Summary of Piper Endorsing Rick Warren Before And After His Teaching at DGC

Piper defends why he invited Warren to teach at DGC: Here Warren tells Piper what he knows Piper needs to hear in order to keep the speaking engagement. What Piper says Warren told him is actually untrue (I have evidence to the contrary for many of the claims made in this video: ).

Mike Ratliff correctly identifies Warren as a heretic who taught pelagianism at DGC.


Q&A from DGC after Warren taught: :

Quote:

1. Can you give us your initial reflections on the message we just heard from Rick Warren?

Burk Parsons: I saw a man with character and with simple, childlike dependence on Christ.

John Piper: "An unbelievable communicator with incredible application. Be encouraged and relax with who you are, and give it all to Jesus while learning all you can from Rick."

8. What would you say to our "non-thinkers" who are here tonight? Surely the conference isn’t made up completely of those who consider themselves "thinkers," right?Piper: There are people in here who love to think and there are others who don’t like to think. This conference is a pain in the rear end to them. They’re just here to see Warren and Piper fight. Here’s how I would say the question: What do you have to say to people who don’t want to think?

End quote.

After the whole conference in "'Christianity'Today" interview:

Quote:

You invited Rick Warren; would you say he exemplifies "thinking"?

No, I don't think he exactly exemplifies what I'm after. But he is biblical. He quoted 50 Scriptures from memory. Unbelievable, his mind is Vesuvius. So I asked him what impact reading Jonathan Edwards had on him. What these authors like Karl Barth and Edwards do for him is give him a surge of theological energy that then comes through his wiring. What I wanted to do with Rick is force him to talk about thinking so pragmatists out there can say, "A lot of thinking goes into what he does."

You received some negative feedback for inviting him.

It was real risky. I don't even know if I did the right thing. If somebody said, "Are you sure you should have invited him?" "No." I think the first thing I'd say—maybe the only thing—is I think he's been slandered. I think we probably need to work harder at getting him right.

End quote.