WOF History "The Greatest Show on Earth"

Part 5 

The Word of Faith Movement 

"The Roots"

So today, we take a look at the roots of the Word of Faith Movement which I will also refer to as "word-faith" or "WOF" theology or doctrine. This is a bit lengthy because I didn't want to divide it up, but I promise the rest of the blogs will be short, dealing with one WOF "shoot" at a time. 

I entitled this blog series "The Greatest Show on Earth" from a quote I read out of John MacArthur's "Strange Fire"- "The prosperity gospel is Christianity's version of professional wrestling: You know it is fake, but it nonetheless has entertainment value." 

When I first read this quote, it made me laugh because I had just said to the Farmer that the word-faith, and overlapping prosperity gospel preachers, with all of their drama, fake healing, and false teaching, reminded me of a three-ring circus. 

But as you'll see, when we pull back the curtain, there's nothing funny about it. 

One thing I've learned in studying church history, and this is not a brain buster, is that there are levels of study. First, you can be scared to examine the history of your denomination and its traditions because you think it will destroy your faith or the image of the leaders you idolize. Remember, our faith isn't in man or a denomination, and denominations are man-made. 

Secondly, we can decide to scratch the surface a bit, reading only non-opposing views and biographies, refusing to dig too deeply into the landscape. Or we can summons the courage and integrity to keep digging until we arrive at the hard truth. Ironically, I found my questions and concerns drive me deeper into the Scriptures as I processed my findings in prayer to God. I have read books, arguments, old newspaper articles, court proceedings, and eye witness testimonies. I've learned much that I didn't set out to learn. 

Here we go: 

You may have heard that Kenneth Hagin ( 1917 - 2003 ) was the father of the Word of Faith Movement, and this is yes and no, a response perhaps typical, given the nature of the movement as a whole. Hagin obtained the title because he popularized the theology, but E.W. Kenyon ( 1867-1948 ), every biblical scholar with something to say on the subject, agrees was the "man behind the message." (1)  

When we attended our WOF church in Texas, we were strongly encouraged to read Kenyon's work that was available in the church bookstore along with all of the word-faith literature. Hagin plagiarized huge chunks of Kenyon's work in his books which scholars readily point out. He gave Kenyon credit for some of the passages he quoted, but large portions of Kenyon's work were copied and not acknowledged as being from Kenyon. The leaders in our church were aware of the plagiarism, but it didn't seem to bother them. This is known and accepted information as it is easily verifiable. 

Also I need to mention, if you're familiar with Hagin at all, you'll know that he claimed to have been given the "faith formula" through personal visions and visits from Jesus. However, Hagin claimed to have so many visions and visits from Jesus that it's hard to keep them all straight.  

At any rate, still everyone on both sides of the debate, visions and visits aside, opponents as well as critics, all agree that E.W. Kenyon "originated much of the doctrinal substance, and even the terminology and expressions, of the word-faith movement." Since Kenneth Hagin was the one to popularize the ideas, he is known as the "father" of the movement and Kenyon the "grandfather." (1) 

Okay, so there's that. 

Now we turn to Kenyon to find out how he came up with the word-faith theology. I've done a deep dive into the life of Kenyon because oftentimes if you just google the Word of Faith movement, you'll find information saying that all of the word-faith theology is grounded in metaphysical mysticism, insinuating that Kenyon jumped from the Christianity ship into the pools of New Age thought. And that wasn't the case. Although Kenyon was hired by a Methodist church and appeared more comfortable it seemed in Pentecostal circles, he remained a Baptist pastor his entire life as far as I could tell. 

On the other hand, proponents of word-faith theology stress that it is an extension of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement; this isn't wholly true either. And not all Pentecostals "name it and claim it." Many distance themselves from the Word of Faith movement. Even though I am not a Pentecostal and take issue with the movement, I want to add this to be fair. 

Of the biographical work written on Kenyon, I found Robert Bowman's the most thorough and honest. In his book Bowman drew from Dale Simmons' doctoral dissertation for an analysis of the roots of Kenyon's thought. Both scholars came to the same complex conclusion: Kenyon was influenced, not only by the meta-physical cults, but also by the evangelical "Higher Life" also known as the "Keswick Holiness Movement" along with the popular faith-cure traditions of the late nineteenth century. 

Kenyon lived in Boston in the 1890s and was interested in Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science ( which is neither Christian nor Science ) as well as Phineas Quimby's New Thought spiritual movement and folk healing. 

When Quimby was a youth he suffered from tuberculosis, which can't be cured. Never claiming religious affiliations, Quimby began to dabble in mind-over-body experiments, and claimed to have cured himself of the disease. Interestingly, the same type of testimony is claimed in a number of word-faith leaders and healers, using the same techniques; although no medical documentation could be obtained. 

Before I continue with the other influences in Kenyon's ministry, I want to interject something I learned of interest that I had never seen before in Kenyon's story. Remember I just wrote those two blogs on the mainline denominations and how so many have left the "seven sisters" in the last 100 years after the churches began to question the inerrancy and authority of Scripture as well as the core doctrines of the Christian faith? 

This migration would have been in Kenyon's day. Here's a quote from him - he refers to the mainline churches as "old line denominations."

"We cannot ignore the amazing growth of Christian Science, Unity, New Thought, and Spiritualism...We cannot close our eyes to the fact that in many of our cities on the Pacific Coast, Mrs. Eddy has a stronger following today and a larger attendance at her churches than have the old line denominations; and the largest percentage of her followers have at one time been worshippers in the denominations - they have left because they believe they are receiving more help from Mrs. Eddy's teaching than from the preachers. They will tell you how they were healed and how they were helped in their spiritual life by this strange cult. This is a libel upon the modern Church - it is not only a libel but a challenge." 

Kenyon notices that as the parishioners of the mainline churches began to leave hungry and searching for something to fill their souls, the new thoughts of his day were drawing them in. He saw this as a challenge. 

I argued in my blog that because of this abandonment from orthodox Christianity, we see believers faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ leaving the mainline churches for gospel-centered churches, but we would also see those who were left in the gutted shell without the power of the gospel eventually leaving as well for some substance to satisfy their soul's longings. History has proven this exodus true by the sheer drop in attendance alone from the mainline churches. And Kenyon saw it too. 

My observation at this point: If Kenyon saw the people searching for truth and finding it in a meta-physical cult, why for the love of all that is good in this world didn't he just give them the Truth? He was a Baptist preacher, who, again, by all accounts that I can find, believed in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture and the core doctrines of the Christian faith. They needed some guidance. As a pastor, it was Kenyon's call to help shepherd the wandering flock back to Christ through the Gospel of Christ. 

Why did Kenyon feel like he had to invent something to compete with the meta-physical thought that was appealing to folks leaving the mainline churches? Something to make the gospel more attractive with some sort of mind-over-matter spirituality? 

The late nineteenth century and early twentieth century were bewildering times enough with the meta-physical cults and parishioners leaving the mainline, but now enter the rise of the holiness and faith-cure movements, causing the atmosphere to become even more convoluted and downright disturbing with unorthodox, spiritual practices. 

This is the air Kenyon breathed. 

The Keswick higher life movement was to be characterized by "an absolute total dependence on Christ for personal holiness, for ones material needs, and - as many increasingly came to think - for one's physical health and well-being." (1) There was much overlap with the holiness movements and faith-cure healers. 

Historically speaking, whenever a movement or denomination "moves" away from the gospel and focuses on the law or personal piety, when they reject the confessions and creeds the church fathers put in place to anchor us to our core doctrines found in the Scripture, protecting us against heresy, we see a seismic shift away from the truth and into legalism and all kinds of made up rule lists for parishioners to adhere to. 

And similar to the mainline decline, we see many leaving these holiness churches, but for a different reason: They can't live up to the law and rule book that's being pressed upon them without the truth of the Gospel of Christ's righteous life applied to them to counter the crushing effects of not only God's commandments, but their pharisaical traditions. 

In addition we see that the holiness movements downplayed the sovereignty of God giving man control over salvation, sanctification, and life in general. We see this played out mightily, not just in new age thought, but in word-faith doctrine. You can see how all of these different thoughts begin to spill over into the other. 

I'm not even scratching the surface with the faith-cure healers and their effect on Kenyon who traveled in these movements preaching at their revivals and conferences, influenced by their beliefs, especially those of John Alexander Dowie, who later in life considered himself the prophet Elijah. 

Dowie, along with many of the other healers, renounced medicine and medical treatment, labeling them of the devil, extracted "demons" from mental patients by tortuous means, admonished the sick when they weren't healed, accusing them of not having enough faith or having too much egregious sin in their lives, often times exploiting the terminally ill and other followers by requiring their tithes and payments for healing prayer sessions. 

A.W. Simpson, who is customarily credited with bringing the "healing message" to the American church, taught that divine healing through prayer was the "only" appropriate means of healing for the obedient Christian. Even though his radical views are not generally accepted today by the CMA denomination. (1) 

Charles Parham who is considered the father of Pentecostalism went so far as to add physical healing with salvation in the gospel on the same par with forgiveness of sins. Parham taught that forgiveness of sins was not enough. Leaving out physical healing, he wrote, wasn't a "full gospel." 

Parham says to those who would neglect to preach "this" gospel of divine healing in this life, "attended with signs, wonders, mighty deeds, divers miracles, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost - are in danger of standing in utter condemnation before the judgment bar of God." ( The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness, page 46 Charles Fox Parham ) 

"Those are strong words," Mr. Parham. "I beg to differ and offer that you were the one in danger." 

The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is our healer, and we can pray and be healed physically and mentally today. However, physical, divine healing is not "guaranteed" in this life, and to preach that it is, is not preaching a "full" gospel, but preaching another gospel altogether. I'll get more into that when we look at the individual WOF teachings in future blogs and how they hurt believers. The root in addition to the bad fruit is the proof. 

I did quite a bit of research on Parham since he was given the title,"Father of Pentecostalism," and he was involved in numerous outlandish stunts, sexual misconduct and arrest, financial scams, in addition to his questionable healing methods and revivals. At least one group of his followers were charged with the murder of someone in their care. 

I also found legitimate doctors during this time who were practicing homeopathic treatments and establishing medical facilities for patients with consumption and other aliments, so I'm not insinuating that all those helping to heal others were bad. And I'm in no way saying that every church in America was mixed up in these movements, not at all. But they were highly influential in our church culture and sadly still are today. 

Again, I waded through many newspaper accounts and court proceedings - not all, because there are literally hundreds. It's best to get first-hand information, even though it is a tedious process. I was unable to locate any documented healing, not that God can't heal through any means, I believe he can, even through fake healers and false teachers if he so desires. 

Some biographies of these preachers and healers failed to cite their sources, for example, one popular biography series in particular cited just one source for Aimee Semple McPherson; that's why you have to do more than a surface investigation. Who in the world cites one source for a historical biography? Whether one agrees with McPherson or not, that's just sloppy scholarship. I was surprised especially coming from such a popular series, so that detail led me into more research to find the book series had multiple discrepancies on all of the biographies. 

Through this project, I've learned to question and investigate everything I read, again tedious work, but if you want to get to the bottom of something, that's what it takes. It's like you have to become part detective with a nose like a blood hound. Then I asked, "What would make someone paint a deceiver into a saint?" Sometimes I'm too philosophical for my own good, but still, I wonder. I admit writing this took me down some crazy rabbit holes and trails, but I'm not sorry for that. I learned a lot even if at times it was depressing. 

During this time, the Gospel of Jesus Christ began to be moved from the center of the church service and Christian life. The command to devote ourselves and our church gatherings to the reading of Scripture, prayer, and the expository preaching of God's Word were replaced with a narcissistic view of the biblical narrative, topical sermons, and personal, spiritual experience. 

I found myself drawn into self-reflection and prayer over all of this, with much wrestling in the Scriptures asking God why he would allow such things into the church. It makes me return time and again to pondering what the Reformers must have gone through in fighting for the inerrancy and authority of Scripture and the core doctrines of Christianity, along with the sovereignty and grace of God, and all of our faithful church fathers when heresies threatened the church. 

Again, there is so much that can be said; entire books have been devoted to Kenyon's influence and the Word of Faith history and theology. Suffice to say that this was the sphere where Kenyon spent most of his adult life, and the effects are seen in his doctrine. 

Here they are: 

1.) Human nature is spirit, soul, and body, but mostly fundamentally spirit. 

2.) God created the world by speaking words of faith and does everything else by faith, and we are intended to exercise the same kind of faith. 

3.) In the fall human beings took on Satan's nature and forfeited to Satan their divine dominion, making him the legal god of this world. 

4.) Jesus died spiritually as well as physically, taking Satan's nature and suffering in hell to redeem us, and then was born again.

5.) By our positive confession with the God kind of faith we may over-come sickness and poverty. (1 )

Now here are the false doctrines added to the above list by Hagin and Copeland: ( Remember when a movement has bad seeds ( roots ) it can't produce good shoots or fruits, and it's disease, like cancer, actually metastasizes. ) This is the nature of sin. Dr. Bowman also pointed out that false doctrine always brings confusion. Contrast this with the true doctrine of God's Word that brings clarity. 

1.) Little gods Theology / We are just like Jesus. / God has a body. 

2.) We don't need reason, just faith.

3.) God has faith. 

4.) Jesus gave up his divinity when he came to earth as man. 

5.) Our words carry the same power as God's words. 

6.) We can have what we say. / We can have what we think. 

7.) Believers have authority over everything. 

8.) God is not sovereign. Man is in control. God is limited and needs our permission before he can act. We get God to work for us by our faith. 

9.) It is always God's will to heal and make rich. 

10.) God has appointed prophets and apostles and ushered them in during these last days to take authority over the current pastors and elders and to transfer wealth and usher in the second coming of Christ. 

If all of this appalls you, we'll refute each one in future blogs. I think many people know the doctrines are false; they just need help seeing why from the Scripture. I love this part, so it's going to be a great series. It always is when we're learning God's Word. 

For the record, I'm not someone who believes God no longer heals or does miracles. Quite the contrary. I've told my testimony of being delivered from an addiction to alcohol, falling on my knees in my bedroom by my bedside in desperation, repenting of my sin and asking God to help me one dark night. I didn't need a faith-cure healer or revivalist or televangelist. I didn't need a second blessing, the first at conversion was powerful enough. I didn't even make a seed-faith offering to someone's ministry. 

When the Farmer's blood pressure is up or his heart goes out of rhythm or races, I wrap my arms around him and pray immediately. If I received a cancer diagnoses or other life-threatening disease, I would call my pastor to come with his bottle of oil, anoint me, and pray for me, not because the oil is powerful, but because this process is laid out in Scripture with a promise not of healing, but something greater: salvation. ( James 5:15 ) I would not declare, command, or demand my healing, or get in a fight with the devil and rebuke him. I would not engage in a mind-over-matter confession of the Scripture. I would continue to ask for my healing while entrusting my life to my faithful Creator knowing my suffering would be producing an eternal weight of glory as Scriptures says. I would bury myself in Jesus. 

God has been so faithful and good to me and the Farmer in using all of our sickness, disease, and suffering for his glory and our good, and we never once have needed the assistance of a cure-healer, a televangelist or a seed-faith offering to one of their ministries, nor have we needed a healing room. And you don't either, my friend. God doesn't need their help to accomplish his purposes. 

If a movement or denomination is built on unbiblical principals then it is not of God. The roots determine the fruits. Jesus said in ( Matthew 7:17-23 ) concerning false ministries that a diseased tree can't bear good fruit. It's a slam dunk. 

The Bible is so much better than this, my friend. 

Because Jesus Christ was and is and always will be the greatest show on earth! 

💜

 (1 ) The Word-Faith Controversy, Dr. Robert M. Bowman Jr. 

A great resource is Newspapers.com ( subscription required  ) 

My Natasha with her sweet pups from the HBF archives.