Bible teacher and author Beth Moore drew controversy over the weekend after she said she didn't understand the appeal of 17th-century theologian Jonathan Edwards and his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
"For the life of me, I don't get the appeal of Jonathan Edwards to many," Moore wrote in a lengthy Twitter thread on Saturday morning.
According to Church Leaders, Moore shared that she had been reading a book filled with historic sermons when she came across a page on which she had written, "But I have Jesus."
“But I have Jesus.” I’d underlined the word Jesus. Lol. Now that right there is vintage Beth. I’ve got nothing if I don’t have strong feelings. I’ve got nothing if I don’t have Jesus. I grinned, curious what I’d felt the need so many years ago to respond so curtly toward.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) January 14, 2023
Moore's post centered on Edwards' words, "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked…You are 10,000 times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours."
While Moore acknowledged that Edwards was addressing those who don't know Christ, she argued that "such preaching would've made me feel like dying. Like running away, not running toward God."
I get that Edwards is talking to those who do not look to Christ for salvation but I’m just saying, I was so broken & self-loathing & ensnared in my sins, such preaching would’ve made me feel like dying. Like running away, not running toward God. I would’ve wondered how he could
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) January 14, 2023
"I would've wondered how he could go straight to loving someone like a son after he had abhorred them like a spider. This thought process breaks down, of course, because I'm certainly not God, and, to be candid, I tend to like spiders. I mean real ones. Like granddaddy long legs and writing spiders. Charlotte and all."
Moore also noted that it was the "merciful Jesus" that drew her to God since she came from an "unstable, boundary-less" household and was a "messed up kid."
Anyway, I was such a messed up kid. So much shame. I could not stop making terrible decisions. Such an unstable, boundary-less home. What drew me to God was merciful beautiful Jesus. Yes, Jesus who could warn the ever living fire out of you but Jesus who could tell you everything
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) January 14, 2023
"Yes, Jesus who could warn the ever-living fire out of you," Moore added, "but Jesus who could tell you everything you'd ever done yet somehow, in doing so, be alight with such holy love toward you, that his confrontation gives you dignity you need to feel like maybe, in him—in his eyes—you're worth saving. And you run into town and tell everyone you can find, Come and meet who I have met!"
Overall, Moore disagreed with Edwards' statement about God holding someone over hell like a spider.
"God uses all sorts of means of calling people out of sin and unbelief," she stressed. "At times, I have very much needed the sternest possible warning from God. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm no big theologian, but I just don't think you're a spider. And I don't think God abhors you."
God uses all sorts of means of calling people out of sin & unbelief. At times, I have very much needed the sternest possible warning from God. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m no big theologian but I just don’t think you’re a spider. And I don’t think God abhors you.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) January 14, 2023
She concluded the thread by noting that her relationship with God is: "completely safe, completely loved, completely known and completely helped to pursue a holy life." Quoting the Apostle Paul, Moore cited Romans 2:4 as it has impacted her life.
"Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"
For me, these words from Paul have rung true for 6 1/2 decades: overwhelmingly it has been God’s kindness that led me to repentance. pic.twitter.com/nOOsd3Hvy7
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) January 14, 2023
Moore's thread about Edwards was met with both favorable and unfavorable responses.
"It was 1972. I was suicidal, drug addicted, a mess. I went to a church camp where the speaker yelled about, we were all going to hell. I said, yes, that's what I deserve. I didn't turn toward Christ until he slipped and said Jesus loved me. God's love transforms!" one user wrote.
"As a follower of Christ, I cannot understand how anyone who has read Jesus saying, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' can possibly see God as anything but loving," another person commented. "God is not some cruel monster watching and waiting. God is love."
One Twitter user who disagreed with Moore wrote, "We can only understand and grasp the depth of the Gospel being the GOOD news after being illuminated about the BAD news of being rebellious towards God."
"God hates sinners enough to send them to hell (Psalms 5:5), AND God loves sinners enough to save them from hell (John 3:16)."
"The wonderful truth of God's love in Christ is not breathtaking apart from first understanding our nothingness & lack of ability to save ourselves from His wrath," one person said. "A greater sense of thankfulness emerges when we see our worth before & after Christ. From a spider to a child."
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Terry Wyatt/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.