José Luis de Jesús Miranda

José Luis de Jesús Miranda (b. 1946) is the founder and leader of Creciendo en Gracia (Growing In Grace International Ministry, Inc.), a movement that teaches the "doctrine of Grace." It is based in Miami, Florida. He refers to himself as the Antichrist and exhibits a "666" tattoo on his forearm.^[1] He has referred to himself as "Jesus Christ Men".^[2][3]

Early life

Miranda grew up in poverty in Puerto Rico. Miranda has said that during this period he served stints in prison for petty theft^[4]. He became a Pentecostal minister and then a member of the Southern Baptist Church.

Current movement

In 2007, the Dallas Morning News reported that Miranda "preaches to followers in some 35 nations, mostly in Latin America, and has 287 radio programs and a 24-hour Spanish-language TV network. "^[5] Miranda has gained attention in Puerto Rico in particular, where his denomination has opened centers in Guaynabo, Arecibo, Yabucoa, Ponce and Hormigueros. In early 2007, he acknowledged others' claims that he was the Antichrist and explained that the term is true. It applies because people are no longer to follow the "Jewish teachings" of Jesus of Nazareth, but rather to follow the Apostle Paul's teachings through Miranda. According to Miranda, "Antichrist" means "no longer following Jesus of Nazareth as he lived in the days of his flesh". Naturally, controversy has surrounded this.^[1][6] Most recently, followers have shown their support by getting "666" tattoos on their bodies.[1] "666", Miranda explains, is not a sign of the devil (he preaches that the devil was destroyed), but the number of the Antichrist.

Controversy

Much controversy began to rise after Miranda made comments about the Roman Catholic Church. According to Miranda, the "Catholic Church is evil" and he has told his followers to burn pictures of the pope and protest outside of churches.[2] Also, Miranda claims "there is no sin." He has stated that murder and theft are only wrong because "society has made them wrong."[3] Miranda has been labeled as a "con man" by both Christian and non-Christian groups due to his comments about children in his ministry. He claims the youth in his church are the "super raza" or "super race" because they have been brought up "pure with no stain of religion." He also went on to say Miami was the center of his faith because "that is where Hispanics are." "Miami is the bridge for all nations," said Miranda, "That's where Hispanics are, and then eventually I'm going to find a lot of beautiful English-speaking people who will want to believe in me and I'm going to have millions of them." [4] Creciendo en Gracia has also stirred controversy with its noisy protest demonstrations directed at Christian gatherings.

References

External links

• Growing in Grace
• Creciendo en Gracia (es)
• Spanish-language evangelical responses to Creciendo en Gracia
• Jose Luis Jesus Miranda - a Christian perspective
• Religion News Blog news tracker on Miranda and his Creciendo en Gracia movement
• Apologetics Index research resources on Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda
• World Directory of Growing in Grace Educational Centers
• Primetime special about Miranda
• Growing in Grace on Rick Ross's website
• The Man Who Claims to be Jesus by Ileana Varela ("CBS4 News," September 12, 2006)
• MSNBC Article (Article is split into 2 pages)
• CNN.com "Pastor with 666 tattoo claims to be divine."
• ABC.com "Jesus Might Be Alive and Well in Houston."
• Why Apostle José Luis De Jesús Miranda can't be Jesus Christ
• The Growing in Grace Cult

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