The Faith Movement, the Cults and the Occult

The relationship between Faith teachings and cultic theology.

Most Faith teachers have publicly stated that they are not teaching "Christian Science," "Mind Science," or "New Thought." This seems to indicate that even the Faith teachers recognize their similarities to cultic systems or at least awareness of the charges that others have made.

Nevertheless, despite the disclaimers, in many places their Faith teachings are either similar or nearly identical to those found in the Mind Science religions. The concepts of :

1. positive confession
2. prosperity and success
3. divine health
4. manipulation of creation
5. sensory denial
6. rejection of medical science

All of these teachings can be traced to the cultic Mind Science theologies of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Unity School of Christianity, New Thought, and Science of Mind. (These three groups, along with the Faith Movement, also teach that "negative confession" can produce disease, tragedy, and even death.)

In fact, some teachings and practices found in the Faith Movement are also found in other unbiblical religions and cults. For example, the concept of believers being "gods" or having divine powers is found in Mormonism and Armstrongism. The practice of "decreeing" things into existence can be seen in some occult and Eastern groups such as The Church Universal and Triumphant, and Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism.

Perhaps all this is why charismatic historian D.R. McConnell so readily documents the cultic origin of the Faith Movement through E.W. Kenyon:

[The modern Father of the Faith Movement Kenneth Hagin plagiarized in word and content the bulk of his theology from E.W. Kenyon. All of the Faith teachers, including Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland, whether they admit it or not, are the spiritual sons and grandsons of E.W. Kenyon. It was Kenyon, not Hagin, who formulated every major doctrine of the modern Faith Movement...The roots of Kenyon's theology may be traced to his personal background in the metaphysical cults, specifically New Thought and Christian Science...Kenyon attempted to forge a synthesis of metaphysical and evangelical thought...the result in Faith theology is a strange mixture of biblical fundamentalism and New Thought metaphysics.]

For example, consider how cultic influences have intertwined themselves in the doctrine of healing:

The Faith theology of healing is based, not on the ability to detect physical symptoms but to deny them. The physical symptoms are not real. They will become real, however, if the believer acknowledges their existence and fails to apply the principles of spiritual healing. Only people who do not know how to believe God for spiritual healing resort to medical science. The Faith view of medical science is cultic...and is the same view preached by the founder of 19th century metaphysics, P.P. Quimby.

(from The Facts on the Faith Movement by John Ankerberg and John Weldon).