The Sinfulness of Original Sin

by W.T.G. Shedd (1820-1894)

“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”– Matthew xix. 20.

In the preceding discourse from these words, we discussed that form and aspect of sin which consists in “coming short” of the Divine law, or, as the Westminster Creed states it, in a “want of conformity” unto it. The deep and fundamental sin of the young ruler, we found, lay in what he lacked. When our Lord tested him, he proved to be utterly destitute of love to God. His soul was a complete vacuum, in reference to that great holy affection which fills the hearts of all the good beings before the throne of God, and without which no creature can stand, or will wish to stand, in the Divine presence. The young ruler, though outwardly moral and amiable, when searched in the inward parts was found wanting in the sum and substance of religion. He did not love God; and he did love himself and his possessions.

What man has omitted to do, what man is destitute of;—this is a species of sin which he does not sufficiently consider, and which is weighing him down to perdition. The unregenerate person when pressed to repent of his sins, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, often beats back the kind effort, by a question like that which Pilate put to the infuriated Jews: “Why, what evil have I done?” It is the subject of his actual and overt transgressions that comes first into his thoughts, and, like the young ruler, he tells his spiritual friend and adviser that he has kept all the commandments from his youth up. The conviction of sin would be more common if the natural man would consider his failures; if he would look into his heart and perceive what he is destitute of; and into his conduct and see what he has left undone.

In pursuing this subject, we propose to show, still further, the guiltiness of every man, from the fact that he lacks the original righteousness that once belonged to him. We shall endeavor to prove that every child of Adam is under condemnation, or, in the words of Christ, that “the wrath of God abides upon him” (John iii. 36), because he is not possessed of that pure and perfect character which his Maker gave him in the beginning. Man is culpable for not continuing to stand upon the high and sinless position, in which he was originally placed. When the young ruler’s question is put to the natural man, and the inquiry is made as to his defects and deficiency, it is invariably discovered that he lacks the image of God in which he was created. And for a rational being to be destitute of the image of God is sin, guilt, and condemnation, because every rational being has once received this image.

God has the right to demand from every one of his responsible creatures, all that the creature might be, had he retained possession of the endowments which he received at creation, and had he employed them with fidelity. The perfect gifts and capacities originally bestowed upon man, and not the mutilated and damaged powers subsequently arising from a destructive act of self-will, furnish the proper rule of measurement, in estimating human merit or demerit. The faculties of intelligence and will as unfallen, and not as fallen, determine the amount of holiness and of service that may be demanded, upon principles of strict justice, from every individual. All that man “comes short” of this is so much sin, guilt, and condemnation.

When the great Sovereign and Judge looks down from His throne of righteousness and equity, upon any one of the children of men, He considers what that creature was by creation, and compares his present character and conduct with the character with which he was originally endowed, and the con duct that would naturally have flowed therefrom. God made man holy and perfect. God created man in his own image (Gen i. 26), “endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, having the law of God written in his heart, and power to fulfil it.” This is the statement of the Creed which we accept as a fair and accurate digest of the teachings of Revelation, respecting the primitive character of man, and his original righteousness. And all evangelical creeds, however they may differ from each other in their definitions of original righteousness, and their estimate of the perfections and powers granted to man by creation, do yet agree that he stood higher when he came from the hand of God than he now stands; that man’s actual character and conduct do not come up to man’s created power and capacities.

Solemn and condemning as it is, it is yet a fact, that inasmuch as every man was originally made in the holy image of God, he ought, this very instant to be perfectly holy. He ought to be standing upon a position that is as high above his actual position, as the heavens are high above the earth. He ought to be possessed of a moral perfection without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. He ought to be as he was, when created in righteousness and true holiness. He ought to be dwelling high up on those lofty and glorious heights where he was stationed by the benevolent hand of his Maker, instead of wallowing in those low depths where he has fallen by an act of apostasy and rebellion. Nothing short of this satisfies the obligations that are resting upon him. An imperfect holiness, such as the Christian is possessed of while here upon earth, does not come up to the righteous requirement of the moral law; and certainly that kind of moral character which belongs to the natural man is still farther off from the sum- total that is demanded.

Let us press this truth, that we may feel its convicting and condemning energy. When our Maker speaks to us upon the subject of His claims and our obligations, He tells us that when we came forth from nonentity into existence, from His hand, we were well endowed, and well furnished. He tells us distinctly, that He did not create us the depraved and sinful beings that we now are. He tells us that these earthly affections, this carnal mind, this enmity towards the Divine law, this disinclination towards religion and spiritual concerns, this absorbing love of the world and this supreme love of self;—that these were not implanted or infused into the soul by our wise, holy, and good Creator. This is not His work. This is no part of the furniture with which mankind were set up for an everlasting existence. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good” (Gen. i. 31).

We acknowledge the mystery that overhangs the union and connection of all men with the first man. We know that this corruption of man’s nature, and this sinfulness of his heart, does indeed appear at the very beginning of his individual life. He is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity (Ps. ii. 5). This selfish disposition, and this alienation of the heart from God, is native depravity, is inborn corruption. This we know both from Revelation, and observation. But we also know, from the same infallible Revelation, that though man is boi-u a sinner from the sinful Adam, he was created a saint in the holy Adam. By origin he is holy, and by descent he is sinful; because there has intervened, between his creation and his birth; that “offence of one man whereby all men were made sinners” (Rom. v. 18, 19). Though we cannot unravel the whole mystery of this subject, yet if we accept the revealed fact, and concede that God did originally make man in His own image, in righteousness and true holiness, and that man has since unmade himself; by the act of apostasy and rebellion,1—if we take this as the true and correct statement of the facts in the case, then we can see how and why it is, that God has claims upon His creature, man, that extend to what this creature originally was and was capable of becoming, and not merely to what he now is, and is able to perform.

When, therefore, the young ruler’s question, “What lack I ?” is asked and answered upon a broad scale, each and every man must say: “I lack original righteousness; I lack the holiness with which God created man; I lack that perfection of character which belonged to my rational and immortal nature coming fresh from the hand of God in the person of Adam; I lack all that I should now be possessed of; had that nature not apostatized from its Maker and its Sovereign.” And when God forms His estimate of man’s obligations; when He lays judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; He goes back to the beginning, He goes back to creation, and demands from His rational and immortal creature that perfect service which he was capable of rendering by creation, but which now he is unable to render because of subsequent apostasy. For, God cannot adjust His demands to the alterations which sinful man makes in himself. This would be to annihilate all demands and obligations. A sliding-scale would be introduced, by this method, that would reduce human duty by degrees to a minimum, where it would disappear. For, the more sinful a creature becomes, the less inclined, and consequently the less able does he become to obey the law of God.

If, now, the Eternal Judge shapes His requisitions in accordance with the shifting character of His creature, and lowers His law down just as fast as the sinner enslaves himself to lust and sin, it is plain that sooner or later all moral obligation will run out; and whenever the creature becomes totally enslaved to self and flesh, there will no longer be any claims resting upon him. But this cannot be so. “For the kingdom of heaven,”—says our Lord,— “is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one; and straightway took his journey.” When the settlement was made, each and every one of the pal-ties was righteously summoned to account for all that had originally been intrusted to him, and to show a faithful improvement of the same. If any one of the servants had been found to have “lacked” a part, or the whole, of the original treasure, ‘because he had culpably lost it, think you that the fact that it was now gone from his possession, and was past recovery, would have been accepted as a valid excuse from the original obligations imposed upon him?

In like manner, the fact, that man cannot reinstate himself in his original condition of holiness and blessedness, from which he has fallen by apostasy, will not suffice to justify him before God for being in a help. less state of sin and misery, or to give him any claims upon God for deliverance from it. God can and does pity him, in his ruined and lost estate, and if the creature will cast himself upon His mercy, acknowledging the righteousness of the entire claims of God upon him for a sinless perfection and a perfect service, he will meet and find mercy. But if he takes the ground that he does not owe such an immense debt as this, and that God has no right to demand from him, in his apostate and helpless condition, the same perfection of character and obedience which holy Adam possessed and rendered, and which the unfallen angels possess and render, God will leave him to the workings of conscience, and the operations of stark unmitigated law and justice. “The kingdom of heaven,”—says our Lord,—“is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents; but forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to he sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant there fore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt” (Matt. xviii. 23—27).

But suppose that that servant had disputed the claim, and had put in an appeal to justice instead of an appeal to mercy, upon the ground that inasmuch as he had lost his property and had nothing to pay with, therefore he was not obligated to pay, think you that the king would have conceded the equity of the claim? On the contrary, he would have entered into no argument in so plain a case, but would have “de livered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” So likewise shall the heavenly Father do also unto you, and to every man, who attempts to diminish the original claim of God to a perfect obedience and service, by pleading the fall of man, the corruption of human nature, the strength of sinful inclination and affections, and the power of earthly temptation. All these are man’s work, and not that of the Creator. This helplessness and bondage grows directly out of the nature of sin. “Whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves slaves to obey, his slaves ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (John viii. 34; Rom. vi. 16).

In view of the subject as thus discussed, we invite attention to some practical conclusions that flow directly out of it. For, though we have been speak. mug upon one of time most difficult themes in Christian theology, namely man’s creation in holiness and his loss of holiness by the apostasy in Adam, yet we have at the same time been speaking of one of the most humbling, and practically profitable, doctrines in the whole circle of revealed truth. We never shall arrive at any profound sense of sin, unless we know and feel our guilt and corruption by nature; and we shall never arrive at any profound sense of our guilt and corruption by nature, unless we know and understand the original righteousness and innocence in which we were first created. We can measure the great depth of the abyss into which we have fallen, only by looking up to those great heights in the garden of Eden, upon which our nature once stood beautiful and glorious, the very image and likeness of our Creator.

1. We remark then, in the first place, that it is the duty of every man to humble himself on account of his lack of original righteousness, and to repent of it as sin before God.

One of the articles of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith reads thus: “Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.”2 The Creed which we accept summons us to repent of original as well as actual sin; and it defines original sin to be “the want of original righteousness, together with the corruption of the whole nature.” The want of original righteousness, then, is a ground of condemnation. and therefore a reason for shame, and godly sorrow. This righteousness is something which man once had, ought still to have, but now lacks; and therefore its lack is ill-deserving, for time very same reason that time young ruler’s lack of supreme love to God was ill-deserving.

If we acknowledge the validity of the distinction between a sin of omission amid a sin of commission, and concede that each alike is culpable,3 we shall find no difficulty with this demand of the Creed. Why should not you and I mourn over the total want of the image of God in our hearts, as much as over any other form and species of sin? This image of God consists in holy reverence. When we look into our hearts, and find no holy reverence there, ought we not to he filled with shame and sorrow? This image of God consists in filial and supreme affection for God, such as the young ruler lacked; and when we look into our hearts, and find not a particle of supreme love to God in them, ought we not to repent of this original, this deep-seated, this innate depravity? This image of God, again, which was lost in our apostasy, consisted in humble constant trust in God; and when we search our souls, and perceive that there is nothing of this spirit in them, but on the contrary a strong and overmastering disposition to trust in ourselves, and to distrust our Maker, ought not this discovery to waken in us the very same feeling that Isaiah gave expression to, when he said that the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint; the very same feeling that David gave expression to, when he cried: “Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me?”

This is to repent of original sin, and there is no mystery or absurdity about it. It is to turn the eye inward, and see what is lacking in our heart and affections; and not merely what of outward and actual transgressions we have committed. Those whose idea of moral excellence is like that of the young ruler; those who suppose holiness to consist merely in the outward observance of the commandments of the second table; those who do not look into the depths of their nature, and contrast the total corruption that is there, with the perfect and positive righteousness that ought to be there, and that was there by creation,—all such will find the call of the Creed to repent of original sin as well as of actual, a perplexity and an impossibility. But every man who knows that the substance of piety consists in positive and holy affections,—in holy reverence, love and trust,—and who discovers that these are wanting in him by nature, though belonging to him by creation, will mourn in deep contrition and self-abasement over that act of apostasy by which this great change in human character, this great lack was brought about.

2. In the second place, it follows from the subject we have discussed, that every man must, by some method, recover his original righteousness, or be ruined forever. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” No rational creature is fit to appear in the presence of his Maker, unless he is as pure and perfect as he was originally made. Holy Adam was prepared by his creation in the image of God, to hold blessed communion with God, and if he and his posterity had never lost this image, they would forever be in fellowship with their Creator and Sovereign. Holiness, and holiness alone, enables the creature to stand with angelic tranquillity, in the presence of Him before whom the heavens and the earth flee away. The loss of original righteousness, therefore, was the loss of the wedding garment; it was the loss of the only robe in which the creature could appear at the banquet of God. Suppose that one of the posterity of sinful Adam, destitute of holy love reverence amid faith, lacking positive and perfect righteousness, should be introduced into the seventh heavens, and there behold the infinite Jehovah. Would he not feel, with a misery and a shame that could not be expressed, that he was naked? that he was utterly unfit to appear in such a Presence? No wonder that our first parents, after their apostasy, felt that they were unclothed. They were indeed stripped of their character, and had not a rag of righteous ness to cover them. No wonder that they hid themselves from the intolerable purity and brightness of the Most High. Previously, they had felt no such emotion. They were “not ashamed,” we are told. And the reason lay in the fact that, before their apostasy, they were precisely as they were made. They were endowed with the image of God; and their original righteousness and perfect holiness qualified them to stand before their Maker, and to hold blessed intercourse with Him. But the instant they lost their created endowment of holiness, they were conscious that they lacked that indispensable something wherewith to appear before God.

And precisely so is it, with their posterity. Whatever a man’s theory of the future life may be, he must be insane, if he supposes that he is fit to appear before God, and to enter the society of heaven, if destitute of holiness, and wanting the Divine image. When the spirit of man returns to God who gave it, it must return as good as it came from His hands, or it will be banished from the Divine presence. Every human soul, when it goes back to its Maker, must carry with it a righteousness, to say the very least, equal to that in which it was originally created, or it will be cast out as an unprofitable and wicked servant.

All the talents entrusted must be returned; and returned with usury. A modern philosopher and poet represents the suicide as justifying the taking of his own life, upon the ground that he was not asked in the beginning, whether he wanted life. He had no choice whether he would come into existence or not; existence was forced upon him, and therefore he had a right to put an end to it, if he so pleased. To this, the reply is made, that he ought to return his powers and faculties to the Creator in as good condition as he received them; that he had no right to mutilate and spoil them by abuse, and then fling the miserable relics of what was originally a noble creation, in the face of the Creator. In answer to the suicide's proposition to give back his spirit to God who gave it, the poet represents God as saying to him:

“Is't returned as ‘twas sent? Is’t no worse for the wear?
Think first what you are! Call to mind what you were!
I gave you innocence, I gave you hope,
Gave health, and genius, and an ample scope.
Return you me guilt, lethargy, despair?
Make out the invent’ry; inspect, compare!
Then die,—if die you dare!”4

Yes, this is true and solemn reasoning. You and I, and every man, must by some method, or other, go back to God as good as we came forth from Him. We must regain our original righteousness; we must be reinstated in our primal relation to God, and our created condition; or there is nothing in store for us, but the blackness of darkness. We certainly cannot stand in the judgment clothed with original sin, instead of original righteousness; full of carnal and selfish affections, instead of pure and heavenly affections. This great lack, this great vacuum, in our character, must by some method be filled up with solid and everlasting excellencies, or the same finger that wrote, in letters of fire, upon the wall of the Babylonian monarch, the awful legend: “Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting,” will write it in letters of fire upon our own rational spirit.

There is but one method, by which man’s original righteousness and innocency can be regained; and this method you well know. The blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled by the Holy Ghost, upon your guilty conscience, reinstates you in innocency. When that is applied, there is no more guilt upon you, than there was upon Adam the instant he came from the creative hand. “There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Who is he that condemneth, when it is Christ that died, and God that justifies? And when the same Holy Spirit enters your soul with renewing power, and carries forward His work of sanctification to its final completion, your original righteousness returns again, and you are again clothed in that spotless robe with which your nature was invested, on that sixth day of creation, when the Lord God said, “Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness.” Ponder these truths, and what is yet more imperative, act upon them.

Remember that you must, by some method, become a perfect creature, in order to become a blessed creature in heaven. Without holiness you cannot see the Lord. You must recover the character which you have lost, and the peace with God in which you were created. Your spirit, when it returns to God, must by some method be made equal to what it was when it came forth from Him. And there is no method, but the method of redemption by the blood and righteousness of Christ. Men are running to and fro after other methods. The memories of a golden age, a better humanity than they now know of; haunt them; and they sigh for the elysium that is gone. One sends you to letters, and culture, for your redemption. Another tells you that morality, or philosophy, will lift you again to those paradisaical heights that tower high above your straining vision. But miserable comforters are they all. No golden age returns; no peace with God or self is the result of such instrumentality. The conscience is still perturbed, the forebodings still overhang the soul like a black cloud, and the heart is as throbbing and restless as ever. With resoluteness, then, turn away from these inadequate, these feeble methods, and adopt the method of God Almighty. Turn away with contempt from human culture, and finite forces, as the instrumentality for the redemption of the soul which is precious, and which ceaseth forever if it is unredeemed. Go with confidence, and courage; and a rational faith, to God Almighty, to God the Redeemer. He hath power. He is no feeble and finite creature. He waves a mighty weapon, and sweats great drops of blood; travelling in the greatness of His strength. Hear His words of calm confidence and power: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
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Notes
1. The Augustinian doctrine, that the entire human species was created on the sixth day, existed as a nature (not as individuals) in the first human pair, acted in and fell with them in the first transgression, and as thus fallen and vitiated by an act of self-will has been procreated or individualized, permits the theologian to say that all men are equally concerned in the origin of sin, and to charge the guilt of its origin upon all alike.
2. Confession of Faith VI. vi.
3. One of the points of difference between the Protestant and the Papist, when the dogmatic position of each was taken, related to the guilt of original sin,—the former affirming, and the latter denying. It is also one of the points of difference between Calvinism and Arminianism.
4. Coleridge: Works, VII.295.
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Author
W.G.T. Shedd (1820-1894) was both a Congregational and, later a Presbyterian pastor. He had a distinguished career as a Professor of English Literature prior to his work at the theological seminaries at Auburn Seminary in Andover and finally at Union Seminary in New York. All the titles mentioned have been published by the "Banner of Truth Trust."
This sermon has been taken from the volume, Sermons to the Natural Man, first published in 1876 and later printed in the "Banner of Truth Trust" edition of 1977, pp.267-284.

A Primer on the Word of Faith/Positive Confession Movement

J.A. Matteson

Many within Pentecostal and charismatic churches are being negatively impacted, to varying degrees, by the issues outlined in this paper. In the view of this author individuals and/or ministries within many congregations influenced by the teachings within this paper are, in all likelihood, innocent or naive victims of a wave of false teaching that has blanked much of Christianity in recent decades and is on the rise.

Therefore, it is important that it be stated clearly at the outset that the discussion to follow is in no way an indictment upon individuals or specific ministries within various churches. Blind innocence describes 95% of individuals involved with the teachings of Word of Faith/Positive Confession. These trusting souls believe what they believe because it is what they have been taught somewhere along the line. Unfortunately, unlike the Bereans, most have failed to carefully search the Scriptures (systematically by applying sound biblical hermeneutical principles) to determine whether what they have been taught is, in fact, biblical and orthodox based upon historical Christian theology.

It is the conclusion of this author, therefore, that in varying instances the gospel being presented and the Christ being portrayed represent, in fact, a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:8) from that found in the New Testament. The intent or hope of this paper is to open up a constructive discussion of the issues and pursue a course back to the teaching of sound charismatic doctrine with practical application.

1. Introduction to Word of Faith/Positive Confession

Word of Faith theology has many strains of teachings, but the common denominator is that faith works like a mighty force. With enough faith, it is claimed, one can get almost anything they want—health, wealth, success, just name it and claim it in the name of “faith” and it will be yours. Many faith teachers cite verses such as Hebrews 11:1 as a proof text for their peculiar understanding of faith. Its various English translations are:

Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. NKJV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. NASB

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. NIV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ESV

Most Faith teachers prefer the KJV or NKJV because of the word “substance.” The word “substance” is frequently cited as evidence that there is something tangible or corporeal to faith.

The literal Greek rendering of the text reads as follows:

Now is faith of things being hoped the reality, of things the proof not being seen. Greek New Testament

The Greek word for “the reality” is ὑπόστασις (hupostasis) which means “a setting under, assurance, confidence.” Faith, by definition, is only as valid as the object it is placed in. That being the case it is easy to comprehend how the gods of Baal could not save—because there was no ὑπόστασις to them (they were not real).

The core premise of Positive Confession can be summarized as follows:

• God is revealed in Genesis as creating all things by speaking them into existence, “And God said….”
• Human beings are said to be created in the image of God.
• Human’s, then, are able to create reality (physical and nonphysical things) by merely speaking (claiming) them into existence.

To the advocates of this unusual doctrine, words are a creative force to be harnessed, with the unlimited power of influencing both the physical and the spiritual world. The end result is observable in that adherents to the teaching spend considerable time:

• binding Satan, demons and other territorial spiritual entities.
• claiming health.
• claiming wealth.
• claiming a multitude of other personal wants, wishes, and desires.

The fallacy with Word of Faith teachings is that faith becomes a force (the George Lukas concept of “the force” in Star Wars is not far removed from Positive Confession); that is, faith is placed in faith. The object of faith in this teaching subtly shifts from the sovereign God of the universe to ones faith. With the focus or trust no longer on God, but on ones own power to believe, idolatry results. When the object of ones faith is faith the first commandment has been violated, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In this instance personal faith becomes a demigod. Personal faith assumes the position of sovereign deity, and the sovereign Deity becomes subservient to the whims and desires of fallen people. To put one other way, Word of Faith/Positive Confession theology tends to deify man while humanizing God. This exchange ought not to come as a total surprise for it is the desire of fallen humanity to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

Some critics of the Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement liken it to karma which may be understood as:

…the sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The results or "fruits" of actions are called karma-phala. Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward; karma simply deals with what is. The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to others.

The late Dr. Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute (CRI), wrote several apologetic articles addressing the growing threat of Positive Confession upon the body of Christ. To follow is an excerpt of an article from 1988—the introduction is by staff member Ron Rhodes. Dr. Martin is well known and respected in the evangelical community as an authority on cults and aberrant teachings within the body of Christ. Jude 3 has served as CRI’s scriptural mission, “contend earnestly for the faith, once for all given to the saints.”

Positive Confession Faith Teachings" (an article from the Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 1: Number 3, 1988, page 3) by Walter Martin.

The editor of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron Rhodes.

From the FROM THE DIRECTOR column: -------------

In 1980, on a cassette entitled _The Errors of Positive Confession,_ and in subsequent tapes, which have been widely distributed nationally and internationally, I warned that the teachings of Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Earl Paulk, Charles Capps, and others of the so-called "faith teachers" were a perversion of biblical theology and could only lead to deeper heretical doctrines.

Since that time the doctrines of the born-again-Jesus and of Christians being "little gods" have evolved from the original positive confession teachings. Christians are now being told that Jesus Christ not only needed to die on the cross for their sins but also suffered in hell for them, and then needed to be born again in order to become their Savior! People have been misled into believing that men are little gods since they were made in the image and likeness of God and are to "take dominion" over the earth because of their godhood.

It is an unchanging law that heresy begets heresy and error begets error when men depart from the objective authority of the Scripture.

This does not at all necessarily mean that individuals who fall into these errors are unbelievers. It need only mean that they are ignorant or sincerely mistaken. But those who refuse to repent of their heresies when shown the error of their ways must be classified as false teachers in the biblical sense.

Certainly, we at CRI are all for faith healing in its proper biblical sense. But to teach people that their faith is sovereign over the sovereignty of God is a gross perversion of the Bible. It is God who is on the throne of the universe, not the faith of His creatures. We are informed in 1 John 5:14 that if we ask anything _in accordance with His will_ He hears us. It is axiomatic that if it is not in accordance with His will, He will not grant our petition no matter how sincerely we ask or how great the magnitude of our faith.

The faith movement has proven itself to be a divisive force splitting churches, dividing families, and leaving a trail of broken spirits and bodies belonging to those who believed that all they had to do was confess with their mouth and God was obligated to obediently perform. The God of the Bible is not some divine bellhop who jumps at the exercise of our faith. He is the sovereign Lord who works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11), and, when it pleases Him, graciously takes into account the faith of His children.

The so-called positive confession movement has done a great disservice to the body of Christ by paving the way for the errors of the born-again Jesus, the "little gods," and the dominion theology doctrines. In the end these things will come to nothing, because, as the Lord has reminded us, "Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me....I am the first and I am the last, and apart from Me there is no God" (Isa. 43:10, 44:6).

The Lord Jesus Christ died once for all, offering one sacrifice for sin forever. Nowhere does the Bible teach that He ever suffered in hell or that men may become gods. This is Mormon theology, cultic theology, and Christians should beware when they hear it. This theology divides and does not unite the body of Christ, and must be avoided at all costs (Rom 16:17; Tit 3:9-11).

-------------- Because the following text was right at hand when I prepared the above material -- and because it was so brief -- I felt that it should be included in the same file. Please note that the material below is from an out-of-print booklet CRI used to sell and is no longer available. -------------

CRI SPEAKS OUT ON THE ERRORS OF THE "WORD-FAITH/POSITIVE CONFESSION" MOVEMENT (partial text)

1st Edition, Copyright March 1991, Christian Research Institute INTRODUCTION by Robert M. Bowman, Jr.

Much of the mail which Christian Research Institute receives concerns the teaching known variously as "positive confession," the "faith" (or "Word-Faith") teaching, and the "prosperity" doctrine. Some of the best-known American televangelists subscribe either partly or wholly to this teaching. Its chief representatives today seem to be Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Fred Price, Robert Tilton, and Benny Hinn, though there are many other evangelists, teachers, and writers promoting the teaching.

It is our considered opinion that this teaching, at least in its complete form as expressed by the above men, is at best extremely aberrational and at worse heretical. (We use the term "aberrational" to refer to teaching which is decidedly unbiblical and damaging to authentic Christian faith, but which is not quite so heretical that its adherents must be considered non-Christians.) CRI has attempted to meet with these men and dialogue with them concerning their teachings, but most of them have refused. We were able, however, to meet with some of them and discuss a few of our concerns. We are continuing our efforts to engage these men in dialogue.

In brief, the teachings of these men may be summarized as follows: God created man in "God's class" (or, as "little gods"), with the potential to exercise the "God kind of faith" in calling things into existence and living in prosperity and success as sovereign beings. We forfeited this opportunity, however, by rebelling against God in the Garden and taking upon ourselves Satan's nature. To correct this situation, Jesus Christ became a man, died spiritually (thus taking upon Himself Satan's nature), went to Hell, was "born again," rose from the dead with God's nature again, and then sent the Holy Spirit so that the Incarnation could be duplicated in believers, thus fulfilling their calling to be little gods. Since we are called to experience this kind of life now, we should be successful in every area of our lives. To be in debt, then, or be sick, or (as is often taught) be left by one's spouse, and not to have these problems solved by "claiming" God's promises, shows a lack of faith. While certain aspects of the above doctrine may vary from teacher to teacher, the general outline remains the same in each case.

2. Word of Faith/Positive Confession Theology: Origin and Practice Expanded
The terms Word of Faith and Positive Confession are synonymous within the Faith movement. Without question the fastest growing segment of professing Christianity in recent years has been among churches connected with the Positive Confession movement (a.k.a. the Word of Faith movement). Most noticeable is its deep rooted infiltration into traditional Pentecostal and charismatic churches. The Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement does not represent historical Pentecostalism or charismata, but is a spiritual blight and malignancy that as infected the church. Unfortunately, spiritual discernment has been low in identifying and rooting it from local congregations.

The origin of Word of Faith/Positive Confession is in 19th century America near Boston and New England. During this time of Christian history modernism dominated the thinking of faith and secular society. There tended to be an anti-supernatural bias both within the Church and culture. Large populations, however, both within and outside of the Church harbored a deep craving for the supernatural beyond the dictates of empirical science. In response to this desire a “healer” by the name of Phineas P. Quimby (1802-66) began to develop an innovative approach to faith, what would soon be referred to as New Thought. Eventually New Thought came under different names such as Unity School of Christianity, Divine Science, the Church of Religious Science, the Society of Healing Christ. Originally, Quimby’s healing ministry was based on hypnosis but in time he honed his approach to a “science or system” and the above referenced groups are known today as metaphysical in their theology and practice, not Christian. It is instructive to note that theology always determines methodology. If methodology is biblically jaundice, tracing back its roots with sound biblical hermeneutics will reveal a defective theology. Most historians agree the Mary Baker Eddy was heavily influenced by the writings of Quimby in formulating her metaphysical teachings in what would become known as Christian Science.

Another figure of significance was a pastor by the name of Charles Wesley Emerson who was known as a gifted orator and pastured a New Thought Church (Universalist) in Vermont between 1866 and 1871. Emerson later went on to form a college of oratory, The Emerson College of Oratory. The focus of the college was not simply to teach oratory to aspiring preachers, but to propagate New Thought metaphysics. One year a bright young student by the name of Essek William Kenyon enrolled. Over the term of his tutelage at Emerson College E.W. Kenyon was immersed in New Thought metaphysics. Kenyon graduated and became a powerful orator, assimilating biblical theology with a unique brand of New Thought teachings that elevated divine healing.

At this time Kenyon looked out at the landscape of Christianity in the Boston and New England area and witnessed the withering of mainline denominations, all the while watching the cults such as Christian Science and the Unity Church growing wildly. The deep seated hunger of people for the supernatural was being met by the unbiblical teachings of the cults. Historians have concluded that Kenyon was disturbed at the lack of the supernatural within most denominations that was leading to their demise. By this time his indoctrination into New Thought at Emerson College was enough to compel him to incorporate some metaphysical teachings into his messages in order to win by the faithful from the cults. So while his motive may have been admirable, his method was deployable. Reading Kenyon’s writings one can easily see the New Thought metaphysics coming through, the system of theology he developed is antithetical to historical biblical Christianity. Kenyon died in 1948.

Subsequent to E.W. Kenyon a new champion of New Thought arose, his name was Kenneth Hagin. Hagin plagiarized heavily from Kenyon, formulating most of his theology from his writings. Only on very rare occasions did he give credit to Kenyon, insisting that he received his teachings via “revelation knowledge” (classic New Thought metaphysical terminology) which also has heavy gnostic tendencies. Hagin refined Kenyon’s teachings, popularizing them into what has become known as Word of Faith/Positive Confession. Hagin’s theology can be traced to Kenyon, and his teachings can be historically traced to the mind science cults such as Christian Science. Hagin died in 2003. The prized disciple of Hagin was Kenneth Copeland (1936-present) who today is recognized by most Word of Faith/Positive Confession adherents as the heir apparent to Hagin. While the teachings of these men and others do not yet constitute a new denomination, per se, they certainly do represent innovative teachings outside of mainstream Christianity. In Section 3 additional Word of Faith/Positive Confession proponents and teachers are identified. The situation is so serious now because of the dominance over the so-called Christian media achieved by the teachers of Positive/Possibility Thinking and Positive Confession. In response to Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings, Gary Gilley observes:

D.R. McConnell points out that “any new religious movement [within Protestantism] must bear the scrutiny of two criteria: biblical fidelity and historical orthodoxy.” Regrettably, the Positive Confession movement fails on both counts. The historical roots of this movement (which Charles Farah has called “Faith Formula Theology”) lie in the occult, and most recently, in New Thought and its off-shoot, the Mind Science cults. Its Biblical basis is found only in the peculiar interpretations of its own leaders, not in generally accepted Christian theology.

As the term implies Positive Confession places faith in spoken words over God. Words themselves literally become the creative agents by which the faithful can create a reality to their own liking. Positive Confession subverts God’s sovereignty in creation and the life of the believer. For instance, teachers of Positive Confession instruct that one should never pray, “If it’s the Lord’s will”, that is considered a negative confession and will reap the rewards of unbelief. At the end of the day faith is placed in faith rather than trust in God. When a “Positive Confession” is made and the thing requested does not come to pass it is because, according to the faith teachers, of either: 1) unconfessed sin or, 2) unbelief by the one who made the petition—they simply did not have enough faith and must generate more faith to “believe and receive.”

Word of faith teaching follows a predictable and reproducible formula. The four steps are:

a. “Say it!” (or “name it!”): positive or negative confession is critical because words have power, it is up to the individual to speak forth positive confessions. According to what the individual speaks, that shall he/she will receive.

b. “Do it” (or “claim it!”): your action defeats you or puts you over. Do not question what you claim, believe. According to your action (faith), you receive or you are kept from receiving.

c. “Receive it!” We are to plug into the “powerhouse of heaven.” “Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in.”

d. “Tell it so others may believe.” This final step might be considered the Faith movement's outreach program.

If a positive confession of faith releases power, then according to Word-Faith, a negative confession can actually backfire. Charles Capps says the tongue “can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you.” This is so because, “Faith is a seed … you plant it by speaking it.” There is power in “the evil fourth dimension” says Paul Yonggi Cho. Hagin informs us that if you confess sickness you get sickness, if you confess health you get health, whatever you say you get. “This spoken word … releases power -- power for good or power for evil,” is the commonly held view of the movement. It is easy to see why the title “Positive Confession” is often applied to this group.

As one might guess, the teachings of the Faith movement are very attractive to some. If we can produce whatever our hearts desire by simply demanding what we want by faith, if we can manipulate the universe and perhaps even God, then we have our own personal genie just waiting to fulfill our wishes. Frederick K.C. Price wastes no words when he writes:

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."

This is certainly a theology that would appeal to the masses, and thus accounts for the Faith movement's popularity, especially in the affluence of North America with its ramped materialism coupled with a cultural bent towards narcissism and hedonism.

3. Word of Faith/Positive Confession Teachers and Excerpts

In addition to Copeland, Price, Cho, and Capps, some of the bigger names recognized as being in (if not seriously flirting with) the current Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement—though by no means the only ones— include, T.D. Jakes, Marilyn Hickey, Rod Parsley, Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, John Avanzini, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo, Rodney Howard Brown, Jesse Duplantis, Joyce Meyer, Myles Munroe, Oral Roberts, Robert Schuler, Robert Tilton, Ed Young, Bill Johnson, Larry Huch, and of course, Paul and Jan Crouch. To follow are just a few excerpts that articulate Word of Faith/Positive Confession theology.

Hagin's theme, as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God, can be summarized as follows (Christianity in Crisis , pp. 74-75):

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.”

Copeland states the faith formula this way:

All it takes is 1) Seeing or visualizing whatever you need, whether physical or financial; 2) Staking your claim on Scripture; and 3) Speaking it into existence.
Copeland also humanizes God by taking scriptural anthropomorphisms literally as did Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

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.

Benny Hinn has also stated categorically that while receiving revelation knowledge he was informed by God that God is, in fact, three Gods. In other words, Hinn claimed that the heretical teaching of tritheism was confirmed by God as true. In his own words:

"Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus. ... God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; and He is a triune being by Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you -- and maybe I should -- there's nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: 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.

It seems that Hinn admitted the next day that what he spoke was wrong. But, as Hanegraaff points out, that creates additional problems with Hinn’s ministry because he categorically stated on TV that what he was receiving and speaking was revelation knowledge from God.

Paul Yonggi Cho, has leaned heavily upon the occult (Korean culture is immersed with the occult) and blended occult philosophy into his teachings on faith. Missiologists refer to this as religious syncretism (the blending of antithetical faith constructs). Cho has coined the term “Law of Incubation” to describe how words and imagination have the power to create their own reality. Cho’s formula works as follows:

First make a clear-cut goal, then draw a mental picture, vivid and graphic, to visualize success. Then incubate it into reality, and finally speak it into existence through the creative power of the spoken word.

4. Word of Faith/Positive Confession—the Prosperity Gospel

As noted earlier few things generate more excitement in the minds of most Americans than the prospect of hitting the jack pot. The innate desire of most Americans to strike it rich is no doubt deeply rooted in the American cultural conscience. The early drafts of the Declaration of Independence pronounced that it was the right of every American to pursue “life, liberty, and possessions.” The draft was worked around a bit and the final reads “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The wording may have changed but the sentiment has not. By and large Americans could easily exchange “possessions” for “happiness” and be quite content.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the prosperity gospel is amazingly popular. The lifestyle of most of the Word of Faith teachers can be described as opulent with luxury homes, fancy cars, exotic vacations, riches untold. The hook to their audiences is that they too can experience prosperity, after all it is God’s will for them.

Robert Tilton declared on a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990:
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.

On Tilton’s website the following give-to-get prosperity formula is cited :
You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You shall also decide and decree a thing and it shall be established for you, and the light (of God's favor) shall shine upon your ways.

• According to Job 22:27-28:
• you pray
• decide what you want
• pay your vow
• decree that it be done
• and declare that it is being accomplished

Christ warned the church that opportunists would come after him and devour the unsuspecting, which is why he instructed his disciples to be gentle as doves, but wise as serpents.

Fred Price on a similar broadcast explains how the prosperity of God works:
If you've got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar item, it ain't going to work. It won't work. Jesus said, 'According to your [faith],' not according to God's will for you, in His own good time, if it's according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said, 'According to your faith, be it unto you.

Not surprisingly the prescribed pathway to riches always seems to lead to donations to the ministry. Gloria Copeland (Kenneth's wife) is startlingly candid in her book God's Will Is Prosperity:

Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal.

In summary, the prosperity gospel is a give-to-get system. The driving motivation of giving is not out of immense gratitude toward God for what he did for sinful humanity by sending his Son to die on our behalf, but what we can get from God. Faith and giving is reduced to a formula to acquire wealth and its root is simple greed. Scripture provides decisive warnings against such attitudes and practices.
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

1 Timothy 6:9 NAS

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 1 Timothy 6:3-6 NAS

5. Word of Faith/Positive Confession—the Health Gospel

Isaiah 53 is commonly cited to justify blanket coverage for the physical healing of every Christian who has enough faith.

...it is the plan of our Father God in His great love and His great mercy that no believer should ever be sick, that every believer should live his life full span down here on earth and that every believer should finally just fall asleep in Jesus
Hagin also denied having a headache for forty-five years, labeling such as "simply symptoms rather than any indication of a headache." The "name-it-and-claim-it" pundits are not content with mere wealth; they want to feel well enough to enjoy their prosperity.

The Word-Faith teachers believe that Christ provided for physical healing at the cross (the atonement). As a result, not only are Christians saved from sin, they are promised a life of health; it is their new birthright as heirs of the King. Kenneth Copeland writes:

The first step to spiritual maturity is to realize your position before God. You are a child of God and a joint-heir with Jesus. Consequently, you are entitled to all the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God, and one of their rights is health and healing. But, if healing is part of the atonement, why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith, as Benny Hinn explains:

The Bible declares that the work was done 2,000 years ago. God is not going to heal you now -- he healed you 2,000 years ago. All you have to do today is receive your healing by faith. Of course reality, in the form of sickness and eventually death (the final form of sickness), has to be faced even by the Word of Faith leaders. Fred Price may proclaim “we don't allow sickness in our home,” but his wife still has cancer. Kenneth Hagin braged that he had not had a headache, the flu, or even “one sick day” in nearly 60 years, but he had had four cardiovascular crises and is now dead. Paul Crouch may have healed Oral Roberts of chest pains on a TBN Broadcast, but it did not stop Oral from having a heart attack a few hours later. How are these things explained away? Predictably, they blame them on the devil. Sickness in the Word-Faith camp is usually seen as satanic attacks that must be repelled by words of faith (Positive Confession). It is deeply disturbing to this author the number of times, while in prayer settings for the terminally ill, the words, “By his stripes you are healed! You are healed! Healing will manifest, believe it and don’t let the devil cause you to doubt. Amen!” proclaimed and the one prayed for dies in due time from the malady they were supposedly “healed” from. In such instances the death is rationalized by insisting that the deceased either did not have enough faith to claim the healing, or they were concealing unconfessed sin, or they were “healed” by God taking them home to heaven (a convenient explanation for a claim of healing that failed to come to pass).

Applying sound hermeneutic principles to interpreting Isaiah 53 leads to a conclusion of sickness and healing far different from that espoused by the faith teachers. The sickness and healing to which the prophet writes is that of sin, often referred to in the Old Testament in terms indicative of sickness as the following examples illustrate.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 NAS

Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him.

Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil. Isaiah 1:4-6 NAS

Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed. Isaiah 6:10 NAS

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us…and no resident will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. Isaiah 33:22, 24 NAS

I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. Hosea 4:14 NAS

Numerous addition texts could be cited. If these and similar Old Testament texts were not enough the Apostle Peter sheds further light in Isaiah 53, slamming the door on the spurious interpretation of the faith teachers.

…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:24-25 NAS

Taken in context the apostle’s exegesis of Isaiah is very clear: the “healing” Christ purchased for humanity is deliverance from sin; that is fallen humanities greatest need. The atonement satisfied the justice of God toward sin:

…for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NAS

While at the same time revealing divine grace:

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 NAS

Does God heal supernaturally today? Yes, of course. Is God obligated to heal; that is, will he supernaturally heal in every case when we ask him to because our physical healing is supposedly secured in the atonement? No, both history and personal experience refute that claim. In addition, Scripture denies the claim as well. The Apostle Paul more than likely experienced physical ailments and on at least one occasion pleaded with God three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh” and the Lord refused. Most commentators take Paul to be referring to some physical malady.

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NAS

We read of an account where the apostle instructs his young apprentice, Timothy, to introduce wine into his diet for medicinal purposes. Did Paul lack the power or faith to heal?

No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. 1 Timothy 5:23 NAS

Also, there is the account of Paul leaving a sick believer behind at Miletus. Did Paul again fail to “believe” enough and await the manifestation of divine healing to occur?

Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.
2 Timothy 4:20 NAS

Further, historian and theologians alike think it is very probable that Luke, the physician, accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys because the apostle was a man in poor health. The man’s repeated references to his eyes and his writing the conclusion to some letter in his own hand in large letters appear to indicate that perhaps one physical difficulty for the apostle was extremely poor eyesight.

Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. Galatians 4:15 NAS

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. Galatians 6:11 NAS

6. Word of Faith/Positive Confessions and Pagan Shamanism

It is said that over thousands of years, people all over the world have discovered how to maximize human abilities of mind and spirit for healing and problem-solving. The remarkable system of methods they developed is today known as "shamanism," a term that comes from a Siberian tribal word for its practitioners: "shaman" (pronounced SHAH-mahn). Shamans are a type of medicine man or woman especially distinguished by the use of journeys to hidden worlds otherwise mainly known through myth, dream, and near-death experiences.

According to the Foundation of Shamanic Studies, pagan practices of the Shaman include :

• Explore the hidden universe otherwise known mainly through myth and dreams.

• Awakening dormant spiritual abilities.

• Comparisons by participants of their discoveries in shamanic journeys as well as being introduced to shamanic divination and healing.

• Participants are initiated into the extraction method of healing, including how to see, sense, and remove localized illness and pain connected to spiritual factors. This is an important part of shamanic healing training.

• One of the classic tasks of the shaman is to journey into nonordinary reality in order to obtain answers to questions, both at the request of others and for oneself. Participants in the workshop have the opportunity to engage in divination journeys for each other as well as for themselves and to gain experience in using various time-tested shamanic divination techniques. In the shamanic search to become persons of knowledge…how to seek and receive revelatory knowledge from visionary sources.

• The annual residential program in advanced core shamanism is described by former participants as "transformative," "life-changing," and "the most important spiritual experience of my life." A variety of advanced methods are practiced in this residential program, including extraction healing, soul retrieval, psychopomp work, divination, and work with the spirits of nature…selected advanced healing methods….

The information from the noted website also has an online questionnaire that encourages individuals healed by a “miracle” to voluntarily share there story for the encouragement of others.

The word divination means “1: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers, 2: unusual insight: intuitive perception.”

The word omen means: “an occurrence or phenomenon believed to portend a future event.”

In the context of Christian ministry the above information begs the following types of questions:

1. How may one discern the difference between legitimate Holy Spirit healing and that brought about by shamanic (demonic) practices when both “miracles” have physical manifestations?

2. How may one discern legitimate revelation from the Lord in the form of a word of knowledge or wisdom from divination which provides similar “knowledge”?

3. How may one discern a God given dream vs. entering into occult practices of dream interpretation?

4. How may one pray for the healing for the sick without practicing “techniques” that are shamanic in essence?

The reason it is important to consider these and similar questions is because there is a widespread naïve acceptance within the charismatic community that any miraculous “healing” is of the Holy Spirit. Such an assumption is dangerous as the following example illustrates.

In Toranto and Brownsville the Holy Spirit was claimed to come upon people in “new” ways, causing many to fall to the floor and shake violently, enter into a catatonic state, bark like dogs, swim on their bellies like fish, and utter many other bizarre animal sounds. Consider the following excerpt from the web page of The Foundation of Shamanic Studies as they describe a shamanic workshop :

One of the classic tasks of the shaman is to journey into non-ordinary reality in order to obtain answers to questions, both at the request of others and for oneself. Participants in the workshop have the opportunity to engage in divination journeys for each other as well as for themselves and to gain experience in using various time-tested shamanic divination techniques. In the shamanic search to become persons of knowledge, they learn, as shamans have from time immemorial, how to converse with plant and animal spirits….(underlined emphasis mine)

In summary, ancient shamanism has infiltrated many charismatic and Pentecostal churches. It may take different forms and come by various names, but the practices of shamanism to the discerning eye are clear to see. On the surface they may appear Christian, but upon closer examination with the Bible their counterfeit roots become apparent. The coupling of pagan shamanism with Word of Faith/Positive Confession in many Pentecostal and charismatic churches has produced a lethal spiritual soup of error and the damaging consequences to unsuspecting Christians is nothing short of tragic.

Shamanism’s influence within the business community is amazing. From positive mental attitude training to possibility thinking, business training and motivational seminars have been taken by storm. Consider the editorial excerpt for the book The Power Path: The Shaman's Way to Success in Business and Life by Jose Stevens:

According to Jose Stevens and Lena Stevens, business leaders and shamans share many important traits: the ability to solve problems, achieve goals, see the big picture, and forecast events. What their previous book, Secrets of Shamanism, did for the growth of the individual, The Power Path does for the growth of business managers and entrepreneurs. Based on years of study with shamans, the book shares a new way of thinking about the nature of power. By applying shamanic traditions of power to the workplace, readers learn how to improve work relationships, understand employees’ strengths and limitations, and inspire effective teamwork — techniques aimed ultimately at increasing business success.

The religious syncretism of Word of Faith/Positive Confession and shamanism is apparent and both sects have infiltrated the theology of historical Christianity.

7. Word of Faith/Positive Confession Theology and Pentecostalism and Charismata

Because of the degree of its influence and entanglement within modern Pentecostal and charismatic churches, most inside and outside of these churches consider Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings as synonymous with or normative to the Pentecostal and charismatic tradition. Church history, one the other hand, demonstrates that nothing could be further from the truth.

The modern Pentecostal and charismatic traditions have their origins to the Wesleyan and holiness movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. Christians involved within these movements would not recognize the contemporary understanding or practice of faith as administered by the modern faith teachers. For instance the Wesleyan and holiness movements held to the sovereignty of God to heal, if and when he chose, and in accordance with his will. In other words, Wesley confessed that God is able to heal, not that he must in response to our requests. That is the biblical understanding of faith—that God is able—in contrast to the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teaching—God must—in response to our demands. The two views could not be further apart, the biblical view upholds the sovereignty of God while the Word of Faith/Positive Confession position exalts the will of man and humanizes God.

Another Scripture that is often used as a proof text by the faith teachers to claim that it is God’s will to heal continually and in every instance may be found in the synoptic gospels and is shown below from Matthew.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 81-4 NAS

Several truths become clear with a simple reading of the text:

1. Jesus was addressing an individual with leprosy, not the entire human race.

2. The afflicted man paid homage to Christ by bowing, confessed that Jesus is able to heal, and did not presume that he would.

3. It was not the man’s faith that healed him, but the mercy and goodness of God.

See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand. Deuteronomy 32:29 NAS

8. Word of Faith Theology and its Connection to the Occult and Mind Science

The modern Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement has direct ties to mind science cults such as Christian Science. To follow are several quotes from Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy , note their close similarity to the teachings of the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachers.

“Every time you declare you are perfect in God, there goes through your body a health giving power.”

"I tell you the truth when I say there is only one Source of all good-God. The conscious recognition and acceptance of this fact, acknowledged by every activity of the mind, not two or three times a day, but every few moments all the day long-no matter what the outer self is doing, and this maintained, will enable anyone to express his freedom and dominion over all things human."

"When the thinker is lost in the eminence of Mind the healing takes place."

"To declare that you are well is the exact truth; you are not flesh but rather the ray of divine Light that shining upon flesh makes it appear alive. This you is spiritual."

"… that an acknowledgement of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can."

The quote and testimonial for one of Mary Baker Eddy’s books is from the Mary Baker Institute website. Specific words have been put in bold type by this author to draw attention to the nearly identical teachings within the Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement.

Boldly invoking openly her metaphysical bent, Baker said,

When I learned how mind produces disease on the body, I learned how it produces the manifestations normally imputed to spirits. I saw how the mind's ideals [emphasis mine—positive/negative confession] were evolved and made tangible; and it matters not whether that ideal is a flower or a cancer, if the belief is strong enough to manifest it [emphasis mine—positive/negative confession]. Man thinks he is a medium of disease; that when he is sick, disease controls his body to whatever manifestation we see. But the fact remains, in metaphysics, that the mind of the individual only can produce a result upon his body. The belief [emphasis mine: negative confession] that produces this result may be wholly unknown to the individual, because it is lying back in the unconscious thought, a latent cause [emphasis mine: negative confession] producing the effect we see.

Consider a few additional Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings in light of the metaphysical teachings of Christian Science.

1. Faith is a force that both God and man can use: "Faith is a force just like electricity or gravity" (Copeland), and it is the substance out of which God creates whatever is (Capps). God uses faith, and so may we in exactly the same way in order to produce the same results through obedience to the same "laws of faith" (Capps) that God applied in creation. "You have the same ability [as God has] dwelling or residing on the inside of you" (Capps). "We have all the capabilities of God. We have His faith" (Copeland).

2. Faith's force is released by speaking words: "Words are the most powerful thing in the universe" because they "are containers" that "carry faith or fear and they produce after their kind" (Capps). God operates by these very same laws. "God had faith in His own words ... God had faith in His faith, because He spoke words of faith and they came to pass. That faith force was transported by words ... the God-kind-of-faith ... is released by the words of your mouth" (Hagin). "Creative power was in God's mouth. It is in your mouth also" (Capps).

3. Man is a "little god" in God's class: "Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world" (Tilton, Hagin, Capps). "Adam was the god of this world ... [but he] sold out to Satan, and Satan became the god of this world" (Hagin). "We were created to be gods over the earth, but remember to spell it with a little 'g'" (Tilton, Hagin, Capps). "Adam was created in God's class ... to rule as a god ... by speaking words" (Copeland). "Man was created in the God class ... We are a class of gods ... God himself spawned us from His innermost being ... We are in God; so that makes us part of God (2 Cor 5:17)" (Copeland).

4. Anyone -- occultist or Christian -- can use the faith force: Because man is a little god "in God's class: very capable of operating on the same level of faith as God" (Capps), and "because all men are spirit beings" (Hagin), therefore anyone, whether Christian or pagan, can release this "faith force" by speaking words if he only believes in his words as God believes in His (Hagin). "God is a faith God. God releases His faith in Words, [and we must do the same:] ... Everything you say [positive or negative] will come to pass" (Capps). "Spiritual things are created by WORDS. Even natural, physical things are created by WORDS" (Hagin).

5. You get what you confess: The vital key is confessing, or speaking aloud, and thereby, releasing the force of faith. "You get what you say" (Hagin, Hunter). "Only by mouth confession can faith power be released, allowing tremendous things to happen" (Cho). "Remember, the key to receiving the desires of your heart is to make the words of your mouth agree with what you want" (Copeland). "Whatever comes out of your mouth shall be produced in your life" (Tilton). "They're [his two children] 30-some years of age today, and I don't believe I prayed more than half a dozen times for both of them in all these years. Why? Because you can have what you say -- and I had already said it!" (Hagin).

6. Never make a negative confession: The tongue "can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you ... whether you believe right or wrong, it is still the law" (Capps). There is power in "the evil fourth dimension" (Cho). If you confess sickness you get it, if you confess health you get it; whatever you say you get" (Hagin). "Faith is as a seed ... you plant it by speaking it" (Capps). "The spoken word ... releases power -- power for good or power for evil" (Bashan). Therefore, it is very important never to speak anything negative but only to make a positive confession -- hence the name of the Positive Confession movement.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the apologetics ministry the Christian Research Institute, sums up well the essence of the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachers when he writes,

Tragically, these purveyors of error have become adept at misleading their followers with a message that sounds authentic but is in reality a counterfeit. They point to Scripture, produce “miracles,” and operate under the banner “Jesus is Lord.” But think of the words of Jesus Himself when He proclaimed, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23)

Some charismatics may object to Hanegraaff’s assessment as excessive, after all they would proclaim, just look at the healings and miracles being performed in their ministries. Are not people genuinely being helped? The following statement by D.R. McConnell reveals the fallacy of such reasoning with sobering clarity.

Many charismatics would object that a movement that has produced so many healings and miracles could not possibly be heretical. The gospel of the Faith movement does, indeed, produce results, but so does the gospel of metaphysics. Results can never be the criterion by which truth of an idea is proven. If that were the case, charismatics would have to admit that Mary Baker Eddy is a prophetess and that Christian Science is true gospel. Likewise, the numerous healings and miracles occurring in the Faith movement are not necessarily signs from God that the Faith gospel is the gospel of the New Testament. Charismatics who naively assume that healings vindicate truth are overlooking the fact that almost every major religion and cult the world has ever known has produced healings. For every god there is a religion, and in every religion there are healings.

Granted, the Faith movement does claim to heal “in the name of Jesus,” but this proves nothing, for so does the New Thought. Both the Faith movement and metaphysical cults incessantly use the name of Jesus. Because of the historical connection between the two, the question that must be raised, however, is whether the Jesus of the Faith movement is the Jesus of the New Testament. The answer to this question that will be given in this book is a decisive no. The Jesus of the Faith movement is “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4) and the gospel of the Faith movement is a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). [emphasis in the original]

It is striking, but not surprising, the extent to which Word of Faith/Positive Confession parallels secular books that champion divination and other forms of mind science. For example, ponder the words of the statement by best selling author Rhonda Bryne in her book The Secret in light of what has been discussed thus far. Bryne is a self-proclaimed New Ager and not a Christian. Shamanism and New Thought metaphysics are the cornerstone of her belief system that is taking the nation by storm.

“Secret Summaries”

• Like Aladdin’s Genie, the law of attraction grants our every command.

• The Creative Process helps you create what you want in three simple steps: ask, believe, and receive.

• Asking the Universe for what you want is your opportunity to get clear about what you want. As you get clear in your mind, you have asked.

• Believing involves acting, speaking, and thinking as though you have already received what you’ve asked for. When you emit the frequency of having received it, the law of attraction moves people, events, and circumstances for you to receive.

• Receiving involves feeling the way you will feel once your desire has manifested. Feeling good now puts you on the frequency of what you want.

• To loose weight, don’t focus on “loosing weight.” Instead, focus on your perfect weight. Feel the feelings of your perfect weight, and you will summit it to you.

• It takes no time for the Universe to manifest what you want. It is as easy to manifest one dollar as it is to manifest one million dollars.

• Starting with something small, like a cup of coffee or parking spaces, is an easy way to experience the law of attraction in action. Powerfully intend to attract something small. As you experience the power you have to attract, you will move on to creating much bigger things.

• Create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.

By now those types of statements ought to sound familiar. Even more interesting is the fact that what Bryne claims is not untrue, metaphysics does produce “results.” The “power” that she and Mary Baker Eddy and the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachers are tapping into, however, is not the Holy Spirit, but strong demonic delusions masquerading as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

9. The Bible and Faith

Let us now turn our attention for a moment to the historical understanding of biblical faith. The logical starting point is with the word itself. The Hebrew for faith (believe) is אמון (âman) and means trust.

But the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”--so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand-- that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Exodus 4:4-5 NAS

The word is used repeatedly in the Old Testament to designate either the demonstration or failure of trust in the Lord as being One who does what he says he will do.

In the New Testament the Greek language incorporates not only the word “trust” (ελρίζω, el-pid-zo) but “faith” (πίστις, pis-tis) as well. Pistis carries with it the idea of being persuaded of something being true and trustworthy. It is the idea of relying upon something. It is an absolute assurance of something. We see the nature of biblical faith expressed by the New Testament writers extensively.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:17 NAS

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

…and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NAS

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NAS

As stated at the beginning of this paper the Greek word “assurance” is ὑπόστασις (hupostasis) which means “a setting under, confidence”, and these are synonymous terms for the idea of simple childlike trust in God. In the Bible the object of faith is always God, not in frail humanities picking itself up from its spiritual bootstraps and “just trying harder and harder to believe more” that what we want is what we will get.

For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:20-21 NAS

In fact even faith itself is a gift of God which is why so many times we do see individuals in scripture beseeching God to increase their faith. In the final analysis the increased faith that is sought is without exception a petition to engender a deeper belief that God is able, not that he will necessarily provide what is requested. The prayers that God answers are those that are in alignment with his will, irrespective of our wishes. If what we petition for is not in line with God’s will all the faith in “faith” in the universe is mere folly.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:3 NAS

That single text seems to come the closest to concisely describing the self-absorbed motives of the health and wealth practitioners who, in all their pleading, would never dream of asking in light of God’s will, they are merely interested in God fulfilling their will.

10. Reclaiming Solid Biblical Hermeneutics for Faith and Practice

One of the primary ways in which the faith teachers are able to propagate their aberrant teachings is by means of poor hermeneutics. The reprinted article below is a half-humorous and yet serious examination of sloppy biblical interpretation practices that lead to false teaching. The Faith teachers are masters at practicing eisegesis, pouring interpretations into the Scriptures that simply are not in the text. The discerning Christian and teacher will be alert to and avoid these common interpretive pitfalls.

The following sections (items 1-13) of text are a quote from Biblical Twister: Techniques for the BSV.

"So you wanna be a false teacher. Well one of the first things that you’ve got to learn is some techniques for getting around the clear teaching of the Word of God and establishing your own unique doctrines.

Seriously, our new series on the “Badly Skewed Version” will document many of the ways that the Bible is being manipulated and distorted within the modern apostolic and prophetic community. Elsewhere, we have written in some detail about proper hermeneutics. In addition to knowing how to properly handle the scripture, it is important in a day of deception to be able to recognize some of the more common errors in Biblical handling that lead to false doctrine.

Scripture twisting is serious because it distorts and dilutes the pure message of the scriptures. It places words in God’s mouth that He did not say. It leads people into error.

It is important to note at the outset that everyone who teaches the Bible with regularity will occasionally make a mistake. We are all frail and human and we do nothing perfectly. However, what one is looking for is a pattern. When a teacher consistently mishandles the Word, one of two things is true. First, the teacher may be completely sincere but doesn’t know any better. Or two, the teacher knows exactly what he is doing but cares more about advancing his own agenda than being straight with the Scripture. From the standpoint of the learner, both are serious for as I wrote elsewhere, even a well-intentioned surgeon can still kill you if his skills are poor.

In this post, I would like to briefly list some of the more common scripture twisting devices employed by cults and false teachers in the hopes that this will enable our readers to become more discerning as they listen to the many teaching ministries within the body of Christ today. Since our new series on the BSV will be documenting scripture twisting within the prophetic community, I will draw most of my examples from the Evangelical world. When it comes to bad preaching, there is no shortage of material.

So without further adieu, let’s examine how to twist the Word into a theological pretzel.

1. Ignoring the Context: Context is the key to interpretation. The Bible can literally be made to justify anything if one takes it out of context. For example, in the infamous red book, Bill Gothard surmises that over-attention to clothing may be an attempt to compensate for an unwanted physical characteristic. He cites Matt. 6:27-28a, “Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?” Gothard assumes that many of Jesus’ disciples were short. Now, Gothard’s point may be good psychology and may even be true but it has nothing to do with this passage which context demonstrates is clearly teaching about the futility of worry.

2. Confused Definition: Words take on different connotations and meanings depending on their usage. In addition, words change meaning over time. For instance if one were to listen to music from the early 20th century and pour contemporary meaning into the word “gay” every time it appears in songs, one could erroneously conclude that the music was celebrating homosexuality. Not to pick on Bill Gothard (but he’s an easy target since he seems to go out of his way to use all of these techniques) but in the Basic Seminar Textbook on page 20, he writes, “Correct decisions are based on faith; that is, visualizing what God intends to do. ‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’ (Romans 14:23)”. Most Christians will recognize immediately that this is not the meaning of faith in this passage or any other in the Bible. Examples of this are literally rampant. Watch for this especially among teachers who insist on using the KJV. Language has changed a great deal since the KJV was translated. Make sure the teacher is defining words as they would have been at the time of the translation.

3. Selective Citation: The Bible is a very balanced book in its presentation of truth. False teachers will frequently only cite those passages that agree with their position without ever acknowledging that there are other passages that give a fuller picture. Since, we’re on a roll with Gothard, let’s take a look at his Men’s Manual. In this book, Gothard spends multiple pages advancing the idea that Christians should never incur debt. He cites multiple passages about the dangers of debt but never references a single passage of the many that command God’s people to loan to those in need. This is not a fair treatment of the subject.

4. Faulty Citation: Here the teacher simply alters the text during citation in order to change the meaning. He/she knows that most people won’t ever look the verse up. The Maharishi Mahest Yogi cites Psalm 46:10 as, “Be still and know that you are god.” Jehovah’s Witnesses insert the word “other” into the text at Colossians 1:15-16 in order to advance the idea that Jesus was the first creation of Jehovah.

5. Partial Citation: As the name indicates, the Scripture is manipulated simply by leaving part of the verse out so as to alter the meaning. Careful note should be taken whenever you see a teacher who repeatedly uses “…” in writing. Back to Gothard, the original version of “Basic Care Bulletin 11″ (it has been rewritten) which discusses the necessity of circumcision for all Christian males (a thoroughly unbiblical premise) only partially cites Acts 16:3 and Romans 3:1-2 to make them appear to support an ongoing mandate concerning circumcision. Page 5 reads, “Following the settling of this question, Paul affirmed the value and practice of circumcision by carrying it out on Timothy. Timothy was invited to minister with Paul, but first Paul ‘…took and circumcised him…’ (Acts 16:3). Paul also affirmed the many advantages of circumcision in his letter to the Christians in Rome: ‘What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much in every way” (Romans 3:1-2).

6. Collapsing Contexts: Just because two verses contain a common word does not mean that they are speaking about the same thing. At a pastor’s conference Bill Gothard discussed the supposed light that people see in the eyes of the young people involved in his ministry. He stated approximately the following, “Jesus said the light of the body is the eye and let your light shine before men.” Now, the only thing these two verses have in common is the word “light”.

7. Literalizing a figure of speech: The Bible uses a number of rhetorical and literary devices including, but not limited to, hyperbole, metaphor, simile and personification. These statements are not meant literally. God does not have feathers or wings. The trees of the field will not really clap their hands. An example of this error (and this is another teacher that commits many) is in Henry Wright’s book, “A More Excellent Way”. He writes, “Do you know what the Bible says is the cause of non-menopausal osteoporosis? I’ll give it to you-envy and jealousy are the cause of rotting of the bones. ‘A sound heart is the life of the flesh; but envy the rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30″

8. Overstating a metaphor: When the Bible uses a figure of speech it is meant to make a limited point. For instance, when Jesus declared, “I am the door”, He was not stating that everything true of a door is also true of Him. Jesus is not made of wood. He is not rectangular. etc. But I have seen teachers take statements like this one in Proverbs, “Go to the ant you sluggard” and discover 15 things we are to imitate about ants. In like manner, Gothard’s Basic Care Manual 2, on page 21, does this with John 5:53-58 to prove that we must only eat whole grain bread. “Perhaps the most important relationship which Christ made between Himself and bread is the need for accepting the whole essence of both. The heart of the grain is the wheat germ and the outer shell is the bran. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you…For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed…so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is the bread which came down from heaven….(John 6:53-58)”. To reduce this passage declaring our Lord’s supreme sacrifice and our need to receive it, to a discussion about bread is horrific.

9. Overstating an Example: Just because a certain thing happened a certain way in scripture at one point, does not mean that this is a divine principle and will occur the same way every time. For instance, the Bible indicates that some sickness is caused by personal sin. But the Bible does not indicate that all sickness is caused by personal sin.

10. Confusing what the Bible reports with what it mandates: The Bible reports the sinful decisions of men. This is not justification for repeating their errors. Even great men of faith made mistakes. Mormon fundamentalists will frequently refer to the passages of polygamy in the Old Testament as justification for the continued practice (in addition to D&C 132).

11. Proof-texting: Repeatedly citing verses from a variety of places in the Bible with no explanation or study. The passages are cited regardless of their true context or application. This is the “find a verse” method of Bible study. I know what I want to say so I go find a verse that I can jack-hammer into my message to support my point.

12. Mystical Interpretations: This is the seeing behind the words so common in prophetic circles. Paul Keith Davis takes the story of Joseph preparing for the famine by storing 1/5 of the crops each year as a mandate that the church in particular “storehouse cities” can demand in the spirit the souls of 1/5 of the population of their region.

13. Speculative Interpretations: The Bible tells us what we need to know but does not answer all of our curiosity. Scripture twisters fill in the gaps. Much, if not all, of the contemporary teaching on spiritual warfare comes from speculative approaches to passages and ends up delving into areas where the Bible has not given specific and clear teaching. The Word of God is holy. It demands care and respect. It must be approached properly if one is to avoid the “Badly Skewed Version”.

11. Conclusion

This brief paper represents merely an introduction to the teachings and odd application of Word of Faith/Positive Confession theology. The reader is encouraged to study the subject further. The attached bibliography is an attempt to provide a partial list of thoughtful readings by Christian leaders across denominational lines that have raised the red flag on these metaphysical teachings within the Body of Christ.

Every generation of Christians has its own false teachers and prophets to contend with, Jesus promised that. The present generation is no exception. Scripture demands that all things be tested, weighed, or judged by God’s inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word. It is incumbent upon church leadership to be like the Berean’s and teach the body of Christ spiritual discernment through sound hermeneutical principles, equipping them to know how to examine diligently all teachings to determine whether they are supported by Scripture or not. Individuals who teach the Word of God would do well to heed the apostle’s Paul, James and Peter at this point:

Be diligent to present yourself approved of God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 NAS

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16 NAS

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. James 3:1 NASB

…in his letters [Paul], speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:16 NASB

In summary, it was stated at the outset of this paper that no church is immune to the effects of Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings. Also, it was stated that most individuals involved with these teachings are innocent, not knowing that they are in error. It is recommended, therefore, that a slow and deliberate examination of teachings throughout the any church concerned about this issue take place, and where corrections back to biblical orthodoxy are needed, that they be done with a Christian spirit of gentleness, love, and great patience with a view toward genuine unity in the faith.

The Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 3:24-26

In the final conclusion of McConnell’s book, a self-proclaimed charismatic, the following sound and reasonable observation is made:

The main cause for these chronic doctrinal tangents is readily apparent. From its inception to the present, the independent charismatic movement has had a defective doctrine of revelation. We charismatics are not adequately committed to the principle that the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Correct doctrine comes from one source: apostolic teaching as it is expressed and preserved in the Holy Scriptures. The revelatory gifts of the Spirit—prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge—can and should have their place in the church, but these gifts were never intended to become an alternative source of doctrine, thereby subverting the teaching of the Lord Jesus and his apostles. Until we become seriously committed to the principle that all doctrine and practice must be derived from the hermeneutically sound exegesis of God’s Word, our movement will remain vulnerable to an endless series of prophetic revelators and their bizarre teachings.

What then must be done to prevent this from happening again in the charismatic movement? We need a doctrinal reformation based on the principles of the Reformation. We must reconstruct out doctrine of revelation in such a manner as to allow for the revelatory gifts of the Spirit that are our charismatic heritage, but also clearly insist upon the Reformation principle of sola Scriptura. As the Reformers knew so well, the Scriptures alone must rule the faith, doctrine, and practice of the church. As we charismatics have come to recognize, however, those same Scriptures teach that the revelatory gist of the Spirit also have their sphere in the life of the church, something the Reformers did not admit. This special insight may enable charismatics to say more than the Reformers said about the doctrine of revelation, but it does not allow us to say less.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albert Mohler. There Are No New Heresies—New Thought Isn’t New (www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=910).
Andrew Perriman. Faith, Health, and Prosperity: A Report on "Word of Faith" and "Positive Confession" Theologies (Gabriel Resources, 2004).
Bruce Barron. The Health and Wealth Gospel (InterVarsity Press, 1987).
Dan McConnell. A Different Gospel (Hendrickson Publishers, 1995).
Dave Hunt. The Seduction of Christianity (Harvest House Publishers, 1985).
Frederick H Cryer. Divination in Ancient Israel and its Near Eastern Environment: A Socio-Historical Investigation (Continuum International).
Gordon D. Fee. The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels (Frontline Publishing, 1985).
H. Terris Neuman. An Analysis of the Sources of the Charismatic Teaching of “Positive Confession” (unpublished paper, Wheaton Graduate School, 1980).
Hank Hanegraaff. Christianity in Crisis (Harvest House Publishers, 1993).
Hanegraaff. Counterfeit Revival (Word Publishing, 1997).
James M. Kinnebrew. The Charismatic Doctrine of Positive Confession: A Historical, Exegetical, and Theological Critique (doctoral dissertation, Mid-American Baptist Seminary, 1988).
James W. Sire. Scripture Twisting—Twenty Ways the Cults Misread the Bible (Zondervan Publishing, 1989).
Jay E. Adams. A Call to Discernment (Harvest House Publishers, 1987).
John MacArthur. The Gospel According to Jesus (Zondervan Publishing, 1994).
Jonathan Edwards. God’s Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men in the Works of Jonathan Edwards (Banner of Truth Trust, 1995 reprint).
Jose Stevens. Secrets of Shamanism: Tapping the Spirit Power Within You (Avon Publishing, 2004).
Michael Horton. Too Good to Be True (Zondervan Publishers, 2006).
Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Healing: What Does God Promise? (Multnomah Publishing, 1984).
Robert Bowman, Jr. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel (Baker Books, 2001).
Rhonda Bryne. The Secret (Atria Books, 2006).
Ron Rhodes. The Counterfeit Christ of the New Age Movement (Baker Book House, 1990).
Ruth A. Tucker. Another Gospel (Zondervan Publishing, 1989).
Steve Chalke. The Lost Message of Jesus (Zondervan Press, 2003).
Stevens. The Power Path: The Shaman's Way to Success in Business and Life (New World Library, 2002).
Walter Martin. The Kingdom of the Cults (Bethany House Publishers, 1985).

Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).