Jesus is my saviour

Does Oprah Winfrey Promote False New Age Spirituality and Beliefs?

Christian evangelical apologists, Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett, claim in the book “O” God that Oprah is a fake spiritual teacher and guru who distorts Christianity.
In their book, “O” God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah’s Spirituality, Christian evangelical apologists Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett claim that Oprah Winfrey has misguided and incorrect spiritual beliefs.
The men assert that Oprah and her friends — individuals Oprah features on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Oprah Radio and in O Magazine — are promoting false religious beliefs that do not mesh with true Christian teachings.
Overview of “O” God Book by Christian Apologists McDowell and Sterrett
Christian evangelists Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett state that the purpose of their book “O” God is to help Christians sort out how Oprah’s beliefs stray from traditional beliefs and teachings of the Christian faith. Both men are Christian apologists. Christian apologetics is a discipline that deals with proof and defense of Christian beliefs.
“O” God is a book about two women friends who are graduate students. They discus their spiritual ideas and religious questions as well as Oprah’s spiritual ideas. Direct quotes from Oprah herself and her friends are used throughout the book. Through the women’s conversations in “O” God, McDowell and Sterrett expose what they view as Oprah’s erroneous spiritual beliefs, confirming Oprah as a false spiritual teacher.
Oprah’s Spiritual Beliefs and Ideas under Attack
“O” God reveals Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett’s contentions with Oprah’s spiritual ideas. The authors are critical of Oprah’s beliefs about God, her belief that people should rely on their inner spiritual compass, her ideas about the truth contained in all religions, and her morals.

McDowell and Sterrett assert that Oprah is promoting ideas that sound Christian on the surface but are not. For instance, the authors believe that God is personal and separate from creation, whereas Oprah believes that God is in everything and everyone, at least to a certain degree. In the preface to “O” God, the men caution that Oprah “uses the language of the Bible and Christian traditions and yet includes other traditions to create a hodgepodge of personalized faith” (p. 10). McDowell and Sterrett believe that salvation is only achievable through Jesus Christ, not through other spiritual means, practices, or belief systems.
McDowell and Sterrett also bring into question Oprah and her friends’ morals. At one point, one of the women in the book declares, “Moral absolutes [are] so contrary to what Oprah says. I remember Eckhart Tolle saying that the mental labels of good and bad are ultimately illusory.”
Earlier in the book, speaking on behalf of McDowell and Sterrett, one of the women comments, “When I was in college I believed that good, evil, and morality were all just a matter of taste or opinion. . . . But now I realize that I was not thinking correctly. Certain moral laws exist in nature that are absolute for all people.”
A Critical Look at Oprah’s Beliefs and McDowell and Sterrett’s Agenda
Evangelical Christian authors Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett criticize Oprah’s spiritual views in “O” God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah’s Spirituality. Christians may find value and clarification in assessing how Oprah’s religious ideas conflict with the traditional Christian worldview. However, some readers who disagree with the authors’ ideas may find themselves questioning whether McDowell and Sterrett’s book is a trite marketing gimmick that piggybacks off of Oprah’s success to promote their own agenda.
In an article covering the authors’ January 2010 presentation about “O” God at the McLean Bible Church, the Christian Post quoted McDowell as saying, “I am not called in the Bible to be tolerant. . . . I refuse to be tolerant. I think it demeans people. . . . I am not called to tolerate people; I am called to love people. When you tolerate someone, it demeans them. When you love someone, it projects value, dignity and worth in that person. As Christians we are called to not only love one another, we are called to love the ungodly.”
McDowell and Sterrett’s“O” God book neither looks favorably upon Oprah’s ungodly spiritual ideas nor does it tolerate them, though it gets its Christian message across in a lighthearted, though a bit contrived, manner that does not resort to hostile defensiveness.
Readers might also be interested in reading about the Course in Miracles scribe, Helen Schucman; the Speaking of Faith radio show, hosted by Krista Tippett; or the Pew Forum report on religious belief in America.
Source:
McDowell, Josh, and Dave Sterrett. (2009). “O” God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah’s Spirituality. WND Books.

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