finished however your intent was clear. Now I can lol. I was thinking, Steve seems to have gone astray in his doctrinal thinking. Phew, what a relief to know that it is only your humor that is gone astray. Reply
Stephen…..after reading your article and then reading some of the responses I wonder about people and their lack of understanding satire. I thought it was well written. I LOVE your sense of humor! Reply
I loved this. I’m sorry you’ve had to assist so many to get the joke! But actually I thought you made a great point too. Reply
Well said! It’s a sad reflection on the state of christianity in the US to see how a large portion of American christians can be flag waving war supporters and yet stumble at seeing some like R Warren and a few others trying to reach muslims without displaying an arrogant or selfrighteous attitude. btw, I have been a missionary for 40 years and am presently minsitering in a partly muslim field Reply
I admit I am uncomfortable with Warren’s use of different translations to find a particular English word in order to make a point. But heretic? NO. The heretics are the ones who shove God into their small theological box and then declare everyone else wrong. They take pride in being the ‘in’ group qouting Mt 12:30 piously, but neglect to reflect on Mark 9:40. They talk about love, but act more like Pharisees than Jesus. A healthy dose of humility would help. Reply
I don’t like the multiple translations either. But Warren is far from the only person who does that. It is an unfortunate practice. Reply
“It is an unfortunate practice.” Yes it is, and Rick is an unfortunate man. He is unfortunate that he is blind, he is unfortunate that he is unregenerate, he is unfortunate that he is going to burn, and he is unfortunate that the blood of those he deceives will be required at his hand. It would be better for him if he had never been born. Reply
Just one thing to think about: When a pastor uses multiple translations to get a point across, he might be using his knowledge of the greek and hebrew to convey a more accurate rendition of the phrase. In essence, we cannot nescessarily absolutely trust that the translation we use is the most accurate translation of all or that our personal interpretation of the word is accurate. We must depend on knowledge of the original greek and hebrew, or depend on someone who has studied these languages to help teach us the meaning. Some translations are not intended to fully and intricately describe the original word. A more simple word might be used. This is why I believe it is not necessarily a bad practice to occasionally use various translations, or the original hebrew or greek to understand a scripture passage. Reply
Question: If the 2 greatest commandments were: 1. Love God with all your heart, mind, body and spirit. 2. Love thy neighbor as you love yourself Doesn’t love mean helping the poor, hungry and sick? Also, wouldn’t that be a good way to reach the hearts of man/women by first coming to their need and then preaching the gospel? What did Jesus say in Matthew 25:35-45? 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Reply
You are absolutely correct. My post is satire as the Scripture passages actually contradict the accusations of heresy. Reply
Hi Stephen, I just found this quote by Buddha. “Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it” Gautama Buddha Wonder if that’s where Rick got the idea for the book? Reply
I suspect not. I think that all of us have a built in desire to know our purpose, whether we are the Buddha or Rick Warren or me or you. Reply
If you have made any error, it is in the use of the word “heretic.” In order to use the word correctly (even in jest), you would have to prove that the individual (Warren) was fully correct at one time and yet turned away at some point. That is the lexical meaning of heresy (and apo-stasis). Very funny but it shows the error of christianity more than the humor of its doctrine and personalities. Glad that you labeled it as “satire” or I would have wondered a bit. Silly but good for the groundlings. Cheers! Reply
Late to the party on this one. I go for walks near Saddleback Church. It was hard not to know about his retirement. In one article about it, I couldn’t believe the vitriol aimed at the man in the comments section. When I happened upon this article and thought it was just another fundamentalist attack on him. After reading it, I just thought to myself “please let this be a joke”. It wasn’t until I read the comments that I was actually sure. Most true believers are a humorless lot. Understanding sarcasm is definitely not their strong suit. Reply
Thanks for having the patience to see where I was really going. The post originated with my frustration with people calling him a heretic. Disagreeing over methods should not lead to accusations of heresy. I think he has done a great job for the kingdom. Reply
Does not covering for a false teacher by lying about his false teachings make you the heretic here? Should it not be you who repents? After all there’s nothing you can do about anyone other than you. Reply