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)