Sunday, January 29, 2012

ER2 conclusion: Jakes is a Modalist

The Elephant Room 2 is a farce, with independent reporters for the event having been kicked out. Not surprisingly, but sadly, Jakes came out seemingly as a Trinitarian, as he has no problems using the language of "persons," or so it seems.

The problem however comes when we dig deeper. Did Jakes actually proclaim that he is now a Trinitarian, or was it just theological sleight of hand?

In his Dividing Line radio broadcast here, Dr. James White addressed this issue head-on. Is Jakes actually Trinitarian, or is he just playing MacDonald and Driscoll as pawns? The latter it seems. For those who call themselves pastors trying to discern Jakes' orthodoxy or the lack therefore, MacDonald and Driscoll seem hopelessly naive. Driscoll's attitude here is sadly hypocritical, as Frank Turk helpfully says,

Someone needs to check the date for Mark Driscoll's shelf life as a reliable person. In the past month, he utterly disgraced himself on the "Unbelievable" podcast by interrogating this host, Justin Brierly, and accusing him and the whole British Christian church of being a flop because they also don't have a Mark Driscoll, and they have a few women pastors. But, when the other shoe drops and he has Bishop Jakes sitting before him in a place where there are supposed to be hard conversations, Bishop Jakes gets the velvet gloves - including a complete whiff at the issue of egalitarianism in Jakes' own theology and church

Dr. White in contrast shows the acumen that MacDonald and Driscoll should have possessed and used in the ER2. As Dr. White twitted earlier in a clear question directed as TD Jakes:

@BishopJakes Did the Son, as a divine Person, distinct from the Father, exist as a Person prior to the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem? [Source]

Jakes did not say anything new in the ER2, but continue to use Modalist language, while departing from Oneness Pentecostalism only in his acceptance of the term "persons," though I don't see what the mere use of the term "persons" without the full biblical teachings concerning the divine persons within the Godhead means. What's the use of merely mouthing the word "persons"? One does not become orthodox by merely mouthing orthodox jargon, but by believing in the content of orthodoxy!

Jakes continues to be a modalist, and therefore not a Christian. As is noted by many, we haven't even touched on his embrace of the anti-Christian "prosperity gospel," which is enough to put him outside the pale of Christianity regardless of whether he is a Trinitarian.

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