Katy Perry, Theologian
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
The first inside page of the Orlando Sentinel (A2) is devoted to news items about celebrities. Often it announces upcoming productions or provides status reports on television or movie projects. On January 23, 2014, for example, it reported that NBC decided not to go forward with its plan to retool Murder, She Wrote. However, sometimes celebrities are quoted concerning their beliefs, and that same A2 page contained in bold letters what seems to amount to the theology of Katy Perry, born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson.
Her parents are Keith Hudson and Mary Perry, Evangelical preachers. They are Pentecostal and have expressed disappointment with their daughter, whose first number one hit was, “I Kissed a Girl.” Not surprisingly, Perry is pro-homosexual. And she is one of the hottest stars at the moment, having had five number one songs off one album, a feat not duplicated since Michael Jackson last did it.
Katy’s success is not appreciated by her parents. In preaching her father has called her a “devil child.” He added:
I was at a concert of Katy’s where there were 20,000. I’m watching this generation and they were going at it. It almost looked like church. I stood there and wept and kept on weeping and weeping. They’re loving and worshipping the wrong thing.
The way some Pentecostals worship, there might have been some similarities. But we as parents sympathize with him. She started off singing “gospel” music in worship and now is adored by fans everywhere who enjoy her immoral songs. There can be no question that Satan has her—especially as it relates to pride. How many people are willing to turn down earthly fame? Satan offered her the world, and she took it. It is unlikely that she will give it back.
Still, popularity does not qualify her as a theologian. The Sentinel reported her as making the following comments:
I do not believe in an old guy sitting on a throne with a long beard. …I don’t believe in heaven and hell as a destination. I see everything through a spiritual lens. I believe in a lot of astrology. I believe in aliens.
Are these comments to be taken seriously? They sound like she just picked out some bizarre statements and strung them together without any logic or conviction, for that matter. In the off-chance that she really believes these things and did not just string them together on the spur of the moment because they would be considered provocative by her fans, each one shall be briefly considered.
1. Did her parents teach her that God is an old guy with a long beard, sitting on a throne? Pentecostals don’t get much right, but they haven’t resorted to such portrayals of the Deity, the last anyone heard. In fact, who is there who believes the Bible that has ever thought of God in such a grotesque manner? God is eternal. He never ages; He never runs out of energy. Someday, when Miss Perry does, God will be just as youthful as He is today. He does have a throne, however, and Jesus will judge her from it (2 Cor. 5:10).
2. It does not matter what Miss Perry or anyone else thinks. Truth is not decided by a majority vote; it is valid whether anyone recognizes it or whether anyone agrees with it. Heaven and Hell are quite literal destinations, and everyone will be assigned to one or the other (Rev. 20:11-15). No one can be surprised that those who violate God’s laws do not want to accept their punishment. However, God’s will overrides that of mere human beings.
3. Exactly what “spiritual lens” would that be? These are the words usually used by those involved in the New Age movement. They deceive themselves into thinking that they can lie, curse, commit fornication or adultery, or any other immoral act—and yet still be spiritual people. In other words, they divorce spirituality from morality. In the Bible, the two are inseparably linked. Perry’s spiritual lens probably refers to her own views about matters; she gets to define what spiritual is. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Pr. 14:12).
4. She believes in a lot of astrology. What does that mean—that she accepts six signs of the zodiac but not the others? Perhaps she is unaware of it, but astrology is a very old religion—one that is fatal to trust in. Some 700 years before Jesus was born, some of God’s people had given themselves over to it. They were trusting in the stars to determine their fate—something only the extremely gullible would do. Notice what Isaiah said:
Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth—perhaps you will be able to profit; perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from these things that shall come upon you (Isa. 47:12-13).
These frivolous substitutes for God might seem attractive in times of prosperity and health, but a devotee soon learns that they have no power to solve life’s real problems. People dally with them when they are bored, but when they experience actual threats to their lives (disasters, illness, et al.), then they realize they have neglected the true and living God.
5. What is the benefit of believing in aliens? What does it explain? How does it help resolve anything that pertains to this life? After spending years listening to transmissions from “outer space” and coming up with nothing, what evidence supports such a fanciful notion?
If someone postulates that aliens are our ancestors and that earth was populated from them, it still does not resolve our origin; we would merely need to figure out where they came from—God or evolution. We would also need to ask why God created other universes and never told us about them. Did Jesus go to their worlds to die for their sins, too?
The young pop star has obviously been spending a great deal of time writing songs and not much developing her theology. She sounds as shallow as a “Valley Girl.” However, many of her fans probably think she is profound. By contrast, Psalm 92:5 says: “O Lord, how great are your works! Your thoughts are very deep.”