Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress, Jr. was born to parents Robert Jeffress, Sr. (1925–1990) and Julia Caroline "Judy" Fielder (1931–1986).

Jeffress and his wife, Amy Lyon Renard, have two daughters.

Jeffress received a B.S. degree from Baylor University; a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary; and a Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Robert James Jeffress Jr. (born November 29, 1955) is an American Southern Baptist pastor, author, radio host, and televangelist.

He is the senior pastor of the 14,000-member First Baptist Church, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas, and is a Fox News Contributor.

His sermons are broadcast on the television and radio program Pathway to Victory, which is broadcast on more than 1,200 television stations in the United States and 28 other countries, and is heard on 900 stations and broadcast live in 195 countries.

Jeffress has frequently engaged in political activity, in sermons and on national news.

He has endorsed Republican candidates for president, including Donald Trump, and has spoken at Republican conventions.

He has also been critical of Democratic politicians, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The extent of this activity has been controversial.

He had been the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Eastland, Texas, from 1985 to 1992.

In 1986, Jeffress was a contestant on the syndicated nighttime edition of the popular game show Card Sharks, hosted by Bill Rafferty, winning $4,550 over four days.

Jeffress grew up under pastor W. A. Criswell of First Baptist Dallas, citing him as an influence on his ministry.

Like Criswell, Jeffress teaches dispensationalist theology.

Previously, Jeffress had been the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls since 1992.

In 2006, Jeffress received the Daniel Award from Vision America.

On August 12, 2007, he was elected pastor of First Baptist Dallas, now a megachurch of 14,000 members, succeeding Mac Brunson.

In a 2008 sermon entitled "Gay Is Not OK," Jeffress quoted Romans 1:27, saying that "the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity."

In May 2010, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Dallas Baptist University.

In a sermon in August 2010, Jeffress said that Muhammad and Islam promoted pedophilia, referring to Aisha's age at marriage.

Also in 2010, Jeffress referred to Roman Catholicism as a "Satanic" result of "Babylonian mystery religion".

In another interview the same year, he said, "Mormonism is wrong, it is a heresy from the pit of Hell; Judaism, you can't be saved being a Jew, you know who said that by the way, the three greatest Jews in the New Testament, Peter, Paul, and Jesus Christ, they all said Judaism won't do it, it's faith in Jesus Christ."

In December 2010, Jeffress established a "Naughty and Nice List" in which businesses were identified based on whether or not they openly celebrated Christmas: "I wanted to do something positive to encourage businesses to acknowledge Christmas and not bow to the strident voices of a minority who object to the holiday."

In 2011, the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary awarded Jeffress a distinguished alumni award for the impact of his ministry in Texas.

In October 2011, at the Values Voter Summit, Jeffress called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) "a cult."

He received widespread criticism for the statement but did not retract it despite Mitt Romney's request for him to do so.

The $130 million church campus officially opened for Easter Sunday worship on March 31, 2013.

After the church shooting in Charleston in June 2015, Jeffress was on Fox News and referred to the attack as "pure, unadulterated evil."

Jeffress supports COVID 19 vaccination, Jeffress stated, “There is no credible religious argument against the vaccines.”

Jeffress believes that the teachings of Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, and Hinduism reject "the truth of Christ", and that their adherents "will go to hell if they do not accept Christ."

In December 2016, Jeffress said in an interview that he believes Christians are being "marginalized and attacked".

On April 27, 2023, he was awarded the Friends of Zion award in Jerusalem where he asserted the neighborly relations with Saudi Arabia would improve if Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in 2024.

On January 20, 2017, Jeffress preached the sermon at a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church, attended by President-elect Donald Trump the day before his inauguration.

Jeffress oversaw the construction of the First Baptist Church's 3,000-seat pavilion.

After the August 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one woman dead, Jeffress condemned white supremacy: "Let there be no misunderstanding. Racism is sin. Period."

In a separate interview, he stated that "all racism" is "repulsive and totally contradictory to the teaching of God".

In an interview with CBN, Jeffress commented on racial issues, saying that "There has been a failure on the part of the Church, even a failure on conservative Christians in decades past, to denounce racism, to embrace segregation, which is so wrong."

He added, "I think we did have some catching up to do but I think that in this environment, we need to say clearly, that racism is abhorrent in the eyes of God."

A staunch opponent of same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, Jeffress has claimed that gay marriage is "counterfeit" and has repeatedly targeted homosexuality in his sermons, saying that gay individuals are "filthy", "degrading ... beyond description", and "so much more prone to disease".

After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Jeffress appeared on the Fox Business network and said, "Evil is real, but evil is also temporary."