betrayal
a clarion call to defending
the faith once delivered to the saints
-1-
We are living at a time in the history of The Church, when it is easier than ever to depart from the faith, inadvertently or otherwise. We are witnessing a lascivious free for all, with no restraint whatsoever. The Gospel is becoming decreasingly distinctive in its diametric opposition to every other proposed avenue of salvation available to fallen, sinful mankind. Christianity is being brutally re-defined under the guise of a hip & trendy attempt at re-contextualisation & this is being done right under our noses by a band of men & ministries who have an agenda that may not be God’s. This is much, much more than simple error. This is an act of rebellion. This is the worst betrayal there is. I’m reminded of the words of David, in The Psalms; For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. (Psalms 55:12-14). Those who are perpetrating this series of crimes against The Church are well known & well often loved. They’re household names who are beamed into homes day after day. Some of us may possess their books & magazines; view their social media, their videos, downloads & DVDs, their begging letters & free postage paid offering envelopes. These are men & women who have taught along the familiar lines of Grace, Salvation, faith in God, Spirit Baptism & Divine Healing. They are also those who have taught topics & subject matter with which The Church was decidedly un-familiar. They also made absolutely sure that we understood tithes & offerings, affording many the opportunity to exercise the grace of giving as often as possible. Above all, the way in which Scripture was & is viewed, has drastically changed as a result of the introduction of these destructive things to a believing Church.
The cry of ‘what new doctrine is this?’ (Mark 1:27) had not gone up within the body of Christ in the way that it should have & the few who did raise their voices were seen as dissenters, instead of being respected, listened to, believed & followed. What some view as a lack of faith & obedience, God’s Word describes as noble (Acts 17:10-12). Slowly but surely, our Judeo-Christian heritage, presence & identity were being systematically erased & replaced. What’s more, we are allowing this to happen. The great falling away is being preceded by a great falling asleep.
Almost 45 years ago, when I came to Christ, the landscape of Christianity was very different to the one pervasive today. There were pretty clear lines of division within & without The Church. In the Pentecostal circles that I became a part of, they knew what they believed & the importance & place of Christian doctrine had an emphasis rarely equalled now. The Bible was God’s Word to us & our final authority in matters of doctrinal faith, personal conduct & biblical practise. There was an encouraged standard of prayer, study, witness, worship & holiness that has all but disappeared. Although the charge of being legalistic was often rightly levelled at some Pentecostal leadership, the emphasis, we were told, was there in the same way that prevention is better than cure.
In a significant number of traditionally Pentecostal churches that I observed, there was no jewellery or makeup worn by women. Ladies never wore trousers & had their heads covered at all times during services. Some women did not even cut their hair. It was their glory. There were no female Pastors. We were admonished not to socialise idly, listen to secular music, go dancing or even attend the cinema. Drinking & smoking were strictly prohibited. Men didn’t wear earrings, nor were they tattooed. Not all of these requirements were solidly backed by Scripture, nevertheless for the most part, we as believers acquiesced.
Despite these restrictions however, we were focussed, most especially on the coming of The Lord. The preoccupation with accumulating wealth or property, material things beyond the essentials & sometimes marriage, were all discouraged. We were taught to be sanctified, to come out from among them & be separate, to touch not the unclean thing & to be holy as He is holy et cetera. It was sobering stuff because we Pentecostals believed that Jesus could return at any given moment & we had to be ready. We were taught to be part of the faithful, true, believing Church. No spots. No wrinkles. Nor any such thing.
I had been raised as an Anglican before hearing the Gospel & so I knew little or nothing about the differences that existed between denominations & the various Christian cults out in the world. Back then I was in my teens & as I attended Bible studies, I began to see the clear delineation between the believing Church & a more nominal Christianity. With study materials I’d obtained I also examined the claims of Mormonism; Seventh Day Adventism; The New Age Movement; The Church of Scientology; The Jehovah’s Witnesses; Christian Science & The Christadelphians to name a few. These groups & their beliefs were identified quite easily because of their unorthodox doctrinal impurities.
Then there were other Christian groups who, although they believed in the new birth & being saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, differed in other doctrine that was held by Pentecostals as both sacred & necessary. The Modalists, or Jesus Only, did not believe the doctrine of the tri-unity of The Godhead, yet they did believe in speaking with other tongues. There were Baptists & other Reformed groups who did not believe in tongues or the present-day operation of any of the sign gifts of The Holy Spirit & yet they held staunchly to salvation by faith & sola scriptura. Our emphasis was on correct doctrine & the lines of demarcation it clearly drew. My conclusion: Baptists & Reformed; good. Mormons & The Jehovah’s Witnesses; bad.
Beyond all of this, there were the counter claims of other belief systems like Islam; Hinduism; Sikhism; Buddhism; Hare-Krishna; the Jain faith & of course, good old-fashioned Secular Humanism & Atheism. It became abundantly clear to me that in order to stray into dangerous error one simply had to be prepared to forsake sound doctrine & sound doctrine my brethren, is the chief clarion call to which we as believers are constantly exhorted by Scripture to adhere.
The early Church ‘..continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine..’ (Acts 2:42) but where did their doctrine come from? Their doctrine came from The Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew’s Gospel for example, He states emphatically ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:19-20). During the time of His earthly ministry, The Lord instructed them daily & this was the doctrine they received. Christ was their Teacher & they were His disciples. The acceptance or rejection of any teaching within The Church has to be predicated on the fact that Jesus taught it to His Apostles. The Apostles would have had to have taught the same doctrine to believers & believers would have submitted to it & ‘..continued steadfastly..’ in it.
If we fast-forward a little, we’ll see that by the time we reach the advent of the Charismatic Movement in the 1960s there was less emphasis on doctrine, not more, although the Movement claimed to advocate the pre-eminence of God’s Word. The Church began to nod off as charismania hummed its lullaby & I contend that it is at this juncture that serious doctrinal errors began not only to be tolerated but also ignored by leadership. Sin had always lain at the door, but now it was being invited in.
At this point I’m often asked why I’m blaming the Charismatics. Afterall, there are numerous historical accounts of doctrinal error arising within The Church throughout the centuries of her existence, long before any hint or thought of the acclaimed renewal; it’s nothing new. My answer is a simple & straightforward one. Historically, The Church had met & countered heresies using the doctrine of The Apostles, The Church had done what The Apostles had told them to do with false teachers & false teaching, so the heretics went & set up shop somewhere else. With charismania however, Christians crossed denominational & doctrinal boundaries to share a common experience. This experience was in the expression of spiritual gifts.
The Church forged ahead with this, ignoring the fact that the unity of the faith is to be rooted in the objectivity of the truth & not the subjectivity of the senses (John 17:17). Instead of heresies being successfully challenged, as they had been historically, they were positively encouraged by Church leadership, under the guise of new revelation. It may not have been their fault that these things arose, but it most definitely was their fault that these things were tolerated & accepted.
To some, this newly discovered unity was truly revolutionary. Charismania had managed to singlehandedly bridge a gap that had existed between Christian denominations for decades. Then it crossed boundaries that had existed between religious traditions for centuries. Finally, it was uniting belief systems that had been opposed for millennia. The casualty of this newly found common unity of the spirit was sound doctrine. But had the admonition of Scripture been followed, this would never have begun to permeate The Church in the way that it has.
Paul told The Church at Corinth ‘For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you (1st Corinthians 11:19-20). I would assert that The Apostle Paul is referring to those who study to show themselves so, in matters of faith & doctrine. He commanded Timothy, ‘Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2nd Timothy 2:15).
Those men & ministries that rose through the ranks of the Charismatic Movement & came to prominence as successes & models of its validity, were in a unique position to do this. But being opportunistic, they rather chose to enhance a programme of regime change. Their weapon of mass destruction was word-of-faith mythology & instead of The Church’s doctrine becoming purer, it became substantially poorer.
I know that’s a considerable claim to make but remember that the doctrines of The Church were delivered to The Apostles by The Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This being the case, the Charismatic Movement, despite its apparent exercise of spiritual gifts & Holy Ghost power, would have to qualify the new word-of-faith belief system that it incubated. For this message to be received as truth, it would have to pass the test of measurement against Apostolic doctrine. It would have to be doctrine that Jesus Himself had taught & that The Apostles had taught also. We are to ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good’ (1st Thessalonians 5:21). How was this vital system of evaluation successfully circumnavigated? Well, sadly it was accomplished quite easily, but I’ll come to this soon.
By 1981, when I was born-again, word-of-faith teaching was no longer a simple belief; in a relatively short period of time its popularity had caused it to evolve into a full-blown movement in & of itself. It had outgrown its Charismatic host & was now leading an explosion in new types of fellowship, with new types of worship, new types of ministry & new doctrine. This subtle change was a masterstroke, executed while The Church snoozed. I say again, in order to pass the message of the word-of-faith off as essential doctrine, it had to be seen to have been endorsed by Christ & taught by The Apostles.
The Charismatic Movement was experience based, therefore the word-of-faith message was largely introduced using subjective testimony. This was an extremely effective tactic because the subject of faith was already present within orthodox Christian belief. However, faith had never been taught in this new forensic manner & the sleeping Church rolled over & embraced it. The word-of-faith message became the toothing-stone onto which almost every other one of the movement’s heresies became attached & from which they evolved. So began The Church’s rapid doctrinal decline en masse.
Herein lay the method of delivery for subsequent heresy to The Church; the faith message was billed as the most important subject in The Word of God. The Church was led by the nose on a trail of biblical misinterpretation. Having gained a strong foothold within The Church, Charismatic leaders & the doctrine they regurgitated proceeded to feed themselves on the body of Christ without shame or restraint.
However, in order for faith to be considered the most important subject in The Word of God, it had to be seen as essential, touching every area of Christian life. The subjective process employed in accomplishing this is called logical assumption.
A logical assumption in this case, is any assertion that follows sound logic, i.e. the statement concerning the importance of faith & supporting evidence, i.e. selective verses of Scripture. It also asserts that variables which may make the logic assumption false do not exist or are invalid, i.e. an appeal to the authority of Scripture alone. In other words, the person who makes this assumption is always right & so any appeals to the original Greek text, biblical Hebrew, scriptural context & Church history that clearly contradict whatever is being preached or taught, make no impressionable difference whatsoever.
Most, if not all word-of-faith mythology, is based on the premise that faith & faith alone gives us access to every blessing God has for His children. What was said concerning faith & what was meant however, were two entirely different things. The sleeping Church nodded & drank it all in. Only a few voices were raising valid questions about this line of teaching, but they were ignored. The Charismatic Movement was easily raising more theological questions than it claimed to answer.
There are those who became masterful at this particular line of rhetoric & their arguments were indeed logically sound even if they weren’t theo-logically so. It’s important to note here that when Charismatic leaders use the phrase ‘the word’, they’re not necessarily referring to Scripture. In most cases they’re referring to their ‘word-of-faith’ context & method of biblical interpretation, as opposed to the Pentecostal tradition, which more often than not will use the phrase ‘God’s Word’. This distinction is paramount because word-of-faith subject matter is based on an erroneous belief about what ‘the word’ actually is. As I stated previously, The Church was already familiar with the subject of faith in God, but now it was being deconstructed & would eventually be replaced by something else.
In the decades preceding the late 1960s Charismatic renewal in America, there had been an unprecedented healing revival (c1947-1958) & fundamentalist parts of The Church laid claim to the miraculous as part of its heritage once again. Out of this manifestation emerged The Voice of Healing as well as The Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship in The USA. However, with this revival came an emphasis on the supernatural & sound, biblical doctrine was relegated even further. It’s important to note here that within the same time period that the healing revival came to the fore, the ministry of Billy Graham did also. However, Graham did not emphasise healing & miracles, but salvation. Neither did he lay any claim to the supernatural hallmarks of Charismatic ministry. The significant impact of his evangelism cannot be ignored but his acquiescence to nominal Christianity most particularly to that of the Roman Catholic tradition, make it necessary to name him & his contribution in this context. We also have to consider the ministry of Robert Schuller, who emerged in the mid-1950s in Garden Grove, California with his message of possibility thinking, based in no small part on Norman Vincent Peale’s philosophical doctrine of similar moniker. These seeds were to play their part in the evolution of the Charismatic Movement’s doctrine some time later & for this reason his influence & influences are important to our discussion.
Charismatics & defecting Pentecostals had been hypnotised by tall tales of men being taken to heaven & to hell, they were regaled with narratives about visitations from angelic beings & then, when there could possibly be no more, they produced their pièce de résistance; personal audiences with The Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
In this way, the more prominent members of word-of-faith hierarchy were able to claim a kind of Divine authenticity for their message as well as raise them to an Apostolic level. The similarity of their experiences to those of biblical characters created a scriptural backdrop. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Pentecostal leaders were not formerly educated & their own extemporaneous preaching & teaching methods were certainly no better than those of their Charismatic counterparts. In some cases, they aspired to do to same & eventually made the same mistakes.
Opposition was coming from without the Charismatic camp from biblical scholarship that proved the erroneous nature of word-of-faith mythology demonstrably. However, because of existing divisions between Pentecostals & the more Reformed denominations, Pentecostals wouldn’t listen. Instead, they saw this as persecution & used their experiences as subjective proof of the validity of their new teaching. One of the best ways to understand this transition is in knowing what was occurring in another collective effort that had become prominent in the western world at the same time; the New Age Movement.
Within New Age expression, there was a common cluster of experience; there were visions & dreams; angelic visitations; divine revelations. There were claims of dramatic cures through psychic surgery & faith healing via the laying on of hands. In an atmosphere already pregnant with hyperbole, The Church easily became victim to a steady stream of underhanded Gnosticism. Apparently, The Lord had been appearing to men & women regularly & endorsing this new word-of-faith message & other subsequent messages. Heresies that had been rejected previously to this move were now being incorporated into the Christian mainstream of teaching & introduced using the tried & tested New Age method; there were visions & dreams; angelic visitations; divine revelations.
It would seem, that somewhere between a desire to continue what had begun in the 1940s & an ushering in of a new wave throughout the 1970s & beyond, The Church been sold & had signed for an extremely dodgy bill of goods. Now, anecdotal theology was the order of the day. With word-of-faith mythology, The Church had been taught how to interpret Scripture & so Scripture was viewed through this lens & in that way.
On any level of examination, Charismatic teaching differed very little from that of the New Age Movement’s. The simple act of trusting in The Lord & relying solely on Him had been given a makeover. Our childlike faith in God had grown up into a muscular spiritual force. This force of faith was nourished by the word & continued to grow within our re-created spirits.
It was released by our words & positive confession. If faith was a muscle, as some taught quite explicitly, then the word was the steroid it was injected with. The Church was told that God was restoring these lost truths to the body of Christ. In reality however, The Church was losing precious truths, sound doctrine & the crystal, clear teaching of Christ & His Apostles. Through this open door, other error steadily streamed.
With word-of-faith teaching as a key, pre-packaged heresy soon began to further pollute the waters. New Thought visualisation techniques & Latter Rain dominionist beliefs that had been resisted by The Church right up until the mid-1960s, were now gaining traction. These new doctrines began to replace their traditional, orthodox superiors under the guise of revelation knowledge, but as stated previously, this was nothing more than pure, unadulterated Gnosticism.
Now, there was little or no mention of doctrine whatsoever & even the traditional text of Scripture was twisted & turned towards the word-of-faith at every opportunity. This was not the bent of Scripture however. The Charismatic Movement had become ostracised & with no scholarship to legitimise its advance, moves were made to establish the movement’s own seats of learning. Theology was going to be spun from mythology; but in its substance, it remained mythology, nevertheless.
The Apostle Paul told Timothy, ‘As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.’. (1st Timothy 1:3-4) & ‘Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. 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.’.’ (2nd Timothy 4:4).
The Apostle Peter exhorts The Church along these lines also, saying, ‘For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.’. (2nd Peter 1:16). There were plenty of fables to choose from & to be turned aside to. If ever there had been a time to revisit & properly address the issue of doctrine, it was then. Instead, the movement began to formulate its own.
In his writing to The Church at Ephesus, where Paul had poured his heart & soul out, he reminded them ‘And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:’ (Ephesians 4:11-14).
Earlier in his ministry, Paul had given stern instructions & an emotional warning to the elders at Ephesus, saying, ‘Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.’. (Acts 19:28-31). He gives the same solemn advice to Timothy, ‘Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.’. (1st Timothy 4:16). Continue in them, steadfastly.
The Apostle Paul was not the only one to have written to the Ephesians. They received a letter from The Lord Jesus Christ too. He instructed John, ‘Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.’. (Revelation 2:1-3).
The Church at large didn’t take this Ephesian approach & very few believers bore the spirit of the Bereans. Subsequently, a new wave of Apostles & Prophets emerged, established themselves & then set about systematically re-defining almost everything that bore the stamp of orthodoxy. The seeds of dominionism & The New Apostolic Reformation had been liberally sown. By 1983 I had been introduced to the Charismatic Movement & its mythology. The anecdotal nature & easy delivery of word-of-faith subject matter made it highly attractive & the repetitive referencing to the word gave the inference that what was being taught was thoroughly biblical.
In the same manner that emerging New Age mysticism was promoting subjective experience as a conduit for its teaching, several prominent men within the Charismatic Movement began to share testimony of their personal spiritual experiences & visitations with Jesus Christ, in which He gave them revelation knowledge. Deny it or not, but when someone says they’ve seen The Lord Jesus Christ, one’s ears are prone to stand up & this new, improved Jesus was a real charmer. He was cool, with a twinkle in His eye & a spring in His step. He had a sense of humour & was so smooth in His delivery that it was almost as if He was reading a Hollywood script; He was Super-Christ! This Jesus helped redefine and revolutionise teaching within & also through the Charismatic Movement; an exercise that has proven more damaging than anything The Church has ever fought from without. The fight was now, very firmly within.
Almost every major teaching that charismatics hold to can be traced historically to a vision, dream or revelation experienced by one particular man coming to the fore through the Voice of Healing & Full Gospel Businessmen’s organisation in the late 1950s. That man was Kenneth Erwin Hagin (1917-2003). He came to prominence as a prophet & teacher after the death of William Branham & had apparently prophesied Branham’s death in December of 1965. His story begins much earlier in the 20th century though.
According to his testimony, Mr. Hagin had been born in August of 1917. In August of 1934 when he was 17 years old, God had healed him of a crippling malady that had left him bedridden. He had read 2 verses of Scripture from Mark’s Gospel (Mark 11:23-24), been instantly healed & then eventually commissioned by The Lord to teach faith, based on this revelation. Faith & healing were to become hallmarks of his message & ministry, as well as manifestations of the gifts of The Holy Spirit. However, his most famous claims were several visions of Jesus Christ in which he was given prophecies about future events & taught concerning the operation of demonic entities, angels, healing, the authority of the believer & the global extent of his ministry.
This gave him an authoritative air & his interpretation of Scripture was taken to almost immediately. This was the man who introduced The Church to & popularised the vast majority of word-of-faith mythology.
In 1974 Mr. Hagin established Rhema Bible Training Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma & continued publishing books on the subjects of faith & healing. Soon, aspects of the Bible School curriculum were published as advanced courses. These teachings redefined the understanding The Church had concerning worship, faith, healing, spiritual gifts, ministry, prophecy & much, much more. Once the word-of-faith message had been securely established as a doctrinal staple throughout the Charismatic Movement, even those who resisted it were soon drawn into the maelstrom by one of its more controversial sub-headings; the so called Prosperity Gospel.
To all intents & purposes it seemed as if the Charismatic Movement was built upon the foundations of the Apostles & Prophets. It seemed as if its precepts were biblical because of the proliferation of Scripture being used, albeit out of context, to bolster word-of-faith belief & it seemed as if The Church had returned to its New Testament root. This was certainly the claim made by some. Jesus had given His doctrine directly to The Apostles. The Apostles taught said doctrine faithfully. The Church continued steadfastly in it. Once again it appeared that The Lord was delivering direct revelation to The Church through men of God …until 1983.
A Ph.D student at Oral Roberts University, D.R. McConnell, discovered evidence of plagiarism throughout Hagin’s writings. This evidence was part of McConnell’s thesis & eventually went public, begging questions of honest authorship & sincere authenticity. Beyond this though were questions concerning the sources of the materials involved. Despite Kenneth Hagin’s claims of Divine revelation & the inspiration of The Holy Spirit, closer examination revealed something altogether more …earthly. The men whose work had been so heavily misappropriated by him were that of J.A. MacMillan (1873-1956) & E.W. Kenyon (1867–1948).
MacMillan’s work had first been published in 1932 as a series of articles & it’s entirely possible that they were read & incorporated into Hagin’s teaching stock then. If this had simply remained the case, there would have been little or no cause for concern because no one can lay any primary claim to biblical doctrine if it is indeed true, biblical doctrine.
However, the inadvertent claim had been made by Hagin that these lessons had been taught directly by Jesus Himself, citing several audiences he had had with The Lord Jesus Christ, particularly one in 1952, a point iterated in earlier editions of his book, I Believe in Visions. Herein lay the problem. The fact that the works are almost identical is beyond dispute, but whether they are the result of plagiarism or inspiration is another matter completely. Hearing from God had been a hallmark that Hagin’s personal reputation & ministry were marked by & now, both of these had been called into question.
In answer to this challenge, it was stated by Hagin that ‘..the same words were inspired by the same spirit..’ & in a later (1984) edition of his published work The Believer’s Authority, MacMillan & his writings were finally properly acknowledged. As admittances of guilt & apologies go, it was particularly milquetoast. It’s important to note here that J.A. MacMillan’s influences were an integral part of the Higher Life, Faith Cure & Holiness movements. He was affected by the lives & teachings of such ministers as Andrew Murray, A.B. Simpson & Jessie Penn-Lewis. However, the subsequent work of the same title, written & published by this Tulsa based minister regardless of its obvious plagiarism, was to become a main component of Kingdom Now & Dominion Theology.
E.W. Kenyon was also plagiarised, but his case was altogether different & significantly more poignant. Large portions of Kenyon’s works were copied verbatim & published without credit. Bear in mind that the readership Kenneth Hagin & his word-of-faith teaching had built up ran into the many millions worldwide & that readership represents a significant stream of revenue. This readership still flourishes despite his death in 2003. Had these objections been taken to civil court, compensatory damages would have been quite substantial. Beyond the matter of plagiarism though, lies the question of the source of Kenyon’s ultimate beliefs & teachings.
Kenyon had been converted under Methodism, c1884 & by all accounts began his preaching ministry soon after that c1887. After a period of two and a half years in which he had left the church, he returned & rededicated his life to God in 1893 under the influential ministry of A.J. Gordon, having attended a course at Charles Wesley Emerson’s School of Oratory c1892. Charles Wesley Emerson (1837-1908) is not to be confused with the Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), although both men were influential in Boston, Massachusetts & both had links to The Unitarian Church. Again, it is highly probable that the latter Emerson’s intellectual influence was known throughout the former’s school. In late 1893 Kenyon became a Baptist minister in Boston & subsequently founded Bethel Bible Institute in Spencer, Massachusetts. It’s noteworthy that Kenyon, although a Pastor & Bible teacher who cited the likes of D.L. Moody, A.T. Pierson, R.A. Torrey, S.D. Gordon, A.B. Simpson, G. Campbell Morgan, Andrew Murry & F.B. Meyer among his influences, was still nevertheless inclined towards Emerson’s stimuli & this is evident in his dogma. His year at Emerson’s school may very well have made an indelible impression on his thinking & beliefs. Emerson (1837-1908) had been a devotee of the philosophies of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866), proponent of the doctrines of what came to be known as New Thought Metaphysics & Quimby in turn, had been a disciple of the works of mystic Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815).
Metaphysics was almost certainly promulgated throughout the establishment of Emerson’s school, even if it were not taught directly from its curriculum. When we consider what Kenyon taught, as well as the other heresies that sprang from New Thought Metaphysics, we ought to sit up, listen & be attentive. It is from this metaphysical root that modern word-of-faith mythology sprang & flourished.
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) had also been at the feet of Phineas P. Quimby after claiming to have received healing through him. Eventually she parted company with Quimby & established Christian Science in Lynn, Massachusetts, publishing her Science & Health with Key to The Scriptures in 1875. This work would no doubt have been available to Kenyon during his agnostic departure from the faith & secular dalliance with Emerson; a time at which Emerson himself was president of the institution. This is highly probable, given the timeline & both the presence of Kenyon & Eddy in Massachusetts; the similarities between the wording of Kenyon's teachings & those of Mary Baker Eddy are uncanny & no marvel.
It’s also possible that Kenyon intended to christianise the principles he had gleaned during his tenure at Emerson’s school & it’s also probable that the use of Scripture by Quimby et al gave Kenyon the basis for redefining Christian doctrine in the way that he did. Kenyon had gained some notoriety among significant Pentecostal figures such as John Graham Lake (1870-1935) & Fredrick Francis Bosworth (1877-1958) because of their personal endorsements of his writings, which may have given his teachings the proverbial foot in the door, but these ideas were abhorrent to The Church when first presented. Now however, repackaged for Charismatic consumption via word-of-faith mythology, they were made to appear palatable. At this stage however, The Church was not about to read the works of Quimby or Eddy, therefore no comparison was made of their teachings and no immediate similarity was seen.
Both Kenyon & MacMillan may have crossed paths doctrinally where the influence of Higher Life theology, Faith Cure teaching & The Holiness Movement converged on them both, but the stimulus of New Thought Metaphysics & Christian Science, their similarity to the principles presented by Kenyon as being biblical & the language chosen to convey these newly appraised truths as revelation knowledge are not coincidental. A small portion of time given to reading & comparing Mary Baker Eddy’s writings & those of E.W. Kenyon will reveal this. Kenneth E. Hagin took what E.W. Kenyon had written, made it his own & then proceeded to spoon feed it to The Church.
These influences were in turn brought to the fore dramatically within charismania as they were championed by Hagin’s ministry. With the expansion of his Rhema Bible School, it wouldn’t be long before its apparent exponential growth came to dominate the Charismatic Movement’s landscape, setting a bar & standard by which thousands would measure themselves among themselves. The ministry became a template. This also meant that the doctrines Hagin had superimposed over orthodox Christian belief doctrines largely lifted from Kenyon’s work, were now at the cutting edge of what many enthusiastically prophesied to be the greatest move of God the church & world had ever seen.
Kenneth E. Hagin has done more to spread & perpetuate Kenyon’s spiritual philosophy through his preaching, teaching & literature than any other person past or since & if the sources of Kenyon’s teachings were rooted in the metaphysical mind sciences rather than the received, orthodox doctrine of Christ, The Church & the Charismatic Movement walked straight into error. Hagin also managed to build a global ministry & reputation, as well as carve himself a place in Charismatic history in the process. This is a serious charge indeed, but again, one simply has to examine the nature of the Charismatic Movement’s teaching to see quite clearly that they have believed another Gospel.
The church would have done well to have heeded the words of The Apostle Paul instead of rushing headlong into charismania. He said, ‘I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.’. (Galatians 1:6-9).
Although Paul is speaking specifically about those who sought to bring believers under the law, the truth remains that any other Gospel than the one preached is a deviation from the truth & as such is a gross perversion of it. It is damnable heresy. The preservation of The Gospel from error, is a charge committed to The Church. History will no doubt demonstrate that the modern Church has failed significantly. Paul tells the believers at Corinth, ‘But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.’. (2nd Corinthians 11:3-5). Another Jesus. Another Spirit. Another Gospel. Such was the apathy in Corinth & so it remains in The modern Church presently.
The measuring rod for all teaching within The Church has to be the orthodox doctrine that Jesus gave to His Apostles & that they in turn passed on to their disciples. These truths are found in the Gospel & the inspired writings of the New Testament. How else are we to discern what is correct & what is false if we have nothing with which to compare conflicting assertions? The doctrine of Christ is the standard by which we are to judge ALL other proposed truth, but The Church did not do this.
Paul stated, ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.’. (Romans 16:17-20).
If we are to believe the line of rhetoric that came out of the Charismatic Movement, the message of the word-of-faith is one of many truths being restored to the body of Christ. However, the truth is that the real word of faith spoken of in Scripture, is the Gospel. Paul, comparing the imputed righteousness that comes by faith in Christ Jesus to that which comes from adherence to the law, states, ‘For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’. (Romans 10:5-9).
Formulaic eisegesis, that transforms the simple, saving faith of the repentant, into a spiritual force, manipulated & released through words, is imported directly from New Thought Metaphysics & Christian Science. The laws of faith are nothing more or less than the law of attraction repackaged for consumption by the gullible, wilfully ignorant & biblically illiterate. That Simple. It also generates huge streams of tax-free income for its proponents. Yet, they’ll claim that these things are not Christian Science, but rather, Christian sense. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Hagin stable produced several infamous protégés who bore much fruit for their spiritual father. Among them, Frederick K.C. Price, of Crenshaw Christian Centre & Kenneth Copeland, of Eagle Mountain International Church, are most notable. Between them, they systematically built on the foundation that Hagin had unscrupulously laid. It would seem that Hagin planted, Price watered & Copeland gave the increase. Price, who graduated with an honorary diploma from Rhema Bible Training Centre c1976, was a powerhouse of the logical assumption we discussed earlier, deconstructing the theme & subject matter of the word-of-faith like a highly skilled surgeon, stripping it back to its bare spiritual bones & reconstructing it again for his listeners.
Because faith was said to be the most important subject in The Word of God it had to be treated thus & understood as fully as possible by proponents & adherents alike. Then & only then could believers appropriate the blessings of God such as healing & prosperity. Price is probably the most efficient advocate of this forensic approach to word-of-faith mythology that I have ever heard. This is not a compliment; this is an indictment. The sharper the edge of the blade, the deeper it sank into the back of The Church. Fred Price was later to be installed as an apostle of faith.
Copeland began his illustrious & lucrative career preaching & teaching on the subject of faith as a spiritual force, along with other complimentary forces that were deposited within the recreated human spirit. However, he soon branched out & specialised in the area of financial prosperity. This may very well have been residual from his time as a disciple of Oral Roberts, under whom he studied & for whom he had worked as a pilot.
Roberts had been teaching a message he called seed faith, based on Genesis 8:22; ‘While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.’. (Genesis 8:22) & it’s entirely probable that Copeland developed his prosperity teaching from this platform. Roberts taught that there was a ‘law of sowing & reaping’ involved with the giving of money to ministries (his included of course) & so developed his message of seed, time & harvest. There was no mention of any revelation concerning cold & heat, summer & winter or day & night however. Copeland had heard Hagin teach on faith, became converted to the message & the rest, as they say, is history. He was later declared to be a prophet of Almighty God.
Although these two men had both been heavily influenced by Kenneth Hagin, it was New Thought Metaphysics & Christian Science phraseology that actually resonated throughout their messages. The core beliefs which underpinned the respective speciality subjects they’d chosen were not orthodox Christian doctrine. They were not the teachings that Christ had given to His Apostles. They were not the Gospel His Apostles had preached & those who believed had received & continued in. They were not the truths entrusted to Paul. Their teachings were gnostic & metaphysical heresies that The Church had fought successfully throughout the centuries. Copeland had asserted that the truths he purported, had been lost to the church during the dark ages, but now God was revealing them again. These was typical Kenyonisms, spoken like a true Kenyonite. Throughout his ministry Copeland has claimed revelation knowledge concerning God’s Word when he was simply regurgitating E.W. Kenyon.
It’s notable that at the time of his death in 2003, Kenneth Hagin was estranged from both Copeland & Price. In 1998, Price broke long held ties with Kenneth Hagin Ministries because of a sermon preached by Hagin’s son, Kenneth Hagin Jnr. Jnr had stated, in 1992, that mixed marriage was unbiblical & this had been brought to Price’s attention. He subsequently contacted Hagin’s ministry & both Hagin Snr & Jnr didn’t apologise in a manner that Price found satisfactory. This rift prompted Price to preach an extensive series called Race, Religion & Racism, which named & shamed the Hagin ministry as well as The Dake Bible & its justification for the separation of the races. Even the infamous Jimmy Swaggart’s study Bible found itself in Price’s crosshairs. Price’s sermon series was subsequently published as a book bearing the same title. Copeland’s split with Hagin was completely different. In Autumn of 1999, Hagin convened a meeting at his ministry’s HQ between himself & the most prominent ministers preaching prosperity at the time. Copeland was one of those called in. At that meeting, Hagin said that he wanted to address certain errors & excesses within the current teaching before the publication of a book he was writing; The Midas Touch. Copeland only paid lip service to Hagin’s admonition. Both Copeland & Price, together with the others invited to that meeting, were conspicuous by their absence at Kenneth Hagin’s memorial.
Historically, The Church had never believed that man was created as a god. The Church had never believed that Christ suffered torment in hell, at one with satan in nature. The Church had never believed that Jesus had to be born again out of demonic struggle. The Church had never believed that faith was a spiritual force or that it was released by positive confession. The Church had never believed that God wanted all believers to be rich & living in unbridled prosperity. The Church had never believed that Christ was simply a man anointed by The Holy Spirit. The Church had never believed these things, but there had always been those who had tried to get it to do so.
True revelation knowledge is already laid down for us in Scripture as sound doctrine concerning Christ & the Gospel, yet Christ & His Gospel are the very last things being preached & taught through word-of-faith mythology. Titus tells us clearly, ‘Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.’. (Titus 1:3-4). The word-of-faith message is not the faith once delivered.
‘According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire’ (1st Corinthians 3:10-15).
There was no care taken in the integration of Christian Science & New Thought Metaphysics with our Judeo-Christian faith. The Charismatic Movement, which began as a sincerely sought-after experience amongst Catholics at Duquesne University, in 1966, was heartily embraced by The Church at large without question. However, as stated previously, the common unity prescribed by Scripture is one of doctrinal truth & not one of spiritual experience. The moment The Church opened the door of fellowship on that basis, it was in deep trouble. Yet historically, no one presented the fundamental & significant questions that ought to have been asked & answered before forging links with groups who at their core held unscriptural beliefs & practises, which were nothing more or less than heresy. Who cares what they believe though, as long as they speak in tongues, right? This was their mentality then & sadly, little has changed.
Among American Anglicans, the story is slightly different, tracing their Charismatic heritage to Van Nuys, California c1960. However, prior to that, those who began professing Pentecostal experiences either jumped or were pushed from The Church. Again, the common bond that emerged between nominal Christianity & traditional Pentecostalism, was experience, not doctrine. Moreover, the majority of formerly trained clergy from both the Catholic & Anglican traditions held on to their form & liturgy, their modes of dress & feasts, their beliefs & practises. They did not abandon these things in order to embrace biblical Christianity. Priests remained Priests; Archbishops remained Archbishops; Cardinals remained Cardinals; Pontifs remained Pontifs.
Some Pentecostal leaders & their denominations embraced many of these trappings, wearing dog collars & robes, taking similar titles, adopting aspects of the hierarchy & inventing new ones to suit their purposes. There were even those who embraced the false Catholic doctrine of Apostolic Succession in order to be recognised as Bishops by The Church of Rome. Perhaps psychologically this went some way to giving Pentecostal ministers the air of legitimacy & respectability they had always craved, yet there were still no concerned voices being raised. They have their reward. Instead, some made a paltry attempt at papering over this enormous crack by twisting Scripture.
‘If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?’. (Luke 11:11-13) & ‘And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.’. (John 10:16). No questions asked.
Then others, emboldened by this argument, likened what was happening to the outpouring of The Holy Spirit on Gentile believers in the Book of Acts. ‘While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.’. (Acts 10:44-46). Surely God was moving & who were we to stop Him? ‘For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;’. (Ephesians 3:14). Many theological eyes were rolled & many doctrinal heads were shaken. But there were still no substantial or significant questions asked.
These verses, taken entirely out of their proper context, served to foster links between the denominational & non-denominational world. This was nothing more or less than embryonic ecumenism. With this backdrop, the Charismatic Movement moved forward slowly, but surely. However, equally slowly but equally surely, the errors that came from identification with the nominal Church began to emerge within word-of-faith circles. The message of faith revolutionised Pentecostalism, which had been accustomed to exuberant preaching, but very little systematic teaching.
The subject matter itself wasn’t foreign, but charismania now offered faith as an experience. New doctrine challenged its historic, orthodox counterpart & sadly, within Pentecostalism some of the pharisaic legalism that had been preached as if it were truth, was shown to be erroneous. They thought that they knew the truth & they thought that the truth was setting them free (John 8:32). There were some who threw off all restraint & there were some who resisted. Some became defectors & some became detractors. Nevertheless, the move was on, regardless.
Going, going, gone, were restrictions on makeup, jewellery & trousers. Women were praying & prophesying with their heads uncovered, sporting new hairdos & highlights. There were even female preachers & teachers emerging. But for every liberty the Charismatic Movement brought to The Church, there was another form of bondage given to it. Yes, we were to stand fast in the liberty with which Christ had made us free (Galatians 5:1), but we were also told not to use our liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Galatians 5:13). The Church became enslaved to the spiritual laws it now had to live by in order to succeed. Beyond this, was the indictment of the fundamental error & heresy The Church had so wholeheartedly embraced.
The Church became unbalanced & in this state of often emotional disorientation, other libertarian teachings became the order of the day. The popular message of prosperity gained momentum & the ascendancy during the 1980s & with it came some of the worst excesses imaginable. Just as the Catholic Church had sold indulgences to the faithful within their tradition & offered them holy relics for a fee, so also did Charismatic ministries, announcing special financial blessings to the generous, prayer cloths & healing oil to the sick & miracle spring water to the thirsty. All at a price, of course.
There were divorces among ministers. There were divorces among believers. There were financial scandals. There were church splits at local & denominational levels. There were heterosexual & homosexual improprieties. There were prison sentences. There were comebacks. None of this put a dent in the movement, slowed it down or removed its gloss though. The Charismatic Movement just kept on truckin’. Faith was the substance of things hyped for, the edifice of things obscene, but despite the newfound enthusiasm of some, cracks began to appear in the word-of-faith façade.
Within the Charismatic Movement, Christianity has become so radically redefined that it is completely unrecognisable as the faith once delivered to the saints; The Bible is now so dubiously interpreted & misapplied that it’s completely unrecognisable as God’s Word; orthodoxy is now so fluid that it’s completely unrecognisable as sound doctrine; the person & work of Jesus have been so maligned that He is completely unrecognisable as The Christ.
It’s incredible that this happened, but more so that it has been allowed to happen. Had this been an attack that The Church was in the midst of defending itself against, as a body would fight any foreign infection, the current state of affairs would be partially understandable. However, as it stands, this wound is largely self-inflicted. It would seem that the devil has been telling a lie very, very well & The Church has been telling the truth very, very badly.
So, with all of this said, where do we go from here &
what do we do? Are we at a crossroads, tee junction or fork in the road?
