Recently, charismatic apostle and prophet Dr Chuck Pierce offered Mormon political pundit and commentator Glenn Beck a “new mantle for the future” because of his stand with the nation of Israel.
There are so many angles one could take when it comes to dealing with an issue like this.
One could talk about the strange, adulterous relationship that American evangelicalism that allows a charismatic guy can ‘anoint’ a Mormon political pundit because he ‘stands with Israel’ – a geopolitical issue couched in theological terms. But I frankly do not care for the political – I want to deal with a less well known issue – and for that, we need a brief lesson in Mormon theology.
The Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints note the following:
- We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
- We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
- We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.[1]
Read that to most adherents to the prophetic and New Apostolic Reformation movements and they would have zero issue with those:
- Pierce himself claims prophetic and apostolic covering through his affliation with C. Peter Wagner’s International Coalition of Apostles[2] – thus called of God by prophecy and laying of hands (like the Mormons)
- Pierce believes in the concept of the five-fold ministry – an idea taken from Ephesians 4:11-16 which says that for the church to come to full maturity, there must be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers and in that order[3] (like the Mormons)
- Like any confessing Charismatic, Pierce affirms tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues and the like (again…just like the Mormons)
What’s interesting is that the Mormon church predates Pentecostalism by about 60 years[4] – and yet modern-day Charismaticism is known for exactly the same three things.
That’s why Pierce can perform a prophetic act on Beck and defend it by saying:
Concerning Glenn Beck and his family, I enjoyed being with and hosting them. Jesus would have done the same. Glenn is a Mormon. However, many prophets have prophesied that those in the Mormon religion will have revival. How would that ever happen without someone like Falma praying and someone like me opening my heart to embrace the opportunity? I honestly know that it is “not by might nor by power but by the Spirit” that any of this can change.[5]
God spoke by word of prophecy – Beck believes in prophecy as a good Mormon, Pierce believes in prophecy as a good New Apostolic Reformation minister. God spoke, I believe it, that settles it.
In other words, a faulty understanding (and rejection) of Biblical authority leads to a faulty
Deeper than that is the aims and values of Mormonism and many of the people in the New Apostolic Reformation. Mormonism teaches:
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory[6]
So America and Israel – the two entities nearest and dearest to a lot of political conservatives and American evangelicals alike – play some role in Mormon eschatology. No wonder, then, the two men can share a stage and Glenn Beck can even ‘share’ a word at Pierce’s Sunday service – with the full blessing and defense of Pierce himself.[7]
Theology matters, folks – what happened in that ‘church’ this past weekend wasn’t just an overexcited prophet-wannabe affirming a guy from outside his circles – it was a case of two groups with surprisingly similar theology finally acknowledging that and if Pierce’s words about a much-touted rapprochement aren’t too far off.
[Contributed by Kofi Adu-Boahen]
[1] http://www.mormon.org.uk/beliefs/articles-of-faith
[2] http://www.gloryofzion.org/chuckpierce/
[3] http://www.destinyeastgateministries.org/journals/prophetic-tidbits/the-process-of-change-by-chuck-pierce/
[4] The Articles of Faith, though undergoing a lot of change in the intervening 190 years, were first adopted in 1842. Pentecostalism, at its earliest, began with the Bethel Bible College of Topeka, KS in 1901 and took off with the Azusa Street Revival of 1906.
[5] http://www.charismanews.com/us/48875-chuck-pierce-answers-critics-of-glenn-beck-mantling
[6] http://www.mormon.org.uk/beliefs/articles-of-faith (emphasis mine)
