Recently in Ole Anthony Category

The comments on Anthony continue. The Dallas article has gotten a fairly wide reading. The First Things blog mentions it twice, once by Ross Douthat and another by Frederica Mathewes-Green who compares it to another recent article about John Francis of Girls Gone Wild infamy, saying that both are similarly deluded.

Anthony probably has many delusions, as do we all. His largest was probably in thinking that the statements of Jesus that he used to condemn others didn't also apply to him. Anthony often pointed out that when Jesus told the crowd that they did the will of their father, Satan, he was talking to those who were following him, the Christians, as it were. True. He just forgot that Jesus was talking to him there.

Or as Jean Shepherd observed decades ago, you are the blind date.

I thought each had a specific quotation that indicated they�??d made a total break with how reality actually works. With Ole, it was: �??Faith has to be total if it�??s going to be anything. If something comes to my mind, I say it.�?� The delusional connection that whatever comes to his mind is spiritually mandated.

Somewhat fair, that. Certainly, faith is never total. That's the point of our struggle. When Michael Spencer talks about doubts, he's talking about something that Anthony missed.

Saying what comes to mind was probably one of the things that attracted people to him. It interested me. It's also a standard tool in psychotherapy. Some T-Groups might have someone who would just spout off what was going on inside all during the session. There's even a "snitch" employed to get the person to talk if they start getting quiet. Evangelical society is about not saying what is going on inside you. You lie: that's what the subculture is all about. I can hazard a few guesses about why that is, but I can't imagine too many people arguing about it.

Of course, every society has certain taboo topics that cannot be discussed and even taboo emotions or emotional statements. For evangelicals, it's discussion about non-victim and non-feminine emotions. (That's two separate categories, Martha, so no flaming.) Anthony presents blunt disagreement and a form of saying something in the moment. It's perhaps not for all moments or all situations but it is handy to know how to say what is true right here, right now.

But let's be clear: your subconscious mind is not the Holy Spirit.

And a lot of what Anthony has said "in the moment" in his form of prophetic speech is not staying on the topic of what he is feeling or judging. It's him blasting others. Saying that someone is a pimple of the butt of the Body of Christ is funny in a way. Anthony meant it, and it's clearly just plain wrong understanding about the Church or the mystical union that he constantly talked about in the 1980s.

The Dallas Observer blog has a response from ABC News to their article on Ole Anthony, spefically dealing with the charges that ABC and/or Anthony created the most damning charge, the thrown-out prayer requests. Glenna Whitley of the Observer later responds to ABC's letter.

Doug Duncan has told me through a private channel that this was set for release last Thursday but was held up because of some questions by lawyers on somebody's part.

It would be interesting to see what the Trinity Foundation says. I've only seen the one letter about Wendy Duncan, where their representative said that he hadn't read the book and implied that the US$14.95 price was more than he or they would pay. I seem to be getting all of my information and tips from those who have come out against TF and it would be interesting to see some balance. Perhaps they are formulating a response to the Observer article.

In the interest of owning up to my own idiocy, I'd like to point out that while I've found him entertaining and interesting at times, I have come to conclusion that Ole Anthony is a heretic. That is, he does not adhere to orthodox Christian beliefs. And he takes certain parts of scripture but not others.

I've listened to a lot of him. I mean, hours. It's all interesting. But what really bothers me is his skillful use of contempt. For an example of what disguised contempt looks like, see John Rutledge's (VP of the Trinity Foundation, Anthony's group) press release on the topic at D magazine. Douglas Duncan, one of the parties involved in the recent book claiming that the Trinity Foundation is a cult, points out the contempt of the Trinity Foundation fairly well in his reply.

Authoritarian leaders do use contempt well. Lay and Skilling reportedly were good at it. Iacocca has been accused of it. Bobby Knight seems to have done it. Anthony is also skilled at it. And let me admit it: I'm good at it. I'm not in Anthony's league, but he's older and has practiced more.

Contempt is a great rhetorical skill because there's no real way to combat it. It's being called "uncool". Cool is mostly contempt for others, anyway. (When was enthusiasm cool?) Contempt kills debate.

A lot of what he says is interesting. I mean, it's clever solutions. But it's also selective understanding of scriptures. I suppose that we all do that, my CRC included. I'm always interested in interesting because I don't approach things normally. I can consume an entire belief system and not really believe it. It goes in, gets digested, and what's worth keeping gets merged into the morass of my mind. Or "the endless attic of discarded trash", as it has been called.

Sure, Ole Anthony does a service to us all by making sure that non-profits in the Christian community keep their noses clean. And he's not above admitting that some do: he recently has been quoted as saying that Joel Osteen, the bugaboo of many a conservative Christian, is an honest guy with strictly straight business dealings as a pastor. Which is a lot since Anthony's people dig through your trash.

I suppose that Ole Anthony and the Trinity Foundation act like most sects we call "cults" do. They provide an answer, an earnestness, a feeling of belonging to something important. His massive rhetorical skill — reminiscent of Joe McCarthy at the height of his formidable powers — make him virtually untouchable. I'm not sure that everyone who hates him has him anywhere near right, but Trinity sure does look like a heretical sect led by an overly authoritarian leader.

No, I don't still have the reference. It's from one of his more recent bible studies at the Trinity Foundation in Dallas, though. So this isn't intended to be a thought-through talk. It's in part a conversation with the people there, who regularly interupt or make jokes about each other.

You have to risk everything, all the time. Not so that you can be right but so that you can be exhorted. Exhort one another daily while it is still called today. Because XXXXXXXX it will no longer be called today anymore.... [Called eternity]

So this is why "above all things, my brethern, I would that you prophesy." What do you say? You say what's there. You simply bubble forth at all times. Not so that you can be right. Prophesying isn't about being right.... this is what we've taught here from the beginning.

"Above all things, I would that you would say what's there."

Prophesy.

So somebody does, and then somebody yells at them. And so, therefore, I'm not going to prophesy any more. I'll show them. No, you'll rebel against God, by returning to the mode of acting.

Well you don't understand, Ole, I'm just silent by nature. That's just the way I am. I'm shy. Yeah, right. While you mass murder you're shy.

It's all so simple. You never again have to try to be or try to do, you just be.

"For this is the will of God, that we keep his commandments", and his commandment aren't hard, aren't grievous, aren't difficult. His commandments are simple.

[CROSSTALK]

I'm probably the only person who cares, but is Ole Anthony a heretic? Or is he a prophet (in some sense)? Most folks probably don't have any idea who Ole Anthony is. Nor do they care. I have no idea why I do unless it's apparent in the except below.

The following is a pretty decent example of Ole's teaching. In it, I'm breaking all my own rules about following copyright by transcribing a recording, from the Trinity Foundation website, of a bible study that Ole Anthony led on 2003 Dec 09 in Dallas. The contents should be Copyright Ole Anthony or Copyright Trinity Foundation, 2003. It is from my own "Tracks 4-6" — I split these talks into 5:00 tracks so that I can get back to them.

We are fed[?] in the New Jerusalem. But we bear his reproach outside the camp. And you must bear his reproach to the fullest so that you can taste, once and for all, the incredible, total freedom of 100 percent reliance on him alone and never leaning on your own arm of understanding or never going any place but him for your corn, your bread, your wine, your oil, or for your sustenance.

Now you affirm that, you do that, every single time you take communion. You affirm you're going nowhere else but him himself for that which gives you sustenance and satisfaction. And you're going nowhere else but him himself for your worth.

Think about it. Think about how much your worth is tied up in what you do. Think how much your satisfaction is tied up in what you observed or what ... you understand what I'm saying? Can you risk trusting in him for all of your sustenance, for all of your worth, for all of your satisfaction? Now I'm telling you it took hundreds of years, I mean, before the flood, that's why these people had to live for hundreds and hundreds of years.

From Ole Anthony (again), this time from the 2005 Nov 01 bible study at the Trinity Foundation:

Ole: I've not been bored since the day I became a believer. You want to get rid of boredom? You always say whatever's there....

Member: There was that one time when you said I was boring.

[laughter]

Ole: I didn't say I was bored, you were boring me.

[incomprehensible crosstalk]

No, as soon as I said it I became unbored.

From Ole Anthony (again), this time from the 2005 Nov 01 bible study at the Trinity Foundation:

Ole: I've not been bored since the day I became a believer. You want to get rid of boredom? You always say whatever's there....

Member: There was that one time when you said I was boring.

[laughter]

Ole: I didn't say I was bored, you were boring me.

[incomprehensible crosstalk]

No, as soon as I said it I became unbored.