The son of a famous theologian and evangelist ripped into “prosperity gospel” pastor Joel Osteen, saying his disastrous decision to deny help to the flood-ravaged citizens of Houston exposed him as a follower of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of selfishness instead of the Jesus he praises every Sunday in his megachurch.
Osteen came under harsh national criticism earlier in the week for locking up his Houston-area church and offering only prayers to the victims of of Hurricane Harvey.
The criticism didn’t abate after the fabulously wealthy evangelist finally opened up his church doors after he was publicly shamed across the board.
Appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy, commentator and prominent atheist Frank Schaeffer — son of noted evangelical scholar Francis Schaeffer — unloaded on Osteen for being more interested in his wealthy lifestyle than administering to the poor.
“Your father was very much involved in terms of this sort of prosperity ministry — this kind of evangelicalism,” host Joy Reid asked. “What do you make of the Joel Osteen affair here?”
“Joel Osteen lives in a 10 to $15 million house,” Schaeffer explained. “He is one of these con artists, like so many in the evangelical world, who are all about ‘send me money, God will bless you.’ When they talk about themselves, it’s ‘look God had blessed me.’”
“The trouble with Houston or all catastrophes is that it doesn’t fit in with the Osteen-Trumpian view of ‘look at me, look how successful I am. You can be like me if you go to Trump University’ in terms of Trump’s con game, and ‘if you come to my church’ in terms of Joel Osteen and other evangelical guys,” he continued.
“Osteen and these people, in terms of the old time evangelical gospel, are heretics,” he emphasized. “They preach of a Jesus that hasn’t come to minister to the poor, did not say blessed are the poor and the meek. Osteen and Trump come from the capitalist American idea of success. Their gospel is the gospel of Ayn Rand: ‘Blessed are those who triumph over others and get rich.’”
You can watch the video below via MSNBC:
Reprinted from Raw Story by permission.
25 Comments. Leave new
Thanks for taking the long way around toward making your point so that you could correct the ignorance of your MSNBC host who lumped your father in with the prosperity preachers who you and he both rightly consider heretics. She didn’t really seem to know her ass from a hole in the ground, theologically speaking, but just had you on her show to dump on “evangelicals” from your vantage point as a “commentator and prominent atheist.”
Oh, Frank, whenever will you tire of sleeping around with these strange and asinine bedfellows!
Never. Frank is one of them.
Gary, why are you so critical of Frank? What’s your agenda? To punish him for leaving evangelicalism? To make him see the error of his ways? Sincerely curious…
John, The one thing I approve is that Frank no longer claims to be a Christian. Other than that, I don’t know of anything we agree on. I am not interested in convincing him of his errors. I’m not trying to change his mind about anything.
Dear Gary Bryson:
If you’re not interested in convincing Mr. Schaeffer of the error of his ways, or in changing his mind about anything, exactly why do you post here?
Blessings!
What GDD said .. to a factor of ten
3:10
An 2nd string interviewer from the majority of the networks not having done his/her research before the interview not knowing his/her pretentious head from her posterior ? Nahhhh … never happens .. ( sarcasm most definitely intended to the fullest extent )
Honestly …when I read/heard that come out of her mouth I almost fell out of my chair . Had she said Francis was part and parcel of what has now become the Religious ( not so ) Right .. well then she’d of had a point … But Health Wealth and Prosperity … Francis ? Nothing could be further from the truth .
FYI; Though I can make no claims to friendship with Frank ( though I wish I could ) I do feel as if I know him reasonably well having studied at his papas feet as well as several of Francis’s mentors as well as witnessed Frank’s many twists and turns thru life etc. And yeah … GB’s comments to say the least are completely off base . BTW As far as your last sentence … if I’m reading you correctly perhaps we can both pray that day will happen .
Frank Schaeffer is my friend. He is kind to me in conversation . . . even continuously forgiving when I’ve cussed at him and apologized afterward, often mentioning how many times he’s had to repeatedly seek forgiveness from family and friends. Whatever Frank calls himself, he says that he prays this same prayer that I find myself praying over and over, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” What does praying a prayer like that make either one of us? Forgiven, I hope.
Frank proudly admits he doesn’t believe the Bible, and he mocks those who do. Yet he claims he prays to Jesus Christ, who he would know nothing about but for the Bible that he doesn’t believe is true.
Yeah, Gary, Frank has a problem with the Bible. Whatever . . . that won’t last long.
But Frank saw Jesus in his mother and, even, in his father just like I did in my own parents and later in his also, flawed people as they all were, but Christians, nonetheless . . . and I’m sure that Frank’s seen Jesus in the Bible too just like I have, whatever he may think of that unique collection of writings.
Wherever this Jesus prayer comes from, I’m just glad it’s in my heart.
If you are saying that Frank is right with God, that is absurd.
What do you mean that Frank’s problem with the Bible won’t last long?
As soon as Frank breathes his last breath in this life, he’ll either see Jesus or he won’t . . . same as all of us. The Bible at that point will be irrelevant.
love that
Mr Bryson .. if you’d bother to read the Bible or at the very least some C.S. Lewis you’d know that neither yourself nor any of us has a clue where Frank stands in the eyes of God as that is not for us to judge .
TJ, It is because I read the Bible that I know Frank is not right with God. If I didn’t read the Bible, then I could not know.
Mr Bryson .. if you’d read the Bible as you make claim to you’d know full well it is not your place to make such a judgement . Proving point blank that you have not … read the Bible in its entirety as well as in context that is .
FYI; re; my credentials – Fully educated ( as in Doctorate ) dyed in the wool Reformation Theologian / Apologist / Philosopher / Believer ( though in light of what American Christianity has become I’m loath to call myself a Christian nor align myself with such blatant hypocrisy and heresy )
What you got ?
TJ, If distinguishing believers from unbelievers is forbidden, then just about everyone in the New Testament was in violation because most of them did it.
I appreciate your not calling yourself a Christian. Its better not to lie about such things.
So Mr Bryson .. you now resort to pithy Trumpian pre-adolescent attempts at insult along with once again making false and ungrounded accusations along with proving once and for all you neither know your Bible nor early Church history .. not to mention being utterly clueless as to the state of Christianity in America and what constitutes the Religious Right .
Hmm .. and what is one to make of one such as yourself one may ask ? Unfortunately though the answer is simple . What you are proving yourself to be is yet one more shining example atop the manure pile of the Collective Stupidity of America pretending to be in any way shape or form Christian when in reality you are mere pretense in the guise of Christianity having memorized a phrase or two to fit in while neither comprehending nor understanding one thing that comes out of your own mouth or keyboard . e.g. Thou art a fraud young man … and a poorly prepared fraud at that . Question is … who are your minders and how much are they paying you to comment on Liberal and Centrist websites
So Bryson .. things to do … genuine people to converse with .. only so many hours in a day worth wasting on the likes of you .
But hey … do try again on future topics . You have no idea how much enjoyment I derive from making fools out of your kind .
PS; Tell your minders you tried your damnedest . I’m sure they’ll understand … or not … I’ll go with … not ..
I cannot believe the comments you print here,
Do you make them up or are all your readers third graders??????
Bailey, I can assure you that Frank doesn’t make up the comments . . .
and welcome to the third grade! :v
Sorry Bailey but we’re all real . Very real indeed in fact . Question is … are you ? Or is Olsteen now resorting to online trolls when being criticized on Liberal and Centrist sites as much of the ( not so ) Right has been doing lately ?
Well Frank … I originally coined the term ‘ Gospel of Ay Rand ‘ but I’m more than glad to let it go in the interest of educating the public …and especially the Evangelical public as they ( as well as much of the Roman Catholic church ) go down the Rabbit Hole of Randian theology forsaking the Bible they claim to hold so dearly along with the Savior and God they pretend to bow down before
Hello Frank, I’m nearly finished with Crazy for God, and I so appreciate you writing it! I was an evangelical Christian for about 30 years, starting in 1975. I wrestled with doubts the whole time; I have a master’s in English and came from an intellectual family. I leaned heavily on C.S. Lewis and, to a lesser degree, your dad’s writings, to shore up my faith. I tried to read A Time for Anger, but – no offense! – it seemed shrill and not entirely coherent…anyway, I love Crazy for God. It resonates with my own experience of loving but doubting the evangelical church, and finally saying goodbye. So good to know you’re out there thinking and fighting the whole Trump phenomenon, which you actually predicted in Crazy, 10 years ago.
My father was the last Chief Missionary in the Pacific, with the London Missionary Society, and I was part of a Christian upbringing in which I saw sacrificial parents. So it touched my heart as you spoke here about Christians, apart from their failings and misconceptions, who were genuine in that regard.