The Bible has a lot to say about false teachers. There are descriptions of false teachers, warnings against them, names of false teachers, and instructions about what to do when they’re discovered. Every Christian should know that false teachers exist, and should study the New Testament to make sure they’re not led astray by them. However: there is great danger in calling someone a false teacher, and we must be careful to do it thoughtfully, biblically, and prayerfully.
I wrote online for over 20 years before writing a single article about false teachers. This is not a task I take lightly, or that I enjoy. I simply couldn’t ignore the requests for help any longer. It seems that the most prominent, most visible, most well-known teachers who claim to be Christians are the worst, and people need to know that whey they hear from these men and women simply isn’t true.
What is a False Teacher?
False teaching was considered a serious problem in the first century, as we see by simply reading the New Testament. It’s no less serious today and, I would suggest, is far more prevalent. What we believe about God matters, and so we need to know about those who lead people astray.
Trust is at an all-time low
These days, trust in others seems to be at an all-time low. As a result, I receive a lot of requests that ask whether a specific person is a false teacher, or someone we can trust to teach what the Bible says. People simply don’t know who to trust, and so they search for answers.
List of False Teachers
This list makes no claim about anyone’s salvation, or whether they regularly teach true and helpful things. Its sole purpose is to make readers aware of false teaching.
The Word of Faith Movement (WOF)
The Word of Faith movement is a pseudo-Christian cult. With no official set of beliefs and no human authority to answer to, teachers in this movement persist in teaching unbiblical things about God, the nature of humanity, and more.
What is the Word of Faith Movement?
What is the Secret Behind “The Secret”?
Related Links
A Caution to Those Who Decree and Declare
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)
The New Apostolic Reformation is a movement made up of a hundreds of churches and organizations around the world that call themselves Christian, but share a number of both unbiblical ideas and extra-biblical ideas. Most NAR teachers are also Word of Faith teachers, another decidedly unbiblical set of ideas.
The King James Only Controversy (KJVO)
Some who call themselves Christians insist that the King James version of the Bible (KJV) is the only, perfect, inspired version that English-speaking Christians should read. In addition, some claim that modern English Bibles are the work of a satanic conspiracy to promote a false gospel.
The King James Only Controversy
Problematic Bibles
A lot younger Christians (and non-Christians) ask this question: which Bible should I use? There are a lot of different Bibles available, and that can be confusing. Virtually all modern Bibles are produced through solid, responsible scholarship using the most up-to-date translation techniques, and they use all of the available ancient manuscripts to make sure they’re faithful in reproducing what the original writers intended. Unfortunately, not all Bibles fit this description.
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