(Last Names Starting with “S”)
“They’re a sorry bunch–pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers–posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end”
(2 Corinthians 11:13-15 MSG).
What is a false teacher and how does one qualify for this list?
False teachers are those who presume to teach in their own authority (as did the scribes), often in the Name of the Lord, when He has not sent them. Though they have knowledge of Biblical truths, they are, at best, in delusion, presuming to turn others to the Kingdom of God when, in fact, they are building the corrupt kingdoms of men. At worst, they are deliberate charlatans, seeking to deceive, steal, kill, and destroy, using Biblical truths to do so.
A teacher I follow is not listed here. Does that mean they aren't false?
This list is not meant to be an exhaustive one. What is important is that one learns to discern truth from error.
“Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God, and him who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:18 MKJV).
No person rightfully takes upon himself the role of a teacher or any other ministry of God without God’s power and authority. In a world full of teachers, preachers, elders, deacons, speakers, writers, evangelists, pastors, prophets, and apostles, rare are the true ministers representing the Lord Jesus Christ. Many are the false, and very few the true, even as in Noah’s day.
I heard the truth for the first time from a teacher listed here on this site. How is that?
Though false teachers lead astray, the Biblical truths they teach can lead to Christ those whom God has called and is choosing. The truth quickens those being given the gift of faith. However, faith manifest in the one who receives the truth does not certify as God’s representative the one who speaks some truth. The child of faith who walks in obedience to Christ will soon enough part ways with those who mix truth with error.
This is God’s commandment:
“Therefore come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18 MKJV).
How can a teacher be false when they teach true things found in the Bible?
False teachers mix the holy things of God with their carnal thoughts, creating a false form of godliness. They can’t do otherwise, because they haven’t taken up the cross and submitted themselves to Christ’s righteousness. They are still in their sin nature, living unto themselves, teaching doctrines and commandments of men.
And because false teachers haven’t submitted themselves to Christ’s righteousness, they can’t lead others there. A false teacher is one who may speak truth, yet points his hearers in another direction.
An example of this would be that of a “Tijuana taxi,” or any predator of tourists who says, “Yes, I know exactly where such-and-such a place is, and I’ll take you there. On the way, I’ll tell you all you want to know about it. Please, get in.”
Guess what? He gets you there after a half-hour drive, but didn’t tell you it was only a block away from where you began with him. Meanwhile he charges you for the time or mileage.
And though he filled you in on what the place is all about, what he doesn’t, can’t, and won’t tell you is that you need a membership to enter. He drops you off at the gate, and you find out your trip was for naught.
Isn’t that just like the churches and spiritual leaders one encounters in a multiplicity of places and forms? They have truth, and they may even get you into the wedding feast, but never with a wedding garment.
Therefore, while the truth spoken is to be believed (no matter who speaks it or what affiliation the speaker may have), false teachers are not to be followed. Teachers sent of God are to be followed, as with the example given by the apostle Paul, who said by the Spirit, “Become followers of me, even as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). A false teacher leads into the emptiness of self-righteousness and death, but a true teacher leads to the fullness of Christ and life.
After reading what's written here, I still can't determine if the teacher I follow is true or false. Is there anything else I can read that may help?
See also Diabolical Doctrines, The True Marks of a Cult, and Teachings. Indeed, our entire website will help you to forsake the error and to walk in the path of truth.
(Click on the links below for a short summary of each teacher along with a link to their listing.)
Sabbath, Lunartarians
The more loony the idea, the more credibility some think to have by championing it.
Read Sabbath “Lunartarians”
Read Sabbath “Lunartarians”
Samtur, Brian
Serving Mammon in the Name of Yeshua (Jesus) – And Caught by His Own Spam Filter. How sweet is Satan! Here we expose a lovely man who wouldn’t hurt a fly while destroying the world. How pernicious are the gracious and accepting ways of the evil one, the ultimate massager – ‘I’ll rub your back, and you’ll pay me for it later.’ We live in a wicked age. Only the violently repentant will escape God’s wrath.
Read False Teacher – Brian Samtur
Read False Teacher – Brian Samtur
Sarmiento, Carlos
A chicken hatches chickens. A cow gives birth to a cow. A false prophet produces other false prophets, and the Son of God creates sons of God.
Read False Teacher – Carlos Sarmiento
Read False Teacher – Carlos Sarmiento
Sauder, Tim
Just because you’re right about one thing doesn’t make you right about others or, more importantly, right with God. A man agrees with our conclusions about Calvin being false, but presents a cockeyed doctrine no less false or pernicious than Calvin’s, namely that people aren’t born sinful. “But death reigned from Adam …” (Romans 5:14 MKJV).
Read False Teacher – Tim Sauder
Read False Teacher – Tim Sauder
Schambach, R.W.
Much can be said about a spiritual teacher by knowing who his mentor is. A disciple of the Dalai Lama teaches his variety of Buddhism, and the disciple of a counterfeit Christian teaches his brand of counterfeit Christianity. Where do you expect that will take you? “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:18 MKJV).
Read False Teachers – A.A. Allen & R.W. Schambach
Read False Teachers – A.A. Allen & R.W. Schambach
Schnoebelen, Bill
These two teachers bear little resemblance to one another superficially in what they preach and do, but underneath it’s the same spirit of the prince of this world at work, giving the people the illusion of choice.
Read False Teachers – Bill Schnoebelen & Todd White
Read False Teachers – Bill Schnoebelen & Todd White
Schuller, Robert
What does it mean when one of man’s most splendid religious works, built by the power of positive thinking, goes deeply into debt and is abandoned by its creditors? Didn’t God say that those who believe and obey (positive doing) will be the lenders (givers) and not the borrowers (takers)? Wisdom has much to say to those who have ears to hear.
Read False Teacher – Robert Schuller
Read False Teacher – Robert Schuller
Scott, Brad
Men of God don’t preach language, culture, or esoteric knowledge as a means to know Christ, they preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Read False Teacher – Brad Scott
Read False Teacher – Brad Scott
Scott, Buff Jr.
You can come out of the church systems of men, but that doesn’t mean the works of men have come out of you. Buff Scott is the perfect example, a preacher who fancies himself ‘The Reformer’ of men’s artificial churches because he doesn’t belong to a religious group. Yet, without being born again into the Church of God, all Buff does is rearrange the deck chairs of the Titanic. See what happens when he runs into the Iceberg of Truth.
Read False Teacher – Buff Scott, Jr.
Read False Teacher – Buff Scott, Jr.
Self Righteous Liar, A Disingenuous
Separation Sheep Goats
A writer wrongly interprets “eternal punishment” as many do, to be a future, terrible which that leaves the majority of humanity condemned by the corruption of their flesh. Instead, the Bible teaches of a present separation, where the Lord gathers the sheep from the goats in this life, one by one, until all are reconciled back to Himself.
Read Separating the Sheep from the Goats Happens Now
Read Separating the Sheep from the Goats Happens Now
Separation Sheep Goats
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Read ???????????
Read ???????????
Servant, David
Ministers of Christ never come asking for money, even implicitly or by indirect means. The children of this world who appear as ministers of Christ invariably do, because they depend on man and not on God. They cloak their covetousness behind the needs of others, whom they advertise and promote as the recipients of their “godly” attention and your money. In this narrative, see how one spider catches three others in its money web, for evil, and how the Lord catches all of them for the fire, for good.
Read False Teachers – Razia Boota, Perry Maison, Evan Wiggs, and David Servant
Read False Teachers – Razia Boota, Perry Maison, Evan Wiggs, and David Servant
Seventh Day Adventists
Does proclaiming the seventh day as the Sabbath, even naming yourself after this true gift from God, make you right with Him? Did not the Pharisees have the right day, too? Adventists, despite what they think, are just another sectarian group teaching self-righteousness and divisiveness over doctrine.
Read Seventh Day Adventism
Read Seventh Day Adventism
Shack, The Sugar-Coated
Paul Young constructs a shack built on the shifting sands of man’s thoughts passed off as “theology,” whereas God builds His House on the Sure Foundation of Truth in Jesus Christ, His Son. There is no compatibility or comparison.
Read The Sugar-Coated Shack
Read The Sugar-Coated Shack
Shaparenko, Gene - A Pygmy Acts Like King Kong
Gene Shaparenko (aquatechnology.net) has made it his personal mission to expose us. His website entry, Victor Hafichuk – Prophet’ or Tool of Satan? is so full of lies and distortions that it would be comedic except that his insanity, brought on by a bitter anger and offense at God, has terrible repercussions, for him and anyone (if there is anyone) that listens to him.
Read False Teacher – Gene Shaparenko
Read False Teacher – Gene Shaparenko
Sheridan, Dan
When confronted on the evils of his partner, Martin Zender, Dan Sheridan is proven to be his true companion, of like mind and spirit, by mocking the Scriptures and the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom he pretends to serve. How amazing is the contradiction of religious sinners who have form of godliness, but deny the power thereof! Let all be warned: “Whoever walks with wise people will be wise, but whoever associates with fools will suffer” (Proverbs 13:20 GW).
Read False Teacher – Dan Sheridan
Read False Teacher – Dan Sheridan
Siljander, Mark
Falsehood Exposed on The Path of Truth – Islam: False Teacher – Mark Siljander’s Deadly Misunderstanding
Read Mark Siljander’s Deadly Misunderstanding
Read Mark Siljander’s Deadly Misunderstanding
Singer, Tovia
Tovia Singer zealously tries to protect Jews and their false religion from evangelization by manmade Christianity. Between his own wrongness and that of the religious he contends with, confusion is rife. No light is allowed because Singer rejects the Truth that Jesus Christ is his Messiah and God.
Read False Teacher – “Rabbi” Tovia Singer
Read False Teacher – “Rabbi” Tovia Singer
Skolfield, Ellis
This minister prays only for those Muslims who will turn to Christ. For those who have rejected the Son of God, he sees no hope. Yet the prophet says that we have all turned our faces from Him. Jesus said that no man could come to Him unless the Father draws him. Therefore, there is hope for all men because God can, and will, turn them, in His time: “The Lord does not delay concerning His promise, as some reckon slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 EMTV).
Read False Teacher – Ellis Skolfield
Read False Teacher – Ellis Skolfield
Slanderer Slinks Away, A
Smith, Joseph
Here is a collection of letters that deal with the works, tenets, and beliefs of those adhering to that presumptuous and fanciful false religion called Mormonism.
Read Mormonism
Read Mormonism
Smith, L. Ray
Trying to Make Bread Without Flour-Can a man who is still at enmity with God effectually present the reconciliation of all things through Jesus Christ? He can talk about it, but unless he walks in it, he is only transmitting knowledge. Those who follow him, thinking they are being fed from the Tree of Life, are tragically misled, as is the teacher himself. It takes the advent of Light to expose the disparity between having doctrine and having the Reality.
Read False Teacher – L. Ray Smith
Read False Teacher – L. Ray Smith
Solbrekken, Max
Canada’s Own False Evangelist-Max Solbrekken has presumed to be the greatest, if not the only, evangelist Canada has ever produced. He is neither; and he doesn’t even have the “honor” of being the only false evangelist from Canada. Not that Canada should be blamed for such fruit. Men who name their ministries after themselves and put themselves in the spotlight are liars and thieves, every last one of them. Men who call their works after the abominable and devastating Crusades of the Catholic Church are not only liars and thieves, but murderers. Men who wear clerical collars are pretentious “ministers” of God, carnal in all respects. Men who call themselves “Reverend” are usurpers of the glory of God. Max is another false gospel-mongering soul-breaker whose end is just in God’s sight.
Read False Teacher – Max Solbrekken
Read False Teacher – Max Solbrekken
Somers, Bill
Bill Somers has a site that promotes false teachers and religious confusion. He also presents the notion that it is a waste for Christians to die other than as martyrs. He is right that a Christian needs to lay down his or her life, but not in the way he means. It is this essential element of true Christianity that he lacks.
Read False Teacher – Bill Somers
Read False Teacher – Bill Somers
Sondergaard, Torben
Spiritual Manifestations of God, Judging
Spiro, Ken
“Rabbi” Ken Spiro presents himself as a teacher of the Tenach (Old Testament), yet perverts it by changing the words and meaning of Its Author. Walking in the fear of man, he paints a politically correct picture of God's instructions to Israel while trying to justify himself and the nation in their present unbelief. In these letters the ways of unbelief, and the false notions of God on which they are predicated, are exposed and destroyed by the Light of Israel's Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Read False Teacher – Ken Spiro
Read False Teacher – Ken Spiro
Spong, John Shelby
Here is a popular teacher of men who is held up to us the true representation of Christianity. Yet as one who condemns the mindset of religious institutions, he also speaks on their authority, going by the title “The Right Reverend Bishop Spong.” A house divided does not stand.
Read False Teacher – John Shelby Spong
Read False Teacher – John Shelby Spong
Spriggs, Gene
Many groups claim to be God’s people, but few claim to be actually creating His Kingdom on earth now. The Twelve Tribes have put their money where their mouths are, so to speak, by creating communities that encompass all aspects of life. Surely God’s Kingdom does no less. So why are they in our false section? Validity depends on why and how, not what you do. There is God’s work, and there is man’s imitation. The Tribes are the latter.
Read The Twelve Tribes
Read The Twelve Tribes
Sproul RC a False Teacher?
Staley, Jim
Many experiencing the emptiness of vain religious profession today are ripe for being sold a beautiful solution of going back to the “Christian” or “Hebrew Roots.” If only you observe the proper form of religion, you will be as believers of old and Jewish as well, your works proving you’re a flesh and blood member of the “lost” tribes of Israel. What security for a season – until you find out that flesh and form never connect you to the True Tree and Foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Read False Teacher – Jim Staley
Read False Teacher – Jim Staley
Stanley, Charles
A man of God doesn’t charm and impress people, because he isn’t sent by God to win friends for himself. He is sent to show men their sins and their need to be friends with the Lord from Heaven. The ministers of men, on the other hand, make people comfortable being religious while remaining part of this world that perishes.
Read False Teacher – Charles Stanley
Read False Teacher – Charles Stanley
Stetson, Eric
Jesus Christ paid for the redemption of every sinner, and will collect on what is rightfully His. It’s a done deal. Enter those who, upon hearing this Good News, presume they have the sonship and redemption of God while still in their unregenerate state and sin. Their philosophical talk about Christ doesn’t hide their state – it only exposes it.
Read False Teacher – Eric Stetson
Read False Teacher – Eric Stetson
Stevenson, Bill
Idolaters see what they want and don't see anything that contradicts their chosen delusions. Here is an interesting scenario wherein you can see the contrast between two men who both report receiving the Spirit of Christ in January of 1975, one who is an idolater and the other a worshipper of God.
Read False Teacher – Bill Stevenson
Read False Teacher – Bill Stevenson
Swaggart, Jimmy
Knowing whether someone is false isn’t as important as being able to tell how they are false. Would you like to be able to do that? Come to the Truth, and you’ll learn how. The works and teachings of God, as recounted in the Scriptures, are a sure light to expose the false works of men. Come see His guidelines, as He has given us to lay them out for your sake.
Read False Teacher – Jimmy Swaggart
Read False Teacher – Jimmy Swaggart
Sweet, Leonard
“And the Word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision” (1 Samuel 3:1 KJV). There are many religious proclamations and initiatives to be found everywhere today, but what does the Lord say? The “Jesus” of this manifesto waits on your imaginative input and will to come to life, but we wait on the Jesus Christ of Scripture, Who is seated on the throne of God and rules over all. Here we shout what He has whispered in our ears. “The Lord GOD has spoken. Who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8 HNV)
Read False Teachers – Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet
Read False Teachers – Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet