If you are considering commenting or sending me an e-mail objecting to the fact that I warn against certain teachers, please click here and read this article first. Your objection is most likely answered here. I won’t be publishing comments or answering emails that are answered by this article.
This article is kept continuously updated as needed.
I get lots of questions about particular authors, pastors, and Bible teachers, and whether or not I recommend them. Some of the best known can be found above at my Popular False Teachers tab. The teacher below is someone I’ve been asked about recently, so I’ve done a quick check (this is brief research, not exhaustive) on her.
Generally speaking, in order for me to recommend a teacher, speaker, or author, he or she has to meet three criteria:
a) A female teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly preach to or teach men in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12. A male teacher or pastor cannot allow women to carry out this violation of Scripture in his ministry. The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be living in any other sin (for example, cohabiting with her boyfriend or living as a homosexual).
b) The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be partnering with or frequently appearing with false teachers. This is a violation of Scripture.
c) The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be teaching false doctrine.
I am not very familiar with most of the teachers I’m asked about (there are so many out there!) and have not had the opportunity to examine their writings or hear them speak, so most of the “quick checking” I do involves items a and b (although in order to partner with false teachers (b) it is reasonable to assume their doctrine is acceptable to the false teacher and that they are not teaching anything that would conflict with the false teacher’s doctrine). Partnering with false teachers and women preaching to men are each sufficient biblical reasons not to follow a pastor, teacher, or author, or use his/her materials.
Just to be clear, “not recommended” is a spectrum. On one end of this spectrum are people like Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth and Kay Arthur. These are people I would not label as false teachers because their doctrine is generally sound, but because of some red flags I’m seeing with them, you won’t find me proactively endorsing them or suggesting them as a good resource, either. There are better people you could be listening to. On the other end of the spectrum are people like Joyce Meyer and Rachel Held Evans- complete heretics whose teachings, if believed, might lead you to an eternity in Hell. Most of the teachers I review fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum (leaning toward the latter).
If you’d like to check out some pastors and teachers I heartily recommend, click the Recommended Bible Teachers tab at the top of this page.
Kelly Minter
Not Recommended
The “about” page of Kelly Minter’s web site used to describe false teacher, Beth Moore, as “one of [Kelly’s] favorite bible [sic] study teachers.” Kelly also said, “Beth’s teachings were much of what God used in my earlier life to teach and transform me…”. (This information has been removed from Kelly’s website since the original publication of my article on her in 2016.)
And, indeed the most glaring theological problem with Kelly is that she considers Beth Moore to be “one of my spiritual mothers.”
The “particularly unkind week on Twitter” Kelly is referring to is doctrinally sound Christians biblically rebuking Beth Moore for coyly announcing that she would be preaching the Sunday morning sermon at her home church on Mother’s Day 2019. Where Beth Moore…
- preaches to men in violation of Scripture
- consistently allegorizes, mishandles, and takes Scripture out of context
- partners with demonstrably false teachers and heretics
- is on a trajectory toward affirming homosexuality
- not only refuses biblical correction in all these areas but publicly taunts, insults, and name-calls those who rebuke her…
…Kelly thinks Beth has taught her “the whole counsel of God,” “brings glory to Jesus,” and is worthy of being her “spiritual mother.” If Kelly thinks these things, she is at the very least so undiscerning, or so unknowledgeable of the many Scriptures that condemn these things, or she knows that Scripture condemns these things but disregards Scripture in favor of her love for Beth, that she should not be teaching anyone, but should be sitting in a good local church under the teaching of a solid pastor so she can learn Scripture and sound doctrine.
If Kelly has such a fundamental misunderstanding of biblical obedience that she thinks Beth Moore – who defies Scripture in a myriad of ways – has taught her (“and countless others”) to obey Jesus, do you think she is qualified to teach the Bible to you or the women of your church, either in person or through the use of her materials?
Beth Moore is also fond of Kelly, (“I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER!!”) and has featured three of Kelly’s Bible studies during her summer Bible study series on her LPM blog: No Other Gods, Ruth and Nehemiah.
Since Beth Moore preaches to men, it is not surprising that we would find Kelly has preached to men as well. While it is commendable that Kelly doesn’t seem to preach to men often, and the FAQ page for her “Cultivate” conferences specifically says that these conferences are for women, it is troubling that she has preached in a Sunday worship service as recently as 2019 and that the woman she considers her mentor has no qualms about preaching to men.
Kelly seems to have unbiblical ideas about how people should study the Bible. In this video she recommends that people who want to understand the Bible need to get a study (in addition to her own, she recommends Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer) and “if you feel comfortable” get involved in a church to study “in community”. The biblical model for being taught Scripture is to join a church – this is not optional – and be taught the Word by the pastor, elders, and teachers. Doctrinally sound studies can sometimes be helpful, but they are supplementary to church instruction, not the primary source of instruction.
Kelly maintains friendly relationships and/or ministry partnerships with a plethora of false and problematic teachers. Here, Kelly recommends not only Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer, but also Jen Hatmaker, Jennie Allen, Jennifer Rothschild, Lisa Harper, and Margaret Feinberg. Kelly has guest blogged for Priscilla Shirer, and is an admirer of Christine Caine. Kelly has been featured on Angie Smith’s blog, is a fan of Catholic mystic, Henri Nouwen, and was included in The Faithful, a book of collected Bible studies by Kelly, Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, Jennifer Rothschild, and Lisa Harper. Kelly will be partnering with Lysa TerKeurst at a conference in October 2019, with Christine Caine at a LifeWay women’s leadership forum in November 2019, and with Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Jackie Hill Perry, and Jennifer Rothschild at LifeWay Women Live in 2020 (Kelly also appeared at the 2019 LifeWay Women Live with Christine Caine, Lysa TerKeurst, Lisa Harper.) Kelly has partnered with these and other false/problematic teachers at various other events, but I don’t wish to belabor the point. Kelly has little discernment and is disobeying Scripture’s admonition not to partner with false teachers.
When a women’s Bible study teacher is willing to preach to men and shows such a dearth of discernment, she is not someone you or the women of your church should follow or receive teaching from.
Michelle Lesley 