USA! USA! USA!
That’s basically the Gospel preached by Joshua Feuerstein. The downside of the information age and unfiltered communication is that any shlub in a tracksuit can gain Internet fandom by sounding like he knows what he’s talking about. He doesn’t actually have to know what he’s talking about; he just needs to sound like it. Feuerstein has mastered this niche market of social media ministry; he’s a man with little to no real theological training, an infinitesimally small grasp of the Bible, and suffers from an indomitable confusion between American nationalism and the Gospel.
And to be clear, the problem is not that Feuerstein is all for ‘Murica.’ God bless ‘Murica.’ I mean, we could live in some forsaken, terrible place (like Canada, eh). The problem is that Feuerstein is a grossly unqualified, undereducated, and spiritually bereft leader of a cyber-cult who doesn’t know the Bible from the Book of Mormon.
Yesterday, Feuerstein posted the following to his Facebook account, which is the equivalent of an actual pastor preaching something from behind the pulpit.
The Scripture Feuerstein posted says, “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.”
Feuerstein then added, “God’s message to America!”
Here’s the problem, though. That’s not from the Bible. That’s from the Book of Mormon. In particular, that’s from Ether 2:12. It is supposedly the record of the Jaredites, taken from the twenty-four plates found by the people of Limhi in the days of King Mosiah. It’s just as likely that it was taken from the firey dungeons of Mordor.
While the Americanism of Mormonism might be appealing (it is a religion founded in America, fabricated in America, for Americans), it is not Biblical. We can assure you that God’s message to America will not be found in a book made up in the head of a serial adulterer, polygamist, liar and thief, Joseph Smith.
It’s also not going to be found in Joshua Feuerstein.
While seminary or Bible college isn’t (and probably shouldn’t be) a prerequisite for Christian ministry, that someone with the theological acumen (or lack thereof) of Joshua Feuerstein has a teaching platform makes the idea of some kind of mandatory instruction appealing. In the meantime, it’s unclear if Feuerstein has been ordained for ministry by any kind of local church – it’s highly doubtful – but if so, they might want to consider revoking it.
