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Skillet’s John Cooper Defends Biblical Truth: ‘This Is Not Controversial Stuff, But …’

Photo from John Cooper’s Instagram

Skillet’s John Cooper Defends Biblical Truth: ‘This Is Not Controversial Stuff, But …’

By Movieguide® Staff

Skillet’s John Cooper is not afraid to speak the truth.

The vocalist and bassist for the Grammy-nominated band recently opened up about the ideological differences among Christian peers and the need for Truth, God’s Word and genuine faith.

After 20 years as a member of the Christian music industry, Cooper revealed that many artists now pursue progressive theology that contradicts what God teaches in Scripture.

“I went, ‘OK, all of this is the same liberal theology that we dealt with 100 years ago, the same sort of anti-Dominionism that Spurgeon fought in the downgrade. It just comes back around and now it’s our time to fight it,” he told The Christian Post.

Instead of looking to God’s Word for insight and wisdom on addressing today’s most pressing matters—abortion, sexual ethics, and identity—crowds of people are looking to the world for answers.

“I didn’t realize that’s what this is; we are actually at a really important place in Christianity in the faith, I think, a real crossroads about the Gospel that we hand down to our children,” Cooper explained. “What is that Gospel going to look like? How is Christianity going to even be defined? What are the tenets of the faith going to be? That’s why I started speaking out so boldly about things.”

Cooper highlighted some of these “tenants” in his recent book, “Awake & Alive to Truth: Finding Truth in the Chaos of a Relativistic World.”

However, Cooper said many Christian publishers refused to publish his book.

“… It’s because I was saying things that are too orthodox. So the same publishers will publish someone a lot less famous than me, sell less books, make less money and print heresy,” he said. “At the same time, they won’t print a book for me that is just talking about nothing that would be controversial for any lowest common denominator Evangelical … original sin, why Jesus died, why you cannot trust your emotions, the Word of God is the authority of Scripture, the divinity of Scripture … this is not controversial stuff, but it is now.

“If I said today, we’re going to make a lowest common denominator creed that you have to agree with to play Christian music, we’d see 40 percent of the industry gone tomorrow,” he said. “And if you added in sexual ethics to it, I bet there’d be 30 percent left. My guess is 30 percent of the industry still holds to what we would call traditional biblical sexual ethics. That’s my guess.”

Cooper said that while there are many God-fearing people in CCM, others do not hold to biblical values.

“It’s alarming that it’s happening in the industry, the musicians, it’s also alarming to me — I can’t believe the things that I read pastors and public people say on public Christian platforms that I used to read and trust,” he said. “I can’t believe the stuff they say, especially after just diving deep into the theology and the social sciences … it’s just humanism, just being bombarded into Christianity. I just can’t believe the stuff that they write that’s just not in line with historical Christianity, certainly.”

“​​Either Christ is Lord of everything, or you’re saying there’s a sliver of the pie that He’s not Lord over, and He doesn’t speak to; that’s just a neutral territory,” he added. “And we really are seeing bad, bad fruit from thinking that there are a lot of neutral areas.”

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.