Joel Osteen 'Resigns' Hoax; Attacked with 'Bible is Flawed'

Apr 08, 2013 12:07 PM EDT

Reports of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen resignation were found to be a hoax as images of articles on CNN, Drudge Report and Yahoo were widely circulated over this weekend.

According to the false report, Joel Osteen, senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, was reported to have said, “I believe now that the Bible is a fallible, flawed, highly inconsistent history book that has been altered hundreds of times.”

“There is zero evidence the Bible is the holy word of God.”

"Halfway through his morning Sunday service he dropped to his knees and began crying, and then announced, 'I am God! I am just as much a God as our Lord is!' The 10,000 members in attendance appeared stunned," the fake article claimed.

He goes on to say he is resigning from the church, which will continue in a “bare-bone fashion as we liquidate our assets and fulfill various financial obligations.”

Yet, no actual links to the articles were found.

Joel Osteen’s official website has no indication of his resignation of the church that was passed to him from his father and he has pastored since 1999.