Beth Moore Under Fire, Says, 'Spending Time with God and Spending Time with the Bible Are Not the Same Thing'

Kayla Koslosky | ChristianHeadlines.com Editor | Updated: Jan 08, 2019
Beth Moore Under Fire, Says, 'Spending Time with God and Spending Time with the Bible Are Not the Same Thing'

Beth Moore Under Fire, Says, 'Spending Time with God and Spending Time with the Bible Are Not the Same Thing'

Beth Moore became the center of controversy this week after she told her followers on Twitter that “spending time with God and spending time with the Bible are not the same thing.”

The evangelical Christian author decided to start off the New Year by telling people that while the Bible is the word of God, “it’s not God.” 

In her post on Twitter, the 61-year-old evangelical wrote, “Spending time with God and spending time with the Bible are not the same thing. The Bible is the Word of God, crucial to knowing Him, but it’s not God. We can study our Bibles till the 2nd coming & leave God completely out of it. We can grow in facts & never grow a whit in faith.” 

Thirty minutes later she added, “I will emphasize once more that my point is NOT studying Scripture less. I am a proponent of daily Bible study. It’s my practice. My life work and my delight. My point is that we need God in our study of His Word. I’m just saying don’t leave Jesus out of Bible study.”

Moore’s statement rose a lot of questions among her followers, some adamantly agreeing with her while others vehemently disagreed. 

Twitter user George Rodriguez wrote, “You're wrong, the word of God is God speaking to us.”

Moore responded to this comment saying, “Agreed. But we can read it without one iota of His Holy Spirit at work in us.”

Another User called Dave1975 wrote, “Thanks again, Beth, for your terrible teaching that can be incorporated into the worldview of lost people. You just made it that much harder to reach the lost! Not cool.”

Another Twitter user, Jackie Schneider, pointed out a passage in John where God is specifically called the Word. She wrote, “‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ John 1:1 ESV”

Still, others agreed with Moore’s post. One Twitter user, D’Anna, wrote, “If Hebrews 4:12 is not happening while we read our Bibles we need to question our true spiritual condition. Your right, the Pharisees were so full of pride they were “hearing/reading” the word but not “receiving” it.”

Another used Saul as an example to explain what she believed Moore meant. Kathy Schwanke wrote, “Evidenced in Saul, full of the word without the Spirit inside / then Paul, once born again, the word in him came alive!”

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Terry Wyatt/Stringer



Beth Moore Under Fire, Says, 'Spending Time with God and Spending Time with the Bible Are Not the Same Thing'