Oprah's Testimony of Faith - Not a Christian Viewpoint

During a December 2014 online discussion about the supposed "Christian faith" of Oprah Winfrey, the following video clips were shared as evidence that she is, indeed a Christian:

          Clip #1, from April 23, 2012

          Clip #2, uploaded to YouTube October 19, 2011

These videos actually provide direct evidence that her theology is at least confused, if not in direct opposition to the clear identifying marks of Christianity, and specifically, saving faith in Jesus Christ, who said plainly, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

  • Oprah defines "spirituality" as "living your life with an open heart through love," which she further defines as embracing the values of "tolerance, acceptance, harmony, and cooperation." Therefore, to be truly spiritual is to be tolerant of all points of view, religious or otherwise. This is a postmodern view of both truth and values, not a Christian worldview, which assets that truth is not subjective, but fixed, and morality is not subjective, but absolute. 
  • Oprah defines "God" as a "force or energy or consciousness..." This is New Age spirituality, not Christianity. Christianity defines God as One God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  • Oprah equates the "blessed life" to "living in the space of an open heart" or "living in the space of the spirit." In other words, she clarifies, the CAUSE of her blessed life is the fact that she has always (since she was 4) lived with this awareness, or "with an open heart through love," or "embracing tolerance, acceptance, harmony, cooperation..." In other words, she is blessed (and we can be, too) because of her attitudes and actions. This is a mix of works-righteousness and a "prosperity gospel" mindset error that equates the physical blessings of this earth with the degree to which we embrace love and respect of all people AND acceptance of their philosophy and religious ideology, regardless of Biblical distinctions. In Oprah's spiritual paradigm, tolerance trumps truth. That is not a Christian value.
  • In speaking about our desires and dreams, Oprah communicates a mixed message. On one hand, she asks her audience to "surrender" to a God who dreams greater dreams for us than we dream for ourselves (again, at least flirting with a prosperity gospel mindset), but at the end of the day, this "higher power" or "thing greater than yourself" (which is how she often characterizes God) is found within ourselves, in communion with some mysterious "energy" of the universe. She asks, "What would you, God... the universe... have me do?" Not God OF THE universe, but "God... the universe..."  Oprah says that if we truly want something, "There's no question that if the energy and the vibrational frequency is correct... is in sync with what is going to come your way, there is a space YOU CREATE (emphasis mine) that allows that to happen." At the end of the day, Oprah's concept of God is with ourselves. This is not the Sovereign God of the Bible.
Bottom line, while Oprah claims to be a Christian, I do not believe she is surrendered to Jesus Christ as the only true God, as her only hope of salvation from her sins.  What does it mean to be a Christian?

"But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12) To have saving faith means resting all of your faith and trust upon ONE NAME: Jesus Christ. That is a truly exclusive message. But that one truth is available to ALL who believe.
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Josh, there will probably be some who will be offended by your words here. I believe there are many decent people in the world with good intentions that we as Christians should not follow. What the world needs are pastors who love God and love their people enough to tell them the truth. You would not want a doctor who was afraid to tell you something that you might not want to hear. It could prove deadly. When our clergy is so concerned by whether people will like them or not rather than what is truth, it can be deadly to the soul. I believe we can be "jerky" in the way we approach sensitive subjects and I think that is where the admonition to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves come in. Our actions should be by love and not harshly legalistic, but there is no room when it comes to compromising truth. Oprah simply doesn't have a handle on "sound doctrine". It doesn't make her a bad person but it does make her wrong. The gospel itself is offensive by its nature because in order to show someone their Savior you must first show them their need of a Savior. That wounds the pride by pointing out their sins and flaws and that offends many. No one would think ill of a doctor who prescribed only one medicine to cure a specific illness if it was the only effective treatment available. It would be a disservice to the public to be so accepting that he would not oppose a person spreading rumors of various herbal cures if in fact that medicine would lead to death and not a cure. Thanks for standing for truth and doing the job God called you to do. You will probably be criticized for being negative and narrow minded. Thanks for approaching these matters with sensitivity and love instead of harshness and pride. Keep up the good work.
— Paul Johnston
I understand that you are evaluating the language used by OW in these two clips. I also understand that you care about God's people and want to offer them the purest Christian doctrine possible.... However, while I find it rather chilling that you state, " while Oprah claims to be a Christian, I do not believe she is surrendered to Jesus Christ as the only true God, as her only hope of salvation from her sins," I am comforted by the fact that God does not require someone else to believe we are surrendered to Him for Him to still be our Lord and Savior. If someone chooses to see OW as their god, that is their problem, not OW's problem. But honestly, aren't we all learning a little more about ourselves and our faith and our God each day? When I read your article, I wondered how one could be saved without first possessing the purest doctrine? And to me that resembles a person being able to DO something to obtain salvation. But I actually believe that only God gives us the gift of salvation through His mercy. And I believe that mercy covers even those who are still on a path of revelation. I could possess perfect Christian doctrine...but wouldn't I also need to possess love? Oprah Winfrey is actually a real human being. But you found fault with her words and used it to say you didn't believe she was actually surrendered to Jesus Christ. I mean this in the kindest possible way, Josh... would it be right for me to insert your name in your quote above? You claim you are a Christian. You have attended seminary. You are a Christian leader. You have every right (and the means to do so) to dissect discussion on Christianity. Maybe it is my autistic brain that makes this connection. But it sounds as though you are asserting that YOU get to decide whether or not OW is a true Christian. If you've given yourself permission to decide that about OW, I can logically presume you judge everyone. As a Christian myself, I'm holding out for God's judgment. It is perfectly understandable that one would warn against false doctrine...or at least nudge folks toward considering for themselves whether a particular comment or doctrine is sound according to the Bible. But as Christians, we could also probably benefit from not worrying so much about whether or not someone else is a true Christian and instead, focusing on our God more. Please know that I write this with no malice. These are simply poorly organized thoughts in response to your article.
— Sabrina Wille Erickson