Mel Montgomery Articles

Is The Word of Faith Message Heretical?

By Mel C. Montgomery

     Is the Word of Faith Message heretical?  If you had asked me that question several years ago, I would have replied, "Absolutely not!"  And I would have been offended and bewildered that anyone would even think to ask such a ridiculous question.  While I still do not classify the Word of Faith (WOF) Message as heretical, I must admit in all fairness that theologically, the WOF message is severely flawed.

     The flaws, as best I have been able to substantiate, can be traced back to the fact that Kenneth Hagin Sr., although an honorable and sincere man of God, was not a professionally educated theologian.  Kenneth Hagin's critics relentlessly accuse him of receiving his faith message from the writings of E.W. Kenyon.  However, I refute this accusation in my article, "Kenneth Hagin's Two Faith Messages."  I point out that Brother Hagin stated countless times that his faith message originated in his thinking while he was a teenager, seeking God for healing of terminal heart conditions he was suffering.  He said that he received a miraculous healing from the Lord while reading  "Grandma's Methodist Bible."  He did not encounter E.W. Kenyon's writings until a number of years later.  

     Hagin makes clear who were his primary life-long mentors.  They were the Rev. and Mrs. J.R. Goodwin whom he met in 1938 when he was 21.  Brother and Sister Goodwin were classic Pentecostals and members of the Assemblies of God as was Hagin.  Kenneth Hagin relied heavily on the balance, knowledge of scripture, and levelheaded judgment of the Goodwins.  I heard him say at a ministers meeting in 1991:

     "For the first 40 years of my ministry, whenever I would have a major vision or revelation from God, I would not fully teach and preach it publicly until I had shared the matter with the Goodwins and asked them to judge it and correct me if they thought I needed it."

     Sometime in the 1940's or 1950's, Kenneth Hagin found the writings of E.W. Kenyon, and began incorporating Kenyon's teachings into his own "faith message."  Being a man of faith, but not having substantial theological training, he did not realize that Kenyon's teachings expressed genuine Bible truths using theologically incorrect terminology and reasoning.  Brother and Sister Goodwin attempted to help Hagin see the flaws and errors in Kenyon's teachings, but he would not be disuaded.  Kenneth Hagin and J.R. Goodwin remained best friends and continued ministering for each other, agreeing to disagree about Kenyon's teachings.

     For the sake of clarity, I term the faith message Kenneth Hagin through which he was healed as a teenager, and which he originally preached as Hagin's "Original Faith Message."  The later message he preached which contained Kenyon's theologically incorrect reasoning and terminology, I refer to as the "Expanded Faith Message." 

     The Original Faith Message that Hagin preached, which the Goodwins endorsed, and which I still adhere to, I believe is entirely biblical.  In this original message, faith was simple trust in the promises of God, and a complete reliance on God to fulfill His promises.  Jesus paid the full penalty for our sins on the Cross--not by also suffering in Hell for three days.  We are sons and daughters of God, not "Little Gods" ourselves.  And so on.  

     In the Expanded Faith Message, faith became a force that God could not deny.   Faith also became a spiritual substance that a believer could mold at will into whatever blessing was needed by speaking faith confessions.  Jesus suffered both at Calvary and in Hell, empowering us to become "Little God's" in Christ's name.  It is such a tragedy that these unbiblical concepts were incorporated into Hagin's entirely biblical Original Faith Message. 

     In the late 1960's, Kenneth Copeland found Kenneth Hagin's ministry and became Hagin's primary protege'.  Kenneth Copeland adopted in entirety Hagin's Expanded Faith Message, and made it his own.  With Brother Hagin's passing in 2003, Kenneth Copeland has developed into the role of being the primary leader of the Word of Faith branch of Christianity.  In turn, Brother Copeland has a number of protege's who have adopted unaltered the Expanded Word of Faith message.  These include:  Jerry Savelle, Creflo Dollar, Bill Winston, and a number of others.

     Now in 2009 we find ourselves at a crossroads.

     Kenneth Hagin's Expanded Faith Message, has continued to expand to include numerous additional errors and extreme teachings, which trace their roots back to the theologically incorrect terminology and reasoning of E.W. Kenyon.  Many former Word of Faith proponents have recognized the unbiblical aspects of the Expanded Word of Faith message and have exited the Word of Faith movement.  Multitudes of yesterday's "true believers" have left our ranks.  Some have become our most vocal critics.

      We have reacted to this exodus and to our critics in the following ways:  

• First, we have developed an elitist attitude.  We believe that we are so much more spiritually advanced than the rest of the Body of Christ that our critics could not possibly comprehend our responses to their criticisms even if we chose to respond, which we do not.   
• Second, our common reaction to legitimate criticism is to demonize our critics, claiming that anyone who disagrees with us does so solely because he or she is prejudiced against us.  Therefore, these bigots, Hagin-haters, and false accusers deserve no response from us. 
• Third, as whole sections of the Body of Christ have quietly distanced themselves from us, we have considered this isolation to be a sign of the purity of our message.  On the contrary, rather than a sign of our theological purity, this disassociation should serve as a series of gigantic red flags warning us that we are going further into extremes.
• Fourth, we have abdicated all leadership responsibilities concerning correcting teaching and doctrine.  We ignore Paul's instruction to Timothy (and to us), "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine."--I Tim. 4:13.  And, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." --II Tim. 4:2.  We take the position that if we ignore our errors hard enough, they will just go away.  But neither error nor the Devil will just go away.  Both have to be confronted.  We largely refuse to confront error.

      To sum it all up, I believe we must reform by correcting our errors and coming back within biblical boundaries.  I have found a theological paper that addresses our major theological flaws and identifies the specific areas of our Word of Faith theology that needs to be as the writer puts it, "reconstructed." 

     The paper is fair and unprejudiced and I ask you to give it your prayerful consideration:

  "Reconstructing Word of Faith Theology:

  Quotes:

     Vreeland states on page 3:

     "Word of faith teaching is not a heresy to be obliterated, but a theologically premature movement that needs significant reconstruction.  Word of faith theology is within the bounds of orthodoxy because of its historical roots in Holiness/ Pentecostalism and its exaltation of the biblical authority.  These elements provide sufficient theological foundation to seek correction and not condemnation." 

     Of Kenyon Vreeland writes on page 5:

     "The writings of E.W. Kenyon lack theological sophistication and, in part, reveal a departure from the most sound of hermeneutical principles.  However, the whole of his teachings falls within the bounds of historical orthodox Christianity, on the fringe perhaps, but still within orthodoxy."

Acknowledgements:

     Derek Vreeland has graciously given us permission to feature his article on this website, and we appreciate this very much.