Though I have never been much of a “fan” of the music of the Hemphills, I am aware of the name and their influence in “Christian music.” Joel Hemphill was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame last year; the Hemphills as a family have recorded 27 albums and received eight Dove Awards. To say they are well known “down South” is an understatement.
But Joel Hemphill stands firmly with…the Muslims in his denial of the deity of Christ and the Trinity. He has even put his Arianism in print here. Read a few of the linked articles and you will find the very same arguments you hear at your front door on a Saturday morning, or down at the mosque, being repeated by an 8-time Dove Award winner. And what’s more, they are still singing in ostensibly “Trinitarian” churches, as seen here. Just like Phillips, Craig and Dean, likewise non-Trinitarian in their theology, continue to sing in Trinitarian churches (even a Baptist church next month, August 18th), the Hemphills, simply due to their name recognition, have access to Christian churches as well. Sadly, many churches exercise not a wit of discernment when it comes to such matters.
When you look into the church affiliation of Joel Hemphill, you discover the source of his false teaching. Some of my readers may recall that I have mentioned the name of Anthony Buzzard on The Dividing Line. Buzzard is an anti-Trinitarian and, evidently, is a part of the same denomination giving rise to Hemphill’s teachings, the Church of God General Conference.
So be warned. Wolves don’t have to snarl. Sometimes they sing.
HT: RW
Alpha and Omega Ministries is a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. James White, director, is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics for numerous schools.
