CNN’s Don Lemon calling Jesus ‘not perfect’ is ‘blasphemy,’ Mike Huckabee says
CNN host Don Lemon has garnered criticism for claiming that Jesus Christ “was not perfect” while He was living on earth.
On an episode of “CNN Tonight” that aired earlier this week, Lemon talked about how Americans have learned about their history with fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo.
At issue was the debates over statues and monuments for Confederate soldiers, former U.S. presidents, and Americans who were not slave owners but whose statues have been torn down by rioters in recent weeks, such as abolitionist Col. Hans Christian Heg.
During their discussion, Lemon said, “a lot of what you’ve been taught” in school classrooms about American history “has been propaganda,” adding that “some things you need to unlearn.”
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“Jesus Christ — if you believe in, if that’s who you believe in, Jesus Christ — admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth. So why are we deifying the founders of this country, many of whom owned slaves?” said Lemon.
Former Arkansas Gov. and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to denounce Lemon’s comments as blasphemous.
“Just when I didn't think Don Lemon could say something any dumber than stuff he's already said, he ‘dons’ his ecclesiastical hat and declares ‘Jesus wasn't perfect.’ In the faith world, we call that kind of arrogant comment ‘blasphemy,’” tweeted Huckabee.
Pastor Robert Jeffress, head of the megachurch First Baptist Dallas, told Fox News that he considered the words of Lemon to be “heretical” in nature.
“Don Lemon's comments are, first of all, heretical,” explained Jeffress, “and it contradicts the most basic tenet of the Christian faith and demonstrates how tone-deaf the left is to faith issues.”
“Our founding fathers, like all of us, were imperfect human beings, but Jesus Christ was different than any other man that lived, and as the founder of our faith, He had to be perfect.”
Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner wrote in an opinion piece that the idea of Jesus not leading a perfect human life “has not been a serious question for believers in more than 1,500 years.”
“In the Bible, simply look to 1 Peter 2:22, ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth’; Hebrews 5:9, ‘and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him’,” noted Adams.
“And just because Lemon says Christ was ‘admittedly’ not perfect, I should point out that there is no tradition that I am aware of and no scriptural citation that has Him declaring, ‘Hey, I am only human!’”
In April, the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released a report from their American Worldview Inventory 2020 which found that 44% of Americans believed that Jesus did not lead a sinless life while on Earth.
