Is Juanita Bynum A New Age Gnostic?

Juanita Bynum’s Merchandise and the Question of New Age Gnosticism

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to Fight For Truth, the channel where we bring you Christian commentary about the things that matter. In today's video, we're going to be talking about Juanita Bynum.

Just in case you're unaware, Juanita Bynum is best known for being a popular Gospel singer, but she's also a so-called pastor. Her theology is extremely unbiblical, as you might expect, and she effectively uses false teaching to get super rich.

But more than this, she also makes money by selling merchandise on her website. Most of her products are useless artifacts, being presented as if they have some sort of spiritual power. Like I said, it seems her main goal is to trick people into giving her lots of money.

But in today's video, we're going to ask an important question. Is Juanita Bynum a New Age Gnostic? Our conclusion, on the basis of the evidence from her website, is that she is, at the very least, getting awfully close.

So without further ado, let's investigate three case studies from her product line. Let's look at three of her products on her website and compare them to Scripture. Product number one, the 333 Divine Activation Wristbands, pack of three.

According to the description, for just five dollars, you can, quote, take divine activation with you everywhere, right on your wrist. Isn't that convenient? But let's investigate these terms and hypothesize as to what they mean.

The word divine has the connotation of divinity, or deity, in other words, God. The word activation has the connotation of activity, or actions, things one does. In other words, this wristband apparently gives you the ability to carry the activity of God with you wherever you go, or at least that's really what it seems to mean.

This is quite a lofty claim, one which has several Biblical problems with it. First off, God is omnipresent, He's everywhere, at once. Psalm 139 verse 7 says this, quote,. Where shall I go from your spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. In other words, there is nowhere you can go wherein God's activity could not also be there if He wills it.

And that's the next important point. You don't get to dictate or control the activity of God in any way, especially not by using plastic bracelets made in China for five cents a pop. Psalm 135 verse 6 says this, quote,.

Therefore, we can clearly see that the activation of the divine is dictated by the divine Creator's will. You don't get to carry God's activation in your pocket like some trinket and use it whenever you want.

This kind of thing is irreverent and has no respect for the sovereignty of God. But here's a question that goes back to the main point of this video. I want you to imagine something. Imagine this. You're walking down the street.

Doesn't matter which one, just a street. You turn the corner and you see a woman with a cart. She's selling things. Specifically, she tells you that she's selling wristbands. But wait, there's more. These are magical wristbands that have divine activation that you can take with you wherever you go.

What exactly would you think about that person? Are their views that of an Orthodox Christian? Or do they sound more like they belong to a New Age cult selling magical crystals on the street? Obviously, this person sounds New Age, and it's no different from what Juanita Bynum is doing.

Praying from the Third Dimension and the Nature of Christian Prayer

So with that, let's see the next product. Product number two is the $20 book from Juanita entitled, quote, Praying from the Third Dimension. This one is truly bizarre, because when we pray, we don't go to a different dimension.

Quite the opposite. When we pray, we are praying from this world, from whatever dimensional plane reality is in. That's where we're supposed to live. That's where we pray. There is no prayer dimension that's on a higher spiritual plane where aliens and unicorns might live.

This would almost be laughable if it wasn't so bizarre and so concerning. In Matthew 6, Jesus is warning people about praying in public in order to gain the admiration of others. In Matthew 6, he says this, quote,.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. Now, when Jesus says this, is he telling people to pray in their closet because a closet is a magical gateway to the magical prayer dimension?

No. He's telling them that instead because praying with an air of superiority and pride is not good. In fact, it would be much better to simply pray in secret. Jesus's advice with regard to prayer is incredibly practical.

He doesn't advocate for some sort of bizarre new prayer dimension. That's all being made up by Juanita Bynum in order to sell her book. And again, it's worth asking the same question. If you saw some lady on the street and she offered to sell you some magical prayer book that shows you how to access the third dimension of prayer, what exactly would you think?

Would you think you're talking to an Orthodox Christian or to a New Ager who's into Ouija boards, crystals, dreamcatchers, etc.? This kind of product would be much more at home in the New Age worldview rather than in the Orthodox Christian worldview.

Going Beyond the Words of Scripture and the Problem of Gnostic Secret Knowledge

And this brings us to the next product. Product number three is the $100 Juanita Bynum topical Bible. This Bible with Juanita's commentary in it is very special because with it you can quote, go beyond the words to understand the true meaning and activation of the Scriptures.

This implication is particularly horrifying. There's really nothing else you can call it. The idea is that in order for Scripture to be more than just words, you need the help of the magnificent spiritual guru that is Juanita Bynum.

Notice, she's not explaining the words to you in context. No, she's helping you, quote, go beyond the words of the Bible. Contrast this with what Orthodox Christian pastors say, and more importantly, what the Bible says.

Hebrews 4 .12, quote, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

You see, good, solid teachers of Scripture will tell you that the Bible itself is the source of true knowledge. The Bible itself is living and active by virtue of being inspired by the Holy Spirit. The role of a Bible teacher, then, is not to activate the Scriptures for you or to, quote, take you beyond the words.

Instead, the role of a teacher is to simply get out of the way and explain the text, or rather, let the text speak for itself in its original context with a proper exegesis of its meaning. Again, the goal is not to go beyond the words of Scripture, to something higher or deeper, but rather, to understand and apply the Scriptures both individually and collectively.

Contrast this with Juanita Bynum, who seems to believe that her secret knowledge will unlock the breakthrough for your life that you've always been looking for. Sound familiar? This is a serious problem not only with her teaching, but with the teaching of much of the charismatic movement at large.

There's this atmosphere, this idea of secret, inaccessible spiritual knowledge leading to breakthroughs that is being rediscovered. But this is more reminiscent of Gnostic teaching than Orthodox Christian teaching.

The Gnostic sect of so-called Christianity was soundly rejected by the early Church Fathers, and Irenaeus of Lyons wrote against them extensively. You see, the Gnostics believed, among many other things, that they possess a higher knowledge, one that is secret, inaccessible, without some sort of spiritual ascent that can conveniently only be taught to you by them.

The emphasis, again, is on secret knowledge. And this seems to, unfortunately, echo the teaching of Juanita Bynum. Without her, the Bible is mere words, apparently. But with her, you can, quote, go beyond the words to understand the true meaning and activation of the Scriptures.

Again, these are her words, not mine. And even if this is not outright Gnosticism, it has a distinctly Gnostic flavor to it, one that should taste bitter in the Christian's mouth. Again, we can see that there are other worldviews that better describe the beliefs of Juanita Bynum.

Gnosticism and New Age religious views are much more congruent with her teaching than a staunchly Biblical worldview. That's the problem here. The question I'll leave you with, then, is this. If the Bible doesn't advocate for things like magical wristbands or supernatural prayer dimensions, why is Juanita Bynum selling these things under the banner of Biblical teaching?

The answer is because she's making money from it. The problem is that you cannot change a duck into a dog just because you call it Fido. At the end of the day, it's still a duck. And by the same token, you can't make these New Age teachings into Christian ones just because you slap a Christian label on it and sell it for five bucks.

At the end of the day, they're still New Age teachings, and five bucks is far too much. Knowing all of this, we should lovingly and Biblically mark and avoid Juanita Bynum as a false teacher. I pray that this has been a blessing to you, and please know that this video isn't meant as a sinful attack, but rather as a Biblical critique.

And let's pray for Juanita, that she would stop this false teaching by God's grace and turn to the truth of God's Word. Thank you so much for watching that video. Please give us a like and subscribe so that you don't miss any content.

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