From the Back Cover
Inside the Front Cover
"Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth."
- The Apostle Paul
Nearly two decades ago, Hank Hanegraaff's award-winning Christianity in Crisis alerted the world to the dangers of a cultic movement within Christianity that threatened to undermine the very foundation of biblical faith. But in the 21st century, there are new dangers -- new teachers who threaten to do more damage than the last.
These are not obscure teachers that Hanegraaff unmasks. We know their names. We have seen their faces, sat in their churches, and heard them shamelessly preach and promote the false pretext of a give-to-get gospel. They are virtual rock stars who command the attention of presidential candidates and media moguls. Through make-believe miracles, urban legends, counterfeit Christs, and twisted theological reasoning, they peddle an occult brand of metaphysics that continues to shipwreck the faith of millions around the globe:
"God cannot do anything in this earthly realm unless we give Him permission."
"Keep saying it ... 'I have equality with God' -- talk yourself into it."
"Being poor is a sin."
"The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah;
it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!"
"You create your own world the same way God creates His.
He speaks, and things happen; you speak and they happen."
Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century exposes darkness to light,
pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ.
"Having lost the ability to think biblically, post-modern Christians are being transformed from cultural change agents and initiators into cultural conformists and imitators. Pop culture beckons, and post-modern Christians have taken the bait. As a result, the biblical model of faith has given way to an increasingly bizarre array of fads and formulas."
From the Preface
A modern crisis in Christianity continues to deepen as an ever-increasing number of 21st century prosperity preachers, ranging from Joyce Meyers to T.D. Jakes, convinces devotees that what happens in your life is a result of the words you speak. If you are healthy and prosperous, words created your reality. Conversely, if your baby dies or your spouse contracts cancer, you are the prime suspect.
According to one of America's most popular prosperity preachers, Joel Osteen, "The moment you speak something out, you give birth to it. This is a spiritual principle, and it works whether what you are saying is good or bad, positive or negative." Osteen's words are eerily similar to those of New Thought practictioner Joe Vitale -- contributor to Rhonda Byrne's The Secret. When asked by Larry King whether a nine-year-old Florida girl who was brutally murdered attracted this horror to herself, Vitale responded, "We are attracting everything to ourselves and there is no exception."
While Faith preachers such as Osteen have noteworthy differences from New Agers such as Vitale and Byrne, they are united in the belief that the force of faith is so powerful that even the Master of the Universe is bound by its irrevocable reality.
In Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century Hanegraaff pulls back the veil and exposes fatal flaws and feel-good fallacies that are spreading like cancer within the body of Christ.
But this is a cancer that has a cure and Hanegraaff shows us the way back to spiritual health and wholeness.
Section Titles include:
Part One: Turning Truth into Mythology
Part Two: Faith in Faith
Part Three: Little Gods
Part Four: Atonement Atrocities
Part Five: Health and Want
Part Six: Sickness and Suffering
Part Seven: Back to Basics
Appendix A: Are "God's Annointed" Beyond Criticism?
Inside the Back Cover
Hank Hanegraaff is the host of Bible Answer Man, heard daily throughout the United States and Canada. He is president of the Christian Research Institute and author of many best-selling books, including The Prayer of Jesus, Counterfeit Revival, and The Apocalypse Code. He and his wife, Kathy, reside in North Carolina and are parents to twelve children.
The Grand Poo-Bah says -- This is the number one book that you need to read if you are currently attending Victory Churches International or a Faith Movement/Word of Faith church. These churches tend to have a wide range of creative names which will not necessarily identify them as Faith Movement churches. (Their teachings will !) The Health and Wealth gospel marks them as a cult.
You also need to read the book if you listen to, follow, or own any materials distributed by the prosperity preachers. The kingpins in the Faith Movement are Kenneth & Gloria Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyers, Richard/Oral Roberts, Creflo Dollar, t.D. Jakes, Frederick K.C. Price, John Hagee, and Pat Robertson. (For a complete list see the column on the right at the beginning of the blog.)
You also need to read this book if your church claims not to be part of the Faith Movement but at the same time is promoting any of the above mentioned leaders in any way shape or form i.e. meetings, conferences, rallies or selling any books, tapes or CDs. If they are, they are definitely involved in the Faith Movement.
If your church is teaching the Health and Wealth gospel, you need to read this book. Put another way, you often hear these words from the pulpit "God wants you healthy and wealthy." If you do, you are involved in the Faith Movement.
Where to get the book
- Your local Christian bookstore will order it for you if they don't have it.
- Go to the website www.equip.org. The book can be ordered there.
- Go to www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com.
- Visit Chapters Bookstore. They will order it for you.
