thoughts and ruminations while in exile (1 Pet. 2:11)

Corruptio optimi pessimum est, reads the old Latin proverb, which translated means, “The corruption of the best is the worst.”[1] Such a proverb is certainly fitting when discussing false teachings related to the Person of Christ and even more so when looking at the Word-Faith movement. While it is true that all false teachings or heresies[2] at any time are detrimental to the church and those involved, perhaps what distinguishes the present time from earlier Christianity is the rate at which false teachings flourish and the rapidity with which they spread. Undoubtedly, the advanced technology and multiple means of communication available to the world play a crucial part in this enterprise. Thus, the dangerous nature of the Word-Faith Movement relates particularly to its over-exposure and publicity.

The Word-Faith movement, also known as the “Health and Wealth Gospel,” or simply “positive confession,” has taken the church by storm. Since an adherent is to be speaking “words of faith” it was given the name “Word of Faith movement.” Its critics call it the “health and wealth gospel.”[3] The exposure it receives is due in large measure to the amount of air-time it receives on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The directors of TBN, Paul and Jan Crouch, are both affiliated with the Movement. They regularly have Word-Faith teachers on their channel when they televise “their ‘Praise the Lord’ and ‘Praise-a-thon’ (fundraiser) programs.”[4] While the movement has had most of its impact within Pentecostal and Charismatic circles[5] “through TBN, the Word-Faith teachers have found a forum for speaking to Christians of all denominations.”[6] In fact, Robert Bowman, desiring to be charitable, is not comfortable calling the movement a cult.[7] Rather, he is content with labeling it “a radical form of Pentecostalism.” [8]

It should be mentioned at this point, that while not all Pentecostals are adherents to Word-Faith theology, it seems that to a large degree those who subscribe to this theology are indeed Pentecostal.[9] Proof that not all Pentecostals are happy about being associated with this teaching is Dr. Gordon Fee’s book The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospel. Dr. Fee, who is a well-respected Pentecostal scholar, is certainly not receptive to such teachings making inroads within the community of faith. Such distinctions need to be made so that orthodox Pentecostals do not feel as though they are being attacked. In addition to Gordon Fee, Charismatic author and historian, and Oral Roberts graduate, D.R. McConnell published his book A Different Gospel, which is an expansion of his master’s thesis, asserting that indeed, the Word-Faith teaching
is heretical.[10] His desire is to show his charismatic brothers and sisters that Word-Faith theology is incongruent with historic Pentecostal teachings. In no uncertain language McConnell says, “The historical origins of the Faith movement are not primarily Pentecostal or Charismatic.” Rather, “The Faith movement can be traced historically to cultic sources.”[11] These cultic sources appear to be New Thought Metaphysics and the Unity School of Christianity.[12]

An Unloving Task?

Before beginning a critique of the Word-Faith Movement, an important issue must receive attention: Is it biblical to critique someone’s theology? Is it unloving to scrutinize what another person or group believes? This must receive attention because Word-Faith proponents assert that their theology should not be called into question because they are not academic theologians.[13] Undoubtedly, they are not theologians. While they may have “Doctor” before their names, the majority of Word-Faith teachers either have honorary doctorates (most from Oral Roberts University), or received their degrees from unaccredited institutions. One would simply be stating the facts when noting that virtually none of the Word-Faith teachers have fully accredited PhD’s in either systematic or historical theology.

While this may be true, Word-Faith teachers must be held accountable for their teachings (as all Christians must be). This is why James warns believers that not all should aspire to be teachers (James 3:1). If someone is going to teach publicly, they must be prepared to give account for their teachings. Despite this being true, those who criticize or question another’s teaching are seen as unloving, or unduly harsh. This places them in an unfavorable light, in that they are viewed as those who find their “niche in the world by blowing the whistle on [their] brothers and sisters.”[14] To view them as such, however, fails to see that “theology and ethics are inextricably bound together.”[15] In other words, as G.K. Chesterton said, “Heresy always does affect morality, if it’s heretical enough.”[16] Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it: “Tell me what a
person believes and I’ll tell you what he’ll do.”[17]

Thus, one must agree with John MacArthur when he notes that “It is not unkind to analyze doctrinal differences in the light of Scripture. It is not necessarily factious to voice disagreement with someone else’s teaching.”[18] For, to do so would sacrifice “truth for the sake of a superficial peace.”[19] Moreover, “tolerating enemies of the historic Christian faith as though they were our brethren is not love, but adultery.”[20] What must be understood is that truth is important. Some say this is incorrect and that what is important is the “Person not the propositions.”[21] Of course, such thinking is faulty since it supposes that it is possible to have a relationship with Christ “apart from an understanding and acceptance of the nature, character and mission of Christ.”[22] Thus, while those being criticized will inevitably be offended, truth is too important for students of the Word to simply stand by and keep quiet. Paul Crouch once said, “I am a little god. Critics be gone!”[23] To such a remark, and to the whole Word-Faith Movement in general, all true believers must respond in the words of R.C. Sproul: “I am a critic who refuses to be gone!”[24]

The Word-Faith Teachers

So who exactly are these Word-Faith teachers and why is their message so popular? While a complete list of teachers cannot be given, the primary spokespersons with whom most will be familiar would be names such as Ken Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, John Osteen, Frederick Price, Robert Tilton, Creflo Dollar, John Avanzini, Benny Hinn, and Paul Crouch.[25] The teaching is certainly popular because it promises its adherents, health, wealth, and prosperity. D.R. McConnell says, “Seldom if ever, has there been a gospel that has promised so much, and demanded so little.”[26] Dr. Michael Horton says the message is popular because “Heresy inspires: it makes people feel good and can make people feel better about themselves and their future. It can provide meaning, fulfillment, and a sense of love and acceptance.”[27] Despite its inherent flaws, the teachings continue to spread far and wide. Richard Abanes notes, “Rarely has Christianity felt an unbiblical influence as all-pervasive as the Word Faith movement.”[28]
These teachers tell their followers that “If we believe—and if we confess or say out loud that we believe—these teachers assure us that we can enjoy both health and wealth.”[29] Art Lindsley summarizes the Word-Faith teaching this way: “God’s got it, I can have it, and by faith I’m going to get it.”[30] The advocates of this message are populist preachers who claim that the prosperity “gospel” has worked for them, and encourage their disciples to trust what they are saying. What makes this more difficult to reject is that these teachers claim to be receiving direct revelation from God. Kenneth Hagin himself “claims to have received most of the faith gospel by divine visitation, visions, and revelations.”[31] Certainly the Protestant position of sola Scriptura is being violated heavily within this movement.[32] What should a believer’s response be to such dramatic claims of one-on-one conversations with Jesus? Again, Dr. R.C. Sproul’s comments are worth noting:

Pious appeals to direct supernatural insights are often, if not always, spiritual masks for our own indolence. It requires far less effort to listen to private subjective hunches than to pay the price of mastering Greek, Hebrew, historical backgrounds, and the science of hermeneutics.[33]

In claiming to receive extra-biblical revelation, the Word-Faith teachers sound an awful lot like the Gnostics. A point worth noting is that the Gnostics did not reject the Bible. Rather “they just claimed an additional source of knowledge or insight that was superior to or at least beyond the knowledge of Scripture.”[34] Such a teaching was correctly labeled heresy by the early church. In an ironic twist of events, those nowadays who claim to “have a word from God” are elevated rather than shunned. [35] Speaking to this same issue, Henry Krabbendam observes: “The often-reported ‘conversations’ with God seem to give the impression . . . that they [the Word-Faith teachers] are exempt from following acceptable methods of biblical interpretation.”[36]


A Brief History

As for the history of the Word-Faith movement, it most certainly “did not arise in a vacuum.”[37] Kenneth Hagin is called the “Father” of the Word-Faith teaching, and as already noted he claims to have received the teaching directly from God.[38] If Hagin is the “Father,” then without question E.W. Kenyon is considered the “Grandfather” of this teaching.[39] Essek William Kenyon (1867-1948) was a Baptist minister who, while living in Boston in the 1890’s was exposed to Christian teaching, New Thought Metaphysics, and the Unity School of Christianity (two heretical groups).[40] While a Baptist, he appealed to Pentecostals. In fact, much of his popularity possibly stems from speaking at Aimee Semple McPherson’s meetings.[41] Kenyon’s exposure to New Thought Metaphysics came while attending Emerson College. At Emerson College “. . . Transcendentalism and New Thought dominated the curriculum . . .” Those who follow Kenyon agree that this is true.[42] During this time in history, many were leaving traditional Christianity and turning to Christian Science because they believed Mary Baker Eddy could heal them. This fact led Kenyon to believe that people had a hunger for the supernatural. Kenyon admitted that these groups were false, but “was convinced that these cults . . . were exploiting truths that the church had been ignoring, especially truths about faith and healing.”[43] This being said, it is only fair to mention that Kenyon “did not see his teaching as rooted in the metaphysical movement but instead as presenting an alternative to it.” In other words, he still believed that Christ was the way to salvation. The question is, did he concede too much?[44] Though there is much debate as to how much of New Thought and Christian Science Kenyon incorporated into his teachings, there is no debate that he incorporated “at least some aspects of them into his own.”[45] That being said, it would be incorrect to suggest that Kenyon’s theology was purely metaphysical.[46]

Thus, the conclusion is that Hagin is the one responsible for popularizing Kenyon’s material. In fact, Hagin has been caught plagiarizing much of Kenyon’s teachings in his books. [47] One of the clear differences, however, is that Hagin and Copeland have put the Word-Faith teaching “into an explicitly Pentecostal or Charismatic context.”[48] Bowman notes, “For Hagin and his disciples, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are essential to a fully developed Christian experience.”[49] Kenyon, on the other hand, strongly disagreed with such a view. Also, Kenyon never referred to humans as “little gods,” and his prosperity message was more “moderate” than the contemporary one.[50]

The Origins of The Movement

As for the origins of the Word-Faith movement, much debate centers around this topic. Bowman asks the right questions: “Is the Word-Faith movement a part of the Charismatic tradition, spawned, bred, and grown there, with its errors rooted in the distinctive beliefs of Charismatic Christianity? Or is it a metaphysical movement rooted not in classical Pentecostalism but in the cultic doctrines of groups like Christian Science and New Thought?”[51] While the origins do not necessarily make the movement unbiblical, they do provoke questions.

Core Teachings

Having given a brief survey of the Word-Faith movement, next will be an outline of the beliefs of this popular teaching.

View of Man

First and foremost, Word-Faith theology believes that man is a trichotomous being, made up of soul, spirit, and body. This is significant because it explains why Word-Faith teachers insist that God communicates to humans in their spirit. For instance, Kenneth Hagin writes:

We cannot know God through our human knowledge, through our mind. God is only revealed to man through his spirit. It is the spirit of man that contacts God, for God is a Spirit. . . . We don’t understand the Bible with our mind, it is spiritually understood. We understand it with our spirit, or our heart. . . . As we meditate in this Word, our assurance becomes deeper. This assurance in our spirit is independent of our human reasoning or of human knowledge. It may even contradict human reasoning or physical evidence.[52]

Another reason why Word-Faith teachers insist on this being true is because only in this scheme can man be said to be in “God’s class.”[53] Continuing on, “only if trichotomy is true can it be claimed that the reasoning of the intellect (which is located in the soul, on this theory) and the feelings of the body are unreliable guides to what is really true.”[54] They also argue that man must be tripartite because God is a Trinity. The assertion is made that this must be true since man is made in God’s image.

The Fall

Unique to Word-Faith theology is their view of the Fall. They insist that “The Fall caused Adam and Eve’s divine natures to be replaced with Satan’s nature.”[55] Also, in the Fall Adam and Eve “lost their rights of rulership to planet earth. Even God was barred from having full access to earth because Adam and Eve were under his lordship when they ‘fell.’”[56] Through their disobedience Satan became the god of this world.

God Has A Body

Another point of theology that is unique to Word-Faith teaching is the idea that God has a body. This is of course very troubling to orthodox evangelicals. However, according to Kenneth Copeland, God is “a being that stands somewhere around 6-2, 6-3, that weighs some where in the neighborhood of a couple hundred pounds, little better.”[57] Copeland is not referring to Christ coming in the incarnation, nor is he referring to theophanies in the O.T. Rather he is asserting that God the Father “has always had a body as part of his intrinsic nature.” This body, however, is a “spirit body.”[58] The idea of God having a body clearly attacks the doctrine of the Trinity. If the Father has a body, and Jesus has a body, so also must the Holy Spirit. This means that there are three entities within the Godhead that have bodies. This is called tritheism, and it is clearly unbiblical and has been rejected as such. That being said, tritheism is not anathema to Word-Faith theology. Benny Hinn taught this on TBN on October 13, 1990 while claiming to be under divine inspiration. He said, “God the Father is a Person, God the Son is Person, God the Holy Ghost is a Person; But each of them is a Triune being by Himself. If I can shock you, and maybe I should, there’s nine of ‘em . . .”[59]

A Blasphemous View of The Work of Christ

Another shocking and controversial teaching within the Word-Faith movement is their understanding of the work of Christ. They insist that not only did Jesus need to die
physically, he had to die spiritually as well. In this view, Jesus had to die spiritually, suffer in hell, and then be born again. Word-Faith expert Richard Abanes explains it this way:
In order to redeem humanity, Jesus had to die spiritually as well as physically. When He died spiritually, He died the same way Adam died. In other words, He lost His divine nature and was given the nature of Satan.[60]

Worse than this, these teachers say that on the cross Jesus’ death did not provide an atonement for sin. They teach that “The atonement took place in hell through the devil’s torturing of Jesus’ spirit for three days and three nights.”[61] However, since Jesus had never sinned, He was taken to hell illegally. That being the case, God was able “to use His [own] ‘force of faith’ to revive Jesus’ spirit, restore Jesus’ divine nature, and resurrect Jesus’ body. Through the resurrection process Jesus was ‘born again.’” [62]

Faith: A Force To Give You What You Want

Coming to the center of the controversy now is the teaching of faith. It is this teaching that gives this group the title “Word-Faith” movement. Rather than seeing faith as simply trust in the Person and finished work of Christ, these teachers insist that faith is a force, and operates under a law. Kenneth Copeland defines faith as a “spiritual force,” and “a spiritual power.”[63] What this comes down to is that “it is not enough for people to simply believe something in their minds; what they need to do is put their faith into words—spoken, audible words.”[64] Bowman continues:

The Word-Faith teachers claim that God does all of his works by faith and must speak words of faith to accomplish his will. This is the major premise on which they base their conclusion that, like God, we can speak “words of faith” by which we can get our will accomplished.[65]

In creation, “Here, essentially is what God did” says Charles Capps:

God filled His words with faith. He used His words as containers to hold his faith and contain that spiritual force and transport it out there into the
vast darkness by saying, “Light, be!” That’s the way God transported His faith causing creation and transportation.[66]


Humans Are “little gods”

Another troubling teaching is the idea that human beings are “little gods.” Rather than going into too much detail on this point, Word-Faith teacher Earl Paulk explains it this way: “Just as dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, so God has little gods. . . . When God said, ‘Let us make man in our image,’ He created us as little gods . . .”[67] Bowman rightly notes, “It is perhaps here that the Word-Faith theology makes its most dramatic and clear-cut departure from traditional Christian doctrine.”[68] It is from this teaching that Word-Faith teachers have concocted the idea that man can have dominion over this world. The assumption seems to be that since everything reproduces after its own kind, and human beings are made in God’s image, therefore humans are gods. Since God is spirit and humans are spirit, humans are in God’s “class.” As is usual for Word-Faith teachers, Kenneth Copeland says God showed this to him in a vision.

The Good News: God Wants You Rich!

Lastly, the Word-Faith movement claims it is God’s will for believers to be healthy and wealthy. This is the teaching for which the movement is best known. Stated simply, “Everything bad, including poverty and sickness, comes from Satan. God’s people should have a completely blessed life.”[69] A Christian not experiencing such a life is either: (1) in sin, or (2) lacking enough faith to bring about what is desired. It is claimed that if a person is God’s child, then such a person should not be sick or poor. Satan should not have dominion over God’s people. Due to this, God wants His children healthy and happy.

A Sad Example

A perfect contemporary example of this is pastor Reggie Scarborough, a 1985 graduate of Hagin’s Rhema Bible training center. Scarborough is pastor of Family Worship Center in Lakeland, Florida. On their church’s website in their “frequently asked questions” section one finds this question: “Does Family Worship Center believe God creates devastation, kills people and brings hardship into the lives of people for His divine purposes?” Answer: “No! . . . We like to explain it this way: draw a line in the middle of your life, if it is Good—it is God, if it is bad—it is not God!”[70] To such an answer, one could ask: What about Joseph, Job, and all of the apostles?

A Short List of Sad Stories

Sadly, there are many stories of those who have been duped by these false teachers, and there testimonies are heartbreaking. For example, one widely publicized event took place in August of 1973. Larry and Lucky Parker had a son named Wesley who was diabetic. Rather than giving their son his insulin, they “confessed” his healing. Tragically, their son died and the parents were convicted of manslaughter.[71]

Another sad story concerns Christine Klear and her bout with breast cancer. Mrs. Klear and her husband Douglass decided not to receive medical treatment “through the influence of TBN.” To her husband and three children’s utter sadness, Christine Klear died of breast cancer.[72]
Elizabeth Scott was also diagnosed with breast cancer in her mid-forties. Listening to her favorite Bible teachers Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Marilyn Hickey, Elizabeth decided not to receive medical treatment, but rather refused to acknowledge that she was sick and “confessed” her healing. Five years later her “pain had become unbearable” and she received radiation therapy. By this point is was too late and she eventually died.[73]

While you might expect sympathy from the Word-Faith teachers, shockingly, after hearing of these incidents, they respond “by blaming those who died.”[74] Word-Faith preacher Frederick Price even says:

I have watched people die, and my heart went out to them, but their faith was not developed, and it couldn’t bring the healing to pass, and they died. It wasn’t the
will of God that they die, but their faith wasn’t sufficiently developed.[75]

As an insider to the movement, D.R. McConnell describes the sad situation with utmost clarity:

The most consistent reports of abuse caused by the Faith doctrine of healing involve the treatment of those in the movement with chronic and/or terminal illnesses. Because of the belief that listening to a “negative confession” can infect one’s faith, not many in the Faith movement are willing even to be around, much less listen to, those who are seriously ill. . . . A believer is shunned, isolated, and ostracized as though he was an unbeliever—which, by definition, is precisely what he is, or else he would not be ill in the first place. . . . The time when a dying believer needs a word of encouragement is when he receives a sermonette on the failure of his faith. . . . When a dying believer needs his faith the most is when he is told that he has it the least. . . . When he needs support of a sensitive, supportive body of believers is when he is ostracized and isolated as though he himself was infectious. Perhaps the most inhumane fact revealed about the Faith movement is this: When its members die, they die alone.[76]

A Humble Assessment

Having given a brief history of the movement, followed by reviewing a sampling of the key teachings, it is clear that there are serious flaws with Word-Faith theology. While this may be true, it is worth noting that “there are many sincere, born-again believers within the movement.”[77] From looking seriously at Word-Faith doctrine, it is clear that they have an unbiblical view of the Godhead, the nature of faith, the nature of man, the work of Christ, the atonement, and healing. That being said, they do believe that Christ is the only way of salvation, and that if a person trusts in Him, that person can be saved. In light of these facts, what Dr. Jim Boice says is true: “There are ways of doing even the true religion wrongly.”[78] For this reason, Robert Bowman’s assessment of the Word-Faith movement is correct: It is aberrant and suborthodox.[79]

The Triune God: Our Greatest Treasure

The Word-Faith movement is showing no signs at all of slowing down in spreading its message, increasing its number of adherents, and receiving much air time on television. For this reason it is of critical importance for Christians to know what this group teaches. With Bible in hand and hearts overflowing with love and humility, believers must present the truth of Scripture as God intended it. Since it is not possible to be in proper communion with God when one has a faulty view of who God is, Christians must show the far-reaching effects false doctrine can have on the lives of God’s people. Above all, God is not honored and His glory is not accurately seen when He is reduced to being used, rather than being delighted in, treasured, and cherished more than health, wealth, prosperity, or healing. A person does not need to be born-again to want health, wealth, or prosperity, but one does need to be regenerated to love God for all that He is.
May God’s people more and more come to value God for who He is, and not simply for what He gives. More than that, may we present Him to others that way as well.





Works Cited

Boice, James. Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Grace: Rediscovering The
Doctrines That Shook The World. Crossway: Wheaton, 2001.

Bowman, Robert. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth
Gospel. Baker Books: Grand Rapids, 2001.

Brown, Harold. Heresies: Heresy And Orthodoxy In The History Of The Church. Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, 1988. Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, 1988.

Hanegraaf, Hank. Christianity in Crisis. Harvest House: Eugene, 1997.

Horton, Michael, Ed. The Selling Out of The Evangelical Church? Moody Press: Chicago, 1992.

---. The Agony of Deceit: What Some TV Preachers Are Really Teaching. Moody: Chicago, 1990.

King, David. Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith. V. 1: A Biblical
Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura. Christian Resources Inc. Battle Ground, 2001.

MacArthur, John. Charismatic Chaos. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 1992.

Martin, Walter and Hank Hanegraaf, Eds. The Kingdom of The Cults. Bethany House:
Minneapolis, 1997.

McConnell, D.R. A Different Gospel: A Historical and Biblical Analysis of The Modern
Faith Movement. Hendrickson: Peabody, 1988.

Citations

[1]Brown, Harold. Heresies: Heresy And Orthodoxy In The History Of The Church (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1988), p. 3.
[2] Dr. R.C. Sproul notes that “Historically, the church has distinguished between ‘heresies’ and ‘errors,’ indicating a difference in degree rather than in kind. That is, though all heresies are errors, not all errors are elevated to heresy.” Agony of Deceit, 33.
[3] Bowman, Robert. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001) p.8.
[4] See “The Word Faith Movement” by Richard Abanes in The Kingdom of The Cults. Martin, Walter and Hank Hanegraaf. (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1997), p.495.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Bowman, Ibid. p.9.
[7] Bowman, Ibid. pgs. 227-228.
[8] Bowman, Ibid, pgs. 10-11.
[9] I’m careful to use the words “it seems,” since I have not studied every Word-Faith teacher.
[10] Thus, McConnell disagrees with Bowman who prefers to call the Word-Faith Movement teachings “aberrant” and “sub-orthodox.” Pg. 186 in A Different Gospel. See Bibliographic data in footnote 11.
[11] McConnell, D.R. A Different Gospel: A Historical and Biblical Analysis of The Modern Faith Movement. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1988), pg. Xviii.
[12] Bowman, Ibid. pgs. 36-37.
[13] Bowman, Ibid, pg. 28.
[14] Horton, Michael, Ed. The Agony of Deceit: What Some TV Preachers Are Really Teaching. (Chicago: Moody, 1990), pg. 21.
[15] Horton, Ibid., 23.
[16] Chesterton quoted in Horton, Ibid. pg. 11.
[17] Emerson quoted in Horton, Ibid. pg. 23.
[18] MacArthur, John. Charismatic Chaos. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), pg. 15.
[19] MacArhtur, Ibid. pg. 14.
[20] Horton, Ibid., pg. 23.
[21] Horton, Ibid. pg. 26.
[22] Horton, Ibid.
[23] Crouch quoted in Horton, Ibid. pg. 45.
[24] Sproul quoted in Horton, Ibid, pg. 45.
[25] Bowman, Ibid., pg. 8.
[26] McConnell, Ibid. xvii.
[27] Horton, Ibid.,pg. 13.
[28] Abanes in Cults pg. 495.
[29] Bowman, Ibid. pgs. 7-8.
[30] Lindsley in Horton, Ibid. pg. 50.
[31] McConnel, Ibid. pg. 13.
[32] See David King’s work Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith. V.1.: A Biblical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura. (Battle Ground: Christian Resources Inc, 2001). I recommend reading this entire book.
[33] Sproul in Horton, Ibid. pg. 36.
[34] Sproul in Horton, Ibid. pg. 38.
[35] Boice, James. Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Grace: Rediscovering The Doctrines That Shook The World. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2001), pg. 81.
[36] Krabbendum in Horton, Ibid. pg. 64.
[37] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 36.
[38] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 36 and McConnell, Ibid. pg. 13.
[39] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 36.
[40] Bowman, Ibid. pgs. 39-37.
[41] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 37.
[42] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 44.
[43] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 45.
[44] Bowman, Ibid.
[45] Bowman, Ibid. pg.47.
[46] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 54.
[47] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 38; also Martin, Ibid. pg. 500-505. It should be noted that one of Hagin’s followers, William DeArtega, disputes this and claims Hagin did not plagiarize in his books. DeArtega mentions this in his book Quenching The Spirit: Discover The Real spirit behind the Charismatic Controversy. (Lake Mary, FL: Creation House). 1992 Ed. pgs 228-229; 1996 Ed. pgs 244-245). Despite this Richard Abanes notes, “It is nearly impossible to find one instance where Hagin credits Kenyon for material copied (often verbatim, or word-for-word). This certainly challenges Hagin’s integrity and status as a trustworthy man of God” Cults, 514.
[48] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 38.
[49] Bowman, Ibid.
[50] Bowman, Ibid.
[51] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 40.
[52] Hagin quoted in Bowman, Ibid. pg. 97 emphasis mine.
[53] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 98.
[54] Bowman, Ibid.
[55] Abanes quoted in Martin, Ibid. pg. 498.
[56] Ibid.
[57] Copeland quoted in Bowman, Ibid. pg. 115.
[58] Copeland quoted in Bowman, Ibid. pg. 116.
[59] Hinn quoted in Bowman, Ibid. pg. 120.
[60] Abanes in Martin, Ibid. pg. 499.
[61] Ibid.
[62] Ibid.
[63] Qouted in Bowman, Ibid. pg. 106.
[64] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 114.
[65] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 106.
[66] Capps quoted in Martin, Ibid. pg. 497.
[67] Paulk quoted in Bowman, Ibid. pg. 123.
[68] Bowman, Ibid. pg. 124.
[69] Abanes in Martin, Ibid. pg. 499.
[70] See http://www.fwclakeland.org/cms/page.aspx?pageid=182
[71] Abanes in Martin, Ibid. pg. 513.
[72] Ibid.
[73] Ibid.
[74] Ibid.
[75] Ibid.
[76] McConnell quoted in Martin, Ibid. pg. 514.
[77] Hanegraaf, Hank. Christianity in Crisis. (Eugene: Harvest House, 1997), pg. 41.
[78] Boice quoted in Horton’s The Selling Out of The Evangelical Church? (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990), pg. 119.
[79] Bowman, Ibid. pg 226.