Hi Someone keeps refering people to Andrew Wommack and awmi.net in these forums.
I did a search for "andrew wommack heretical" and quickly discovered that he is a word-faith preacher and makes numerous statements that are in conflict with doctrine. You can easily see for yourself.
I just wanted people here to know to be wary of what his followers say. There is no reason to rehash that discussion on Copeland and his bunch again. There is plenty of good info out there for those who want all the details. Just go to biblebb.com and search Copeland or word-faith movement.
I like the style that Word of Faith people have. :applause: It is this incredulous attitude that says all you have to do is believe and you will be saved :yay:
and add it is so easy even a cave man can do it with half his brain tied behind his back. I am not part of the WOF ministries but I have seen enough to know they are no longer the lunitic fringe.
Joyce Meyer is my favorite. Yes, a woman preacher as well. The Copelands are OK but I don't care for Hagin Jr. He is too good ole boyish. Jesse Duplatis is down right hilarious.
Heretical? That may be too far to brand someone a heritic. Thats what they did in the dark ages when they burned them at the stake.
You should know better. And the sites that criticize IMO come off sounding like scoffers. The bible says in the last days scoffers will come as it was in the day of Noah. I would be offended too.
Sorry but- if the bible says one thing and someone teaches something that opposes that or twists it out of true meaning-- the is heretical. And the bible warns about heresy and false teachers as they condemn many to death.
"Pray to yourself, because I'm in your self and you're in Myself. We are one Spirit, saith the Lord."(2)
"I say this with all respect so that it don't upset you too bad, but I say it anyway. When I read in the Bible where he [Jesus] says, 'I Am,' I just smile and say, 'Yes, I Am, too!'"(3)
What group would say such outrageous things? What group would have the nerve to perpetuate such blasphemous doctrines? Could it be the Jehovah's Witnesses? the Mormons? the Unitarians? the New Agers? Could it be�the Christians?
The Word-Faith Teachers
The Word-Faith Teachers. This is the group that would seek to convince us that Jesus and His disciples were rich, that to be poor is a sin, to be sick is a sin, and that faith is a creative force that we can use to shape our world just like God supposedly created this world and universe that we live in through His "faith"!
Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Paul Crouch, John Avanzini, Robert Tilton, Fred Price, and Benny Hinn (who at the time of this writing has authored the number one best selling Christian book in America, "Good Morning, Holy Spirit") are just a few that spew out this theological vomit.
A Sampling of Error
To name just a few of the more outrageous things that have been said by these so-called teachers will stagger the senses:
John Avanzini is convinced that "Jesus had a nice big house",(4) "Jesus wore designer clothes",(5) and "Jesus was handling big money".(6)
Fred Price also claims that Jesus was rich and that He left us with an example to follow. That is why Fred drives a Rolls Royce; he is following Jesus' example!
Mr. Price also communicates one of the more sickening beliefs of the Word-Faith teachers which shocks even those with a mild amount of common sense. He says, "How can you glorify God in your body, when it doesn't function right?....What makes you think the Holy Ghost wants to live inside of a body where He can't see out through the windows, and He can't hear out the ears?"(7) This insulting and insensitive comment regarding the handicapped and crippled among us stirs up anger in even the most hardened of consciences. Yet this statement by Mr. Price is followed by exuberant applause and approval from his congregation (I would like to hear Mr. Price say this to Joni Eareckson, or Tony Melendez).
These kind of statements boggle our minds and stagger our senses. It would seem that most people would see the error in these teachings, yet millions follow these men with a militant passion.
The Tip of the Iceberg
If this was as far as the teaching of these men went, if their only error was that they think everyone should be wealthy and healthy, then we could maybe shrug this movement off as a novelty and realize that soon people with an ounce of common sense will see the error in these teachings. Unfortunately, these teachings are but the tip of the iceberg. They are but the rotten fruit of a foul, putrid, blasphemous and heretical root. The erroneous actions of the faith teachers is but the symptom of their twisted and diseased teachings concerning the nature of man and the nature of God. I think you will see, after examining what they believe in these two key areas, that we are not dealing with a Christian sect gone awry, but that we are dealing with a non-Christian heretical group that is as deadly in their doctrine as any major cult.
The Error Begins
Who is God to the faith teachers? Kenneth Copeland will tell you first off that "God is the biggest failure in the Bible...the reason you've never thought that is because He never said He was one".(8)
Copeland also teaches us that "God is a being that stands somewhere around 6'2", 6'3",(9) intimating that God has a body, an error subscribed to by the Mormons. Copeland states, without any biblical warrant, that the earth we live on is a "copy of the mother planet"(10) which God lives on, again imitating a Mormon doctrine. Never mind that the Bible plainly states that God is spirit (John 4:24), never mind that the Bible never says a thing about this earth being a copy of any so-called mother planet. Yet these arguments don't work with the faith teachers because they have supposedly received these teachings by direct revelation from God. Therefore to oppose them is to oppose God. These men have lifted themselves above any critical investigation yet they have forgotten the biblical mandate that anything not in accord with the Word of God must be rejected. We will examine shortly their reactions to any kind of criticism.
After the faith teachers have thoroughly belittled God to slightly more than an exalted man, they then proceed to exalt man to the status of God. Adam, to the faith teachers, was an exact duplicate of God. Copeland teaches, "Gods reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself. I mean a reproduction of Himself. He [Adam] was not a little like God, he was not almost like God, He was not subordinate to God even".(11) Copeland even states that "Adam is God manifested in the flesh",(12) a title that can only be truly applied to Christ Jesus alone.
The perceptive man can easily see that the problem here is a confusion about what it means to be made in the image of God. The faith teachers claim that being made in the image of God is synonymous to having the nature of God. To be made in the image of God is to be a "little god" they would admit. Yet is that what the church has commonly taught. The overwhelming consensus of the church has been that man is created in the image of God in the sense that he is a person as God is a person, possessing mind, will, and emotions, that he is reasonable, unique among creation, a ruler over creation, and capable of personal fellowship with God. We bear the image of God, but we do not share His nature or substance or make-up. We are not omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, or infinite. God is the only being that is holy in and of Himself (Rev. 15:4). We are made in His image and have dignity because of that, but we are not an exact duplicate of God in any sense of the word. That status is reserved for the Lord Jesus Christ alone (see Col 2:8, Heb. 1:3, 2 Cor. 4:4).
The Error Grows
Beginning with this foul root of error, the faith teachers proceed into more putrefying departures from the Christian faith. The faith teachers claim that when Adam fell in the garden he forfeited the nature of God and took on the nature of Satan. This error is but a link in the chain that connects the faith teachers exalting of man and belittling of God. You see, salvation for the faith teachers is not the removal of sin through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation for the faith teachers is not the forgiveness of sins and the restoring of a right relationship between God and man. Salvation for the faith teachers is instead the removal of the nature of Satan from man and the restoring of the nature of God in man.
How is the restoring of the nature of God in man to come about? The answer that the faith teachers give is that Jesus had to take on the nature of Satan on the cross. In fact, the whole sacrifice of Christ on the cross takes on a completely different emphasis and meaning for the faith teachers.
You see, it is not enough that Christ died physically in the theology of the Word-Faith teachers. In order to take away our Satanic nature and restore our God nature, Jesus Christ had to die spiritually as well as physically. He then had to descend to hell. Then while in hell he was born again and through His act of being born again He conquered the devil.
The Error Examined
You must follow the steps of this error very carefully for it is but the doorway into the single most blasphemous and heretical teaching of the Word-Faith teachers.
1) On the cross Jesus took upon Himself the nature of Satan. The Bible says that Jesus is God the Son, God manifest in the flesh. Jesus therefore possesses the attributes of deity such as omnipotence, omniscience, eternalness, immutability, etc. Though in His incarnation, He chose not to exercise all of His attributes, He still retained them. One of God's attributes which Jesus shares is His immutability. This means that God is unchangeable in His person. Although He acts in time, and establishes and changes relationships in time, His essence, which includes His perfect and holy attributes, never changes. God does not change (Mal. 3:6) and neither does Jesus. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb 13:8). But the faith-teachers begin their error by claiming that the Holy, undefiled, unchangeable Son of God became evil to the core taking upon Himself the nature of Satan. Blasphemy! Our holy God does not become unholy.
2) Jesus died spiritually. Again the unchanging God-man did not die spiritually, but physically. 1 Pet. 3:18 states that Jesus was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit. Jesus did not need to die spiritually as well as physically to gain our salvation. The offering of His body was enough. Colossians 1:13 states "He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death"; Hebrews 13:12, "therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood"; Hebrews 10:10, "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ". Was Jesus lying when He cried upon the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30)? Was there yet more to be done to secure our salvation? That comforting cry from the lips of our blessed Lord can be nothing but true and our salvation was completely bought and paid for at this most climactic moment of all of history!
3) Jesus descended into hell a mortal man. Seeing that there is no need for Christ to have done any more to procure our salvation then what had already been accomplished, this point becomes nothing more than an embellishment to the truth. Jesus Christ did not suffer in hell. He descended to Hades, to the abode of the dead. There was no need for Him to do anymore for our salvation. Satan had already been defeated and conquered (Col 2:14-15). Also, Jesus was not, nor ever will be, a mere mortal human being. To be a mere mortal, He would have to stop being God, and that is one thing that is against God's nature and attributes.
4) Jesus was born again. Jesus had no need to be born again. Jesus was not a lost and hell-bound sinner who needed regeneration. He was the Almighty, Eternal, and Holy Son of God. The faith teachers will drag Jesus to the lowest depths in order that their teaching will have at least a hint of logic. This idea that Jesus was born again is the crucial link for the faith teachers that enables them to cry out at the end of their wicked formula for salvation, "I am a little god". Observe.
5) Jesus defeated the devil by being born again. We now have Jesus, a mere mortal man, suffering in hell. Jesus then decides to be born again. He defeats the devil and becomes the first-born among many brethren. Now here is where the Scripture twisting really becomes ludicrous. Copeland states that nowhere in the Bible after the book of Acts is Jesus called the unique and only begotten Son of God. He then twists Romans 8:29 to mean that Jesus is the first born again man. This first reborn man, Jesus, has set the pattern for a new race to come. And according to the Faith Teachers, we are that new race to come. We are equal to Jesus for we are born again just as He was. Do you see what has happened here? The faith teachers have so suppressed the deity of Jesus that they have, in essence, denied it. Copeland goes the farthest in this revelation He supposedly received from Jesus, "Don't be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you're God. The more you get to be like Me, the more they're going to think that way of you. They crucified Me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah. That's what you're doing."(13)
The Jesus of the faith teachers has so little in common with the Jesus of the Bible that it is clear to anyone with a grain of discernment that the Jesus of the faith teachers is not the Jesus of the Bible but instead is the kind of religious decoy that Paul warned us to be on the lookout for. "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you put up with it easily enough" (2 Cor. 11:3-4). And we are putting up with it. We are taking this so calmly. Another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit is mocking the true Jesus, the true gospel, and the true Spirit and we are so tolerant of it that we allow it on our TV set and call it Christian!?
The Fruit Of The Error
Why is it so important for the Faith-Teachers to ignore such explicit passages as "It is finished," etc? Why must they have Jesus dying spiritually as well as physically, entering hell as a mortal man capable of failure, and being born again to defeat the devil? The reason is that the faith teachers have a diminished view of Jesus. When Jesus is downplayed as nothing more than an anointed man, it brings the faith teachers up to the level of Jesus. In fact, both Kenneth Copeland and Fred Price have publicly stated that if it was just the physical death of Jesus on the cross that saves us then anyone could have done it. Kenneth Copeland says, "And the whole New Testament calls Him the first-born....The word "born" began to ring in my spirit; it just began to roll around: born, born. I never had let Him go through that in my own thinking....And while I was laying there thinking about these things, the Spirit of God spoke to me. And He said, "Son, realize this: Now follow Me in this, don't let your tradition trip you up." He said, "Think this way: A twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain." And I threw my Bible down. I said, "What?" He said, "A born-again man defeated Satan. The first-born of many brethren defeated him." He said, "You are the very image and the very copy of that one." I said, "Goodness gracious, sakes alive!" And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, "You don't mean--you couldn't dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?" He said, "Oh, yeah, if you'd had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could have done the same thing, 'cause you're a reborn man, too.""(14) No mention is made of the sinlessness of Christ. No reverence is shown toward the unique virgin birth of Christ. See the depths to which the Word-Faith teachers have desecrated our Lord. Jesus Christ could pay for our sins because He was sinless, being uniquely born of a virgin, and thus not sharing in the sin nature of Adam and his descendants, a fact to which neither Copeland nor anyone can likewise boast of.
The sickening outcome of this wickedness is that the Gospel message is no more "Turn to the cross of Jesus, ye wretched sinners, and plead for God's forgiveness. Find rest for your sin and guilt beneath the blessed cross of the great and mighty Savior." Instead the faith Teacher's gospel message is, "You shall be like God"! The original lie of the devil is now the gospel message and is broadcast around the world for all to hear! He must be pleased! And the end result is the blasphemous cries of those who subscribe to this wickedness. Kenneth Hagin: "You are as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was...the believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth".(15) Benny Hinn: "Are you ready for some real revelation knowledge....you are god"(16) "You are a little god on earth running around".(17) Kenneth Copeland: "I say this with all respect so that it don't upset you too bad, but I say it anyway, when I read in the Bible where he [Jesus] says, 'I Am,' I just smile and say, 'Yes, I Am, too!'"(18) "You don't have a god in you, you are one."(19) Paul Crouch: "Do you know what else that's settled then tonight? This hue and cry and controversy that has been spawned by the devil to try to bring dissension within the body of Christ that we are gods. I am a little god. I have His name. I am one with Him. I'm in covenant relation. I am a little god. Critics be gone!"(20)
A Time For Action
Am I just theologically splitting hairs here? If this were a matter of when and how to baptize, or how many times a year should the Lord's Supper be observed, or whether the rapture was post, mid, or pre-trib, then I could rightfully be accused of that. Yet this is not a minor issue. At stake here is the very character of our God and Savior Jesus Christ and the great salvation that He has given us. If you have the wrong Jesus, you have the wrong salvation and it should be clear from the evidence presented above that the Jesus of the Word-Faith movement is a far cry from the Jesus of the Bible!
When Shirley MacClaine chants over and over on national TV , "I am God, I am God!" we evangelicals go into an uproar. Yet when those who claim to be in our own ranks say, "I am a little god", we don't even flinch, but rather applaud them and their supposed evangelical efforts. Michael Horton has rightly written, "It must cause our heavenly Father much grief that we would consider unity more important than the One in whom we are united. It must quench the Spirit to see Christians treating blasphemies, heresies, and scandalous statements as though they were no more than odd "emphases."
The simple fact is that it is not the ones that are zealous for sound doctrine and orthodoxy who are the divisive ones. The Word-Faith teachers are the ones who are guilty of being divisive. They are fully aware that what they are teaching is relatively new. They constantly ask us to put away our traditions and forget our creeds. Benny Hinn says to an audience, "Are you ready for some real revelation knowledge?" then proceeds to inform them "you are god".(21) Hinn also, after teaching his audience that God consists of nine distinct substances, boasts "You think you're in this church to hear things you've heard for the last 50 years?".(22)
The Word-Faith teachers expect everyone to accept their authority and teachings without criticism or testing. Whenever anyone challenges their teachings they promote division instead of discussion. Before his death, Dr. Walter Martin sought to dialogue with Kenneth Copeland over his teachings, yet Copeland refused to meet with Martin. Fred Price has publicly stated that he will not meet with a critic unless he has as many followers as him. Last Spring, the Christian Research Institute, a very reputable and trustworthy counter-cult and apologetic ministry, devoted a week of radio programs to exposing the errors of the Word-Faith movement. Immediately after the shows were aired, Paul Crouch had this to say about CRI during his televised "Praise-a-thon" program amid shouts of "amen" and "you tell 'em brother" from the studio audience:
"I think God's given up on a lot of that old rotten Sanhedrin religious crowd, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. I think they're damned and on their way to hell and I don't think there's any redemption for them...the heresy hunters that want to find a little mote of illegal doctrine in some Christian's eye and pluck that little mote out of their eye when they've got the whole forest in their own lives and in their own eyes. I say to hell with you! Oh hallelujah. Get out of God's way, quit blocking God's bridges or God's gonna shoot you if I don't! I refuse to argue any longer with any of you out there. Don't even call me. If you want to argue doctrine, if you want to straighten out somebody over here, if you want to criticize Ken Copeland for his preaching on faith, or Dad Hagin. Get out of my life! I don't even want to talk to you or hear you. I don't want to see your ugly face! Get out of my face in Jesus' name."(23)
Notice that there is no desire to dialogue about the issues. Notice that Paul Crouch doesn't explain why they believe what they believe and subsequently why CRI was in error for presenting the programs. All that Paul does is attack the people, he does not give an account for the hope that is in him. The Faith teachers erroneous and blasphemous teachings are what are promoting division. It is not those who criticize them and seek to dialogue with them in a reasonable matter that are to blame. It is the childish and unresponsive Word-Faith teachers that are to blame.
But you say, what about the good they do? Dear friend, no one gets everything wrong! Even the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, the New Age, etc. get a few things right every once in while. But isn't that the substance of deception? The skin of the truth stuffed with a lie. An appearance of righteousness yet inside rottenness and dead man's bones. No, the evil propagated by these teachers so outweighs the good that we must reject them entirely. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
I, for one, am embarrassed by the Word-Faith teachers and I am ashamed to be represented by them. These men represent Christianity to millions. They present a false picture of what it means to be a Christian and I think it is abhorrent. Michael Horton has rightly asked, "Do those who occasionally view televangelistic programming know that evangelical Christianity offers an intelligent interpretation of and hope for human existence? Does the average unbeliever come away from an ordinary telecast with a better grasp of the substance of the Christian faith?" The Word-Faith teachers and Trinity Broadcasting Network on the whole defeat their very purpose. They seek to evangelize but they are only preaching to the choir. The vast majority of people who watch already claim to be Christian, and the occasional non-believer that tunes in is quick to see the unreality presented and the apparent con-game that is going on. And to make matters worse, the sparse amount of teaching that is usually presented to the Christian is of the lethal type that we have been discussing and instead of strengthening the body of Christ, it poisons it.
What should we do? I see at least three things that can be done and they are not minor operations. When a cancer is first recognized in a body, the procedure to remove it is quick, easy, and relatively painless if the cancer has been caught in its early stages. But when a cancer has gone unnoticed for years and has been allowed to nurture and infiltrate an entire body, then the procedure to remove it will be much more complicated, slow, and painful. The Word-Faith teaching is a spiritual cancer that has infiltrated the church to its very marrow. We must take action now and it will not be pleasant.
First, the most obvious thing to do is to not support any of these ministries monetarily. Don't watch any of the Word-Faith teachers programs and encourage and warn others to do the same. Don't buy their books. If your local Christian bookstore carries their material let them know that you will not frequent their stores if they continue to carry this spiritual cancer.
Second, take a stand for Jesus! Why won't the church take a stand? I have asked myself that question over and over. Are we afraid to attack evil in the supposed name of unity? Is it that we are so far gone that we don't figure that it matters what you believe as long as you "love Jesus"? If so, let's quit calling other religions false and accept the cults into our fold. Let's bring in the Jehovah's Witnesses who love their Jesus (even though to them he is the archangel Michael, the first and greatest created being). Let's bring in the Mormons, and the Unitarians, etc. Let's say good-bye to the creeds and sound doctrine. Let's forget the stern warnings of the Apostle Paul to beware of false teachers and false doctrine which spreads like gangrene. Let's all just "love Jesus" (whoever that Jesus might be to us)? NO! We cannot forget the creeds, we will not abandon truth. We must obey our Lord when He tells us to "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits" (Mat. 7:15-16). The fruit of the Word-Faith teachers is none other than the fruit that the devil deceived our ancient mother Eve with. It is still as deadly and still as putrid in God's sight as it was then. The Word-Faith teachers and their movement must be actively opposed and rejected as non-Christian! Who will stand for Christ?
Third, this would not have come about if more Christians knew their Bible and what it taught. This would not have come about if more Christians knew what the Bible has to say about the nature of man, the nature of God, the doctrine of the trinity, etc. It is time to return to teaching sound doctrine so that the common Christian man can be armed against error. It is time to study the great foundational doctrines of our faith so that we won't be deceived by religious charlatans. Doctrine is not just for theologians. Words like propitiation, sanctification, justification, trinity, incarnation, predestination, redemption, etc. are not just useless theological words but are the very foundations of the faith.
It's time to use our minds again. It's time to quit being so emotional, mystical, and man-centered in our doctrine. It's time that Christians took some in-depth journeys into the wonder of the Holy Scriptures to find out about truth and reality. Christianity is truth, and as Art Lindsley has rightly stated, "There is nothing that produces emotion like the truth". Do you want a vibrant growing faith? Search the Scriptures. Do you seek truth, real truth? The kind of truth that infiltrates every area of your life with purpose and meaning and joy! You won't find it on a TV station. You'll find it when you spend time alone in an attitude of worship and prayer with an open Bible and the very God of the Universe teaching you and loving you through His blessed Holy Spirit applying His most Holy word directly to your life. Theology is not always entertaining but it is always enriching. It is a lot easier to turn on that TV and turn off your mind but you'll be at a loss because of it, and you will miss out on one of the most wonderful blessings of life: communion with the Living Lord.
Conclusion
Stated most simply, the error of the faith movement is that they exalt man and decrease God. They exalt man to God status and reduce God to man's status. They are aware that what they are teaching is unorthodox and controversial to say the least, yet they have no wish to change their tune. They refuse to be accountable to anyone.
No man is an island unto himself. These men who are spokesmen for the Christian faith to the public and represent the Lord Jesus to millions through their television programs are preaching a different Jesus, a different gospel, and a different spirit than what is revealed to us in Holy Scripture.
The Apostle Paul has some strong words for these men and with them I close. I pray we will take them to heart and that the Spirit that so moved Paul to action against false teachings will move within us to produce in us a holy zeal for truth!
"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:6-9)
REFERENCES
1. Kenneth Copeland, "The Force Of Love" tape # 02-0028
2. Kenneth Copeland, "Believer's Voice of Victory", Feb. 1987, p.9
3. Kenneth Copeland, "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast on TBN, recorded 7/9/87
4. John Avanzini, "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast on TBN, recorded 1/20/91
5. John Avanzini, "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast on TBN, recorded 1/20/91
6. John Avanzini, "Praise the Lord" broadcast on TBN, recorded 9/15/88
7. Fred Price, "Is God Glorified Through Sickness?" tape # FP605
8. Kenneth Copeland, "Praise-a-thon", broadcast on TBN, recorded 1988
9. Kenneth Copeland, "Spirit, Soul, and Body", tape # 01-0601
10. Kenneth Copeland, "Following the Faith of Abraham" tape # 01-3001
11. Kenneth Copeland, "Following the Faith of Abraham" tape # 01-3001
12. Kenneth Copeland, "Following the Faith of Abraham" tape # 01-3001
you should not besmirch others because they believe differently than you. I see no heresy in the Word of Faith movement. But I know they have been the whipping boy of Christendom for a while.
I am not part of Word of Faith but Joyce Meyer spoke at our church once during a conference. Some would say she is a heretic for simply preaching the Word of God, as a woman.
As for faith?: There are three levels of Faith.
The bible says we are each given a measure of Faith, Romans 12:3.
Jesus also said His disciples sometimes had little Faith, Matthew 8:26.
And there is great Faith. Mat 8:10,
"When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, �I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." NIV
The idea of mountain moving Faith did not come from Ken Copeland. Jesus makes it personal in His answer to the solider. Mat 8:13
"Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."
What you believe and how you believe matter to God. Jesus is not a Heretic.
Still some disagreements work themselves out.
1 Corinthians 11:18-19,
"For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." KJV
And the false gospel of which you speak in Galatians were the legalistic Jews who said the Gentiles must follow the Mosaic Law and become Circumcised. It had nothing to do with having faith in your faith. In fact these legalistic Jews were the same people Jesus chastises while talking to the Centurion,
Matt 8:10-12,
"10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him,
"I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
" 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour."
Those cast into outer darkness were the same legalistic Jews thinking everyone else should be like them.
An unexamined belief is not worth holding. But religion and spirituality can be a touchy subject even so. There is often a great deal of emotion wrapped up in religion. Your reaction to this article may be favorable, or it may not be, based on an emotional reaction. Whatever your initial reaction, our challenge to you is for you to set aside the emotional aspect of your perspective for the moment, and examine whatever you believe about God in light of the actual available evidence.
There is an old saying that we should not discuss religion or politics in polite company. We disagree with that idea! Americans, especially, have a tradition of open dialogue and debate. It is through legitimate civil discussion that we can grow intellectually and spiritually.
Sometimes we shy away from discussions of serious issues with friends for fear of offending them or embarrassing ourselves. We believe, however, that it is important and meaningful to discuss tough issues with friends. Our experience has been, that when we discuss significant issues with people we care about, in a manner that respects the other's views, those friendships are deepened. Issues of theology are very interesting and can lead to great discoveries and friendships. The very process of truth-seeking is a marvelous experience in itself.
We hope this article will encourage dialogue among friends. Of course, it is important to approach such discussions with an attitude of sincerity and vulnerability. The most productive plane for these discussions is to base them on reason and evidence rather than dogma.
No religion is held on the basis of pure blind faith�otherwise it would be superstition rather than faith. Certainly most folks have what they think are valid reasons for their beliefs about God. So there really should be no logical reason why someone would be reluctant to discuss his or her religious views!
The only potential problem is the way that such discussions take place. There is a wrong way to go about it. An attitude such as the following is as unproductive as it is unreasonable:
"Well, that's the way it is. I believe what I believe just because I want to believe it. And furthermore, don't confuse me with the facts!"
A more rational and productive attitude is:
"You know, I have always been under the impression that such and such is true. But, I know that there are a lot of views out there. What do you believe about God? In fact, I would be happy for you to try to convince me that what you believe is true! If you'd like to chat about it, we may decide to agree to disagree. But that's OK. We'll both learn something in the process."
Spiritual truth is too important not to discuss. It is more important than "your pride or my pride." It is in that spirit of love and truth-seeking that we offer the thoughts in this article. So, you might want to email this article to a friend or relative to strike up a conversation about matters of faith.
Top of page Introduction
The Bible is a document that is really not that hard to understand. And yet many groups twist it this way and that, giving it different interpretations. God must look down on us humans and "shake his head." How could we so badly mess up what He has clearly given us?
One of the objections to Christianity is that there are many different groups all claiming to be Christians. And yet we all give different messages. How could there be so much disagreement if Christianity is reliable?
Well, the simple answer is sin. It is man's sin that spoils it. We are all subject to it (Romans 3:23). The real problem with doctrinal divides is not what the Bible says or does not say. It is our proclivity to read into it what we think it ought to say based on pre-conceived notions or tradition.
The purpose of this article is to give a defense for the historic orthodox Christian faith. This has been an important part of the church from its very beginning. The writers of the New Testament over and over warn about false teaching and aberrations from the true Christian faith. The circle of those to be considered Christians is pretty large. But there are groups that simply cannot be considered within the circle. These are the cultic or clearly heretical groups.
In addition, there are groups or individuals that have moved far enough away from the center that we believe need to re-examine their views. These include the liberals on one extreme, and the legalists on the other. We are not saying that that these folks are not Christians. But a term that might be used is heterodox, that is, unorthodox or out of the mainstream.
But we must be careful in all of this. This history of Christianity is such that some have drawn the circle too small. All sorts of charges have gone back and forth in the name of Christ. And this is not good. Charges of heresy have been unfounded. Indeed, the definition of heresy has even changed over time. While we have moved beyond burning people at the stake, Christians still often harbor harsh feelings toward the views of other good Christians. We have personally felt the weight of people that hold to views like a trapped elephant. We have seen how people can consider themselves a member of their denomination first, and Christians second.
This is not healthy for those involved or for the church. The Bible calls us to unity John 17:20-23; Romans 15:5-7; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 3:12-16. Sectarianism is a sin. There is, in fact, a great deal of lattitude for differing views on many subjects within Christianity. But there is a line that must be drawn in the sand, and we will try to draw it.
Top of page Orthodox Christianity, Essential Beliefs
Over the centuries, Christian leaders have agreed on certain elements that are key to the faith. While this is not necessarily all-inclusive, below is a list of the essential beliefs that are consistent with "being a Christian."
�There is one God. While there is only one God, he exists in three persons�Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, these three manifestations of God exist in one divine being or essence.
�God, the Father, made everything that exists�visible and invisible�and continues to sustain it.
�Jesus Christ, is true man, and at the same time is of the same nature and essence as God the Father. As the Son of God he is truly divine. That Jesus was born of a virgin is supporting evidence of his dual nature of both man and God. He lived a perfect life while on earth, having come to suffer and die for mankind as a ransom for our sins. After he died on the cross and was buried, he came back to life on the third day after his death (was bodily resurrected), an event which had been predicted in the Bible.
�God, the Holy Spirit, is also true God and is to be worshipped and glorified as such. The Holy Spirit invites each person to partake of Christ�s blessings which are offered to us, and to experience a personal relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us the saving knowledge of Jesus, our Savior, so that we can trust and believe and rejoice in Him. The Holy Spirit also comforts, guides, and sustains us in the faith.
�God is perfectly holy and perfectly just. Mankind, from Adam on, has separated himself from God by sin and thus deserves death and eternity in hell. Nobody is good enough to meet God's standard of holiness.
�Salvation is the condition of being saved from sin, death, and God's wrath. Because Jesus lived a perfect life in our stead, by his crucifixion to take the punishment for our sins, and by overcoming death in his bodily resurrection�believers can confidently look forward to eternal life in heaven. Salvation is given by grace through a living faith in Christ; that is, it is a free gift from God to all who repent and trust in Christ as Savior and Master.
�Baptism is a means, an instrument of, or a sign of acceptance of God's grace.
�Jesus' own teaching and his attitude toward the total truthfulness and supreme authority of the Bible�God's inspired Word�make the Scriptures our final rule for faith and practice.
�All believers in Christ are members of one spiritual body, the Church.
Top of page "Christian" Cults
While there may be several kinds of cults, we are interested in the "pseudo-Christian cults." These are the groups that call themselves Christians, but really are not.
There are several characteristics of a cult. Here is a partial list of characteristics that are common to them. Every cult does not necessarily have all these characteristics, but all cults have some of them.
�Typically, there is a central human character who has a controlling influence over the cult members even years after his death. The Heaven's Gate cult, the Fundamental Latter Day Saints (FLDS) group, or the Jim Jones cult are examples.
�Behavior is cliquish to the extreme. They teach that if you are not a member of their particular group, you will not go to heaven.
�They participate in the esoteric, i.e. they may claim to have a specialized and secret knowledge that can only be apprehended by those in the group.
�Another tactic is to withhold aspects of their theology until you are well entrenched within the group. You may not learn about the strange and aberrant aspects of their teachings up front. Mormons fit into this category.
�They put extreme pressure on their members to stay in the group. They may teach, for example, that to leave their church body condemns the person, sometimes even to a hell even worse than if they had never been part of their church in the first place. In some cases, leaving the church also ostracizes you from your own family and friends. This is especially true of both Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.
�They overbearingly warn you against reading religious materials that are not published by their group. This tactic is a method of mind control. God wants us to seek Him freely (2 Corinthians 3:17). Intellectual honesty begins with a willingness to consider evidence contrary to ones current view. A forced adherence to a belief system is artificial, thus not honoring to God. Any group that discourages you from reading other materials in order to seek the truth is almost certainly a cult. Jehovah's Witnesses are the prime example of this.
�Cults typically use Christian terminology, but pour different meanings into the words. This is why they so easily trap people. For example, heaven, hell, salvation, Jesus, faith, gospel, etc., may have very different meanings than those of the historic orthodox Christian faith (Galatians 1:6-9). Mormons are especially guilty of this.
�Thus, cults usually have a different Jesus than the one of the historic Christian faith. Mormons, for example, use Jesus in the name of their organization (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) but they have constructed a Jesus far different from the one in the Bible. For example, they say that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer (the devil)�denigrating the unique position of Jesus. The Bible warns about this very serious error (2 Corinthians 11:4). Mormons also say that Jesus is merely the "god" of planet earth, and that there are many gods�one for each planet. Mormons thus really teach polytheism, which is contrary to the God of the Bible. The Bible teaches that there is only one God (who appears to us in the three persons of the Trinity).
�Cults invaribly teach that salvation is by your good works. But what makes Christianity unique versus all other religions is the teaching that salvation (entry into heaven) is by faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). While orthodox Christianity teaches that nobody is good enough to earn their way to heaven, every cult has developed some system of obedience that the member must follow in order to get to heaven. Biblical Christianity teaches the importance of good works in the life of the believer, good works being an evidence of a true saving faith. But good works come as a result of faith�not as an initial requirement for eternal salvation. (See I've lived a pretty good life. I'll go to heaven, if there is one, won't I? and our Christian Cram Course).
�Pseudo-Christian cults typically use the Bible as one of their source texts. But they emphasize other materials�books or pamphlets�published by their own group, as being on par with the Bible or as the last word in biblical interpretation. When you study these other works, you will find that they conflict with the Bible in key areas. (A basic law of logic says that if two things contradict each other, both cannot be true.) Such contradictions discredit these teachings. Truth is internally consistent, not contradictory. Mormons, for example, have other books besides the Bible.
�Jehovah's Witnesses have their own version of the Bible. This is another tip-off that something might be amiss. Scholarly examinations of their New World Translation Bible have shown it to be filled with purposeful errors designed to mislead the reader and conform to pre-conceived theological ideas.
�Others have simply chosen to deny the authority of Scripture, choosing what to believe is true and discard or ignore what they don't like. This may be particularly deceiving as these folks may actually be part of "main line" Christian denominations. While some might merely call their teaching heretical, other may go further and consider them cultic.
Top of page Heresy
Heresies are viewpoints of professing Christians that differ flagrantly from the Bible. These differences are unabashedly at odds with Scripture, not merely differences of opinion about interpretation. An example of a modern heretic is now-retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong. Spong has called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief, away from theism and from the afterlife as a reward for human behavior (Spong). He rejects the truth claims of such Christian docrines as the virgin birth and even the bodily resurrection of Jesus. This man's views are heretical, and should be condemned by all Christians as such.
Top of page Heterodoxy
There is a good bit of wiggle room within the historic orthodox Christian faith. That is, there are a number of doctrinal issues that Christians can debate but not divide over. While we believe that there are correct and incorrect interpretations on these issues, we admit that they are not absolutely clear in Scripture. Some of the issues that are legitimately debatable from Scripture include: infant baptism, women in ministry, use of creeds, worship style, the precise nature of man�s free will, and eschatology (views about what the Bible calls the "end of the age"), etc.
Thus some beliefs may be incorrect, but are not crucial to being a true Christian. Our plea is that we need to be most charitable to our Christian brothers as regards to these issues. Let's show unity, melting down the denominational barriers, going arm and arm to proclaim the gospel! We can debate these issues and others vigorously without dividing over them.
But, outside of the above listed areas are certain concepts�such as the nature of man (his sinfulness), the nature of God (his holiness), the divinity of Christ, the uniqueness of Christ, and the authority of Scripture�that should not be compromised. The central issue for Christianity is that salvation has been attained for all who believe on Jesus. Since salvation is by grace through faith, it is crucial to have a correct understanding of the object of that faith.
May we here offer a somewhat broader view of who is a Christian. This view is similar to those offered by the founders of the Restoration Movement in the early 1800's�Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone.
We consider to be our Christian brother or sister anyone who:
1) believes and confesses that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, trusting in Him alone as personal Savior (and by necessity accepts the authority of the Bible),
2) repents of his sins (thus acknowledging and forsaking his sins), and
3) surrenders to Jesus as Lord�that is, Master�seeking to conform his life to the will of God (as evidence of a saving faith, as best he understands God�s will and his duty).
Here is where we draw the circle of legitimate believers. Yet, there are those within Christendom who espouse views that put them on the edge of this circle, and even outside the edge. We would call these heterodox beliefs. These generally fall into two broad categories: left wing liberalism and right-wing legalism. Those of the liberal persuasion tend to interpret the Bible in such a broad way as to include views contradictory to biblical teaching. Those of the legalist persuasion tend to interpret the Bible in such a narrow way as to exclude reasonable interpretations that do not agree with their ultra-strict views. Thus liberals are too inclusive, and legalists are too exclusive.
Both viewpoints have certain teachings that are, in fact, outside the bounds of the historic orthodox Christian faith. The confusing thing is that both groups are found within denominations that are recognized as mainstream. Unorthodox beliefs have crept into the midst of some mainstream denominations.
Both extremes are motivated by the best of intentions. Liberalism is often motivated by a heart-felt desire to be inclusive; thus liberals are marvelously people-oriented. Legalism is often motivated by a sincere desire to be faithful to God; thus legalists are zealously committed to their doctrine.
Actually, both extremes tend to do the same thing�pick the passages of Scripture they like and dismiss the ones that seem to disagree with their pre-conceived notions. You might say that they tear out the pages of the Bible that they don't like. The correct way to interpret Scripture is to harmonize all of it. In this way, there should be no problematic passages. That is, there should be no passages that have to be brushed aside as not agreeing with the ones you prefer.
Tim Keller in his book The Reason for God points out that both liberals and legalists are self-righteous! He says: "In a religious framework, if you feel you are living up to your chosen religious standards, then you feel superior and disdainful toward those who are not following in the true path. This is true whether your religion is of a more liberal variety (in which case you will feel superior to bigots and narrow-minded people) or of a more conservative variety (in which case you will feel superior to the less moral and devout)."
Or as K. C. Moser pointed out, liberals and legalists ultimately come back around to meet each other. Both tend, in different ways, to deny the atonement (the fact and importance of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins). Both liberals and legalists ultimately affirm that human acts or experience are the grounds of our relationship with God. Rather than trusting in the person and work of Christ crucified, both liberalism and legalism entail some form of self-righteousness or works righteousness�as we will see below.
Liberalism�Six Critical Issues
We see several issues that are problematic for liberals:
1. The Authority of Scripture. A wave of liberalism swept Christianity from the so-called German school of "higher criticism" in the Nineteenth Century. A result of this was to no longer accept the Bible as inerrant (without error). Or some may say that the Bible is not authoritative on matters of science and history, while maintaining an inspired view on matters of faith. Some may say that the Bible "contains the word of God but is not the Word of God." The problem with all this should be obvious. If you start throwing things out, where do you stop? Well, you don't, as the obnoxious result of John Shelby Spong's theology (above) shows.
The unfortunate part of this is that there is no need to doubt the reliability and authority of Scripture. It has been looked at in depth for thousands of years and there is adequate evidence to accept the Bible as trustworthy. (We have various articles on our site about this, such as MAPS and Modern Scholarship.) If you as a liberal think, for example, that there are errors or contradictions in the Bible, we challenge you to cite specific situations. Much has been written to show that all challenges to the Bible have been answered to a degree which should be satisfactory to a reasonable person. Indeed, there has never been a time in history to have more confidence in the Bible. (See the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy signed by nearly 300 noted modern scholars.) By the way, here is a site that addresses all known challenges to the Bible: Bible Query.
Liberal Christians are faced with a serious problem. They consider themselves to be Christians, yet are unwilling to affirm the authority of Scripture. While it is not necessary to view the Bible as inerrant to be a Christian, at the very least, the Bible must be a basically reliable and trustworthy historical document. Without this basis, to claim to be a Christian would be suspect if not irrational, since everything we know about Christianity comes from the Bible.
We should be reminded not to tamper with God's word (2 Corinthians 4:2) as it is indeed inspired by God himself (2 Timothy 3:14-16; 2 Peter 1:20-21, 3:16).
2. The Social Gospel. After having thrown out much of the Bible, liberals found themselves with little to proclaim. So they turned to social action as redemptive. Social action is a proper part of the Christian life, but it is not the gospel. The gospel is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of the sins of fallen man (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). This gospel is the central theme of the Bible! Saint Paul has multiple warnings about preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Corinthians 11:4). See our article What is the Gospel. By preaching a gospel of works by the social gospel, liberalism actually becomes another form of legalism! Liberalism sees our reconciliation to God as a subjective exprerience found through the communal or universal love of God apart from the objective or propitiatory work of Christ on the cross. As a result, it is our human love which reconciles us to God. This is works righteousness, thus self-righteousness!
3. Unbelief in Miracles. Liberals want to give naturalistic causes for biblical miracles, or discount them all together. This is a dangerous tact. This is the view of atheists! If God exists, miracles are possible. Indeed, if God can create the universe from nothing, the miracles of Jesus such as turning water into wine should be a piece of cake. Further more, Jesus himself insisted that his claim of divinity was based on his miracles (John 10:25, 38; John 14:11; John 15:24)! To discount his miracles turns Jesus into a fraud. (Or if you deny that Jesus said these things, it turns the Bible into a fraud). Jesus' greatest miracle was his resurrection. If one denies this one, what do you think about Paul insisting that doing so turns the Christian faith into a sham�and further that Christians are most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15)? Isn't Paul saying that if you deny the miracles of Jesus that Christ that you are wasting your time pretending to be a Christian? See our further comments about miracles.
4. Redefinition of the Word Justice. The definition of justice is the administration of punishment or reward. The Bible makes it clear that God, being perfectly just, has both aspects of wrath and of mercy. Liberal-minded Christians may emphasize only one aspect of the nature of God�his mercy. But to ignore God's wrath is to ignore huge chunks of Scripture. Try doing a Bible word search under wrath. The tragedy of this view is that one cannot understand God's mercy unless he first understands God's law and wrath. Since we are saved from something�specifically God's wrath�the message of salvation makes no sense if the hearer does not understand from what we are saved. We think that if you are not preaching the wrath of God, you are not preaching the gospel.
5. Misuse of Matthew 7 Concerning Judging. Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." (Matthew 7:1). This is one of the most quoted verses of Scripture. Opponents of the Bible may never have ever read the Bible, but they know this verse! Liberals twist this verse to mean that we cannot know the truth. Obviously this is ridiculous. The whole Bible is about making right judgments. In context, Jesus in this passage is telling us how to judge; that is, not to be hypocritical (Matthew 7:5). Jesus is condemning those who make public pronouncements against an activity that they themselves participate in. Upon reflection, it is the liberals who are breaking this command, as they are the first to judge conservatives! Of course, we cannot condemn others, because only the Lord has full knowledge of a person's actions and motives (John 5:22; Romans 14:4, 10). Elsewhere the Bible commands us to "judge with right judgment" (John 7:24). We are to "test all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21) using Scripture as the standard (Acts 17:11). We should recognize and avoid false teachers (Matthew 7:15-20; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6). We should discern and rebuke false bretheren who are encouraging others to sin (Ephesians 5:7,11). As put by Henry Morris in his Defender's Study Bible (page 1015), "In other words, we should be able to judge that which is wrong, in either doctrine or practice, and avoid (or correct) those who are involved, but we must not condemn them�God will do that."
6. Universalism. Universalism is the idea that there are many paths to God. In Christianity, it is the view that all human beings are saved by Jesus Christ and will eventually come into harmony in God's kingdom. While this is a nice thought, it is not biblical. Christianity is not compatible with other worldviews or religions. They teach contradictory things. Jesus Christ claimed exlusivity. See our Is Christ the Only Way to God? Those who want to say that all roads lead to God simply do not understand the nature of God or the nature of man. Man is sinful, and a just God cannot just wink at sin. God's justice must be satisfied, and Jesus is the only answer to this problem.
Related to all of the issues discussed above is the problem of antinomianism�that is, the rejection of biblical law. This is a serious distortion of Christianity. This is nothing short of the same rejection of Christianity by atheists. The human mind wants more than anything to reject the idea of being judged. Indeed, man's fear of losing one's autonomy is even greater than the fear of the abyss of meaninglessness. So, each of these critical issues is, in the final analysis, a psychological condition that the liberal Christian shares with the atheist by rejecting Scripture�not on the basis of evidence and reason but on the basis of suppressing the truth as Paul discusses in Romans 1,2.
Ultimately, liberalism destroys itself in self-contradiction. We have alreay pointed out how liberals preaches against judging, yet they are the first to judge those who take the Bible seriously. Another example is how liberals sometimes say that they are "Jesus only" Christians. This is an open admission that they deny much of Scripture. Yet ironically, they don't believe what Jesus taught! For example, they deny the miracles, and they deny Jesus' teaching about Himself being the only way (John 14:6). They may even deny the existence of hell, even though hell is discussed by Jesus more than any other biblical figure, and indeed is the third most discussed topic of Jesus!
If one denies the authority of Scripture, and since Scripture is the only source of information about Jesus, how do they know who the Jesus they worship is? While they think they are honoring Jesus, they are not. They have to disregard much of what Jesus himself says to hold their views, especially regarding the authority of Scripture as well as what Jesus claimed for himself! Some 75 times in the New Testament Jesus confirmed that he considered Scripture to be authoritative even down to the smallest notation�"jot and tittle" (Matthew 5:18 KJV)! He said that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). Further, He claimed that all authority was given to him (Matthew 28:18). The irony for liberals is this: Since it is the Bible which the sole source of who Jesus is, if one denies the authority of the Bible, one cannot know who Jesus is. This is a hopeless self-contradiction.
So liberals, while saying that they are "Jesus only Christians" actually are inventing a Jesus to suit themselves, which is a vioaltion of Commandment against having other gods and is thus idolatry!
As it states in the Evangelical Manifesto, "Those more liberal have tended so to accomodate the world that they reflect the thinking and lifestyles of the day, to the point where they are unfaithful to Christ....characterized by such weaknesses as an exaggerated estimate of human capacities, a shallow view of evil, an inadequate view of truth, and a deficient view of God. In the end, they are sometimes no longer recognizably Christian."
Liberalism ultimately collapses into nihilism (the denial of the existence of any basis for knowledge or truth).
A few words to our liberal Christian friends. First, thank you for often demonstrating Christ's love. Those of us who consider ourselves evangelicals benefit from your demonstration of that love. But perhaps you have a misunderstanding of what evangelicals believe. Some liberal Christians apparently think typical evangelicals believe in the dictation theory of biblical inspiration (that God literally dictated the Bible word-for-word to the biblical writers). In fact, we reject this view. We reject a wooden literalist interpretation of the Bible. For more on this we offer further comments on our site at Biblical Interpretation.
The paradox of liberalism, as Ron Rhodes says, is a failed attempt to make Christianity "relevant." For everyone to whom Christianity is "made relevent" by discounting miracles, etc., there are likely thousands for whom Christianity then becomes mundane and irrelevant. For indeed, the liberal version of Christianity lacks an authentic spirituality to help people and give them hope in the midst of life's problems. As Rhodes says, if you as a liberal really want to experience the love of God, the place to begin is a living relationship with Jesus Christ in his totality which includes his divine nature and the miracles he performed while on earth.
Legalism�Six Critical Issues
Liberals know who they are. In fact, they generally wear the label with honor. They can be found in many mainline denominations. However, legalists do not know who they are. Indeed, while they are very familier with the charge of legalism against them, they strongly reject this label. So we must name them. Legalists are primarily (though not exclusively) found among a specific group of Churches of Christ, the hyper-conservative non-instrumental faction. This is not a small group. Especially in the southern part of the United States, there is a Church of Christ in every little town, many of whom are of this hyper-conservative faction.
It is ironic that perhaps the most liberal denomination in America�the United Church of Christ�has a similar name to the most legalistic denomination in America. For this discussion, the reader should at least know that most members of the hyper-conservative Church of Christ do not consider other Christians as being saved or may even consider us to be of the devil (not unlike how Jehovah's Witnesses view Christians). But this is a one-way street. While we consider them to be true and sincere Christians, they do not reciprocate the view. For more information see our article Bible Questions for the Church of Christ.
We think they the Churches of Christ have much to offer the rest of us Christians. In fact, we greatly appreciate their dedication to the faith. But we do think that some of their theology needs to be addressed. Theological legalism professes to accept the Bible as innerant and the sole basis for Christian truth. This, of course, is the same as the historic orthodox Christian faith. But when you examine legalist teaching closely, you find that it ignores important parts of Scripture that are a problem to their narrow view. Legalism may merely brush off these problematic sections of Scripture as "difficult." Thus, their attempt to be faithful to Scripture results in the very thing that they intended not to do�be unfaithful to it. Here are issues that we see as problematic for legalists:
1. Denial of Original Sin. Legalists deny the doctrine of Original Sin. This distortion of Christianity harkens back to the Pelagian controversy. Pelagius was a monk in the Fifth Century who taught that there was no Original Sin and thus grace was not necessary for salvation. The church condemned him as a heretic. It seems that every generation has had to deal with the same issue among professing Christians.
Christianity is different from every other religion or worldview. Christianity insists that man is inheritantly sinful. While we are not without the ability to do good, every aspect of our nature is touched by sin. Because of this condition, God's gift of his one and only Son to live the perfect life that we cannot, and to die on the cross as payment for our sins was absolutely necessary. If man is essentially good�then the penalty of Christ's sacrificial death does not fit the crime. In fact, if man has it in himself to be good enough to satisfy God, who needs Jesus? This is the same error in understanding that Islam, communism, secularism, and liberalism all make. These worldviews are united that while man may make mistakes, all it takes to redeem us is law and education and token tolerance to God or each other (let's all just get along, OK?). Ironically, by denying that man is basically sinful, such legalists may never have thought about it but they find themselves in bed with anti-Christian groups in this regard. All of history proves that these utopian ideas are inadequate.
As Dinesh D'Souza points out in his book What's So Great About Christianity, quoting St. Paul in Romans 7:19 (For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do.): "Here Paul in a single phrase repudiates an entire tradition of classical philosophy founded in Plato. For Plato, the problem of evil is a problem of knowledge....But Paul denies that this is so. His claim is that even though he knows something is wrong, he still does it. Why? Because the human will is corrupt."
2. Selective Use of Scripture. Let us show how, in our opinion, legalists misinterpet Scripture by looking further at the concept of Original Sin. The Bible says that
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned....But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!....Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. (Romans 5:12, 15, 18).
The Bible also says:
�"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5)"
�"All our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)."
�"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9)."
�"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1)." Note: We are dead, not just sick in our sins.
�"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful (fleshly) nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:3)." Note: We are by nature objects of God's wrath.
In addition to these passages, the doctrine of man's inherent sinfulnes is based on many passages of the Bible. Since legalists claim to follow the Bible, we will take the time to list some of them: Genesis 8:21; 1 Kings 8:46; Job 14:1-4, 25:2-6; Psalm 51:3-5, 53:1-3, 58:3-5; Proverbs 14:12, Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6, 55:8-9, 59:2; Daniel 9:1-11; Mark 7:20-23; Romans 3:9-23, 7:13-25, 8:5-8, 14:23; Galatians 3:22, 5:16-21; James 2:10-11; 1 John 1:8-10.
So, the historic orthodox Christian faith has understood clearly from Scripture, that at least prior to conversion mankind has a sin problem by our very nature. After conversion we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). At this point, while our sinful nature remains, we are no longer controlled by our sinful nature (Romans 7:5, 8:8-9). Yet, while the Christian hates sin we still continue to commit sin (Romans 7:14-25).
While we may not fully understand just how it is, the Bible insists that we somehow�in some sense�acquired our sinful nature from the very beginning through Adam. While we may not comprehend the mechanism, we accept it as true not only because the Bible says so but also by confirming evidence by observation of human kind and our own hearts. All of history is proof of this problem.
Observation confirms this fact. Even children have a selfish (sinful) nature. A two-year old's definition of mine is anything that he has in his possession plus anything that anyone else holds! This is perfectly natural for a child. He has to be taught to overcome this.
When we pointed out these things to a member of the Church of Christ, he quoted a single passage as a counter: Ezekiel 18:1-32. This is a classic case of twisting Scripture. If you look it up, all this passage says is that a son is held accountable for not committing specific sins of his father. It says nothing at all about the son still having a sinful nature. Using this Old Testament passage to try to prove a point is most interesting coming from a member of the Church of Christ, since they have a low view of the Old Testament. In other instances, such as their refusal to use instrumental music in worship, they say that the Old Testament does not apply. So they are completely inconsistent with their own method of interpretation!
3. Misunderstanding of the Gospel. Just as liberals distort the message of the gospel, so do legalists�but in a different way. To be fair, while liberals seem to purposely distort the meaning of the gospel, legalists only change the meaning mistakenly, in our opinion. Legalists will say that the gospel is a formula: Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, and Be Baptized. (Or they may say that the gospel is the whole of the New Testament.) Actually, the gospel is clearly defined in the New Testament as the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to save man from sin and God's wrath (1 Corinthians 15:1-11, et.al). It is specifically the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16)�not the power of man unto salvation. Note that each of the five points in their formula have to do with what man does. While each of these five points are very important for a Christian, they are not the gospel. Further, the Bible specifically separates baptism from the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17-18), so the gospel is not sacramental. For more on this, see our article What is the Gospel.
4. Works Righteousness. Legalists put emphasis on obedience. Indeed, we at Faith Facts agree that modern Christianity puts too little emphasis on obedience, and we appreciate the Church of Christ for attempting to bring us back to an obedient faith. But we think that they have gone too far when they say or imply that good works actually save us. There is just too much evidence in the New Testament saying that we are saved by God's grace and not of our own works. We could quote over 100 passages of Scripture that verify this. (Anyone who would like the list may email us.) But the most quoted passage is Ephesians 2:8-10. This passage explicitly explains that we are not saved by our works but by faith, but that works are a result of faith.
The Churches of Christ are also correct that the Bible commands us to do good works. But historically Christians have consistently said that the way that we reconcile the two concepts of faith and works is by understanding that while we are saved by grace�God's free gift in Jesus Christ�a true saving faith will show itself by the fruit of good works. But this is not the same as saying that it is the works themselves that save us. For more on this, we refer the reader to our Christian Cram Course.
We are of the opinion that legalism is the same idea that was condemned by Jesus (Pharisaism�Matthew 23:1-36, Luke 18:9-14) and condemned by Paul (Judaizers�Acts 15:1-21, Galatians 2:3-9, 14-16, 5:2-4).
Works righteousness has the effect of denigrating the work of Christ and boosting the work of man. Thus, legalism preaches the opposite of what John the Baptist said in John 3:30: "He [Jesus] must increase and I must decrease." And it is contrary to to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2: "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."
5. Denial of the Work of the Holy Spirit. Legalists are not monolithic in their beliefs. But many of them actually say that the Holy Spirit is no longer active today. Apparently those who say this are overreacting against Christians who believe that salvation is through the work of the Holy Spirit. In order to be consistent with their view of the importance of man's contribution to salvation through works, they feel they must deny that the Holy Spirit, while He is part of the Trinity, is no longer active. Or perhaps they are reacting to charismatic Christians who put a very high emphasis on the work of the Spirit. But for whatever reason that they take this view, it strikes us a most problematic construct of the Bible. The Holy Spirit is mentioned over and over again in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Denying the work of the Holy Spirit is very close to being the unforgivable sin that the Bible speaks of in Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:22-30.
6. Sectism. Legalists, in one way or another, always separate themselves from other Christians, thinking that they are the only ones going to heaven. This is in direct violation of the many commands in the Bible for unity as listed earlier in this article. And it is exactly what the cults do.
A couple of words for our friends in the Church of Christ. Thank you for your example of dilegent study and devotion to the Word of God. You are a model for us to return to a true biblical faith.
But we ask you to consider the numerous calls to unity in the New Testament. There are many issues that Christians may debate but not divide over. Yes, many of us may be wrong on certain things. But a man who has lost a leg, or even both legs, is still fully a man. This is the foundation of the Restoration Movement of which you are an heir. Consider returning to the central concept of unity taught by the founders of your movement, Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone.
Top of page What Next
The Bible tells us to test all things and to hold on to only the good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). If you suspect that you are involved with a group that fails the tests given above, get out now. Look for a Christian church that is part of the historic orthodox faith�one that accepts the Bible as authoritative in its entirety in its intended context.
You may be in an errant church because your family and friends are there. You may be there because inertia is keeping you there. Whatever the reason, it is not a good enough reason to stay.
When one hears a word faith teacher speak about faith it does not have the same meaning as what we learn from the Scripture. It is metaphysical; it�s focused on the power of oneself and for oneself.
Occult science denies the symptoms of sickness because the physical is an illusion or is ruled by the spiritual. The founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy�s viewpoint was that �Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death� (Science and Health 475:28), what she said was the mind was in ignorance of its higher reality. The word faith teachers say some very similar statements by denying sickness and denying that we are sinners. Everything is blamed on the Devil attacking the Christian in various ways and we need to use the force of faith to combat him.
Religious Science teacher Charles Fillmore said �Faith in the reality, power, and willingness of the mental and spiritual forces is absolutely essential to success in demonstrating the higher law. Jesus was the herald of a set of laws that will revolutionize the civilization of this world and will produce a new and higher type of man� (p.94 Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore).
Also �We should have faith in our own power, capacity, and ability� Suggestions on how to use faith Fillmore writes��2. Holding continuously to the reality of things spiritual establishes them in mind-they become mental substance. 5. My doubts and fears are dissolved and dissipated; in confidence and peace I rest in God's unchangeable law� (Christian Healing)
In metaphysics the higher rules the lower. What we control in the spiritual realm will manifest in the physical. This process is done by seeing or speaking, affirmations. In the word faith philosophy words have power, they contain the force when spoken in faith.
�The power to see in Spirit is peculiar to faith. In its outer expression this power is sight; interiorly it is that which perceives the reality of the substance of Spirit. Mental seeing is knowing; when we perceive the truth of a proposition, we say, �I see, I see, � meaning that we mentally discern� (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing).
The concept is to have it birthed in the spiritual realm first and then it will come about in the natural. As one takes the Scripture believing and confessing it the process of supernatural faith begins. One is to speak what they want into existence. This of course is not Christianity but metaphysics, it has both the elements of Christian Science and Religious Science teachings. These were part of the new thought spirituality of the early 1900's, we know them today as new age teaching.
Multitudes of Christians imagine that faith is believing that what they are saying, continue to repeat what they want to happen and that if they truly believe, they will have whatever they ask. If things happen because one believes it, then one does not need God. This is mind power, not �faith in God� that Christ taught (Mk 11:22). It is faith in faith that is a force. Kenneth Hagin and his followers call it "the law of faith," which even non-Christians can use to get alleged miracles. (Kenneth E. Hagin, Having Faith in Your Faith (Rhema, 1980), p.3-4.)
Hagin also said when you�re sick because �Often you create your own negative situations yourself with wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong speaking. So start believing according to God's Word. Then begin making positive confessions of faith and victory over your life� (The Word of Faith magazine, You Can Have What You Say).
Similarly Fillmore stated faith is �to carry out every desire into which we infuse it. �Nothing shall be impossible unto you,� if your faith is in Spirit, and if your work is in harmony with Divine Mind� (p.89 Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore).
The reason we are to have this ability is exactly what the word faith teachers hold to--God looks into the mirror of the universe and sees Himself as man; He gives Himself to man, and man in his highest is God manifest�(p.99 Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore).
Charles Fillmore stated, Today I lay claim to all the attributes of God . . . [and] as a Divine being . . . I rejoice in my Divine nature� (Science of Mind, December 1986).
�The admission to one�s self that man is God�s own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea� (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health 90:24-25).
To have this power they call faith one must recognize his own godhood and power, which is what the majority of word faith teachers espouse. Like their new thought, Gnostic, metaphysical fathers they say the same things, only in slightly different terms.
Now after hearing from metaphysical teachers we can go to the faith that Creflo Dollar is teaching and see the metaphysical similarities.
Creflo Agrees with the Mind Science position by saying, �Growing into sonship means that you grow in your ability to operate as a �little God� (a replica of the Father) in the earth� (World Changers magazine, p.6, Dec. 2002).
Creflo explains his revelation of how God creates: �he used faith substance when he made all the things that he made so that�s the material that�s behind all the of the creativity of God. So we understand God�s creative power is faith. He used faith to create everything that he created.� �Faith is the stuff that we use to get the stuff that we need. That�s what faith is.� �Faith is the word of God, the same stuff that�s in God he put it in his word and the bible says in the beginning was the word the with God and the word was God. God and his word are the same.� (And according to Mr. Dollar its stuff!) �The substance of the house you want is faith substance. �before the wood, before the tree, before the seed, there was the substance. And when you get the substance, then you can get the seed, which will bring the tree, which will produce the wood, which will build your house.� �But without faith stuff, you have no stuff, because faith stuff is the stuff of all stuff. Take away the faith stuff, you ain't got no stuff. Get the faith stuff, and you can get some more stuff, because you got the main stuff. Now, did you get all that stuff? (Changing Your World, Sept. 20, 1998)
Creflo explains the nature of God in ways that even the Bible does not. �Now, God used faith substance to make everything that He made�in every one of those words they were filled with faith substance, because words are nothing but containers. every time God speaks, He can't help but to speak words that are filled with faith�God's guts are called faith stuff�. Everything in Him is faith.� What's in His heart is faith�.if you were to cut God open, you'd see nothing but faith. Every time He opens His mouth now, He automatically fills those words with His faith material. (Changing Your World program, Sept. 20, 1998)
�God�s guts his insides are composed of that material called faith that�s what�s in him so whatever he says is filled with that stuff.� I didn�t know God�s insides are made of faith, did you? I thought the Bible said He is Spirit? I guess one can always learn something new from Creflo�s ministry! Unfortunately what he is saying is not true. If faith is only a force then God is not a Eternal living Spirit that is personal.
Creflo explains �So faith is spiritual force, we know faith is God�s creative power, we know it�s the substance of all the things we hope for and desire.� He is able to say this because it is what you say that matters not just what is written. He is able to say this because he knows no one checks their bible thoroughly to see if this is what faith is. The word �faith� is not a substance as Creflo interprets (though its called a substance in the NKJ). Faith (Gr. Pistis) means persuasion, i.e. credence, moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God), a reliance upon. Substance (Gr. Hupostasis) is a compound of two Greek words hupo and histemi; which means what is placed under (as support), i.e. (figurative) concrete essence, or abstract assurance (object or subject) confidence, substance. �Faith is the substance,� means what is under you (Gr. hupo), what you �stand upon� (Gr. stasis). It is a foundation for something to stand on; our foundation of faith is God and His Word. When we learn and understand the Word of God a foundation is built under us. In salvation faith is trusting in the work Christ did on the cross. This happened nearly two thousand years ago, this is why salvation is by faith today; we cannot see it. Faith is something you are assured of by God�s Word but cannot see.
However, faith involves an assent to what is truth, not what is false. In other words if we believe the Word of God we must make sure we are interpreting it correctly. For example Jesus walked on water but this is not a promise given to all believers that when needed they can walk on water. Nor are we told to use faith to obtain things that are not yet seen or exist.
Here he explains the power of the tongue gives power to God�s word. �Declare what is written, that�s your faith�. You put your faith before your eyes, your faith in your ears, your faith in your mouth you get your faith in your heart, faith will bring the stuff that you�ve been believing for out of your heart and will break through the door of this physical natural world a manifestation of the glory of faith will be there because you acted and believed what was written and not some junk.�So it�s the word of God on the thing that your needing in your life, deposited in your heart by going through your eyes and your ears your mouth, its in your heart then it comes out. That is what faith is and that is what faith will do for you.�
So the word of God becomes like an incantation book that you speak to bring forth from the invisible.
�Whatever God says will come to pass he can�t lie because if God said there�s enough faith to bring what he said to pass if Satan says it there is no faith at all, its a lie, lie, lie, that�s why he needs you to agree with his lie because you got the faith he needs to bring his lie to pass.� The system is set up where he says where God has faith Satan says I�ll create fear. There is of faith Satan says I�ll create the law of fear. He�ll operate by the same basic law, I�ll just invert it�I�ll get the reciprocal of it.� �Fear has become a law just as faith has become a law. You do faith, it will work for you because it is a law.�
If faith is a law and God is made of faith, what does this make God?
Here is the basic flaw and distortion of the faith movement-- not reading through a Scripture and seeking its correct context so they arrive with false meaning. It is in Romans 3:25-28 where this law of faith is mentioned: �whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.�
First we see Paul summarizing on his subject of the righteousness of the law seen in Christ. He then teaches how one is made right and cleared of guilt by God. This is the only place in the Scripture that law is used along with faith. Paul is making a point to the practitioners of the law, that it is not by law but by faith. The word �law� here is used in the sense of an arrangement, rule, or economy. It is by God�s arrangement, or by his operation that boasting is excluded just as Paul states in Eph.2:8-10 we are saved by his grace through faith, that we have no merit; that we are lost sinners; and that we are to be justified only by faith in the gospel. God�s saving work by Christ at the cross eliminates all boasting. Yet Creflo changes the meaning and boasts about how one can receive whatever they want by this same the law, this is the very opposite God is saying. For Creflo makes the law of faith into a work we do.
To change things in your life Creflo teaches, �your tongue is the best tool to use. Make these confessions daily, and watch as your life begins to manifest the things you speak.�
Where does God say to speak to have something come to pass, where does the apostles teach this to the church? Where is this practiced in the New Testament? The primary problem with this is that one cannot find it being taught to the church by the apostles. What God said in the Old Testament was that what he spoke and the prophets or scribes of Israel wrote would come to pass. God does not need to have any faith for it to come to pass because he is in control of the whole universe not just certain parts.
The Bible teaches to hear the word and obey it, live it out by the power and influence of the Holy Spirit and your life will change. Creflo�s solution is to say the word over and over and it will manifest. As other word faith teachers explain, it�s not what you do as much as what you speak in faith, the power is your mouth. They take Scriptures indiscriminately to provide what is needed as an absolute. So �if you need money use these, if you need health use these.�
� That's the key. You don't speak your words. You speak words already equipped. You speak God's word out of your mouth. � You take God's word that's filled with faith material, put it in your heart, because it ain't gonna do no good for you to speak God's word intellectually and it hasn't been deposited, you don't have no stuff in your heart. "Out of the abundance of the heart a man speaks." So it's got to be, there's got to be a deposit made before there can be a withdrawal. So the word meditated on squeezes the stuff out of, the faith stuff out of those words that came out of the mouth of God.�
Creflo goes far beyond Scriptures revelation to explain how this faith speaking works. He must, because one can�t find these explanations in the Bible.
Creflo not only can speak to things to create but he teaches that things like trees speak right back at you. �Your mouth is connected to your life. Death and life is in the power of the tongue. You're going to have to start speaking to the spirit of debt. � Jesus spoke to a thing. He spoke to a fig tree. The Bible says, �He answered it and said,� so obviously the fig tree must have been saying something to Him. It had leaves on it, but it didn't have no figs on it. And Jesus showed up hungry and the fig tree said, �I bet you think I've got some figs on me, but I ain't got no figs on me and I know you're hungry because I see you shaking, but I ain't got no figs on me. You still going to be hungry.� Jesus answered it and said, �Well then, no man will eat fruit of thee hereafter.� See, things will talk to you� (Creflo Dollar, Feb. 9, 1999)
My Bible says in response to the tree having no fruit He (Jesus) spoke to it. Because from afar it looked like it had fruit but when he near he found no fruit. He wasn�t carrying on a conversation with something that has no consciousness! This is beyond silly. In the word faith movement people speak to mountains literally, wallets and anything that gets in their way. Is our mouth connected to our abundance in life? What if you can�t speak? Hmm, then I guess you get nothing.
The success stories are numerous, �The shingles fell off my roof one time, I said that ain�t happening no more. Newsman talking about this storm getting ready to come and it was black and nasty outside, the wind was blowing and the tree, I had a tree that needed to be cut. That thing wasn�t going to fall. Not on my stuff. I went outside and said in the name of Jesus, I command this storm to turn and it will not hurt my property. My neighbors out saying �that fools standing on the porch again.� I�m going to tell you what, trees fell but they knew the boundary of my house. Today, you can go in the back and trees fell but they stopped at an inch of my fence. Wouldn�t come across my property� (Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)
This frame of mind (which he thinks is the mind of Christ) also says �When you pray in tongues, don't only believe that you receive by faith, but go ahead and release your angels and have them to bring to pass what you prayed in the Holy Ghost that you don't even know what you said in your mind� (Sept.16, 1998 Every Word of God has Power pt. 4) So you can order angels around to do what you want without even knowing your saying. This is quite a spiritual fantasy Creflo has dreamed up.
In his ad at the end of one his programs people interviewed say � The tongue gives me authority to command the forces of heaven� �It gives me the power to bind the forces of hell.�
They learned this from Creflo who says, �Praying in the Holy Ghost until you tap the wisdom of God and spend time calling those things that are not as though they were.� �In the name of Jesus, we�re going to have victories instead of deaths. Hallelujah. We�re going to have miracles instead of bad reports. Halleluyah. �I bind you, satan, I bind tragedy, I bind car wrecks. I bind cancer, sickness and disease. I release miracle healings. I release the angels to cause miracle result.� (First service Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)
Notice the �I�s,� It becomes obvious that Creflo along with the other word faith practitioners think they are in control of this world. The implication is that man has rulership over the world by speaking and not God. Amazing that one can think that not only angels are at their beck and call but so are the elements, truly they think they are gods in their heart to be able to do these things. And in case you doubt this is what he means �...I have equality with God, that�s my way of thinking. Now somebody says, �Well, it's hard to think that way.� Well, keep saying it, �I have equality with God� talk yourself into it! You've talked yourself into other things!�(Audio clip played on The Bible answer-man, July 10, 2003).
So one has to convince themselves of this, I remember a similar story where a serpent had to convince Eve of the same thing.
The Word Faith Flaws
�See this confess, it is a higher way but you just don�t understand. If you can see these words and where they are going and what they are doing, if you can actually see it then you�ll believe it. But you can�t see words because they are spiritual (ed. Note: no they are sound waves) but when God, when God released his words look what we got. An entire planet.�
Creflo implies that we too can use God�s word to create just like he did, that is if we have enough faith.
�Listen very carefully. God Almighty had faith substance in his heart. When he opened his mouth that faith substance filled the words that came out of his mouth. Genesis 1, "And God said, and God said, and God said, and God saw everything he made." How did he make it? First of all, his heart was filled with faith material. He opened his mouth, spoke words, and those words were filled with faith material. Then he saw what he said. Then he created a man, and he said to the man, "As children I want y'all to do as I do." So as God spoke words out of his mouth filled with faith and they brought things to pass, so now we speak God's words.�
But if one examines Genesis it does not say that everything created was spoken.
Creflo obviously is talking about the force of faith and not biblical faith, which is only directed toward God who will answer according to his own prerogative, in his time. For example if Moses went to the Red Sea before He was walking Israel through the desert would his faith have made it split open? Why not? Because there was a purpose to the miracle and it was God who did it in His timing and way. This is something the faith teachers seem to want to stay in the dark about.
This is clearly a methodology that figures God out. Even though God says in Isa.55:8-9: �For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,� says the LORD.� �For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.� In the word faith philosophy their thoughts and ways becomes the same as God�s.
Why would people call on the Lord for their deliverance in situation, and instead use their faith to be released. One only needs to read the book of Acts to see Peter did not release himself out of jail neither did Paul.
But according to Creflo it has to be spoken for it to work!
Creflo says �For out of the abundance of the mouth speaketh faith. For out of the abundance of the mouth speaketh fear, reciprocals.� Creflo goes as far as to connect fear in the same way as faith �Fear like faith is a spiritual force. Fear is Satan�s destructive power like faith is Gods creative power. Fear is the substance of things not desired like faith is the substance of things hoped for or desired�. That means when you end up with something you didn�t want, it was fear that gave it to you.� In Creflo�s worldview it all revolves around you, what you think and say. Imagine going through life thinking you have this much control over reality? According to Creflo this works for everyone, saved and unsaved alike. �Faith is a law it will work for anybody that will produce it. Take a sinner� if he operates by the law of faith he�ll end not being a sinner. Take a sinner make him do the law of faith, the boy will be a totally new person if he does everything. For the law of faith says put it in your mouth, in your ears, put it before your eyes get it in your heart� its changing his heart� y�know that�s the key to getting people saved instead of preaching to him don�t, don�t, don�t, just tell them what to do. Preach the do�s and they won�t do the don�ts... if he operates that way eventually he�ll get the results of it.�
Creflo is actually changing the gospel saying that this is the way to be born again, learn to act in faith? But it�s not Biblical faith but a force. So convince a sinner to have this force and he gets the same results. What a message! Its being born again that changes ones heart. It is for this very reason one can have a statement of faith that is orthodox and then teach otherwise and contradict it.
And what are the do�s that Creflo says not to do? According to the Bible it is repent, believe in the gospel, in Christ. Change is NOT by the law of faith as he presents. Then it becomes our force of faith not Christ that is necessary for the new birth and living a spiritual life. Christ is the Beginning and end of OUR FAITH, not faith itself.
Little gods practicing their faith
Creflo states: �Were so scared of religion that we have allowed it to rob us of who we really are, once you begin to realize it your GOD�S children and your little gods in this planet, then your not going to put up with death your not going to put up with shortage, your not going to put up with being broke your not going to put up with this ___ mentality your not going to put up with demons and devils your not going to put up with nothing but the good life once you realize who you are as long as you walk around here thinkin� that your just mere men mere powerless men that have no authority then you�ll be subject to whatever the devil puts in your life, but when you start acting like who you are and the devil shows up in the wilderness experiences of your life then you�ll do just like Jesus GET BEHIND ME SATAN FOR I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD. Halleluyah I have a authority over you glory to God.� (April 17, 2002 Changing your World LeSea Broadcasting)
Satan would be very happy if we repeated the same lie he fed to Eve. But Jesus did not say THIS, he said to worship and serve God only. Creflo seems to think He is God just like Jesus is God and teaches his audience that they too are gods. To say I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD to Satan is blasphemy.
�God breathed life into this planet. How? When He said. See, God spoke words. Notice what happens when you speak, everytime you speak, every time you speak, ha hew, words, ha, pu, hee, your breathing. Let there be light, God breathed light into existence� (Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)
�We like him just a little lower see he was there for us first and he poured us out of himself so were a little lower, a little lower than who? Then el eloheem � the God and creator of all physical things now the implication here is that like the God and creator of all physical things you and I, we can be like el eloheem. What? Yea, create some physical things somebody says hush you mouth! Well come back to Genesis�, and he goes on to make a case by twisting the word beyond recognition (April 16, 2002 Changing your world LeSea Broadcasting).
Words are what God created with �You keep seeing and God said and God said and God said and God said and God saw everything that He said. Correct? So, what was God�s method of creation. He spoke words. He said it. And then it was and he saw it. He said it, it was, and he saw it. And that�s what you see here� (Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)
Taffi Dollar also explains � he is the source of all creation, say that with me elohe (they repeat it). Because he wants to reveal himself to you today. As the creator for whatever you need to have in your life, that you can create it that you have authority, you have the dominion , you have the power within your mouth to do like he did, being a little more than who he is, you are co- creator with God. You can take your destiny into your own hands today, by taking your authority and understanding your authority in the earth.�
Why do they ask people for money, why do they ask anything when they can do it all themselves by speaking whether people hear them or not. They do not even practice what they are telling everyone else, yet as sheep led to slaughter they believe them without question.
Creflo explains his godlike powers �I�m a little Jesus and I need to start carrying myself like the most high god, He is the most high God. I�ve been made a little lower than him, I�m a little God on this planet what do you thinks gonna happen when all this is over with, the Fathers gonna take ya and all of those unfinished planets out there hallelujah hallabasha hallabosha, hey since you learned how to operate on the earth, you learned how to talk to fig trees you learn how to mountains you learn how to cast out devils you learn how to heal the sick your learning how to raise the dead Halleluyah. The father is not finished with you yet hallelujah...� What do you thinks gonna happen when God almighty declares I want you to create a universe, I want you to speak to these worlds and like I said light be you say light be, like I say let there be a firmament in the midst of the firmament you do the same thing you are my sons and daughters bless god I share with you my authority I share with you my name, I share with you my spirit I share with you my power, start acting like my children (people cheer) (April 17, 2002 Changing your world LeSea Broadcasting)
�When you realize that you are made in the image of God and step out in your righteousness, you will see the miraculous take place. Because you are a son of God, the same anointing that rests on Jesus abides in you. If Jesus raised the dead, so can you. It's time to become skillful in the proper use of the Father's power and do the works that Jesus did! Raising the Dead�No Problem! (Creflo�sWebsite)
�Although Jesus is the Son of God, He came to earth as the Son of Man, born like any other human. His purpose was to show us how to live supernaturally-like superhuman beings in this natural world. Think about it. As a man, Jesus possessed the power to lay hands on lepers, correct blood disorders, open blind eyes and cast out demons. What do you think His attitude was toward sickness and disease? He didn't tolerate it-and you shouldn't either!�
�You got authority to speak to sickness and disease you got authority to create to call those things that be not as thought they were , I�m telling you like Jesus said come lets walk on the water together� (April 16, 2002 Changing your world LeSea Broadcasting)
�This confession is a higher way. If you could see those words and where their going to and what they�re doing, if you could actually see it then you believe it but can�t see words because they are spiritual but when, when God released his words look what we got, an entire planet.�
Creflo says not only did God create a planet but �You can create with your words, create healing with your words, create circumstances and situations with your words� If one reads the Bible correctly they will find that it does not say God spoke the planet into being for it was there before the 6 days of creation. There are 10 statements God makes of �let there be� but He does many other things without speaking. He gave man life as He took Eve out of man and made a woman, he didn�t speak her into existence. So this idea that God has to speak everything into existence is just false. He can blink his eye and make something if he wanted to. Gen.1:19 tells us that all the creatures were made from the ground just as man was. There was no speaking for each one.
However Creflo has a different explanation. �God made the physical bodies of the animals out of the ground. But they didn�t live, until Adam called them�. �I�m training a god of the earth. I got to teach him how to do what I do. You going to have authority over these animals. There�s going to be a reason why you have authority over these animals. Because they won�t live until you call em.� So like I formed a physical body out of the dust of the ground and called you into existence. Now, come on son, let Me show you how to do what I do. Call it. And Adam said Buffalo! A buffalo jumped up�.he�s breathing life into that which he has authority over� (Creflo Dollar April 16, 2002 Changing your world LeSea Broadcasting also Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)
My Bible says in Gen.2:19 God brought the animals to Adam for him to name them as they were alive �And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.� Creflo is so far off the chart with being godlike that he Can�t seem to read the Scripture correctly. He is tainted with his word faith teaching. Of course one can see in the video he is under the influence of a spirit giving him new revelation. Adam did not give life to the creatures anymore than he did to Eve. Furthermore Gen.1:24-25 states God said: �Let the earth bring forth the living creatures according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and the beast of the earth made the beast.� These creatures were alive before Adam was made. Creflo changes the Genesis record to fit into his word faith theology of mans authority over all things attributing life of creatures God himself gave life to. This concept intertwines with everything he does as he explains, �I know how to build buildings now. Because I understand God�s way of doing what he does I don�t need a miracle to build a building I don�t care how much it cost. I don�t care how much it cost. Since that building is up we purchased a mall getting to purchase another one and getting to purchase the whole street cause were gonna own the whole street so we can start telling them what we want to do instead of them telling us what they gonna do.� (�97) (cheers) He boasts again �I know how God operates and how he does what he does.� Really! One can only wonder whom he referring to with such grandiose boasts such as these.
He explains it like this, �Everything that God has made. He has given man authority over His handiwork. even the moon�.�God made another speaking spirit�. The actual meaning there �He made another speaking spirit�
You are an exact duplicate of the image of God and God is a speaking spirit. And He said let us make another speaking spirit. � God took a reflection of Himself and put it in a physical body formed out of the dust and gave him authority of all physical things on the planet.� (Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001)
If we are God or at least Adam and he sinned then God can sin as well.
Creflo�s concept of speaking words that he calls faith seem to make things happen �I know what I'm talking about, I'm qualified to preach what I'm preachin' tonight. I am qualified to say what I'm sayin' tonight. Somebody says how are you qualified? You are sitting in a building. That manifested because of so great faith.� (10/4 /99, Lesea broadcasting). In other words He spoke it. So Creflo got his building not because of God but attributes it to the power of his belief, his words. Mr. Dollar is enamored by his own powerful words of faith, he attributes everything he has by his own hands, or mouth to be more specific.
What does God have to on this? Jer. 9:23-24: �Thus says the LORD: �Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,� says the LORD.�
�The lord cautioned me one time when I was talking to someone one time about aids and stuff like that. He said don�t you conceive. (Creflo) what are you talking about. (God) Don�t you ever go around and say your getting old because its not what you do all the time that causes conception its what you do one time that causes conception. It don�t take but one time to get pregnant.� That�s interesting because Creflo and all the rest of the faith teachers tell everyone to repeat it over and over again, keep on believing for it even if its years to get their promise. I guess with his faith speaking he can get things really quickly. Notice that God is telling him that he gets what he wants and he (God) has nothing to do with it.
Considering Creflo believes the Holy Spirit is another function of God how does this square �the Holy Spirit has been anointed to be a helper, helpers do not initiate the action helpers only aide and assist the action. But if you don�t do nothing he can�t do nothing, because there ain�t nothing to help.�
The Holy Spirit is anointed? This is not a slip up as he often says this. The Holy Spirit IS the anointing; He doesn�t need to be anointed. What he is teaching is the anointing on the anointing who is on us, the anointed! There is No such thing. It was Jesus who said he would send another like himself, what Creflo is saying is that he tells the Holy Spirit what to do with his words and he does it. So in essence he could tell Jesus what to do as well because the Holy Spirit was sent to lift up Jesus. To say the Holy Spirit can�t do anything without us is absurd and shows he has a major flaw on the Holy Spirit and his work.
Yet Creflo goes further and says �He is only obligated to do what you say with your mouth and if you don't say it, he's not obligated to do it, but if you say it then the apostle and the high priest of our profession is obligated to carry out what you said.� (Changing your world 10/5/99) (this is from Copeland�s theology-Jesus is the high priest over MY words.)
Then who is God? The Lord or are we the Lord? This is what happens when one preaches a different faith than the Scriptures. God is not obligated by our words, even if we recite His. You can repeat �let there be light� for your whole life and this will not make the sun come up in the middle of the night. This whole teaching is bankrupt is not spiritual and a big fat distortion using the Bible illegally.
I have gleamed many valuable insights into the word of God through many of these "faith teachers," they being men (mankind) like us are subject to err. Still, I am thankful for their teachings.
