Word of Faith

==Criticism==
Many of the movement's essential beliefs are criticised by other Christians. Christian author [[Robert M. Bowman, Jr.]] states that the word of faith movement is "neither soundly orthodox nor thoroughly [[heretical]]".<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.watchman.org/store/cults-alternative-religions/books17932/word-faith-controversy/ | title = The Word-Faith Controversy | publisher = Watchman}}.</ref>

One of the earliest critics of Word of Faith teaching was [[Oral Roberts University]] professor [[Charles Farah]], who published ''From the Pinnacle of the Temple'' in 1979. In the book, Farah expressed his disillusionment with the teachings, which he argued were more about {{em|presumption}} than faith.<ref>{{Citation | first = Charles | last = Farah | title = From the Pinnacle of the Temple | publisher = Logos | year = 1979}}</ref>

In 1982, one of Farah's students, Daniel Ray McConnell, submitted a thesis, ''Kenyon Connection'', to the faculty at Oral Roberts University, tracing the teaching back through Hagin to Kenyon and ultimately to [[New Thought]], and calling the distinctive Word of Faith beliefs a heretical "[[Trojan Horse]]" in the Christian church. McConnell repeated this argument in his book, ''A Different Gospel'', in 1988.

One of McConnell's classmates, Dale H. Simmons, published his own doctoral research at [[Drew University]], arguing that Kenyon was influenced by [[heterodox]] [[metaphysical]] movements and the Faith Cure movement of the nineteenth century. In 1990, ''The Agony of Deceit'' surveyed the critiques of Word of Faith doctrines. One of the authors, Christian Research Institute founder [[Walter Ralston Martin|Walter Martin]], issued his personal judgment that [[Kenneth Copeland]] was a false prophet and that the movement as a whole was heretical.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.letusreason.org/Wf26.htm |title=Walter Martin's Warning to the Church |year=1988|publisher=Let Us Reason Ministries|access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref>

Milder criticisms were made by William DeArteaga in his book ''Quenching the Spirit''. He concedes some [[New Thought]] influence in Kenyon's teaching, but argues that Kenyon's views helped the church rediscover some biblical truths. Arguing similarly but in an opposite direction is [[Robert M. Bowman, Jr.]], formerly of the Christian Research Institute. His book ''The Word-Faith Controversy'' is more sympathetic to Kenyon's historical background yet more critical of his doctrine than is DeArteaga's work.

Evangelist Justin Peters, an outspoken critic of the Word of Faith movement, wrote his Master of Divinity thesis on [[Benny Hinn]] and has appeared frequently as an expert on Word of Faith pastors in documentaries and TV news stories. In his seminar "Clouds Without Water", he traces the movement's origins to the [[Phineas Quimby]]'s New Thought and [[E.W. Kenyon]]'s Positive Confession in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In contrast, Pastor Joe McIntyre, now head of Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society in [[Washington (state)|Washington]], argues that the primary influences of Kenyon were [[Albert Benjamin Simpson|A.B. Simpson]]<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Hope, faith, prayer | url = http://hopefaithprayer.com/word-of-faith/a-b-simpson-and-the-modern-faith-movement-paul-l-king/ | title = A.B. Simpson & the Modern Faith Movement | first = Paul L | last = King| date = 25 May 2017 }}.</ref> and A.J. Gordon of the Faith Cure branch of the Evangelical movement. McIntyre's version is told in the authorized biography, ''[[E.W. Kenyon]]: The True Story''. The same year, Pentecostal scholar [[Gordon Fee]] wrote a series of articles denouncing what he called ''The Disease of the Health-and-Wealth Gospel''.

In 1993, [[Hank Hanegraaff]]'s ''Christianity in Crisis'' charged the Word of Faith movement with [[heresy]] and accused many of its churches of being "[[cult]]s." He accused the Word of Faith teachers of "demoting" God and Jesus, and "deifying" man and [[Satan]].<ref>Hank Hanegraaff, ''Christianity in Crisis'', (Harvest House, 1993)</ref> Hanegraaff has focused a significant portion of his anti-heresy teaching since the 1990s on addressing and refuting Word of Faith teachings.

Other critics, such as [[Norman Geisler]], [[Dave Hunt (Christian apologist)|Dave Hunt]] and Roger Oakland, have denounced Word of Faith theology as aberrant and contrary to the teachings of the Bible. Critics have also condemned the teachings on wealth, arguing that the Bible condemns the pursuit of riches.<ref>"How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." {{bibleverse|Luke|18:24|KJV}}</ref><ref>"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort", {{bibleverse|Luke|6:24|KJV}}</ref>

[[John Piper (theologian)|John Piper]] points out that Christ warned the apostles that they would suffer great persecution<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|10:30}}</ref> for his sake: except John, all eleven, after Judas Iscariot, suffered martyrs' deaths. In a January 2006 sermon entitled "How our Suffering Advances the Gospel," Piper stated bluntly that "the prosperity gospel will not make anybody praise Jesus; it will make people praise prosperity."

==='Little gods' belief===
Many Word of Faith teachers use phrases such as "little gods" to describe believers. Kenneth Hagin wrote that God had created humans "in the same class of being that he is himself,"<ref>Kenneth E. Hagin, ''Zoe: The God-Kind of Life'', (Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc., 1989)</ref> and reasoned that if humans are made in God's image, they are "in God's class",<ref name="autogenerated34">E. W. Kenyon, The Father and His Family (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society,
32nd printing, 1998 [1916, 1937]), p.34</ref> and thereby 'gods'.<ref name="autogenerated34"/><ref>Kenneth E. Hagin, New Thresholds of Faith (Tulsa, OK: FLP, 2nd ed, 1985 [1972]), p. 56.</ref>

Many Evangelical critics have condemned the "little gods" teaching as cultic. [[Hank Hanegraaff]], for example, contends the 'little gods' doctrine is on a par with the teaching of the [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] and [[Jim Jones]].<ref>Hank Hanegraaff, ''Christianity in Crisis'', (Harvest House, 1992)</ref>