07AR12-12

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Apologia Report 12:12

March 29, 2007

Subject: Wall Street Journal: Wall Watchers vs. Joyce Meyer

In this issue:

CHRISTIANITY, GENERAL - Doug Groothuis reviews The New Faces of Christianity, by Philip Jenkins

ISLAM - My Year Inside Radical Islam, reviewed

MEYER, JOYCE - targeted by Wall Watchers financial watchdog ministry

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CHRISTIANITY, GENERAL

The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, by Philip Jenkins [1] -- reviewer Douglas Groothuis explains that "The thesis of [Jenkins' earlier book, The Next Christendom (2)] - that Christianity is exploding in unprecedented and often heterodox ways outside of Europe and North America (that is, in 'the global south') - is further elaborated in this fascinating and important book on how these new expressions of Christianity are appropriating the Bible for themselves, often apart from Western influences. ...

"Generally speaking, those in the global south - African or otherwise - approach the Bible without the secular influences that have pressed down on Western forms of Christianity. These Christians are thus far more open to the supernatural reports of Scripture - given the spiritual worldview of their native cultures - and take the Bible to have a supernatural power of its own not often considered by Western Christians, even of a more conservative bent. ...

"Jenkins realizes that he must simplify and generalize considerably to speak of the global south's take on the Bible, since these many Christians do not all speak with one voice."

Groothuis makes other useful observations about New Faces (though each is separated by what some may consider pedantic interjection). To wit: "[M]any native Africans ... read the stories of the polygamous patriarchs and find justification for polygamy as an ongoing institution. ...

"Jenkins reports that one Western Christian leader was surprised to find that upon his arrival in Africa he was expected to cast out demons, something with which he had no familiarity. ... Jenkins' handling of this material on the engagement of the supernatural is uneven (he does not fathom very clearly the dynamics of the occult world)....

"It is not clear whether [Jenkins] thinks that the Bible has a determinate meaning that is ascertainable through proper study (exegesis)." Denver Journal, 10:1 - 2007, <http://www.denverseminary.edu/dj/articles2007/0400/0402>.

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ISLAM

My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir, by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross [3] -- reviewer Zachary Karabell explains that the book's author is "A young man born Jewish, raised by loving, tolerant, hippie parents, [who] gravitates toward Islam in college, converts, gets drawn into a radical Islamic group, reverses gears, leaves said group, goes to law school, converts to Christianity and then, post-9/11, becomes a counter-terrorism expert. ...

"Though his eyes were opened to Islam by a close college friend of Indian descent, his initial conversion occurred in Italy with a group of Italian Muslims. His brush with fundamentalism took place in Oregon when he went to work for an office of the Saudi Al Haramain Foundation that was later indicted by the U.S. government on charges of illegally funneling money to Muslim Chechen guerrillas. ...

"The New Age element of the story may seem innocuous, but it is important. The only generalization that one can make about New Age beliefs - Gartenstein-Ross' parents followed the teachings of a group known as the Infinite Way, founded by a nonpracticing Jew and former Christian Scientist - is its smorgasbord approach to religion.

"One can pick and choose from many religious traditions to create one's own way - a bespoke faith. In many respects, that is how Gartenstein-Ross approached his peregrinations.

"Later, as he was on the verge of leaving Islam for Christianity, he explained to a close friend that for any believer, 'If you think that God exists, the next step is to compare various faiths.' ...

"Though he writes with great self-awareness about why he was entranced by and seduced into Islam, his memoir is less than the sum of its parts, largely because he never seems to accept one basic fact about the Muslims he encounters: They were, like him, converts. ...

"The small Muslim community that Gartenstein-Ross lived in outside Ashland, Ore., was almost entirely composed of converts, who, like him, felt that they were not true Muslims unless they adopted the most rigid forms of Islam.

"Though those forms can certainly be found, they are no more representative of Islam than all of the other flavors of Islam that one can find among the 1 billion Muslims worldwide. Unfortunately, Gartenstein-Ross makes them representative. ...

"In the end, this memoir confirms rather than challenges conventional wisdom. As a seeker, Gartenstein-Ross is genuine, and his struggles are resonant. But the book he has written feels surprisingly naive.

"Though he clearly knows there are multiple Islams, he regards the Muslims he encountered in the Ashland community (he refers to them as 'Muslim rednecks') as representative of all Islam. And because that group was implicated in an alleged plot to fund Chechens, it became for him emblematic of Muslim terrorism." Los Angeles Times, Feb 19 '07, n.p. <http://tinyurl.com/3246lw>

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MEYER, JOYCE

In "How Rusty Leonard Watches Over Donors to TV Ministries," Robert Guy Matthews profiles Leonard, who "is out to make his organization, Wall Watchers [www.wallwatchers.org], into an investment guide for the religious. ...

"Raised a Catholic in suburban Philadelphia, Mr. Leonard, 47 years old, decided to devote his life to Jesus Christ when he was 19, the same year he became a stock broker. He and his wife started Wall Watchers in 1998 with their own money.

"He says that he felt God called him in 1998 to 'watch' over the donors who sent in donations to religious organizations ....

"In 1989, Mr. Leonard had joined Templeton Investment Counsel Inc. There, he managed a $3.5 billion portfolio of client assets. He says he has provided about two-thirds of the $3 million of Wall Watchers' operating costs so far."

Wall Watchers' focus on Joyce Meyer Ministries is given as the prime example of its influence. "In the soaring sanctuary of the Phoenix First Assembly Church here, television evangelist Joyce Meyer recently assured 6,500 evangelical Christians that the money they were dropping into her collection buckets would feed the poor, educate the ignorant and minister to the willing.

"'I'm not buying clothes or a car or a house with your money,' she thundered. 'You don't have to worry about us taking it and living a high lifestyle.'

"But that is what the 63-year-old Ms. Meyer has been doing, insists Howard J. 'Rusty' Leonard, who has dug up property-tax records and church financial reports. They show Ms. Meyer's ministry has bought five houses, a private jet worth $6.5 million and expensive artwork for her, her ministry and her family to use. ...

"According to the 2005 annual report, the ministry also spends a lot on itself, including $18 million on undetailed 'management and general operations' and about $11 million on 'meetings and conferences.' The report includes a $347,412 line item for 'books, flowers and gifts for outreach,' and $2,048,816 for travel. ...

"Mr. Leonard's inquiry caught the attention of Randy B. Holman, the Jefferson County, Mo., tax assessor. ... Mr. Holman put the headquarters on the real-estate tax and personal property-tax roles, but the ministry appealed, arguing that it is tax-exempt. ...

"After the local newspaper picked up the story and some ministry critics became aggressive, the ministry agreed in a negotiated settlement to pay the county slightly more than half the three-year tax bill.

"The 2005 financial statement shows that Ms. Meyer's salary has been cut to $250,000 a year from about $700,000. But royalties from book and tape sales now go into a private company she controls. 'It is kind of ironic,' she says, 'I am financially better off doing it this way. It is a blessing.'" Wall Street Journal, Oct 30 '06, ppA1, A11. <http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB116217822490207507.html>

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Sources, Monographs:

1 - The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, by Philip Jenkins (Oxford Univ Prs, 2006, hardcover, 272 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195300653/apologiareport>

2 - The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, by Philip Jenkins (Oxford Univ Prs, 2002, hardcover, 304 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195146166/apologiareport>

3 - My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir, by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (Tarcher, 2007, hardcover, 304 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585425516/apologiareport>

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