Christopher Hudson of ForeRunner Chronicles

Three-and-a-half Men: Christopher Hudson of ForeRunner Chronicles

SUMMARY Christopher Hudson IS: - A self-described ‘Pastor’ (he’s not) of the SDA Church. - Runs a popular ‘independent ministry’ ForeRunner Chronicles, which peddles a range of bizarre conspiracy theories.  ForeRunner Chronicles is very popular and reportedly makes US$350,000 per week (yes per week!) Christopher Hudson bizarrely TEACHES the following: - A range of unusual and bizarre conspiracy theories, with everything from: crazy claims about the Freemasons (apparently Jay-Z is one), the Illuminati, bizarre rants likening President Obama to Hitler, and more. Christopher Hudson disturbingly BEHAVES in the following manner: - Is the mentor of Hollywood star Angus T Jones, who in 2012 went on a very embarrassing public rant, declaring himself an ‘Adventist’ whilst regurgitating the conspiracy views of his mentor. - After the Angus Jones incident, the official leadership of the SDA Church came out distancing itself from Hudson and ForeRunner Chronicles; however, the Church probably should have done more proactively to tackle our nutty fringe.  Hudson seems to have tacit approval from some conservative corners of the official SDA Church.

Background

Christopher Hudson is a self-described ‘Pastor’ of an independent Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) ministry – ForeRunner Chronicles.  Hudson is known for a range of bizarre conspiracy theories, from likening President Obama to Adolf Hitler, to believing Michael Jackson was really assassinated in a conspiracy orchestrated by the Pope. However, Hudson came to prominent media attention in 2012 when popular Hollywood star Angus T Jones declared himself an ‘Adventist’, and then regurgitated the conspiracy views of his mentor.

The Angus T Jones Incident

The incident

Angus T Jones is an American born actor famous for playing the character “Jake Harper” on the hit-TV show Two and a Half Men.  However, in 2012, Angus was involved in an ‘incident’ involving Christopher Hudson and his ForeRunner ministries. As explained from the Wikipedia article on Angus T Jones:

‘In November 2012, Jones made statements critical of Two and a Half Men. He said he was a "paid hypocrite" because his religious beliefs conflicted with his job as an actor in expressing the show's adult themes. In October 2012, Jones described his path to a new faith in detail during an interview with Seventh-day Adventist–sponsored Voice of Prophecy radio program. In November, his views gained the attention of the media after Jones appeared in a video posted on the YouTube channel of ForeRunner Chronicles, an independent ministry run by Christopher Hudson.’

As observed by Anthony McPherson in the article “Conspiracy Adventism” of 14 June 2013 from the Record, the problem was not Angus’s criticism of Hollywood or his personal testimony of finding Jesus.  Rather, it was Angus then went on to give a rant espousing various bizarre conspiracy theories taught by Hudson and his ForeRunner Chronicles:

‘Most Adventists, myself included, greeted with joy the news that Angus T Jones, the actor from the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men, had recently become an Adventist. It was moving listening to the testimony he shared with “Voice of Prophecy”. The upshot of this initial winsome witness was a focus on meeting Jesus with the potential to attract people to the Gospel.

Then everything got disastrously derailed. Angus T Jones released a media clip in which he agonised over the immorality in the show “Two and a Half Men”. The problem was not his comments about the moral content of the sitcom—after all, the show does indeed glorify sin and immorality.

The real problem was that he did so in conjunction with conspiratorial Adventism. Almost instantly everything changed from a story about a young actor discovering Jesus, to a story about a young man sucked in by crazy claims about the Freemasons (apparently Jay-Z is one), the Illuminati, bizarre rants likening President Obama to Hitler, and more. In the eyes of many people, Adventists went from a group with a message about Jesus capable of grabbing the heart of a young Hollywood star, to a weird, paranoid cult indulging in the most ludicrous claims and manipulating a young man. The Church wisely and sensitively distanced itself from the conspiracy connection but the damage was done. A credible witness was greatly diminished.’

The SDA Church’s response

As reported on “Sabbath Blog”, the SDA Church issued an official statement concerning the incident, clarifying that ForeRunner Chronicles is not a ministry of the SDA Church and Christopher Hudson is not in fact a Pastor of the Church:

‘Many inquiries have come to the Church regarding the Forerunner Chronicles interview. We are unable to offer information because Forerunner Chronicles is not a ministry operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its host is not a pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.’

The fallout

As similarly explored by Loren Seibold in “Our Nutty Fringe” of 20 Dec 2012, from the independent Adventist magazine Spectrum:

‘Angus didn’t have a chance to get anchored. He started at our sensible center and ended up talking to our nutty fringe. From a nice suburban congregation and the highly-professional Voice of Prophecy, to Christopher Hudson and ForeRunner Chronicles.

Of course, Angus didn’t understand all that. How could he, when we’ve never been able to make out the boundary between our sensible center and our nutty fringe ourselves? As Angus’ critical interview became public, church headquarters released a statement implying that ForeRunner Chronicles isn’t us.’

Who is Christopher Hudson?

A quick purview of the ForeRunner Chronicle website provides a number of conspiratorial articles and videos. However, little is actually known about Hudson himself. 

A good summary of Hudson is found in the article “Meet the Homophobic Doomsday Preacher Behind Angus T. Jones' Religious Rant”, published by Jezebel:

‘But who is Hudson? And what does he preach that Jones finds so enrapturing that he's speaking so openly about wanting off the TV show (that earns him a reported $350,000 a week) and turning against the people he's worked with since he was eight years old?

Very little is known about the Alabama-based pastor prior to establishing ForeRunner Chronicles, an internet-based dedicated to preaching "the three fold message of Revelation 14:6-12," which is essentially about all about Satan and the end of the world. But plenty can be gleaned from the nearly 300 video sermons he's posted in which he outlines his beliefs.

- Anti-gay: In a multi-part, exhaustive "exposé" set to scary music called Homo-Geniz-Nation, Hudson lambasts President Obama for his "disturbing statements" in support of gay equality and being "proud" for appointing openly LGBT people to his Cabinet.

- Anti-Jay-Z: Hudson is perhaps one of the only people who doesn't find the Illuminati hip-hop conspiracy theory a total joke. In fact, he produced an entire documentary on it, The Jay-Z Deception, that explains how the rapper's Blueprint albums are "markers in obtaining degrees in the secret organization known as the Freemasons" which he claims is a Satan-worshipping organization. He also implicated Kanye West and Rihanna as being involved with Lucifer.

- Anti-masturbation: In another video, Hudson declares it a sin and says, "Masturbation is an unnatural act" that has some "very serious health consequences" like men losing zinc through ejaculation, which causes them to have lower testosterone levels, and thus "feel less manly."

- President Obama is just like Adolf Hitler.

- Osama bin Laden actually died in 2007, not 2011.

- Michael Jackson's death was a conspiracy involving the Pope.

- People in New York City will turn to cannibalism and will eat their babies. "I'm not even playing. It's just that serious," he declares.’

Jezebel also claims Hudson has been involved in a series of minor criminal matters.  

Is the SDA leadership to blame – if only a little?

Despite the SDA Church’s official communication distancing itself from Hudson, the article “Meet the Homophobic Doomsday Preacher Behind Angus T. Jones' Religious Rant” goes on to explain:

‘The Seventh-day Adventist Church has distanced itself from Hudson after the video of Jones—who joined its L.A. congregation this year—went public this week, saying in a statement, "[Christopher Hudson] is not a pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church." But there's plenty of evidence online that Hudson's ministry is endorsed by the church. He regularly lectures at official Adventist schools, and preaches at Adventist churches around the world, from New England to Australia. He also has a show on the Seventh-day Adventist satellite channel.’

As likewise confirmed Loren Seibold in “Our Nutty Fringe” of 20 Dec 2012, from the independent Adventist magazine Spectrum:

‘But this time we got caught. It didn’t take anyone very long to discover that ForeRunner Chronicles is on one of 3ABN’s satellite channels, the network that our General Conference president uses to speak to the membership, whose twice-divorced founder he chose as his interviewer in a recent important policy discussion, an organization whose board is served by Seventh-day Adventist pastors and laypeople, whose gatherings church leaders attend. 3ABN came to Christopher Hudson’s defense: he was sound, relevant, Biblical.’

There is no doubt Hudson is just another nut on the fringe of Adventism that hardly represents this author or the majority of other 22 million Adventists worldwide.  Nevertheless, we do deserve some blame – if only a little. 

As observed elsewhere on this blog, it shouldn’t only be after such embarrassing public incidents that the official SDA leadership acts – it should be preventative.  Importantly, the official SDA leadership often seems much more inclined to attack the liberal fringe of the Church whilst simply ignoring our more conservative fringe. The incident with Angus T Jones seems to prove that we ignore our nutty fringe at our own peril!