Glenn Beck, David Barton, and the New Evangelical/Mormon Syncretism

Glenn Beck: just another
charismatic personality used
by Satan to lure the church
into embracing syncretism.
(photo by Gage Skidmore/
CC BY -SA 3.0)

by Steve C. Halbrook 

Recently we found out that David Barton, of the influential Wallbuilders organization, called the Mormon Glenn Beck a Christian (see video below). (Okay, this is somewhat old news for some, but I'm a bit behind the times.)

However, those mildly acquainted with Mormonism know that Mormonism is not Christian, but an anti-Christian cult, spawned from the pit of hell. Moreover, while Beck claims to believe in Jesus, he says there are "3 faiths, 3 paths to God." This is contrary to Jesus' words in John 14:6, which affirm that biblical Christianity alone is the true faith.

Barton's endorsement is disturbing, but not surprising. For some time, political syncretism has been an evangelical trend. In the past we have seen Gospel-compromising evangelical coalitions with the heretical Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches (e.g, the Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document, and the more recent Manhattan Declaration). (See the end of this article for an analysis of these coalitions.)

Of course, let's not forget the long-standing Israeliolatry fueled by some dispensationalists. (Israeliolatry says "we stand with Israel unconditionally" despite the fact that modern Israel is an unbelieving, anti-Christian nation.) 

And now perhaps we are seeing the beginnings of "Evangelicals and Mormons Together" (as if Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxism are not heretical enough); because of Beck's stance against liberalism, many evangelicals have a "warm, fuzzy feeling" for him--perhaps to the extent of overlooking his Mormonism. And to top it off, Barton, an influential evangelical, tells us that Beck is a Christian. 

What's next? Will an evangelical leader tell us that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, also a Mormon, is a Christian, simply because he opposes Democrats?

A major reason evangelicals succumb to political syncretism is that they don't understand Christ's lordship over the state. They don't see that Christ must be openly proclaimed as the highest political authority; that civil polytheism (religious pluralism) is sinful; that the Old Testament civil laws are binding on civil government; and that seduction to idolatry is just as much a temptation in the civil sphere as any other sphere (cf. Deut. 13).

In not recognizing Christ's lordship over the state, evangelicals lack biblical precepts to regulate their approach to politics. Thus they are “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:14b). Without the objective, biblical standard for civil government, all that is left is compromise, pragmatism, and ungodly alliances. Hope is not in Christ, but in charismatic personalities and what man can achieve. 

And so we can expect evangelicals to continue in their political declension until they realize that Christ, and Christ alone, is Lord of the state. He does not share His glory with another, and thus does not want His people to politically align with papists, Mormons, and other enemies of Christianity. As we have seen, the fruit of this is not political victory, but compromise with heresy and syncretism. And this provokes God's judgment, including by means of political tyranny.

May God protect His church from Mormonism, every other heresy, and those who would say "peace, peace," when there is no peace.

(For a thorough refutation of evangelical political pragmatism, see Christ's Lordship is the Answer, not Political Pragmatism. For biblical principles on alliances, see Forbidden Alliances by George Gillespie.)

In this video, David Barton downplays the danger of exposure to heresy.
We would urge him to read Exodus 23:31-33, Matthew 7:15, and Romans 16:17, 18.