Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A Response to False Claims Made About Me

I was informed by  few of my readers that James White mentioned me on his podcast, and I initially just wanted to leave it alone. But after enough questions about it, I decided to listen. Because of the false nature of the claims made, I felt that I needed to make a response.  This is the quote from White's program:

"Evidently I was a big meany, from what he said on his blog... I'm a big meany because I actually used Greek... I guess that was just very mean of me to do that that I dare ask Mr. Cooper to do that. But the problem was, I just assumed that he would be able to do that. I assumed that if you were making the kind of assertions that he was making that you would be able to deal with the language directly in that way."

He does this while comparing me to some KJV only conspiracy theorist that Chris Rosebrough wants him to debate. Dr. White seems to be under the impression (maybe not, but it comes off that way) that I am just some random blogger with no theological training. I do in fact have two theology degrees, and am currently working on a second Masters degree. I have also been accepted into a PhD program at the London School of Theology, and I am a published author. I also serve a congregation here in southeast Iowa. I'm not sure if White knows this, but my podcast is played on Rosebrough's station "Pirate Christian Radio."

The claim that I called White "a big meany" for using Greek is a flat out lie. I don't know who said this to him, but whatever communication happened over this was false. I never called White anything on my blog, or in my podcast. I never criticized him for using Greek, nor did I ever state that I can't deal with the Greek text. What is possibly being referred to is the fact that I mentioned on my podcast, in response to him, that he often uses Greek on his program, and I don't for the sake of my listeners who don't know Greek. He didn't listen to the program, but still shouldn't make claims about it without checking the facts. I would urge everyone to listen to the response I made. I thought that I dealt with this issue without resorting to insult or name calling, but simply dealt with the arguments.

I don't desire to have a grudge against a brother, and I would like this to be resolved so that we can both move on to other things. I ask that Dr. White would publicly apologize for his public misrepresentation so that we could reconcile and agree not to engage in false accusations in the future.

17 comments:

Steve Bricker said...

I think your assumption on Dr. White's opinion of you is more correct than not. Even so, he should have been more careful with his response.

Richie said...

You know, it's really odd that Dr. White would make such an assertion. I've been listening to The Dividing Line for years, and he's always been very accurate and fair with how he quotes those whom he debates. He is occasionally a bit condescending, yes, but I've never seen him misrepresent an opponent. I got the impression that he never actually truly listened to your podcast all the way through when you two were discussing limited atonement on his program, and I get the same impression from this remark. Wonder what's going on with him...

David Cochrane said...

I appreciate your non use of the Greek in your pod-casts. I have never studied it because I did not want to be a pastor. All it sounds like coming from Dr White is bragging how he has this knowledge.

J. Dean said...

Perhaps an open article detailing your argument would be a good base for a response, Jordan. Your podcasts are very good in the details, and formalizing these in a Scripturally-supported written piece would 1.) keep the debate on-topic, thus preventing it from turning into a bantering session (as Dr. White seems to be implying by using the words "big meanie" (?) and 2.) force Dr. White to respond to your assertions more methodically, without "cutting you off" at times as he did in the podcast or resort to deflections about the topic.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for an apology from White.

Doubting Thomas

Marc said...

Hello, I believe that James White is a kind person in many respects.

However, he does have some horrible beliefs, like God pre-determining some men to rape women for his own glory.
I hope he'll give them up sooner or later, for he is leading many people astray with this kind of teaching.


Kind regards from Germany.


Lothars Sohn – Lothar’s son

http://lotharlorraine.wordpress.com

EJ said...

I can't imagine that he will not correct his misrepresentations. I don't think it was malicious on his part, he was fed some wrong info and ran with it. He seems to be someone who values the truth and if he wants to keep his credibility he will issue a public apology on his show.

Nicholas said...

@Lothar Lorraine

James White has never said anything remotely like that. You have just violated the Ninth Commandment.

All, "Lothar Lorraine" is a modernist is his view of Christ and Scripture. On his blog, "Lothar" writes:

"It is generally thought that Jesus agreed with everything standing in the Old Testament, like the genocide of the Amalekites, the wives of dead soldiers being killed by the Israelites being forced to marry the murderers of their husbands, adulterers being put to death, and so on and so forth.

I don’t view the Bible as a set of truths having fallen from Heaven, but as a human book describing the experience (or lack thereof) of real people with God. But they wrote down their thoughts and experiences using their worldview and their Ancient-Near-Eastern understanding.
Without denigrating these people, it is a fact they were both materially and morally primitive...Now, back to our present concern. I believe that in Jesus, God lived, died and rose from the dead. But in order for him to be fully human and not some kind of super-spirits like many Gnostics thought, he had to give up his all-power, his omniscience (all-knowledge), also with respect to spiritual and moral issues. I know this might sound blasphemous to quite few of my readers, but asserting the contrary would turn Jesus into a super-human." [END OF QUOTE]

http://lotharlorraine.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/did-jesus-endorse-atrocities-hat-jesus-greueltaten-befurwortet/

Nicholas said...

And here, unsurprisingly, is "Lothar Lorraine's" view of homosexuality:

"I am a Christian and I feel really sorry for all the homosexuals who have suffered under the persecution of many churches during two thousand years of Christian history. I also deeply empathize with all current Christian homosexuals who are often experiencing a true emotional ordeal by being taught that their sexuality, one part of their very being they never chose, is inherently sinful. I do believe there is a need for much more churches to clearly affirm that homosexual lifestyle isn’t bad in and of itself, as long as one strives for a lifelong relationship, even if this means they would need to let go of some cherished dogmas." [END OF QUOTE]

http://lotharlorraine.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/gay-marriage-in-france-mariage-homo-en-france-homoehe-in-frankraich/

Cap'n Salty said...

As someone who has taught Greek for better than 15 years, I can attest that Jordan knows Greek. I did have difficulty with Dr. White's usage of Greek, as his pronunciation and accentuation was problematic. But he's not, primarily, an expert in the language and usage, but rather in an applied field.

My general and slightly curmudgeonly response to the whole issue is that the discussion was ill-advised on both sides and is best abandoned in favor of doing something productive. How about going fishing?

EJ said...

Did you ever hear anything from Dr. White? He didn't say anything on his podcast about his misrepresentation.

Unknown said...

No, he didn't say anything to me. I assume he isn't going to respond at this point.

Anonymous said...

James White just blocked me on twitter. Did he block you too Jordan?

Unknown said...

No, he didn't. What exactly did he block you for?

Anonymous said...

Don't know. But I can't follow the @droakley1689 account now, which twitter says was at the request of the user. It's just as well I suppose. His comments about Lutheranism were getting somewhat unfriendly.

Unknown said...

He does not seem too fond of Lutheran theology. He called it "incomprehensible," "inconsistent," and "useless."

EJ said...

I saw on Twitter a while back your and Pastor Price's interaction with Dr. White. What a heartfelt apology from White! I thought it was hilarious when he told Pastor Price that he as a Lutheran didn't understand Lutheran theology and that Lutherans have "obscure" views on the sacraments and justification.