whats wrong with the faith movement

[dgolvach]

CHRISTIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE

P.O. Box 7000, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

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Fri Mar 11 20:48:07 2005

STATEMENT DC755-1

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE FAITH MOVEMENT (Part One):

E. W. Kenyon and the Twelve Apostles of Another Gospel

by Hank Hanegraaff

What's wrong with the "Faith" movement? Its leaders include many of the most popular television evangelists. Its adherents compose a large percentage of charismatic evangelical Christians. Its emphases on faith, the authority of the believer, and the absolute veracity of Scripture could appear to be just what today's church needs. And yet, I am convinced that this movement poses one of the greatest contemporary threats to orthodox Christianity from within. Through it, cultic theology is being increasingly accepted as true Christianity.

This article will highlight several serious problems with the Faith movement by providing an overview of its major sources and leaders. Part Two will focus on the movement's doctrinal deviations as represented by one of its leading proponents.1

ITS DEBT TO NEW THOUGHT

It is important to note at the outset that the bulk of Faith theology can be traced directly to the cultic teachings of New Thought metaphysics. Thus, much of the theology of the Faith movement can also be found in such clearly pseudo-Christian cults as Religious Science, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity.

Over a century before the Faith movement became a powerful force within the Christian church, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866), the father of New Thought, was popularizing the notion that sickness and suffering ultimately have their origin in incorrect thinking.2 Quimby's followers held that man could create his own reality through the power of positive affirmation (confession).3 Metaphysical practitioners have long taught adherents to visualize health and wealth, and then to affirm or confess them with their mouths so that the intangible images may be transformed into tangible realities.4

Although proponents of Faith theology have attempted to sanitize the metaphysical concept of the "power of mind" by substituting in its stead the "force of faith," for all practical purposes they have made a distinction without a difference. New Thought writer Warren Felt Evans, for example, wrote that "faith is the most intense form of mental action."5 In treating a patient, Evans commented that "the effect of the suggestion [or positive affirmation that the patient is well] is the result of the faith of the subject, for it is always proportioned to the degree in which the patient believes what you say" (emphasis in original).6 Likewise, H. Emilie Cady, a well-known writer for Charles and Myrtle Fillmore's Unity School of Christianity, explained that "our affirming, backed by faith, is the link that connects our conscious human need with His power and supply."7 Cady also claimed that "there is power in our word of faith to bring all good things right into our everyday life."8 Such statements strongly indicate that the distinction between the "mind" of metaphysics and the "faith" of Faith theology is nothing but a figment of the imagination.

SUBSTANCE, STYLE, AND SCAMS

There is no denying that much of Faith theology is derived directly from metaphysics. Some of the substance, style, and scams endemic to the movement, however, can be traced primarily to the teachings and practices of certain post-World War II faith healers and revivalists operating within Pentecostal circles.9 With regard to substance, for example, both Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin point to T. L. Osborn and William Branham as true men of God who greatly influenced their lives and ministries. Of course, Osborn himself has consistently followed E. W. Kenyon's (see below) Scripture-twisting antics,10 and Branham has (among other things) denounced the doctrine of the Trinity as coming directly from the Devil.11

Unfortunately, Hagin and Copeland are not alone in affirming Branham; Faith proponent Benny Hinn gives him a hearty "thumbs up" as well.12 When it comes to style, however, Hinn gravitates more toward such faith healers as Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman. In addition, Hinn has given his endorsement to notorious revivalist A. A. Allen,13 who was truly a huckster if there ever was one