Throughout almost two thousand years of her turbulent history, the Christian church has been set upon by many adversaries. The Apostle Paul, in his great charge to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, anticipated the threat of heresy, and schism in his own lifetime:
... Savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them...
[This is exactly what happened in the formation of Barrie Victory Centre -- talk to the people at Mapleview Community Church and they will confirm that this is how Barrie Victory Centre had its beginnings. I wonder who the "savage wolves" are in this case?]
It should be observed that Paul mentions two specific categories for the attacks being made upon the Church. The first category includes overt enemies of the faith; atheists, agnostics, sceptics, secularists, and scoffers. It also includes non-Christian religions, the cults, and the occult. But the "savage wolves" are even more dangerous when they are part of the second category: "Even from your own number," says Paul, "men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." [The twenty or so couples who were drawn away from Mapleview Pentecostal Church in the beginning will remember exactly how this happened.] Today the words of Paul are fulfilled in plain sight as the church is divided by schismatic sheep who mix cultic and occultic doctrine with biblical truth, perverting the Gospel of Christ.
Some, for example, teach that Christians are actually gods. The Mormons teach that men may become gods by accepting their revelations and by submitting to their authority. However, this is something that takes place in the future and is designated as exaltation. Since the Mormons are genuine polytheists (i.e., believing in "many gods") as opposed to monotheists (accepting only one God), they maintain that faithful Mormons can eventually become gods in the same manner and of the same nature as Jesus Christ and His Father. Mormonism has never been recognized by the Christian church as a bonified Christian faith since its inception in 1830 through the work of Joseph Smith, Jr.
We should not fail to note that Mormons affirm that the divinity of man is to be accomplished after the death of the body, a bad enough departure from the Christian faith but, sadly, there are those who function within the Christian church who do not hesitate to make the claim now!
The "Little Gods" Doctrine
Earl Paulk, Charles Capps, Robert Tilton, Kenneth Copeland, and Kenneth E. Hagen are among the leading proponents of the "little gods" teaching.
Earl Paulk writes "Adam and Eve were placed in the world as the seed and expression of God. Just as dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, so God has little gods." But, he says, "we have trouble comprehending this truth." He adds, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods, and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the Kingdom of God."
Robert Tilton asserts, "You are . . . a god-kind of creature. Originally you were designed to be as a god in this world. Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world . . .. Of course, man forfeited his dominion to Satan who became the god of this world."
Kenneth Copeland insists that "man had total authority to rule as a god over every living creature on earth, and he was to rule by speaking words. His words would carry the power and annointing of God that was in him from the time he was first created."
Casey Treat, Pastor of Seattle's Christian Faith Centre, tells us in his taped series "Believing in Yourself" to come to the point where we feel comfortable claiming our godhood:
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost had a conference and they said, 'let us make man an exact duplicate of us' . . .
When God looks in the mirror, He sees me! When I look in the mirror, I see God! Oh, hallelujah! . . .
Kenneth Copeland informs us, "You don't have a god in you. You are one!" Others in the worlds of the cults teach variations on the above themes of human divinity. Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, for instance, teaches that there is a "god family" in which all Armstrongists will eventually share. They will become just as much deity as the Father and Son. (Armstrong denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, as do Jehovah Witnesses.)
Christian Science, the Unity School of Christianity, the Science of Mind or Religious Science, New Thought Metaphysics, and so on, believe that all humans have within themselves the "Christ-consciousness," or "Christ idea," which is allegedly the true divinity of all men. They maintain that Jesus Christ had possessed this divinity to a greater degree than others which is what sets Him apart, but none of those groups confess the eternal deity of Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, and His unique relationship to the Father as the only "Begotten Son." (see John 1:18; 3:16).
In the mind science cults man is already divine -- in the Hindu - New Age sense of shared deity, or, as Mary Baker Eddy once wrote, "Man as God's idea is already saved with an everlasting salvation." "God, Spirit, being all, nothing is matter," said the founder of Christian Science. The Unity School of Christianity confirms that thesis: "God is not a person . . . but very real, something we call life." "The Christ, or perfect man . . . is the true spiritual higher self of every individual."
As we have previously noted, these cultic views are expressed by organizations that are recognized as outside the pale of the Christian church. Nevertheless, the "little gods" doctrine taught by the leaders of the "Faith Movement" is firmly situated within groups generally -- but falsely -- regarded as evangelical. It is circulated in Christian bookstores all over the United States [and Canada] and is widely disseminated via Christian radio and television. The president of Trinity Broadcasting Network, Paul Crouch, has taught this doctrine openly and once spent almost two hours attempting to convince me and three other ministers that we were "little gods." Many evangelical organizations, consciously or not, are helping "savage wolves" spread such diabolical errors.
[If your church denies being part of the Faith Movement, but at the same time, recognizes the likes of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, or Kenneth E. Hagen as spiritual leaders in any way, shape, or form, rest assured that you are part of the Faith Movement because your leaders are identifying and connecting with the leaders of the Faith Movement. There's no denying it. If Kenneth and Gloria Copeland or any of the leaders of the Faith Movement names appear in your weekly church bulletin for either conferences or reading materials, you are definitely involved in the Faith Movement and consequently, you believe the "little gods" doctrine which is a cultic belief.]
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
