Paula White is set to pray with President Donald Trump at the inauguration. But she’s coming under massive verbal persecution in the days leading up to the big event. The following is White’s response:
In recent days, I have read a great deal of false information being reported about me, my theology and my past. I have been called a heretic, an apostate, an adulterer, a charlatan and an addict. It has been falsely reported that I once filed for bankruptcy and—my personal favorite—that I deny the Trinity!
I have hesitated to even address such patently false accusations about my personal life and my beliefs so as to not dignify them with a response, but since these comments pose a potential distraction to an otherwise celebratory and historic time in our country, I would like to set the record straight in the hope of returning our collective attention to what’s most important.
First of all, I believe and have always believed in the exclusivity and divinity of Jesus Christ, His saving grace and substitutionary atonement made available to all by His death on the cross. I believe and have always believed He was buried and on the third day rose again. I believe and have always believed in the Holy Trinity. I believe and have always believed in the virgin birth and the Second Coming.
I also reject any theology that doesn’t affirm or acknowledge the entirety of scriptural teaching about God’s presence and blessing in suffering as much as in times of prosperity. In fact, I have preached and written as much on the lessons we must learn in times of trial in our lives as I have in times of abundance. Many of those sermons are themselves lessons I’ve learned in the difficult seasons of my own life.
My life and my decisions have been nowhere near perfect, though nothing like what has been falsely conveyed in recent days. Nevertheless, I am now a 50-year-old grandmother who has learned from the good and the bad in my life. I thank God that He has plenty of grace for us all and that He knows that neither my faith, my life nor my theology originates or is inspired by any other book than the Bible—which I believe is inerrant and God’s truth. God also knows that I have poured my life in love and service to others.
I want to extend a hand of friendship and fellowship to all, even those who have made false accusations against me. Jesus taught us to “bless those who curse you and pray for those who insult you.” This is what I have chosen to do, and I have done so genuinely from the bottom of my heart. I—for one—am willing to work with all those who find inspiration in the life and teachings of Jesus and a common cause in the well-being of our great America.
Read more at Paula White Responds to ‘Heretic, Apostate, Charlatan’ Accusations.