The devil in the pulpit

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)

Sometimes, the devil in the pulpit is more evil than the sinner on the street. 

Carlow University, a private Catholic college in Pittsburg, PA, recently hosted an event to discuss ways “to create a different cultural foundation upon which to base one’s faith.” That topic alone should have raised red flags at a Christian university – but no one could have imagined the heresy that would emanate from the podium. 

Guest speaker Miguel De La Torre is a professor of social ethics and Latinx studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Colorado. His presentation, entitled “Rejecting White Christianity,” began with an explosive statement. “All white theology and philosophy is detrimental to communities of color.” 

Excuse me? Pardon my ignorance, but when did theology become segregated by melanin? Christianity is color-blind. God created the human race. There is no distinction between races, skin pigment, birthplaces, or national origin in the plan of salvation. Christ sacrificed His life for all mankind so that the separation between humanity and deity could be paid – once and for all. 

There is no greater love than that demonstrated on the cross. (John 15:13) This love is for all of us. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible of salvation being for a select group. There is, therefore, no such thing as “White Christianity.” There is only Christianity. 

“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) That scripture is crystal clear. All means all. To interject skin color into the Gospel is blasphemy. It demeans and devalues the blood of our Savior. 

But Prof. De La Torre had just started speaking. The rest of his presentation only got worse. 

De La Torre told his audience that the solution to racism is obvious. He directed event participants to Matthew 25: 31-46. “Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the alien among you, provide healthcare, also provide prison reform,” advised De La Torre.

I’d like to know what version of the Holy Scripture this speaker was using, as healthcare and prison reform are not listed as God-given directives in any Bible I’ve ever seen.

One of my all-time favorite pastors once told me that we must be careful never to add to God’s Word. That scripture has always stuck with me. Deuteronomy 4:2 tells us, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” 

And yet, adding to scripture is precisely what De La Torre has done. 

The speaker went on to describe the difference between what he called “White theology” and Latinx ethics” – beginning with his definition of the word “hope.” 

“We embrace Euro-centric concepts like hope because it helps to pacify the oppressed during their oppression,” he said. 

De La Torre later rejected hope as a white concept – not as a “gift of the Spirit.” He further classified the same as a “middle-class excuse to do nothing.” 

Rev. Mark R. Wenger disagrees. “Real hope, I contend, is rooted in God. Hope is a spiritual gift and virtue more than a human achievement.” 

But in his presentation, De La Torre continued, “[Hope] leads to spiritual liberation and ignores physical liberation. It helps us believe in the riches of the hereafter, rather than the riches of the here and now.” 

Christ, Himself warned directly against De La Torre’s mentality when He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 19-21)

Rather than embracing hope, De La Torre asked his audience to “embrace hopelessness.” He argued that doing so “is to be propelled forward into practice and action.”

While the speaker seemed unwilling to defer his hope to the promises of heaven, the Bible cannot be more explicit in its directive of the same. 

• “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5)
• “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
• “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:31)
• “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
• “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrew 11:1)
• “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your Word.” (Psalm 119:114)

Not content with his attempts to debase the Gospel with division, disavow the hope of heaven, and add to the Word of God, De La Torre further directed his audience to embrace the concept of “ethical lying,” which he called a “trickster ethic.” He believes the same is necessary to transform society.

According to De La Torre’s convoluted logic, we need to learn to “ethically lie so we can discover what is true, how to steal so ethically we can feed those who are hungry… (and) how to disrupt the structures that have trained us to oppress ourselves and to take upon our body our own discipline.” 

Continuing with his blasphemy, the speaker guilted the audience into believing that “[white theology is] such a colonized way of understanding theology [that it] makes God false.” 

Alternately, De La Torre shared the words of his intellectual mentor in evidencing his way of thinking. 

“We will make our wine out of plantains, and even if it comes out sour, it is still our wine. We will make our theology. We will make our ethics out of our own cultural symbols. And even if we get it wrong, it still is ours,” said De La Torre. “We have to learn how to see with our own eyes. We have to crucify our colonized minds. And for our white brothers and sisters, they need to crucify their whiteness.” 

To this, I can only say, Prof. De La Torre, you did get it wrong. You do not get to make up your own theology. You may believe your own convoluted concepts, but God does not. You cannot add to His divine Word, twist your ideas into political psycho-babble, and still make it into heaven. 

Shame on this speaker for trying to pass along his heresy as gospel. 

And shame on the Catholic university that hosted this event. As their website boasts, they prefer to embrace “social justice, ethical forward-thinking leadership and meaningful service to the community” more than the Christian concepts that founded their origin.

When asked to comment on their guest’s controversial speech, they replied, “Carlow University is proud of our Catholic heritage and mercy mission, which welcomes all. As such, the University welcomes respectful discourse and multiple perspectives, including being open to hosting speakers like Dr. De La Torre whose topic may engender thoughtful reflection and dialogue.” 

In response to both the speaker and Carlow, I can only ask you to fully digest the scripture incorrectly quoted and enhanced during the event. 

Matthew 25:46 warns, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

And to my readers, please allow me to remind you that there is always hope in Christ. No matter what the devil in the pulpit may tell you, Christ is our eternal, living hope.