God loves you ....
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
God commendeth [demonstrates] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [atoning sacrifice] for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
... even though you have sinned...
There is none righteous, no, not one. (Romans 3:10)
All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
...you can be saved...
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)
Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
[Jesus], who was delivered [to die] for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25)
...TODAY!
Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)
Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)
Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews 3:15)
Neglect and Perish
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? (Hebrews 2:3)
Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3)
He that believeth on the Son [Jesus Christ] hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)
Believe & Live!
[Jesus said] ... He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31)
[Jesus said] Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)
If you have decided to accept God's offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ as a result of reading this, and you want further help in the decision you have made or if you have more questions about the Christian faith, please contact us by e-mail or visit http://www.emmanuelbarrie.org/.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Why, Why, Why?
The Christian church was first introduced to Word Faith teachings through Kenneth E. Hagin, also known as "Dad" Hagin by those who admire him. He got his doctrines from E.W. Kenyon, an individual who was greatly influenced by the metaphysical mind science cults such as Christian Science, Unity School of Christianity, and Church of Religious Science. Kenyon's interest in the metaphysical cults was intense. In fact, "his knowledge of the origins and teachings of these groups was extensive." This is sometimes called the "Kenyon Connection".
Hagin often refers to Kenyon as a great teacher, but what many Word Faith followers do not know is that "Dad" actually plagiarized much of what Kenyon wrote. In other words, to take someone else's material and publish it as one's own, either in whole or substantial part, Hagin copied what Kenyon wrote without giving him proper credit. It is nearly impossible to find one instance where Hagin credits Kenyon for material copied (often verbatim, or word-for-word). This certainly challenges Hagin's integrity and status as a trustworthy man of God.
God's people always have been, and always will be, plagued by false teachers and false prophets (2 Corinthians 11:13; Galations 2:4; 2 Peter 2:1-3). Jesus Himself said, "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves(Matthew 7:14).
Paul the Apostle, during his farewell address to the Ephesian church warned of two kinds of "wolves" in sheep's clothing: those who attack the church from the outside; and those who poison it from the inside. "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in amongst you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:28-30).
Although the Word Faith movement is devouring many with false doctrines those still faithful to the pure Gospel need not fear nor be discouraged (2 Peter 2:1-3). (from Walter Martin)
The deception in some of these churches may be so cleverly disguised that you don't even know you are attending one because the sign over the door doesn't say Word Faith movement. I know for a fact that Victory Churches International will deny being part of the Word Faith movement but their teachings are identical. It's just a variation on a theme with the emphasis slightly shifted to a belief in the existence of modern day apostles which has no basis in Scripture.
There are a few different ways to know for sure if you are currently attending a Word Faith movement church. If your teachers claim that any of the following are authorities or sources of information, they are probably promoting "Faith Movement doctrine": Kenneth/Gloria Copeland, Kenneth E. Hagin, Oral/Richard Roberts, Benny Hinn, John Avanzini, Essek William Kenyon, Frederick K.C. Price, Robert Tilton, Marilyn Hickey, Paul Yonggi Cho (David Cho), Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo, Paul Crouch -- unfortunately, there are a host of others too numerous to mention.
If your group admires or promotes in a positive light the teachings of the Faith Movement or any kind of "prosperity doctrine," you will find the following books helpful: Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff, (Harvest House); Counterfeit Revival by Hank Hanegraaff (Word Publishing); A Different Gospel by D. R. McConnell (Hendrickson). (from Mary Alice Chrnalogar)
What should I do now? If you are convinced that you have been unknowingly attending a Word Faith movement church, you need to get rid of some things that you may have in your house that you have purchased through your church or through the Word Faith organizations, You need to dispose of any materials, books, tapes or CDs which originate from Rhema Bible Training Center at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA as well as any materials received from Canada Christian College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. These are the two main sources of the Word Faith teaching in North America.
Another trademark of the Word Faith movement is the "health and wealth" gospel. If your church is teaching this, you can be sure that you are in a Word Faith movement church. You need to leave forthwith!!
Hagin often refers to Kenyon as a great teacher, but what many Word Faith followers do not know is that "Dad" actually plagiarized much of what Kenyon wrote. In other words, to take someone else's material and publish it as one's own, either in whole or substantial part, Hagin copied what Kenyon wrote without giving him proper credit. It is nearly impossible to find one instance where Hagin credits Kenyon for material copied (often verbatim, or word-for-word). This certainly challenges Hagin's integrity and status as a trustworthy man of God.
God's people always have been, and always will be, plagued by false teachers and false prophets (2 Corinthians 11:13; Galations 2:4; 2 Peter 2:1-3). Jesus Himself said, "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves(Matthew 7:14).
Paul the Apostle, during his farewell address to the Ephesian church warned of two kinds of "wolves" in sheep's clothing: those who attack the church from the outside; and those who poison it from the inside. "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in amongst you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:28-30).
Although the Word Faith movement is devouring many with false doctrines those still faithful to the pure Gospel need not fear nor be discouraged (2 Peter 2:1-3). (from Walter Martin)
The deception in some of these churches may be so cleverly disguised that you don't even know you are attending one because the sign over the door doesn't say Word Faith movement. I know for a fact that Victory Churches International will deny being part of the Word Faith movement but their teachings are identical. It's just a variation on a theme with the emphasis slightly shifted to a belief in the existence of modern day apostles which has no basis in Scripture.
There are a few different ways to know for sure if you are currently attending a Word Faith movement church. If your teachers claim that any of the following are authorities or sources of information, they are probably promoting "Faith Movement doctrine": Kenneth/Gloria Copeland, Kenneth E. Hagin, Oral/Richard Roberts, Benny Hinn, John Avanzini, Essek William Kenyon, Frederick K.C. Price, Robert Tilton, Marilyn Hickey, Paul Yonggi Cho (David Cho), Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo, Paul Crouch -- unfortunately, there are a host of others too numerous to mention.
If your group admires or promotes in a positive light the teachings of the Faith Movement or any kind of "prosperity doctrine," you will find the following books helpful: Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff, (Harvest House); Counterfeit Revival by Hank Hanegraaff (Word Publishing); A Different Gospel by D. R. McConnell (Hendrickson). (from Mary Alice Chrnalogar)
What should I do now? If you are convinced that you have been unknowingly attending a Word Faith movement church, you need to get rid of some things that you may have in your house that you have purchased through your church or through the Word Faith organizations, You need to dispose of any materials, books, tapes or CDs which originate from Rhema Bible Training Center at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA as well as any materials received from Canada Christian College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. These are the two main sources of the Word Faith teaching in North America.
Another trademark of the Word Faith movement is the "health and wealth" gospel. If your church is teaching this, you can be sure that you are in a Word Faith movement church. You need to leave forthwith!!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Just Ignore Those Symptoms!
The Word Faith concept also includes a physical -symptoms-should-be-ignored principle that leads to unnecessary suffering and sometimes even death. Hagin advises that someone seeking healing "should look to God's Word, not to his symptoms." Real faith, according to Hagin, "believes the Word of God regardless of what the physical evidences may be."
Divine health is something we already possess says Word Faith teacher Jerry Savelle: "When symptoms come, it is nothing more than the thief trying to steal the health which is already ours. In other words, divine health is not something we are trying to get from God; it is something the Devil is trying to take away from us!...When the Devil tries to put a symptom of sickness or disease in my body, I absolutely refuse to accept it."
Countless tragedies have resulted from such thinking. One of the most widely publicized cases involved Larry and Lucky Parker, who, rather than giving insulin to their diabetic son, Wesley, followed Word Faith teachings and positively confessed his healing. After Wesley died in a diabetic coma on August 23, 1973, Larry and Lucky were tried and convicted of manslaughter. Thousands of equally tragic stories often go unnoticed. For instance:
Thirty-eight-year-old Christine Klear (a mother of three small children) died of breast cancer after she and her husband Douglas decided, through the influence of "TBN," to positively confess her healing and forego medical treatment.
While she was still in her mid-forties, doctors told F. Elizabeth Scott, that she had breast cancer. Instead of undergoing medical treatment, she trusted the teachings of her favourite Bible teachers, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Marilyn Hickey. Mrs. Scott refused to acknowledge her physical symptoms and postively confessed a healing. Five years later the cancer-induced pain had become so unbearable that she began radiation therapy and "pleaded" with doctors to do something. She died that same year.
After Mary Turk discovered she had colon/rectal cancer, she made a vow of faith to Word Faith teacher, Robert Tilton. In order not to violate her "vow," she refused medical attention and believed that she was healed despite her symptoms. She died an agonzing death as the cancer spread throughout her entire abdominal cavity.
Word Faith leaders have responded to those deadly fruits of their labour by blaming those who died. The deceased simply did not have enough faith to bring about their healing. Price, for example, admits, "I have watched people die, and my heart went out to them, but their faith was not developed, and it couldn't bring the healing to pass, and they died. It wasn't the will of God that they died, but their faith wasn't sufficiently developed." Charles Capps agrees, "Many people die needlessly because they said, 'If I believe I am healed, I'll throw away all my medicine,' when their faith was not developed to that level."
Such cold-blooded remarks are causing even more deaths as staunch believers in Word Faith theology try to prove to themselves and to those around them that they have enough faith to be healed and that God's "best" belongs to them. According to D.R. McConnell:
The most consistent reports of abuse caused by the Faith doctrine of healing involve the treatment of those in the movement with chronic and/or terminal illnesses. Because of the belief that listening to a "negative confession" can infect one's faith, not many in the Faith Movement are willing even to be around, much less listen to, those who are seriously ill...A believer is shunned, isolated, and ostracized as though he was an unbeliever -- which, by definition, is precisely what he is or else he would not be ill in the first place...The time when a dying believer needs a word of encouragement is when he receives a sermonette on the failure of his faith...When a dying believer needs his faith the most is when he is told that he has it the least...When he needs support of a sensitive supportive body of believers is when he is ostracized and isolated as though he himself was infectious. Perhaps the most inhumane fact revealed about the Faith movement is this: When its members die, they die alone. (from Walter Martin)
Perhaps this is the reason that none of my three sons came to see me in the hospital recently when I had my heart attack. The leaders of this movement will have some serious "splainin" to do on Judgement Day.
I would also encourage my son, Glenn, who is a diabetic, not to fall for this very destructive teaching. Make sure you continue to take your insulin! Rest assured that the leadership of BVC will put you to the test if they haven't already. Remember your illness is a visible threat to their teachings on health and healing.
Divine health is something we already possess says Word Faith teacher Jerry Savelle: "When symptoms come, it is nothing more than the thief trying to steal the health which is already ours. In other words, divine health is not something we are trying to get from God; it is something the Devil is trying to take away from us!...When the Devil tries to put a symptom of sickness or disease in my body, I absolutely refuse to accept it."
Countless tragedies have resulted from such thinking. One of the most widely publicized cases involved Larry and Lucky Parker, who, rather than giving insulin to their diabetic son, Wesley, followed Word Faith teachings and positively confessed his healing. After Wesley died in a diabetic coma on August 23, 1973, Larry and Lucky were tried and convicted of manslaughter. Thousands of equally tragic stories often go unnoticed. For instance:
Thirty-eight-year-old Christine Klear (a mother of three small children) died of breast cancer after she and her husband Douglas decided, through the influence of "TBN," to positively confess her healing and forego medical treatment.
While she was still in her mid-forties, doctors told F. Elizabeth Scott, that she had breast cancer. Instead of undergoing medical treatment, she trusted the teachings of her favourite Bible teachers, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Marilyn Hickey. Mrs. Scott refused to acknowledge her physical symptoms and postively confessed a healing. Five years later the cancer-induced pain had become so unbearable that she began radiation therapy and "pleaded" with doctors to do something. She died that same year.
After Mary Turk discovered she had colon/rectal cancer, she made a vow of faith to Word Faith teacher, Robert Tilton. In order not to violate her "vow," she refused medical attention and believed that she was healed despite her symptoms. She died an agonzing death as the cancer spread throughout her entire abdominal cavity.
Word Faith leaders have responded to those deadly fruits of their labour by blaming those who died. The deceased simply did not have enough faith to bring about their healing. Price, for example, admits, "I have watched people die, and my heart went out to them, but their faith was not developed, and it couldn't bring the healing to pass, and they died. It wasn't the will of God that they died, but their faith wasn't sufficiently developed." Charles Capps agrees, "Many people die needlessly because they said, 'If I believe I am healed, I'll throw away all my medicine,' when their faith was not developed to that level."
Such cold-blooded remarks are causing even more deaths as staunch believers in Word Faith theology try to prove to themselves and to those around them that they have enough faith to be healed and that God's "best" belongs to them. According to D.R. McConnell:
The most consistent reports of abuse caused by the Faith doctrine of healing involve the treatment of those in the movement with chronic and/or terminal illnesses. Because of the belief that listening to a "negative confession" can infect one's faith, not many in the Faith Movement are willing even to be around, much less listen to, those who are seriously ill...A believer is shunned, isolated, and ostracized as though he was an unbeliever -- which, by definition, is precisely what he is or else he would not be ill in the first place...The time when a dying believer needs a word of encouragement is when he receives a sermonette on the failure of his faith...When a dying believer needs his faith the most is when he is told that he has it the least...When he needs support of a sensitive supportive body of believers is when he is ostracized and isolated as though he himself was infectious. Perhaps the most inhumane fact revealed about the Faith movement is this: When its members die, they die alone. (from Walter Martin)
Perhaps this is the reason that none of my three sons came to see me in the hospital recently when I had my heart attack. The leaders of this movement will have some serious "splainin" to do on Judgement Day.
I would also encourage my son, Glenn, who is a diabetic, not to fall for this very destructive teaching. Make sure you continue to take your insulin! Rest assured that the leadership of BVC will put you to the test if they haven't already. Remember your illness is a visible threat to their teachings on health and healing.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Wouldn't It Be Nice ....?
In Word Faith theology all believers "should thoroughly understand that their healing was consummated in Christ. When they came to know that in their spirits -- just as they know it in their heads -- that will be the end of sickness and disease in their bodies." Copeland assures his followers that "God intends for every believer to live completely free from sickness and disease." Copeland also maintains that any time a believer has a problem receiving healing, "he usually suffers from ignorance of God's Word."
Isaiah 53:4-6 is the primary verse misinterpreted by the Word Faith teachers to give the foundation upon which this view is built:
Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)
When Word Faith teachers cross-reference this passage with Matthew 8:17 ("that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses"), they conclude that Christians are healed through the crucifixion of Christ.
But Matthew tells us that the Isaiah prophecy was fulfilled BEFORE Jesus had been crucified. Furthermore, he only quotes the first two lines of the prophecy. Why? Because only the first portion of Isaiah 53:4 (NIV) (which does mention infirmities) was fulfilled at Peter's house -- the scenario of Matthew 8:16:
When the even was come, they brought unto Him many who were possessed of devils: and He cast out the spirit with His Word and healed all that were sick.
Matthew does not quote the rest of the Isaiah passage because it deals with what would be taken away, or healed, through Jesus' death -- our transgressions and iniquities, our sins. By Jesus' scourging and crucifixion we were healed (Isaiah 53:5), but healed of the moral effects of sin, separation from God, rather than physical disease (Isaiah 53:6). As the psalmist wrote, "Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." (Psalm 41:4).
The intense aversion that Word Faith leaders have towards sickness is perhaps most obvious in Price's sermons:
How can you glorify God in your body, when it doesn't function right? How can you glorify God? How can He get glory when your body doesn't even work?.... What makes you think the Holy Ghost wants to live inside a body where He can't see out through the windows and He can't hear with the ears? What makes you think that the Holy Spirit wants to live inside of a physical body where the limbs and the organs and the cells do not function right?.... And what makes you think He wants to live in a temple where He can't see out of the eyes, and He can't walk with the feet, and He can't move with the hands?...The only eyes that He has that are in the earth realm are the eyes that are in the body. If He can't see out of them, then God's going to be limited.
Such a mind-set becomes even harsher when it is coupled with the Word Faith practice of citing a person's personal lack of faith as the primary cause of a sickness.
Does God guarantee that Christians will always be healed as long as they have enough faith and are not in sin? No, He does not. Instead, His Word gives numerous examples of godly individuals who were not healed: Paul (2 Cor. 12:7-10; Gal. 4:13-15); Timothy (1 Tim. 5:23); Trophimus (2 Tim. 4:20); and Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25-27).
Those who feel that it is God's will that Christians always be healed often ask, "Since Jesus healed everyone who came to Him while He was on earth, why would He not heal everyone who comes to Him today (as long as they have faith), especially since Jesus is the same 'yesterday, today, and forever' (Hebrews 13:8)?"
First, Scripture nowhere states that Jesus healed everyone who was ever brought to Him during His lifetime. The apostle John, at the end of his gospel, noted that "many other things" were done by Jesus that were not recorded. Whether those things might have included "non-healings," we do not know, but we do know that what was recorded, including the healings were recorded so that "ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." (John 20:31). They were not recorded to convince us that physical healing for all is guaranteed.
Second, nowhere in Scripture is perfect physical healing for all promised before the resurrection and glorification which will occur at the final judgment (see Rev. 20-22). Physical healing in its ultimate sense can only be a result of the transformation of our "death-doomed" bodies into bodies like His glorious resurrected body (Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 1:24).
Third, healing came from Christ at His will, regardless of the individual's faith. He healed those who believed (Matt. 8:13) and those who did not believe (John 9:1-38). (from Walter Martin)
Isaiah 53:4-6 is the primary verse misinterpreted by the Word Faith teachers to give the foundation upon which this view is built:
Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)
When Word Faith teachers cross-reference this passage with Matthew 8:17 ("that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses"), they conclude that Christians are healed through the crucifixion of Christ.
But Matthew tells us that the Isaiah prophecy was fulfilled BEFORE Jesus had been crucified. Furthermore, he only quotes the first two lines of the prophecy. Why? Because only the first portion of Isaiah 53:4 (NIV) (which does mention infirmities) was fulfilled at Peter's house -- the scenario of Matthew 8:16:
When the even was come, they brought unto Him many who were possessed of devils: and He cast out the spirit with His Word and healed all that were sick.
Matthew does not quote the rest of the Isaiah passage because it deals with what would be taken away, or healed, through Jesus' death -- our transgressions and iniquities, our sins. By Jesus' scourging and crucifixion we were healed (Isaiah 53:5), but healed of the moral effects of sin, separation from God, rather than physical disease (Isaiah 53:6). As the psalmist wrote, "Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." (Psalm 41:4).
The intense aversion that Word Faith leaders have towards sickness is perhaps most obvious in Price's sermons:
How can you glorify God in your body, when it doesn't function right? How can you glorify God? How can He get glory when your body doesn't even work?.... What makes you think the Holy Ghost wants to live inside a body where He can't see out through the windows and He can't hear with the ears? What makes you think that the Holy Spirit wants to live inside of a physical body where the limbs and the organs and the cells do not function right?.... And what makes you think He wants to live in a temple where He can't see out of the eyes, and He can't walk with the feet, and He can't move with the hands?...The only eyes that He has that are in the earth realm are the eyes that are in the body. If He can't see out of them, then God's going to be limited.
Such a mind-set becomes even harsher when it is coupled with the Word Faith practice of citing a person's personal lack of faith as the primary cause of a sickness.
Does God guarantee that Christians will always be healed as long as they have enough faith and are not in sin? No, He does not. Instead, His Word gives numerous examples of godly individuals who were not healed: Paul (2 Cor. 12:7-10; Gal. 4:13-15); Timothy (1 Tim. 5:23); Trophimus (2 Tim. 4:20); and Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25-27).
Those who feel that it is God's will that Christians always be healed often ask, "Since Jesus healed everyone who came to Him while He was on earth, why would He not heal everyone who comes to Him today (as long as they have faith), especially since Jesus is the same 'yesterday, today, and forever' (Hebrews 13:8)?"
First, Scripture nowhere states that Jesus healed everyone who was ever brought to Him during His lifetime. The apostle John, at the end of his gospel, noted that "many other things" were done by Jesus that were not recorded. Whether those things might have included "non-healings," we do not know, but we do know that what was recorded, including the healings were recorded so that "ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." (John 20:31). They were not recorded to convince us that physical healing for all is guaranteed.
Second, nowhere in Scripture is perfect physical healing for all promised before the resurrection and glorification which will occur at the final judgment (see Rev. 20-22). Physical healing in its ultimate sense can only be a result of the transformation of our "death-doomed" bodies into bodies like His glorious resurrected body (Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 1:24).
Third, healing came from Christ at His will, regardless of the individual's faith. He healed those who believed (Matt. 8:13) and those who did not believe (John 9:1-38). (from Walter Martin)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The Wheel of Fortune
Financial prosperity to those in the Word Faith movement is more than just a blessing. It is an absolute right. New Testament professor, Gordon D. Fee, in his booklet titled "The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels" points out that the "bottom line" reaffirmation to which Word Faith believers always return is this:
God wills the financial prosperity of every one of His children, and therefore for a Christian to be in poverty is to be outside God's intended will; it is to be living a Satan defeated life. And usually tucked away in this affirmation is a second: Because we are God's children ... we should always go first-class--we should have the biggest and best, a Cadillac instead of a Volkswagen, because this alone brings glory to God.
In Kenneth Copeland's words, "Jesus bore the curse of the law on our behalf. He beat Satan and took away his power. Consequently, there is no reason for you to live under the curse of the law, no reason to live in poverty of any kind."
The Bible names countless individuals who, although they were righteous before God, were poor: Paul the Apostle (Phillipians 4:11-12); his companions (I Corinthians 4:9-13); the Old Testament faithful (Hebrews 11:37). Even the Lord Jesus lived in poverty (Matthew 8:20).
These facts, however, are vehemently denied by Word Faith teachers, especially John Avanzini, who assures everyone that "Jesus was handling big money." In fact, he claims, "Jesus had a nice house, a big house -- big enough to have company stay the night with him at the house." Frederick K.C. Price agrees:
The whole point is I am trying to get you to see -- to get you out of this malaise of thinking that Jesus and His disciples were poor and then relating that to you ... the Bible says that He has left us an example that we should follow His steps. That's the reason that I drive a Rolls Royce.
Scripture nowhere indicates that Jesus was wealthy. Instead, it clearly portrays Him as being poor: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor that ye through His poverty would be rich." (II Corinthians 8:9). Even though this is analogous, figurative language, pointing to the fact that the omnipotent God laid aside His divine primacy (riches) and submitted to human evil on the cross (poverty), it still affirms that neither poverty nor riches have any spiritual stigma attached to them. While a misinterpretation of this verse may tempt some to conclude that Jesus became poor materially so that we may become rich materially, that is not the point at all. Spiritual wealth or life comes to us sinners through the death of Christ. Christians are to be rich in spiritual things (James 2:5), including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-23). Revelation 2:9 speaks of believers who, although poor by worldly standards, are still "rich" because of the spiritual wealth they possess.
Temporal riches are of much less value than spiritual riches. According to Paul, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:9-10).
Jesus himself said, "Lay up not for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). (Walter Martin)
God wills the financial prosperity of every one of His children, and therefore for a Christian to be in poverty is to be outside God's intended will; it is to be living a Satan defeated life. And usually tucked away in this affirmation is a second: Because we are God's children ... we should always go first-class--we should have the biggest and best, a Cadillac instead of a Volkswagen, because this alone brings glory to God.
In Kenneth Copeland's words, "Jesus bore the curse of the law on our behalf. He beat Satan and took away his power. Consequently, there is no reason for you to live under the curse of the law, no reason to live in poverty of any kind."
The Bible names countless individuals who, although they were righteous before God, were poor: Paul the Apostle (Phillipians 4:11-12); his companions (I Corinthians 4:9-13); the Old Testament faithful (Hebrews 11:37). Even the Lord Jesus lived in poverty (Matthew 8:20).
These facts, however, are vehemently denied by Word Faith teachers, especially John Avanzini, who assures everyone that "Jesus was handling big money." In fact, he claims, "Jesus had a nice house, a big house -- big enough to have company stay the night with him at the house." Frederick K.C. Price agrees:
The whole point is I am trying to get you to see -- to get you out of this malaise of thinking that Jesus and His disciples were poor and then relating that to you ... the Bible says that He has left us an example that we should follow His steps. That's the reason that I drive a Rolls Royce.
Scripture nowhere indicates that Jesus was wealthy. Instead, it clearly portrays Him as being poor: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor that ye through His poverty would be rich." (II Corinthians 8:9). Even though this is analogous, figurative language, pointing to the fact that the omnipotent God laid aside His divine primacy (riches) and submitted to human evil on the cross (poverty), it still affirms that neither poverty nor riches have any spiritual stigma attached to them. While a misinterpretation of this verse may tempt some to conclude that Jesus became poor materially so that we may become rich materially, that is not the point at all. Spiritual wealth or life comes to us sinners through the death of Christ. Christians are to be rich in spiritual things (James 2:5), including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-23). Revelation 2:9 speaks of believers who, although poor by worldly standards, are still "rich" because of the spiritual wealth they possess.
Temporal riches are of much less value than spiritual riches. According to Paul, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:9-10).
Jesus himself said, "Lay up not for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). (Walter Martin)
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Sin of Suffering
Those in the Word Faith movement feel the spoken word is so powerful that individuals can bring tragedy upon themselves without even realizing it:
We live in an environment of our own making -- one that we have largely created by our own words. Whether you realize it or not, you frame your world with your words daily. Somebody says, "You mean the world that I am living in right now originated by the words of my mouth?" They certainly did, because the Bible says you are snared by the words of your mouth, you are taken by your words. With words you bind things or you loose other things. Sometimes you think you are just being honest and you loose the Devil against your finances by saying things like, "Well, we just never can get ahead"[or] "If I ever do get a job, I'll lose it." You prayed the problem. Your heart received that as being your will and worked day and night to bring you into a position where the things you were saying would come to pass.
Dr. James Kinnebrew, in his 1988 doctoral dissertation for Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, rightly stated, "The faith message is, perhaps above all else...an attempt to harmonize the loving righteousness of an omnipotent God with the evil and suffering that prevail in a world gone awry."
Unfortunately, Word Faith proponents explain suffering through a convenient appeal to the sovereignty of man. There are no victims, nothing is out of control, and everything can change because those afflicted are calling the shots. As long as someone possesses enough knowledge about what God has promised, says the right words, and has enough faith, all will be taken care of -- bills will get paid, family members will be healed, and money will fall like manna from heaven. One's own words control life because words "are the most powerful things in the universe today." "HEALTH, SUCCESS, HAPPINESS and PROSPERITY are God's Will for YOU when you believe His Word enough to ACT ON IT."
In the Word Faith movement, all suffering is caused by man, rather than God. As Frederick K.C. Price says, "You are suffering because you are stupid!" The only alternative is even worse: "If God is running everything, He does have things in a mess."
The stupidity to which Price refers is expressed either through speaking negative confessions or through not realizing that positive confessions will bring about good things. Kenneth Copeland explains:
Your tongue is the deciding factor in your life...you have been trained since birth to speak negative, death-dealing words. Unconsciously in your everyday conversation, you use the words of death, sickness, lack, fear, doubt, and unbelief: That scared me to death. That tickled me to death. I laughed until I thought I would die. I am just dying to go. That makes me sick. I am sick and tired of this mess. I believe I am taking the flu. We just can't afford it. I doubt it...You say these things without even realizing it. When you do, you set in motion negative forces in your life.
Satan is painted into the Word Faith's picture of suffering as simply an adversary who afflicts the ignorant. Like Job, we are the ones who bring about our own problems by the words we speak. According to Copeland,
God didn't allow the devil to get on Job. Job allowed the devil to get on Job...all God did was maintain His [God's] confession of faith about that man. He said "that man is upright in the earth." But Job, himself, said he was not upright in the earth. He said, "I'm miserable."
Capps also points out that Job's problems were caused by his own words: "Job activated Satan by his fear...'The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me'"(Job 3:25).
Scripture, however, indicates that God did indeed allow Job to be afflicted: "The Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on this person'" and "the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand but spare his life'" (Job 1:12; 2:6). Furthermore, Job did not acknowledge his misery until after he had been afflicted (Job 3:1-26).
Word Faith teachers are forced into misinterpreting Job's story because they hold that there is "no glory in knuckling down and enduring a trial." In other words, no good whatsoever can come from suffering.
Kenneth E. Hagin asserts, "You cannot find anywhere in the Bible where God causes these things [tragedies] to happen to teach His people something." (Walter Martin)
We live in an environment of our own making -- one that we have largely created by our own words. Whether you realize it or not, you frame your world with your words daily. Somebody says, "You mean the world that I am living in right now originated by the words of my mouth?" They certainly did, because the Bible says you are snared by the words of your mouth, you are taken by your words. With words you bind things or you loose other things. Sometimes you think you are just being honest and you loose the Devil against your finances by saying things like, "Well, we just never can get ahead"[or] "If I ever do get a job, I'll lose it." You prayed the problem. Your heart received that as being your will and worked day and night to bring you into a position where the things you were saying would come to pass.
Dr. James Kinnebrew, in his 1988 doctoral dissertation for Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, rightly stated, "The faith message is, perhaps above all else...an attempt to harmonize the loving righteousness of an omnipotent God with the evil and suffering that prevail in a world gone awry."
Unfortunately, Word Faith proponents explain suffering through a convenient appeal to the sovereignty of man. There are no victims, nothing is out of control, and everything can change because those afflicted are calling the shots. As long as someone possesses enough knowledge about what God has promised, says the right words, and has enough faith, all will be taken care of -- bills will get paid, family members will be healed, and money will fall like manna from heaven. One's own words control life because words "are the most powerful things in the universe today." "HEALTH, SUCCESS, HAPPINESS and PROSPERITY are God's Will for YOU when you believe His Word enough to ACT ON IT."
In the Word Faith movement, all suffering is caused by man, rather than God. As Frederick K.C. Price says, "You are suffering because you are stupid!" The only alternative is even worse: "If God is running everything, He does have things in a mess."
The stupidity to which Price refers is expressed either through speaking negative confessions or through not realizing that positive confessions will bring about good things. Kenneth Copeland explains:
Your tongue is the deciding factor in your life...you have been trained since birth to speak negative, death-dealing words. Unconsciously in your everyday conversation, you use the words of death, sickness, lack, fear, doubt, and unbelief: That scared me to death. That tickled me to death. I laughed until I thought I would die. I am just dying to go. That makes me sick. I am sick and tired of this mess. I believe I am taking the flu. We just can't afford it. I doubt it...You say these things without even realizing it. When you do, you set in motion negative forces in your life.
Satan is painted into the Word Faith's picture of suffering as simply an adversary who afflicts the ignorant. Like Job, we are the ones who bring about our own problems by the words we speak. According to Copeland,
God didn't allow the devil to get on Job. Job allowed the devil to get on Job...all God did was maintain His [God's] confession of faith about that man. He said "that man is upright in the earth." But Job, himself, said he was not upright in the earth. He said, "I'm miserable."
Capps also points out that Job's problems were caused by his own words: "Job activated Satan by his fear...'The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me'"(Job 3:25).
Scripture, however, indicates that God did indeed allow Job to be afflicted: "The Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on this person'" and "the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand but spare his life'" (Job 1:12; 2:6). Furthermore, Job did not acknowledge his misery until after he had been afflicted (Job 3:1-26).
Word Faith teachers are forced into misinterpreting Job's story because they hold that there is "no glory in knuckling down and enduring a trial." In other words, no good whatsoever can come from suffering.
Kenneth E. Hagin asserts, "You cannot find anywhere in the Bible where God causes these things [tragedies] to happen to teach His people something." (Walter Martin)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Confessing It Means Possessing It
Word Faith celebrity, Kenneth Copeland, says, "What you are saying is exactly what you are getting now. If you are living in poverty, in lack and want, change what you are saying...The powerful force of the spiritual world that creates the circumstances around us is controlled by the words of the mouth." Kenneth E. Hagin, who served for many years as Copeland's mentor, echoes his protege: "Your right confession will become a reality, and then you will get whatever you need from God."
Positively confessing something is the very first step to getting what is wanted (i.e., healing, a new boat, someone to marry, etc.). The "force of faith" coupled with a carefully conceived positive confession is really the only way to produce results because such methods are what releases God's ability to bring about the things desired: "God's word conceived in the heart, then formed with the tongue and spoken out of the mouth becomes a spiritual force releasing the ability of God."
The stress placed on correct "speaking" often leads to some rather interesting instructions on how to "make" God work:
What do you need? Start creating it. Start speaking about it. Start speaking it into being. Speak to your billfold. Say, "You big, thick billfold, full of money." Speak to your chequebook. Say, "You, chequebook, you. You have never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money." Say to your body, "You're whole, body! Why, you just function so beautifully and so well. Why, body, you never have any problems. You're a strong healthy body." Or speak to your leg, or speak to your foot, or speak to your neck, or speak to your back...Speak to your wife, speak to your husband, speak to your circumstances; and speak faith to them to create in them and God will create in them what you are speaking.
This exhortation, as humourous as it sounds, masks a cruelty that comes through whenever someone in the Word Faith movement faces trials. Just as positive words have the power to create positive (good) results, negative words have the power to create negative (bad) results, at least to the Word Faith followers. Consequently, those suffering have only themselves to blame, say the Word Faith teachers. As Frederick K.C. Price says, "If you keep talking death, that is what you are going to have. If you keep talking sickness and disease, that is what you are going to have, because you are going to create the reality of them with your own mouth. That is a divine law." (Walter Martin)
Positively confessing something is the very first step to getting what is wanted (i.e., healing, a new boat, someone to marry, etc.). The "force of faith" coupled with a carefully conceived positive confession is really the only way to produce results because such methods are what releases God's ability to bring about the things desired: "God's word conceived in the heart, then formed with the tongue and spoken out of the mouth becomes a spiritual force releasing the ability of God."
The stress placed on correct "speaking" often leads to some rather interesting instructions on how to "make" God work:
What do you need? Start creating it. Start speaking about it. Start speaking it into being. Speak to your billfold. Say, "You big, thick billfold, full of money." Speak to your chequebook. Say, "You, chequebook, you. You have never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money." Say to your body, "You're whole, body! Why, you just function so beautifully and so well. Why, body, you never have any problems. You're a strong healthy body." Or speak to your leg, or speak to your foot, or speak to your neck, or speak to your back...Speak to your wife, speak to your husband, speak to your circumstances; and speak faith to them to create in them and God will create in them what you are speaking.
This exhortation, as humourous as it sounds, masks a cruelty that comes through whenever someone in the Word Faith movement faces trials. Just as positive words have the power to create positive (good) results, negative words have the power to create negative (bad) results, at least to the Word Faith followers. Consequently, those suffering have only themselves to blame, say the Word Faith teachers. As Frederick K.C. Price says, "If you keep talking death, that is what you are going to have. If you keep talking sickness and disease, that is what you are going to have, because you are going to create the reality of them with your own mouth. That is a divine law." (Walter Martin)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
A Faulty Foundation: Faith In Faith
Many of the Word Faith doctrines are linked directly to the mistaken concept that faith is a literal substance, "a power force...a tangible force...a conductive force." According to Kenneth E. Hagin, faith in one's own faith is the secret to getting every desire of the heart:
Did you ever stop to think about having faith in your own faith? Evidently God had faith in His faith, because He spoke words of faith and they came to pass...having faith in your words is having faith in your faith. That's what you've got to learn to do to get things from God: have faith in your faith.
To deal adequately with the many Biblical passages that Word Faith teachers twist to support their view would take several blogs to cover. Consequently, we will examine their misrepresentation and misuse of the two verses they appeal to the most -- Hebrews 11:1 and Mark 11:22. These passages are important because each one, studied carefully, actually disproves the very position the faith teachers claim they support.
In Christianity In Crisis, a 447-page critique of Word Faith doctrine, Hank Hanegraaff contends that the movement's entire theology "rests on the word 'substance' in Hebrews 11:1 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' He goes on to explain and then refute their argument:
Faith teachers interpret the word "substance" to mean the "basic stuff" out of which the universe is made...faith cannot be rightly understood to mean "the building block of the universe," since it is never used in that sense in the book of Hebrews, much less the entire Bible...the word translated "substance" in the KJV is more accurately rendered "assurance" (see NASB)...Faith is a channel of living trust --and assurance-- which stretches from man to God...true Biblical faith is faith in God as opposed to faith in substance (or "faith in faith," as Hagin puts it.)...true Biblical faith (Pistis in the Greek) encapsulates three essential elements...knowledge...agreement...trust.
Greek scholars agree with Hanegraaff: "Hypostatsis is translated in the NASB as "assurance," in the NIV as "being sure." Faith provides an inner certainty about things that simply are not open to empirical verification but are communicated by God's Word (Hebrews 11:1)...Pistis ("faith," "belief" ) and related words deal with relationships established by trust and maintained by trustworthiness."
Regarding Mark 11:22, Word Faith teachers disregard the standard "Have faith in God" translation in favour of an erroneous rendering of the text, which reads, "Have the faith of God." Charles Capps writes, "a more literal translation [of Mark 11:22]...says, 'Have the God kind of faith, or faith of God.'"
Capps is partially correct. The literal word-for-word translation of the Greek used in Mark 11:22 (echete pistin theou) is indeed "Have [echete] faith [pistin] of God [theou]." What Capps is missing, however, is that the grammatical construction of Mark 11:22 makes theou an "objective genitive." This means that the noun (i.e., theou) is the object of the action mentioned (i.e., having faith). In other words, God is the object of faith, not the possessor of faith. Hence, a proper, meaningful translation is to have faith in God.
By embracing a faulty view of faith, thousands have plunged themselves into a veritable cesspool of false teachings. One doctrine inseparably linked to the belief that faith is a force is "positive confession" which maintains that words themselves actually contain the power to change reality (positively or negatively, depending on the words spoken) when coupled with the faith force. Put bluntly, "what you say is what you get." (Walter Martin)
Did you ever stop to think about having faith in your own faith? Evidently God had faith in His faith, because He spoke words of faith and they came to pass...having faith in your words is having faith in your faith. That's what you've got to learn to do to get things from God: have faith in your faith.
To deal adequately with the many Biblical passages that Word Faith teachers twist to support their view would take several blogs to cover. Consequently, we will examine their misrepresentation and misuse of the two verses they appeal to the most -- Hebrews 11:1 and Mark 11:22. These passages are important because each one, studied carefully, actually disproves the very position the faith teachers claim they support.
In Christianity In Crisis, a 447-page critique of Word Faith doctrine, Hank Hanegraaff contends that the movement's entire theology "rests on the word 'substance' in Hebrews 11:1 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' He goes on to explain and then refute their argument:
Faith teachers interpret the word "substance" to mean the "basic stuff" out of which the universe is made...faith cannot be rightly understood to mean "the building block of the universe," since it is never used in that sense in the book of Hebrews, much less the entire Bible...the word translated "substance" in the KJV is more accurately rendered "assurance" (see NASB)...Faith is a channel of living trust --and assurance-- which stretches from man to God...true Biblical faith is faith in God as opposed to faith in substance (or "faith in faith," as Hagin puts it.)...true Biblical faith (Pistis in the Greek) encapsulates three essential elements...knowledge...agreement...trust.
Greek scholars agree with Hanegraaff: "Hypostatsis is translated in the NASB as "assurance," in the NIV as "being sure." Faith provides an inner certainty about things that simply are not open to empirical verification but are communicated by God's Word (Hebrews 11:1)...Pistis ("faith," "belief" ) and related words deal with relationships established by trust and maintained by trustworthiness."
Regarding Mark 11:22, Word Faith teachers disregard the standard "Have faith in God" translation in favour of an erroneous rendering of the text, which reads, "Have the faith of God." Charles Capps writes, "a more literal translation [of Mark 11:22]...says, 'Have the God kind of faith, or faith of God.'"
Capps is partially correct. The literal word-for-word translation of the Greek used in Mark 11:22 (echete pistin theou) is indeed "Have [echete] faith [pistin] of God [theou]." What Capps is missing, however, is that the grammatical construction of Mark 11:22 makes theou an "objective genitive." This means that the noun (i.e., theou) is the object of the action mentioned (i.e., having faith). In other words, God is the object of faith, not the possessor of faith. Hence, a proper, meaningful translation is to have faith in God.
By embracing a faulty view of faith, thousands have plunged themselves into a veritable cesspool of false teachings. One doctrine inseparably linked to the belief that faith is a force is "positive confession" which maintains that words themselves actually contain the power to change reality (positively or negatively, depending on the words spoken) when coupled with the faith force. Put bluntly, "what you say is what you get." (Walter Martin)
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Word Faith Movement
A growing number of pastors, teachers and evangelists within charismatic/pentecostal circles are advancing what has become known as the "Word Faith" movement. The primary sources of the teachings of the Word Faith movement are the RHEMA Bible Training Center headed by Kenneth Hagin in Tulsa, OK and the Trinity Broadcasting Network headed by Paul and Jan Crouch. The Crouchs' world-wide platform has mainstreamed Word Faith theology to the lives of millions of Christians who would not otherwise have encountered the Word Faith theology. The other main source of Word Faith teaching is Word Faith College at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK.
Rarely has Christianity felt an unbiblical influence as all-pervasive as the Word Faith movement. It has enjoyed such an increasing acceptance that in the minds of many it is "no longer just a part of the charismatic movement: it is the charismatic movement."
Some have labeled its doctrines "heresy", "cultic", "Gnostic", and "a work of Satan." One critic has said that the Word Faith gospel is "perhaps the most subtle heretical system to emerge in our own times." Another has referred to it as "a form of transcendentalism or Gnosticism (from which have come such metaphysical cults as Christian Science, Unity School of Christianity, and now, the Health and Wealth cult)."
"While the Faith movement is undeniably cultic -- and particular groups within the movement are clearly cults -- it should be pointed out that there are many sincere, born-again believers caught up in the movement. These believers seem to be wholly unaware of the movement's cultic theology.... they represent that segment of the movement which, for whatever reason, has not comprehended or internalized the heretical teaching set forth by the leadership of their respective groups" (Hank Hanegraaff, President of Christian Research Institute)
If the gospel of the Word Faith movement is unbiblical, why is it so popular among Christians? First, the movement "uses so much evangelical and Pentecostal terminology and so many biblical proof texts that most believers are lulled into a false sense of security as to its orthodoxy." Second, its message is "without question the most attractive message being preached today, or for that matter, in the whole history of the church."
D.R. McConnell, a Word Faith critic and a graduate of Word Faith College at ORU observes, Seldom, if ever, has there been a gospel that has promised so much, and demanded so little. The Faith gospel is a message ideally suited to the 20th century Christian. In an age characterized by complexity, the Faith gospel gives simple, if not revelational, answers. In an economy fueled by materialism, and fired by the ambitions of the "upwardly mobile", the Faith gospel preaches wealth and prosperity. It also promises health and long life to a world in which death can come a myriad of different ways.
Finally, in a world in which terrorists can strike at will at any moment, the Faith gospel confers an authority with which the believer can supposedly exercise complete control over his or her own environment.
Christians everywhere are not merely tolerating but actually embracing what the Word Faith movement is handing out: a false Jesus, another gospel, and a different spirit. Why are Word Faith doctrines so spiritually and physically dangerous? Can anything be done to correct brothers and sisters in Christ who have succumbed to Word Faith lies? These questions must be answered to preserve the unity of the Christian faith. (Walter Martin - Kingdom of the Cults)
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Rarely has Christianity felt an unbiblical influence as all-pervasive as the Word Faith movement. It has enjoyed such an increasing acceptance that in the minds of many it is "no longer just a part of the charismatic movement: it is the charismatic movement."
Some have labeled its doctrines "heresy", "cultic", "Gnostic", and "a work of Satan." One critic has said that the Word Faith gospel is "perhaps the most subtle heretical system to emerge in our own times." Another has referred to it as "a form of transcendentalism or Gnosticism (from which have come such metaphysical cults as Christian Science, Unity School of Christianity, and now, the Health and Wealth cult)."
"While the Faith movement is undeniably cultic -- and particular groups within the movement are clearly cults -- it should be pointed out that there are many sincere, born-again believers caught up in the movement. These believers seem to be wholly unaware of the movement's cultic theology.... they represent that segment of the movement which, for whatever reason, has not comprehended or internalized the heretical teaching set forth by the leadership of their respective groups" (Hank Hanegraaff, President of Christian Research Institute)
If the gospel of the Word Faith movement is unbiblical, why is it so popular among Christians? First, the movement "uses so much evangelical and Pentecostal terminology and so many biblical proof texts that most believers are lulled into a false sense of security as to its orthodoxy." Second, its message is "without question the most attractive message being preached today, or for that matter, in the whole history of the church."
D.R. McConnell, a Word Faith critic and a graduate of Word Faith College at ORU observes, Seldom, if ever, has there been a gospel that has promised so much, and demanded so little. The Faith gospel is a message ideally suited to the 20th century Christian. In an age characterized by complexity, the Faith gospel gives simple, if not revelational, answers. In an economy fueled by materialism, and fired by the ambitions of the "upwardly mobile", the Faith gospel preaches wealth and prosperity. It also promises health and long life to a world in which death can come a myriad of different ways.
Finally, in a world in which terrorists can strike at will at any moment, the Faith gospel confers an authority with which the believer can supposedly exercise complete control over his or her own environment.
Christians everywhere are not merely tolerating but actually embracing what the Word Faith movement is handing out: a false Jesus, another gospel, and a different spirit. Why are Word Faith doctrines so spiritually and physically dangerous? Can anything be done to correct brothers and sisters in Christ who have succumbed to Word Faith lies? These questions must be answered to preserve the unity of the Christian faith. (Walter Martin - Kingdom of the Cults)
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)
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