A not so biblical view of Faith..

The past few weeks we have been studying Cults and World Religions. Each one of us has had to do a couple reports on a Cult and religion. Here is my first on not so much a cult, but a no biblical movement with in the Christian church.

Word of Faith

The Word of Faith (WF) movement emerged within Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity in the latter 20th century.

Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866) who laid the foundations.
- Quimby's metaphysical teachings that influenced E.W. Kenyon,
- E.W. Kenyon's teachings that in turn influenced Kenneth Hagin.
- Most prominent Word of Faith teachers today draw their inspiration from Kenneth Hagin.
- many Word-Faith preachers broadcast their services and campaigns,
- Paul and Jan Crouch own TBN.
o with an estimated net worth of approximately $600 million dollars
o Televising the Faith message (as well as many other errant messages) all over the world.

Word of Faith teachers are notorious for teaching everything from the heretical to the downright ridiculous. For example, one WF teacher (who recently renounced WF) once stated that Adam could fly, and women were originally designed to give birth from their sides. Many sincere Christians within the WF movement are unaware that their favorite teachers are teaching doctrines that flatly contradict the Word of God. One reason for this lack of discernment is that followers are told that questioning the teacher is synonymous with "touching God's anointed," or "quenching the Spirit." They are unaware that Scripture encourages us to test all teaching by the written Word of God.

The Word of Faith movement is a serious threat to the Church -- this because WF is assaulting Christianity from within the Church.

Word of Faith leaders
o Paul Crouch ,Rory Alec (GOD TV) , Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, John Kilpatrick "Partners in Revival") ,John Bevere , Benny Hinn ,Rodney Howard Browne (The "Holy Ghost Bartender"), Charles Capps, Fred Price, E. W. Kenyon (Word of Faith pioneer), John Avanzini, Paul E. Billheimer ("Destined For The Throne"), Joyce Meyer, Jerry Savelle, Joel Olsteen

God is Humanized
Copeland
- God is a being who stands about 6'2"-6'3", weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9" across
- "Adam was the copy, looked just like (God). If you stood Adam beside God, they looked just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike"
Hin
- God the Father, Son and Spirit …Are all separate person
- Each is Triune in his on their own,
- There is 9 of them
He explains by saying: “God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you're in this church to hear things you've heard for the last 50 years? You can't argue with the Word, can you? It's all in the Word”



Little God’s
Man is glorified and made divine
- passages such as John 10:31-39 and II Peter 1:4,
o Christians are "little gods." Copeland says, "Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 116).
o Benny Hinn declares, "God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went back to heaven as a man" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 382 n. 43). Earl Paulk wrote, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God" (Satan Unmasked, p. 97).

Jesus Christ
Cross and atonement is Distorted
- Jesus suffered and died on the cross,
- descended into hell
- three days serving a sentence in hell (where He was tortured by demons),
- then born again and released from hell on a technicality

The "force" of faith
- words to manipulate the faith-force
o create what they believe Scripture promises (health, wealth, etc.)
o God becomes a genie
Hagen in his book How to Write Your Own Ticket with God
In the opening chapter, titled "Jesus Appears to Me," Hagin claims that while he "was in the Spirit" -- just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos -- a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. "Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me," says Hagin. "He stood within three feet of me." After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to "Write down: 1,2,3,4." Jesus then allegedly told Hagin "if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father." That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: "Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it."
Step number one is "Say it." "Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive."
Step number two is "Do it." "Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving."
Step number three is "Receive it." We are to plug into the "powerhouse of heaven." "Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in."
Step number four is "Tell it so others may believe." This final step might be considered the Faith movement's outreach program.
Frederick K.C. Price: "Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. … Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. ... When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer" (Prayer: Do You Know What Prayer Is. ... and How to Pray? The Word Study Bible, p. 1178)
Prosperity and Health Gospels
- God will make you wealthy if you ask.
o Robert Tilton, On a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 he said: "Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That's chicken feed. That's nothing compared to what God wants to do for you"
o Usually leads to asking for an offering… Give $10 get $1000, give $1000 get 100,000 …
- God not only heals our sin but heals our bodies
o Promised a life of health
o People get sick cause of lack of faith
o Sickness in the leaders lives is an attack from Satan.

http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whatwordfaith.html
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/more/w-f.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Faith