BOB GEORGE - founder of Discipleship Counseling Services and PEOPLE to PEOPLE radio broadcast
Like many contemporary non-dispensational "evangelicals", Bob George believes and teaches the subtle but devastating error of "salvation BY faith," rather than the biblical truth of "salvation BY grace THROUGH faith" as recorded in both Old and New Testament and taught by the Apostle Paul. Throughout his ministry and literature, Mr. George teaches an indeterminist view of the human will, at the core philosophically identical to many Wesleyan/Arminian denominations.
According to Bob George, the Fall did not render mankind incapable of taking a first step back toward God. Sinners are not fully lost. Knowingly or otherwise, he a part of the Anglo-Catholic tradition (see graphic below) which stands in opposition to the Apostle Paul's Gospel of Grace.
As one will hear on Bob George's radio broadcast (e.g., http://www.realanswers.net/realanswers/?p=13), none are predestined or elect unto salvation. His position is similar to that of the Holiness denomination--the Church of the Nazarene. Despite the topic's 2,000 year historical significance and its central focus for the Reformation, George labels these discussions as "stupid." According to Mr. George, all mankind has the innate ability to believe the Word in order to accept the Savior. This is Wesleyan-Arminianism, plain and simple.
When Bob George talks about "free will," his definition includes far more than the concept of human volition. He simply doesn't discern the difference between free will and volition. By free will, he means absolute autonomy; the central heretical tenet of all Christian humanism. At both first and second glance, one might think these are unnecessary distinctions, but readers should heed the wise words of Lewis S. Chafer: "...the erroneous exaltation of the human ability in the beginning becomes man's effectual undoing in the end" and then exercise extreme caution.
Regularly in his radio broadcasts, Bob disparages and ridicules all determinist views as being "hyper-Calvinist" and dispensational distinctions as "hyper-dispensational." For Mr. George, "grace" is not God acting sovereignly and in mercy as found in Scripture, but the erroneous concept of the 'sovereignty of man'--and woman! It is no coincidence that Bob George's teachings are popular with those of a feminist bent. For all Anglo-Catholics, including Bob George and those associated with People to People, the meaning of the term "grace" is far different from that found in Scripture. What sets Bob George apart from other contemporary radio teachers, and contributes to his popularity and confusion, is his attempt to incorporate so-called "deeper life truth" into his teachings. But Paul's teaching don't 'fit' well atop an Arminian foundation. Consequently, George is always trying to "re-triangulate" his message.
By contrast, the Word of God teaches that faith is not the cause of salvation, but one link in the means. "So, then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" Romans 10:17. Similar to the late Arminian Dr. Bill Bright, with his Amazing Faith, Bob's lack of understanding and appreciation regarding sovereign grace and role of faith in salvation is likely the basis of his other doctrinal errors regarding forgiveness, eradication of the sin nature, and linking the believer with Israel's New Covenant.
Despite years-and-years of documentation, Bob George and followers continue to claim that he's "misrepresented."
For more detailed discussions, see:
- ARMINIUS, TO CALVIN, TO PAUL
- CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY & GROWING IN GRACE ~ review of Bob George's books by these titles
- SELF-INCRIMINATION
- Human Freedom and the Sovereignty of God
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