Robert Schuller (1926-2015), founder of the Crystal Cathedral and the Hour of Power television broadcast, died last week at age 88. Few men have had more influence on “evangelicalism” in this generation. In his popular book Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, Schuller called for the creation of a new kind of Christianity: one that believes in the universalistic Fatherhood of God and the divinity of man, one that is positive and non-judgmental, one that worships a New Age self-esteem Christ, one that denies the necessity of Christ’s blood atonement, one in which salvation is to be reconciled with one’s own goodness, one that believes in the essential truth in all religions. These heresies spread far and wide during Schuller’s lifetime. He was one of the most popular religious television personalities in America for decades, with his Hour of Power program viewed by 20 million people in 180 countries at its peak. His books sold by the millions. His self-esteem Christianity has been adopted by multitudes of people who believe they are Christians and attend churches, but in reality they worship a false christ and follow a false gospel. Schuller was one of the fathers of the megachurch movement as well as of the emerging church. Schuller was endorsed by a wide range of Christian leaders such as Billy Graham, James Dobson, R.C. Sproul, W.A. Criswell, Tony Campolo, Bill Bright, Bill Hybels, Jack Hayford, John Wimber, Lee Strobel, Charles Colson, and Rick Warren. Schuller built the Crystal Cathedral in 1980, a 2,800-seat megachurch sanctuary with 10,000 panes of glass. In 2011, the Crystal Cathedral was sold to the Roman Catholic Church and became a Catholic cathedral. (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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