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Word of Faith Hermeneutics

Word of Faith Hermeneutics.  There is no one central teacher or organizational ministry but a collection that feed off each other adding in their own unique idea, which is usually accepted by the others.  The primary teachers that form the collection of Word of Faith doctrine are: Kenneth Copeland, Fred Price, Joyce Meyer, Paul Crouch, Kenneth E. Hagin, Charles Capps, Marilyn Hickey, Benny Hinn, Paul Yonggi Cho, Morris Cerullo, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, and E.W.Kenyon. What do they teach?

The primary influencer of these doctrines is Kenneth Hagin who was ordained by the Assemblies of God Pentecostal church in 1967.  He had a weekly television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network owned by Paul Crouch.  He was known my may other Word of Faith teachers as "Dad Hagin".  Also, what makes him a primary influencer of the collective doctrines of the Word of Faith movement is the fact that none of the other major teachers in the Word of Faith movement denounce or deny his teachings.  Another reason why his teachings are not rejected or denounced is the fact that a majorty of his teachings come from 'personal revelations' which he claimed came directly from God himself.  Sense a majority of the Word of Faith teachers also claim these type of personal revelations, it makes it hypocritical and contradictory to denounce others.

This article will quote from the primary Word of Faith teachers and organize their doctrines systematically.  These teachings will the be compared to what God has made known in his Holy Scripture.

Summery of Word of Faith Doctrine

God created human beings in His literal, physical image as little gods. Before the fall, humans had the potential to call things into existence by using the faith-force. After the fall, humans took on Satan's nature and lost the ability to call things into existence. In order to correct this situation, Jesus Christ gave up His divinity and became a man, died spiritually, took Satan's nature upon Himself, in hell, was born again, and rose from the dead with God's nature. After this, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to replicate the Incarnation in believers so they could become little gods as God had originally intended.  As little gods we again have the ability to manipulate the faith-force and become prosperous in all areas of life. Illness, sin, and failure are the result of a lack of faith, and are remedied by confession—claiming God's promises for oneself into existence. Personal revelation, not Scripture, is highly relied upon. When a believer speaks positive confessions with the use of bible verses, God is compelled to comply, given that the believer has enough faith.  Health, wealth, and happiness are a common positive confession taught and encouraged for believers to seek.

Doctrine of God

God is a material being with measurable human features who has to have faith in order to create.  He was not content within himself and desired to replicate himself in the form of man.  God thus needed to establish an agreement with Man in order to be able to help man other wise, with out man's permission and agreement, God could not act out his faith on the earth.  Because God's replicate, i.e. man, rejected him, God was limited to what he could and could not do for his creation; thus God was a failure.  But, when man, allows God to act in their life, God makes them wealthy (Kenneth Copleland, Fred Price).
  • God is material 
    •  Kenneth Copeland describes God as someone “very much like you and me….A being that stands somewhere around 6’2,” 6’3,” that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, little better, [and] has a [hand]span nine inches across.”(Copeland, Spirit, Soul and Body I, side 1.) 
      • Truth:  God is a spirit (John 4:24). God the Son has a immaterial spiritual body (the resurrected Christ body, the transfiguration).  No physical measurements of God is found anywhere in the bible.
  • God has Faith (in himself?)
    • Copeland adds that “God used words when He created the heaven and the earth….Each time God spoke, He released His faith — the creative power to bring His words to pass.”(Kenneth Copeland, The Power of the Tongue (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1980), 4.) and the “force of faith is released by words.”(Ibid., 17.)
      • Truth:  God does not need faith, He sees all and knows all for all eternity.  God alone is the Sovereign Creator of the Universe (Genesis 1:3; 1 Timothy 6:15) and does not need faith.
  • God desired to replicate himself
    •  Copeland emphasizes similarities between God and man to the point where any distinction becomes virtually nil: “God’s reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself….Adam is as much like God as you could get, just the same as Jesus….Adam, in the Garden of Eden, was God manifested in the flesh” (emphasis added).(Copeland, Following the Faith of Abraham I, side 1.) 
      • Truth: (1) No where in God's Word does he say he desired to reproduce himself.  God was perfectly complete with himself from all eternity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (2) Adam was not God because he could sin, and did sin.  God can not sin.  He is not like Jesus because Jesus can not sin and did not sin.  God the Son existed with God the Father in eternity, Adam did not and was created in the beginning of time. 
  • God's Limitations and Not Sovereign
    • Kenneth Copeland affirms that “God cannot do anything for you apart or separate from faith,”(Kenneth Copeland, Freedom from Fear (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1983), 11.) .      Copeland’s deflation of God is best exemplified by his comment that “the biggest failure in the Bible…is God.”(Kenneth Copeland, Praise-a-Thon, TBN, 1988. Copeland has, in another instance, stated that God “is not a failure” (Kenneth Copeland, The Troublemaker [Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Publications, n.d.], 23).  According to Copeland, “God had no avenue of lasting faith or moving in the earth. He had to have covenant with somebody….He had to be invited in, in other words, or He couldn’t come.”(Kenneth Copeland, God’s Covenant with Man II (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1985, audiotape #01-4404), side 1.) In fact, “the reason that He’s making covenant is to get into the earth...God is on the outside looking in,” says Copeland. “In order to have any say-so in the earth, He’s gonna have to be in agreement with a man here.” 
      • Truth:  God can not sin or do anything that is not real.  God does not have faith because he sees all and knows all from all eternity.  God is the absolute perfect and holy source of what is good and right.  God's will and plan is perfect.  Calling God a failure, is blasphemy.  God does whatever he pleases (Ps. 115:3, 135:6).  He has already declared the end from the beginning and he WILL accomplish his GOOD will (Isaiah 46:10).  Man can not stop God's will or have any right to question his will (Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:19-21; Job 42:2).
    • Fred Price - "Yeah, God has pleasure in the prosperity.  So he must have displeasure in the poverty .So if he does, then poverty couldn't be from God.  Yeah, but Brother Price, but God allows it. God lets it happen. You're right, he does. He does, because you do. He can't do anything about it" ("Ever Increasing Faith" recorded 11/16/90).
      •  Truth:  "Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20).  Satan tempted Jesus with vast prosperity, wealth, and status; Jesus rejected the opportunity (Matthew 4:8-11).  Logically, according to Fred Price, God must be pleased with major drug dealers and rich criminals and displeased with the most faithful Christians in 3rd world countries.  God does whatever he pleases (Ps. 115:3, 135:6).  He has already declared the end from the beginning and he WILL accomplish his GOOD will (Isaiah 46:10).  Man can not stop God's will or have any right to question his will (Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:19-21; Job 42:2).
The Word of Faith teachings of Kenneth Copeland and Fred Price in regards to their doctrine of God is flat out heresy.  Their teachings belittle and disgrace God and attempting to increase the status of man to that which is greater than God.  If God needs man's permission for anything; it is man that is sovereign over God.  These teachings should be so shameful and degrading, it should grieve the hearts of those who love the Lord God.  Yet, these teachers are supported by the Word of Faith community at large.

Doctrine of Sin
  •  Sinlessness
    • "I'm going to tell you something folks, I didn't stop sinning until I finally got it through my thick head I wasn't a sinner anymore. And the religious world thinks that's heresy and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I'm righteous and I can't be righteous and be a sinner at the same time...All I was ever taught to say was, 'I'm a poor, miserable sinner.' I am not poor, I am not miserable and I am not a sinner. That is a lie from the pit of hell. That is what I was and if I still am then Jesus died in vain. Amen" (Doctrinal
      Ambiguity of a Wandering Star-The Changing views of Joyce Meyer , G. Richard Fisher and Paul R. Belli).
      • Truth:   The Apostle John (The Holy Spirit) knew she or someone will claim this, so he simply says "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us...If we say, "We don't have any sin," we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. " (1 John 1:8, 10).   Christians are imputed with Christ's righteousness, because they are not righteous in and of themselves.  We are seen as righteous because, for believers, when God sees us, he sees his Son covering us.  The Apostles, authors of Holy Scripture, were not sinless.  Galatians 2:11-13, Paul rebuked Peter for showing favoritism, a sin.  1 Timothy 1:15, Paul himself admits that he is currently a sinner.  The greek word he used for "am" means "to be, to exist, to happen, to be present" in relation to him as a sinner.  In Romans 7:24 Paul also states "what a wretched man I AM".  Yet they wrote Holy Scripture and were believers and saved.   Needless to say, Joyce Meyer is a sinner but because she claims she is not, the truth is not in her (1 John 1:8).

Doctrine of Man
  • Mankind are 'little gods'
    • Man has the ability to speak things into existence and that their faith is like a spiritual force.   Because believers are Children of God, they are considered 'little gods'.   “Every man who has been ‘born again’ is an Incarnation, and Christianity is a miracle. The believer is as much an Incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.” (E. W. Kenyon, The Father and His Family, 17th ed. (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society, 1964), 100; cf. Kenneth E. Hagin, “The Incarnation,” The Word of Faith, December 1980, 14.)
    • “you are to think the way Jesus thought. He didn’t think it robbery to be equal with God.”(Kenneth Copeland, Now We Are in Christ Jesus (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1980), 23-24.) Copeland’s remarks, “You are not a spiritual schizophrenic — half-God and half-Satan — you are all-God”(Ibid., 16-17.) and “You don’t have a God in you; you are one, When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, I am too!'”(Kenneth Copeland, The Force of Love (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987, audiotape #02-0028), side 1.)(("Believers Voice of Victory" broadcast, TBN 7/9/87).)  
    • Paul Crouch is a little god
      • "Do you know what else that has settled then tonight? This hue and cry and controversy that has been spawned by the devil to try and bring dissension within the Body of Christ. That we are gods.   I am a little god  . I have his name. I'm one with him. I'm in covenant relationship. I am a little god. (Kenneth Copeland: "You are anything that he is.") Yes." ("Praise the Lord" TBN, recorded 07/07/86). 
    • “You have the same creative faith and ability on the inside of you that God used when he created the heavens and the earth.”(Copeland, Inner Image of the Covenant, side 2.) However, he adds that most believers are not able to make full use of their inner power because “our imagination…has been so fouled up and fathered up with wasted useless words [and] wasted useless images.”
  • Mankind become identical to Jesus
    • At the moment of spiritual birth “the spirit of God hovered over you, and there was conceived in your body a holy thing identical to Jesus….And there was imparted into you zoe, the life of God” (emphases added).(Copeland, The Abrahamic Covenant, side 2.)  
Its hard to determine where to start with so much blasphemy and heresy contained in these teachings of Mankind.   (1) There is zero indication in God's Holy Word that man could ever and can ever just creation something from nothing.  The references used for prayer will be discussed later.  This is an attribute that only the divine creator of all realty possesses.  But, this teaching then must lead to the next (2)  that Mankind is "as much an Incarnation as was Jesus" and even more blunt, “You don’t have a God in you; you are one, When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, I am too!'”.  Even Paul Crouch claimed to be a god! (see quote above) The claim then must also include being "identical to Jesus" because, after all, he is God.  Claiming the divine attribute of God, the nature of God, and being equal to Jesus as God is disgusting.  First of all, this idea came from Satan's first temptation!  To be like God!  (Gen. 3:5).  Secondly, NONE of the Prophets or Apostles EVER dared to make the the claim that Jesus made; in fact, they were sinners (see Doctrine of Sin rebuttal).  Third, God himself declares there are NO other real gods "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God." (Isaiah 45:5).  Essentially, Paul Crouch, Kenneth E. Hagin, and Kenneth Copeland bought into Satan's lie about being "like God" and idolized themselves.  AGAIN these teachings should be so shameful and degrading, it should grieve the hearts of those who love the Lord God.  Yet, these teachers are supported by the Word of Faith community at large.  Only God alone has a divine nature (Galatians 4:8; Isaiah 1:6-11, 43:10, 44:6; Ezekiel 28:2; Psalm 8:6-8).

Doctrine of Jesus

Their teachings about Jesus reflect a lot of Gnostic teachings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, Arianism, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses now.  That Jesus was a created being, just a man initially, who was God like, but not actually God himself.   Jesus was wealthy.  Jesus was only empowered by the Holy Spirit at his baptism to perform his miracles.  He only physically died on the cross but then went to hell where he spiritually died too.  Satan conquered Jesus.  In hell he took on the nature of Satan.  At his resurrection he took on the nature of God.  These teachings imply the denial of the absolute divinity of Jesus being God and deny the Triune God of Christianity.
  • Jesus was a created being
    • Charles Capps has gone so far as to teach that Jesus was the product of God’s positive confession: “This is the key to understanding the virgin birth. God’s Word is full of faith and spirit power. God spoke it. God transmitted that image to Mary. She received the image inside of her….The embryo that was in Mary’s womb was nothing more than the Word of God….She conceived the Word of God.” (Charles Capps, Dynamics of Faith and Confession (Tulsa, OK: Harrison House, 1987), 86-87; cf. Charles Capps, Authority in Three Worlds (Tulsa, OK: Harrison House, 1982), 76-85.). 
      • Truth:  The incarnation of God in the Flesh is just simply, God The Son coming to earth in the form or man.  He eternally existed prior to the virgin birth (John 1:1,3; Gen. 3:13–15, Gen. 49:10, Job 19:25–29, Num. 24:5–7, Jos. 5:13–15, Ps. 2:7–12, Ps. 22, Ps. 110:1, Pro. 30:1, Isa. 9:6–7, Isa. 53, Dan. 3:24–25, and Dan. 9:24–27).  Christ is Eternal, the Only Begotten Son, and the only incarnation of God (John 1:1, 2, 14, 15, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:1).
  • Jesus did not claim to be God
    • Kenneth Copeland also gave a “prophecy” in which Jesus allegedly said, “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.”(Kenneth Copeland, “Take Time to Pray,” Believer’s Voice of Victory, February 1987, 9.)
      • Truth:   This is a crazy lie.  Jesus makes himself equal to God (John 10:30) and the reaction of the religious leaders makes this clear that is how he meant it (John 10:33).  They respond "being man, make yourself God".  One of the clearest claims of deity of Jesus is when he made the claim of the title that only God can have (John 8:58).  "I AM".  This was known as "the name" of God (Ex 3:14).  So holy of a title and name that anyone who blasphemes it is killed (Lev 24:16).  Jesus goes right ahead and calls himself "the name", I AM (John 8:58).  The apostle John fully understood the identity of Jesus, He makes it perfectly clear who Jesus is and straight up says "the word was God" (John 1:1).  That God himself clothed himself in flesh, but was still God (John 1:14).  We see that Luke expresses that God bought the church with his own blood, the blood of Jesus.  That makes Jesus God (Acts 20:28).   Testimony of others in scripture also reveals how people understood Jesus as.  Thomas bluntly declared Jesus as "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28).  Peter declares in 2 Peter 1:1 that we obtain righteousness from "our God and savior Jesus Christ".  Throughout scripture we see instances of people worshiping Jesus and Jesus accepts their worship (Matthew 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38).  This is a flat our denial of The Trinity and divinity of Jesus as The God the Son.
  • Jesus was just a human
    • Copeland asserts Jesus did not openly claim to be God because “He hadn’t come to earth as God, He’d come as man. He’d set aside His divine power.”(Kenneth Copeland, “Question & Answer,” Believer’s Voice of Victory, August 1988, 8.) Citing Philippians 2:5-7, he states that the incarnate Christ “had no innate supernatural powers. He had no ability to perform miracles until after He was anointed by the Holy Spirit." 
      • Truth:  Clearly this can not be true since Jesus per-existed in eternity with God the Father (John 1:1,3; Gen. 3:13–15, Gen. 49:10, Job 19:25–29, Num. 24:5–7, Jos. 5:13–15, Ps. 2:7–12, Ps. 22, Ps. 110:1, Pro. 30:1, Isa. 9:6–7, Isa. 53, Dan. 3:24–25, and Dan. 9:24–27).  And since Jesus IS God, He thus HAD the power of God (see Jesus did not claim to be God rebuttal).  Jesus gave up the glory of heaven but not His divinity (Philippians 2:6-7), though He did choose to withhold His power while walking the earth as man.
  • Jesus was wealthy.  
    • Truth: This relates to the Doctrine of Prosperity but we will address it here too.   As the second person of the Trinity, Jesus is as rich as God is rich. Indeed, our Lord owns everything and possesses all power, authority, sovereignty, glory, honor, and majesty (Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1, 8:58, 10:30, 17:5; Colossians 1:15–18, 2:9–10; Hebrews 1:3).  BUT humbling himself in the form of man, he voluntarily allowed himself to be a lowly humble servant (Zechariah 9:9; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:6–8).   His earthly possessions amounted to no more than the clothes on His back that were divided up by the soldiers who crucified Him.  He didn't even have his own grave.  Christ and His disciples depended entirely on the hospitality of others as they ministered from town to town (Matthew 10:9–10). As Jesus told a would-be follower “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (Luke 9:58).  Jesus chides the rich and praises the poor. He taught us to “be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).  And to not store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19–21).
  • Jesus not only died physically on the cross but he also died spiritually in hell and was spiritually born again at his resurrection.   
    • Truth:   Jesus prayed His last public prayer, asking the Father to glorify Him, just as Jesus had glorified the Father on earth, having “finished the work you have given me to do” (John 17:4).   Jesus’ last words meant that His suffering was over and the whole work His Father had given Him to do, which was to preach the Gospel, work miracles, and obtain eternal salvation for His people, was done, accomplished, fulfilled. The debt of sin was paid.  (John 19:30).   Then, before he died he told the criminal on the cross "And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43).   Then, at the moment of death, Jesus declares "And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." Having said this, He breathed His last." (Luke 23:46).  His spirit went to paradise, not hell, with the Father, not Satan.
  • Jesus took on the nature of Satan
    • Fred Price has added his own unique twists to Faith theology by asserting that Jesus took on the nature of Satan prior to the crucifixion (Frederick K. C. Price, “Identification #3” (Inglewood, CA: Ever Increasing Faith Ministries, 1980), audio tape #FP545, side 1.).
      • Truth:  This contradicts what God the Son declared at his bodily death (see rebuttal above).
    • Regarding the Atonement, Copeland says, “It wasn’t a physical death on the cross that paid the price for sin…anybody can do that.”(Copeland, Our Covenant with God, 21.) Jesus supposedly “put Himself into the hands of Satan when He went to that cross, and took that same nature that Adam did [when he sinned].”(Kenneth Copeland, What Satan Saw on the Day of Pentecost (Fort Worth: Messages by Kenneth Copeland, n.d., audiotape #BCC-19), side 1.) 
      • Truth:  Jesus paid the just price of sin on the cross.  No one can do that because only Jesus was the perfect sinless sacrificial lamb of God who was without blemish.  No one else can do that because everyone else are sinners (see Sinlessness rebuttal).  This was God's plan from eternity.  Satan was merely involved since he was used by God to bring about absolute Justice for sinners through Jesus Christ.  He NEVER took on the corrupted sinful nature of Adam because He, by nature, was God, perfect and holy.
  • Jesus goes to hell
    • "There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting.  You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with  all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell"  (The Most important Decision You will Ever Make, 1991, Joyce Meyer). 
      • Truth:  Jesus did not go to hell according to God's own Word: before he died he told the criminal on the cross "And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43).   Then, at the moment of death, Jesus declares "And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." Having said this, He breathed His last." (Luke 23:46).  His spirit went to paradise, not hell, with the Father, not Satan.  Thus this false truth that Joyce Meyer's claims is actual heresy. 
  • Satan is conquered Jesus 
    • Copeland brashly pronounces God to be the greatest failure of all time, boldly proclaims that “Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross” (emphasis in original),(Kenneth Copeland, Holy Bible: Kenneth Copeland Reference Edition (Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1991), 129.) and describes Christ in hell as an “emaciated, poured out, little, wormy spirit.” (Kenneth Copeland, Believer’s Voice of Victory (television program), TBN, 21 April 1991.).  
      • Truth:  The ignorance here is that God planned all along to redeem mankind through the perfect sacrifice of God the Son in the incarnate flesh.  Satan did not conquer Jesus because this was the plan from eternity.  Also, Christ did not go to hell, nor did he need to (see Jesus Goes to Hell rebuttal).
Doctrine of Faith
  • Faith is a supernatural energy force
    • The strength of ones faith produces what is desired and asked for.  Kenneth Copeland focuses primarily on an understanding of faith as a force. “Faith is a power force,” he claims. “It is a tangible force. It is a conductive force.”(Kenneth Copeland, The Force of Faith (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1989), 10.) Moreover, “faith is a spiritual force….It is substance. Faith has the ability to effect natural substance.”(Forces of the Recreated Human Spirit (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1982), 8.) As “the force of gravity…makes the law of gravity work…this force of faith…makes the laws of the spirit world function.”(Kenneth Copeland, The Laws of Prosperity (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1974), 18-19.) 
      • Truth:   God's Word contains a clear definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Simply put, the biblical definition of faith is “trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove.”.   Faith contains two aspects: intellectual assent and trust. Intellectual assent is believing something to be true. Trust is actually relying on the fact that the something is true.  A chair is often used to help illustrate this. Intellectual assent is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is actually sitting in the chair.  Hebrews (The Holy Spirit) does NOT say that IT is a force.  God is the object of faith (Mark 11:22; Hebrews 11:3).
Doctrine of Satan

Satan is at war with believers trying to steal joy and focus away from their faith.  Satan is the cause of suffering and difficulties.  One must rebuke Satan in the name of Jesus and verbally claim the promises of God to fight back Satan.  Satan is actually in absolute control of earth and God was evicted from earth where he is only outside looking in and has no right to enter the earth unless we give him the permission through our positive confessions.
  • Satan has authority over God
    • Kenneth Copeland also claims that Adam’s transgression empowered Satan to evict God from the earth. “God’s on the outside looking in,” says Copeland. “He doesn’t have any legal entree into the earth. The thing don’t belong to Him.”(Kenneth Copeland, The Image of God in You III (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1989, audiotape #01-1403), side 1.) 
      •  Truth:  God does whatever he pleases (Ps. 115:3, 135:6).  He has already declared the end from the beginning and he WILL accomplish his GOOD will (Isaiah 46:10).  Man can not stop God's will or have any right to question his will (Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:19-21; Job 42:2).  Job 1 shows that Satan was not able to afflict Job without God’s permission.  Jesus says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32).  Thus claiming that God needs Satan's permission or even Man's permission is a lie.
 Doctrine of Heaven 
  • The Holy of Holies in Heaven became impure and unholy 
    • since “the sin of Adam went all the way up to, but not including, the throne of God…[even] the Heavenly Holy of Holies had to be purified.”(Kenneth Copeland, Inner Image of the Covenant (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1985, audiotape #01-4406), side 1.)
      • Truth:  The presence of God is absolute perfect holiness.  The Holiness of God is so perfect that no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20) and there is only pure joy and pleasure in the presence of God in eternity (Psalm 16:11).  The chosen priests of the people of Israel had to purify themselves before entering, not purify the presence of God.  Mankind must be purified before entering the presence of God, through life after coming to faith we become sacrificed and then at death we become glorified- thus purifying us before entering into God's presence.  When Adam sinned, the holy presence of God left him.  God left the temple in Ezekiel 8:12. God is never corrupted by sin. But the human buildings and the elements that God allowed for his presence were purified but once corrupted, God simply left. God's holiness was unaffected by sin.
Doctrine of Healing

All physical and spiritual illnesses can be healed through faith and prayer.  Sickness and deformities are viewed as attempts by Satan to rob one of joy.  A case in point are the thousands of “documented” healings claimed by Hinn. Recently, he sent me three examples — presumably, the cream of the crop — as proof of his miracle-working power. One of the cases involved a man who was supposedly healed of colon cancer. A medically naive person reading the pathology report may well see the notation “no evidence of malignancy” and be duped into thinking that a bona fide healing had indeed taken place. CRI’s medical consultant, Dr. Preston Simpson, however, was not fooled by the report. His investigation revealed that the colon tumor in question was surgically removed rather than miraculously healed. (See the concluding section, Christianity in Crisis.)
  • Copeland also claims that “when you get to the place where you take the Word of God and build an image on the inside of you of not having crippled legs and not having blind eyes, but when you close your eyes you just see yourself just leap out of that wheelchair, it will picture that in the Holy of Holies and you will come out of there.”(Copeland, Inner Image of the Covenant, side 2.)
  • How To Heal
    • Kenneth Hagin - "The Lord said to me, 'This is the primary way you are to minister, with the healing anointing. However, the healing anointing will not work unless you tell the people exactly what I told you.   That is, you tell the people exactly what I told you. Tell them that you saw me. Tell them that I spoke to you. Tell them that I laid the finger of my right hand in the palm of each of your hands.' Then Jesus smiled and added, 'The anointing is not in your feet-I did not tell you to lay your feet on anybody. The anointing is not in your head-I did not tell you to lay your head on anybody. It is in your hands.  Tell the people that I told you to tell them that if they belief that-that is, you are anointed-and will receive that anointing, that power will flow from your hands into their bodies, and it will drive out their sickness or their disease, and it will affect a healing and a cure in them' (The Toronto Blessing, Slaying in the Spirit-The Telling Wonder, Nader Mikhaeil, Southwood Press Pty Limited, Australia, pg. 175) 
      • Truth: It is sad to note that Kenneth Hagin teaches that God's power does not work unless YOU do something.   Hagin's formula for healing is not found anywhere in God's word.  Secondly, when the Apostles healed, they pointed the The Gospel and people believed in Jesus.  Here Hagin tells people to believe HIM "Tell them that I spoke to you".   A huge statement from God to keep in mind is in Matthew 7:21-23.  "..."Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'  True healing lead people to faith in God the Son and not the person performing the miracles.
  • Healing that doesn't heal?
    • Kenneth Hagin - "During the great healing revival, evangelists would hold short meetings, and I'd come along behind them with longer meetings. By the time I got there, I often found people who had been healed in those meetings already had lost their healing. That happened in my meetings too..That is why I changed my ministry and did more teaching. Yes, I could advertise my vision, fill up an auditorium, and get many people healed- but they wouldn't keep their healing..." (The Toronto Blessing, Slaying in the Spirit-The Telling Wonder, Nader Mikhaeil, Southwood Press Pty Limited, Australia, pg. 176) 
      • Truth:  It is not a healing from God if it fails.  Those who were blind but made to see, did not lose their sight.  Those who could not walk but made to walk, did not lose their ability to walk.  There are ZERO instances in God's Word where a healing that took place, later failed.

Doctrine of Prosperity 

God wants his people to be prosperous in health, wealth, and status in this life.  When one proves their faith to God, he in turn blesses them.
  • Pursue wealth because Jesus was wealthy
    • Fred Price says the reason he drives a Rolls Royce is that he is following in Jesus’ steps. (Frederick K. C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith (television program), TBN, 9 December 1990, available from Crenshaw Christian Center, Inglewood, CA (audio tape #CR-A2).).  According to John Avanzini, if Jesus was rich, we should be rich as well. Thus, he recasts Christ into a mirror image of himself — complete with designer clothes, a big house, and a wealthy, well-financed advance team.(John Avanzini, “Was Jesus Poor?” Believer’s Voice of Victory, July/August 1991, 6-7; cf. Believer’s Voice of Victory (television program), TBN, 20 January 1991, and Praise the Lord, TBN, 1 August 1989.)
      • Truth: Jesus did not have designer cloths, a house, or wealth.   His earthly possessions amounted to no more than the clothes on His back that were divided up by the soldiers who crucified Him.  Christ and His disciples depended entirely on the hospitality of others as they ministered from town to town (Matthew 10:9–10). As Jesus told a would-be follower “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (Luke 9:58).  Jesus chides the rich and praises the poor. He taught us to “be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).  And to not store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19–21).
  • Create money
    • Marilyn Hickey - "What do you need?  Start creating it. Start speaking about it.  Start speaking it into being.  Speak to your billfold. Say, 'You big, thick billfold full of money." Speak to your checkbook.  Say, 'You checkbook, you. You've never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money" (Christianity in Crisis , Hank Hanegraaff, Harvest House, Oregon, pg. 351). 
      •  Truth:  But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-- walk!" (Acts 3:6).  Notice the Apostles did not have any money with them.  Secondly, notice, they offered the Gospel message instead of praying for money.  The Gospel is worth more than all amounts of money.  Giving the gospel is worth more than giving money.  Worshiping Jesus is worth more than receiving money.
All one needs to do is study what God talks about as Coveting.  This reveals the heart of the sin and why people WANT to believe what these teachers teach and WHY they ask for what they do.   Jesus says "he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”(Luke 12:15, 23).  Paul, (The Holy Spirit) teaches about contentment in this life, another issue to face with these sort of teachings (1 Timothy 6:5-10)

Doctrine of Confession and Prayer

Prayer of words bring into existence what is prayed for.  By declaring or claiming a want or need, one evokes the power of The Holy Spirit.  One must speak positive things into their life but negative confessions bring about negative things in ones life.
  • “As a born-again believer, you are equipped with the Word. You have the power of God at your disposal. By getting the Word deep into your spirit and speaking it boldly out your mouth, you release spiritual power to change things in the natural circumstances.”(Copeland, The Power of the Tongue, 15.) 
    • Truth:  "the power of God at your disposal"?  What if you do not use it?  Does God's Will still not take place?  All those healed by Jesus were not believers initially.   The blind guy could not even see Jesus.  "You release spiritual power"?  What if you do not release it? Does God's Will never work?  What if every believer just decided not to pray, does the God of the universe stop being God?
  • Marilyn Hickey - "What do you need?  Start creating it. Start speaking about it.  Start speaking it into being.  Speak to your billfold. Say, 'You big, thick billfold full of money." Speak to your checkbook.  Say, 'You checkbook, you. You've never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money" (Christianity in Crisis , Hank Hanegraaff, Harvest House, Oregon, pg. 351).
    • Truth:  Besides believing that you are god and idolizing yourself, why pray for a billfold full of money when billions of people world wide need healing and need to hear the gospel?  Why not pray for what is most important, like speaking into being the reality that every person on the planet hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  What comes from the mouth reveals what is in the heart.  "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." (Matthew 15:18)
  • Copeland instructs believers to “go to the New Testament, get the words of the covenant that cover the situation that you hope to bring to pass. Build the image of that hope inside of you….Keep the word before your eyes.”(Copeland, The Power of the Tongue, 15.)  As examples, he uses an inner picture of an 82-foot yacht that will transform into reality in the Holy of Holies in heaven, along with a “picture [of a Bible] that came right out of me and went into the Holy of Holies,” where it developed into an actual, physical object.
    • Truth:  "build an image" is the correct word choice for idolatry.  The idol if which is imagined is of material wealth and gain.  Why not "build an image" of saving the souls of the lost and of anything that brings complete focus on God's glory and not personal gain?
  • Jesus called God a fool (see Luke 11:2)
    • Fred Price - "When I first get saved, they didn't tell me I could do anything. What they told me to do is whenever I prayed I should say "The will of the Lord be done." Now doesn't that sound humble? It does. Sounds like humility. It's really stupidity. I mean you know, really, we insult God. We really insult our heavenly father. We really insult him without even realizing it.  If you have to say, 'If it be thy will' or 'Thy will be done.' If you have to say that, you are calling God a fool. 
      • Truth:   Jesus states "'So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10).  I guess Jesus is a fool according to Fred Price.
Doctrine of Divine Revelation

God speaks directly to individuals through visions, dreams, personal encounters, and feelings.   Rationality and logical reasoning are obstacles to true spiritual understanding.  There are some spiritual truths that can only be understood when "in the spirit" and outside of rational logical thought.  These teachers receive these visions and experiences when they are "in the spirit" or "under anointing". 
  • Anointing from the dead
    • Benny Hinn also admits to frequenting the graves of both Kathryn Kuhlman and Aimee Semple McPherson to get the “anointing” from their bones.(Benny Hinn, “Double Portion Anointing, Part #3” (Orlando Christian Center, n.d.), audio tape #A031791-3, sides 1 and 2. This sermon was also aired on TBN (7 April 1991).)
  • Direct Appearances of the Risen Christ in person
    • Paul Yonggi Cho — pastor of the world’s largest church, located in Seoul, South Korea — claims to have received his call to preach from Jesus Christ Himself, who supposedly appeared to him dressed like a fireman. (Dwight J. Wilson, “Cho, Paul Yonggi,” Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, 161.).
  • Direct Personal Words from God
    •  Cho recently made the news by changing his name from Paul to David. As Cho tells the story, God showed him that Paul Cho had to die and David Cho was to be resurrected in his place. According to Cho, God Himself came up with his new name.(Paul Yonggi Cho interviewed by C. Peter Wagner, “Yonggi Cho Changes His Name,” Charisma & Christian Life, November 1992, 80.).
  • Personal transports to the actual presence of God himself
    •  Morris Cerullo purports to have first met God at the tender age of eight. Since then his life has been one mind-blowing experience after another: he says he was taught by leading rabbis;(“God’s Faithful, Anointed Servant, Morris Cerullo” (promotional literature, on file).) led out of a Jewish orphanage by two angelic beings; (Cerullo, The Miracle Book, ix; and 7 Point Outreach World Evangelism and You (pamphlet), 4.) transported to heaven for a face-to-face meeting with God;(Cerullo, The Miracle Book, xi.) and told he would be capable of revealing the future.
  • Extra Biblical Truth
    •  Benny Hinn has uttered the claim that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that women were originally designed to give birth out of their sides.(Benny Hinn, “Our Position In Christ #5 — An Heir of God” (Orlando, FL: Orlando Christian Center, 1990), audio tape #A031190-5, side 2.).
  • Time Travel
    • Hagin claims he was in the middle of a sermon when, suddenly, he was transported back in time. He ended up in the back seat of a car and watched as a young woman from his church committed adultery with the driver. The entire experience lasted about fifteen minutes, after which Hagin abruptly found himself back in church, summoning his parishioners to prayer. (Kenneth E. Hagin, The Glory of God (Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1987), 13-15.).   
Notice that all these claims of visions are completely unverifiable.  Secondly, some of these visions contradict what God's Word reveals about those who had visions or were in the presence of God.   The Prophet Isaiah had to be purified. He felt completely unworthy and cried out "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5).  John The Apostle, in his vision, "fell at his feet as though dead" (Rev. 1:17).  Abraham even stated that he felt like nothing more than dust and ashes before God (Gen. 18:27).  These Word of Faith teachers have casual entertaining conversations with a being they claim is God.  Seeing as how much of their teachings are heresy, it is impossible for them to be in the presence of God himself and live to tell about it.

The issue is, in order for them to have their outlandish teachings they must claim something that is outside of scripture and unverifiable.  Their followers have no choice but to accept what they teach.  These teachers can not condemn each other because if they do so, they contradict themselves. 

Also, since they quote God or Jesus, that makes their quotations Holy Scripture.  According to the claims this must be.  When they say "God said ____ to me" it is then God's Word.  If not, then they are a liar.  Again, their claims must be accepted as truth or they are a horrendous blasphemous liar.  Yet, when their teachings, which were revealed to them, do contradict God's actual Word, what then?
Doctrine of The Bible
  • the Bible “is the wisdom of God placed in covenant contract….Everything in it is mine….You just keep looking at it, and keep reading it, and that covenant will turn you into that kind of person — whatever it is you decide to be.”(Copeland, The Abrahamic Covenant, side 1.)
Truth:  The Bible is NOT ABOUT YOU.  The entire Bible is about JESUS "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;" (John 5:39).  "but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."  (John 20:31).   "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."  (1 John 5:13)

CONCLUSION

It may seem that with all the variety of teachers and teachings that the Word of Faith doctrines are complicated but in fact they are not.  They can be summed up like this:

God is more like man and man is more like God.  Jesus is like God, but not God, yet man can be like Jesus and thus can be like God.  Because of this, man can create and speak nothing into something by using their words and projecting their faith force.  This is revealed because of a handful of people claimed to have visions and experiences with whom they perceived to be God.  In a simple nutshell:  Man can be God and use godlike powers to be happy, wealthy, and healthy in this world.  This is not a complete summation of all that the collective Word of Faith teachers claim, but enough to see that they are false prophets who are leading MANY astray.

But any honest and genuine believer who tests what they are told (1 John 4:1) against God's divine Holy Word can easily see how they are false prophets who deceive for material gain and status power.

Heads up from The Holy Spirit:

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)



Also read The Errors of The Modern Prosperity Gospel and Health, Wealth, Happiness, and Prosperity Teaching



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