Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion: 2011 Edition. Pamela J.D. Dewey
know what to expect when visiting the churches of their own denomination in other cities. They would feel right at home, as that is the point of the term “denomination”: A group that has its own style, practices, policies, and unique doctrinal emphases that differentiate it from most other groups.
Those denominations and those diversities still exist in the 21st century. But what has changed is the “popular” face of religion: what the non-religious public views as Christianity today. For the world of cable and satellite television now offers to that public a homogenized version of Christianity that little resembles the reality out in the towns and cities.
Citizens of countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America may have a distorted understanding of what American Society is like because their only exposure to it is through American television programs— some of them current, some maybe decades old. Just imagine if all you knew about the U.S. was what you saw on the Beverly Hillbillies, Columbo, Three’s Company, Friends, Law & Order, and … MTV! The average lifestyle of a person in a small town in the U.S. Midwest would be totally outside this warped picture.
The same is now true for the landscape of American religion. Those not involved in any particular denomination or local church may have no exposure to Christianity other than what they see on TV. And what they now see on TV has come a long way from the Sunday morning church hour of the 1950s, when the local Methodist church would air its church service, live, for shut-ins.
The face that Christianity presents to the public now, 24 hours a day on Cable TV, is primarily orchestrated by one small group of people—those affiliated with the Charismatic Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). There is also a Roman Catholic network, EWTN, but it is so focused on Catholic doctrines and practices that it does not have an appeal to the general public. TBN, on the other hand, often features famous faces from outside the field of religion, and many programs full of attractive, contemporary music, that can catch the eye and ear of a channel surfer. More recently, they have begun featuring talk shows on a variety of topics, including health and family relationships.
Although there are other, smaller, religious cable networks around the country, TBN is a relative giant in the field. “Across America and around the world TBN is carried by TV stations and cable systems to millions of homes. As a matter of fact, TBN is featured on over 5,000 television stations, 33 satellites, the Internet and thousands of cable systems around the world. And the number continues to grow!” (tbn.org website promotional information)
So what brand of theology will one absorb from watching a week’s worth of programs on TBN?
It is a nebulous, homogenized theology that exists nowhere out in the real world, for it has no solid foundation at all. TBN founder and host Paul Crouch may sit and interview a guest preacher on a certain topic during one hour. Those on the television studio set with them may nod their heads, agreeing enthusiastically with everything the guest says. The next day, on the same show, a different preacher can expound on a perspective that is diametrically opposite the position of the man from the day before on a certain biblical topic or doctrine—and again, those present will nod their heads and agree enthusiastically with everything the man says!
How can this be? It can be, because there is no systematic set of beliefs that is represented on TBN, other than a general Charismatic emphasis. Evidently, no one on the TBN staff has the job of carefully examining all the teachings of the various speakers who appear on the network to see if they can be harmonized in any sensible way. It is obvious to outside observers that many of them cannot. However, since those involved seem to have never taken the time to attempt the harmonization, the loose ends are left loose.
Paul Crouch has made it abundantly clear why this is so—he is opposed to any suggestion that doctrine should be critically evaluated and examined by Christians. Note the following quotes from one of his monologues on the topic:
“That old rotten Sanhedrin crowd, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ... they’re damned and on their way to hell and I don’t think there’s any redemption for them ... the hypocrites, the heresy hunters that want to find a little mote of illegal doctrine in some Christian’s eyes ... when they’ve got a whole forest in their own lives. ...”
“I say, ‘To hell with you! Get out of my life! Get out of the way! Quit blockin’ God’s bridges! I’m tired of this! ... This is my spirit. Oh, hallelujah!’ ...”
“Have you ever seen the old movie, Patton? ... He’s my hero; he’s my hero. Old nail-chewin’, tobacco-chewin’, cussin’ Patton—but he read the Bible every day. I have a feelin’ we’ll see old General George in heaven. ... “
“There’s a wonderful scene in Patton ... they’re tryin’ to get the Third Army across the bridge in France and there’s an old, dumb jackass—donkey—right there on the bridge and it’s blockin’ the whole convoy of troops ... General George roars up, pulls that ivory- handled revolver out ... and he shoots the donkey. ...
“There’s a spiritual application here. ... I want to say to all you scribes, pharisees, heresy-hunters, all of you that are around pickin’ little bits of doctrinal error out of everybody’s eyes and dividin’ the Body of Christ ... get out of God’s way, stop blockin’ God’s bridges, or God’s goin’ to shoot you if I don’t ... let Him sort out all this doctrinal doodoo!”
“I don’t care about your doctrines as long as you name the name of Jesus, as long as you believe He died dead [sic] and was buried but came out of the tomb on Sunday morning and ascended to the Father ... I don’t care about anything else! Let’s join hands ... to get this gospel preached in all the world. “
“The rest of this stuff is what Paul the Apostle calls dung—human excrement! It’s not worth anything! Get rid of it ... and get on with winning the lost. “
“I refuse to argue any longer with any of you out there! Don’t even call me if you want to argue doctrine, if you want to straighten somebody out ... Get out of my life! I don’t even want to talk to you ... I don’t want to see your ugly face!” (As quoted in Foundation Magazine, March-April 1991, from a transcript of Crouch’s Praise the Lord show.)
Trend Two: Increasingly bold claims of the miraculous
The average person unfamiliar with the varieties of religious beliefs of Protestantism would not be aware that the people they see on TBN are not representative of the fundamental beliefs of most of the denominations in the United States. They are almost all part of what is termed the Charismatic Movement. And most would be identified, even by denominations that consider themselves Charismatic (such as the Assemblies of God), as being on the extreme fringe of the movement. A “mainstream” Charismatic believes that miraculous incidents, including instant healings and deliverance from demons, did not end in the first century after the death of the Apostles, but continue to this day. And he believes that the “gift of tongues”—the ability to speak in an “unknown language” in prayer or in a church service—is also for today.
Those on the outer fringes of Charismatic belief, however, not only believe these things are possible, they insist that astounding healings—on the order of curing AIDS, and sight returning to one born blind, and quadriplegic polio victims walking again—are, or should be, everyday occurrences. They insist that “power encounters” with the supernatural demonic forces of the Devil do occur in public crusades attended by hundreds of thousands around the world, accompanied by astonishing signs and wonders. And they are convinced that uncontrollable laughter, violent shaking, or the uncontrollable urge to make animal-like sounds (such as roaring like a lion or crowing like a rooster) among large numbers of people at a religious gathering is evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in great power.
Some of these unusual activities are actually shown on certain programs on TBN, such as the broadcasts from the public appearances of healing evangelist Benny Hinn. But many viewers seem unaware that all the regulars on TBN shows are either involved with or supportive of this brand of what some have dubbed “Hyper-Charismania.”
The problem with these claims of the miraculous is that they are bold—but