Carlton Pearson, the Fundamentalist Bishop Who Said to Hell with Hell, in Seattle, March 26

March 21, 2010 - PRLog -- SEATTLE - He was branded a heretic by mainstream Christian leadership. His mega church lost most of its congregation, which once numbered over 6,000. Even though he once was considered the heir apparent to Oral Roberts, his church buses were banned from the Oral Roberts University (ORU) Campus. A fourth generation minister, he was shunned by his own family.

You could say he’s been to Hell and back. You could say that, if it weren’t for the fact that Carlton Pearson stopped believing in Hell. In fact, it was this surprising revelation that signaled the beginning of his so-called “downward” spiral from an Evangelical Charismatic Pentecostal mega star to shamed outcast.

Carlton Pearson will be appearing on Friday, March 26 at the Center for Spiritual Living, 5801 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA. 206-527-8801. Reduced ticket price is $25.00. Call 970-443-0732. Rev. Pearson’s visit to Seattle is sponsored by BellaSpark Productions.

Why has this charismatic preacher who was once the spiritual advisor to President George Bush and a member of the board of trustees of ORU suffered so much ridicule and loss? Because he said to hell with Hell and began preaching a gospel of inclusion, proclaiming that all people, including Muslims, gays and atheists go to Heaven. Boldly rejecting the church’s doctrine that promotes a loving God who sentences billions of people to an eternal Hell for not becoming Christian, he said, instead, that God loves beyond borders and Hell isn’t a place — it’s a matter of perception.

Carlton Pearson was watching TV coverage of starving women and children in Africa, when he felt compelled to implore his Creator as to how He could allow this to happen. “I said, God I don’t know how you can call yourself a loving sovereign God and allow these people to suffer this way and just suck them right into Hell,” he explains. His question received an unexpected answer: “Is that what you think we’re doing?” To which he replied, “That’s what I’ve been taught.” “And what would change that?” God queried. “They need to get saved so they can go to Heaven,” Pearson responded.

Pearson’s much-publicized fall from Pentecostal grace played out dramatically in the media and included a feature on NBC’s Nightline. He created a firestorm of controversy and outrage by saying to hell with Hell, and insisting that “the only devil is the one we invent and the only hell the one we create.” His book, The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God was released in 2007. His new book, God is Not a Christian is due out soon.

Bishop Carlton Pearson will be appearing on Friday, March 26 at the Center for Spiritual Living, 5801 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA. 206-527-8801. Reduced ticket price is $25.00. Call 970-443-0732. Rev. Pearson’s visit to Seattle is sponsored by BellaSpark Productions.

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