Death by Faith

Death by Faith [Excerpts]

It was E.W. Kenyon who in his book The Hidden Man on pg.99 wrote, “I know that I am healed because he said that I am healed and it makes no difference what the symptoms may be in my body.” An example would be if [a person is] coughing and you say, "You have a cough," they respond, "No I don’t. I haven’t had a cough in years.” That’s called denial of reality at best and lying at worst.

This is what was adopted by Kenneth Hagin who wrote in his book “In the name of Jesus” on the topic of divine healing and health. “I have so often said, I haven’t had a headache in so many years (45 to be exact) ... Just a few months ago, as I left the office building and started home, suddenly my head started hurting, someone might say, “well, you had a headache. No, I didn’t have one! I don’t have headaches. I haven’t had a headache since August 1934. 45 years have come and gone. And I haven’t had a headache…but if I had a headache, I wouldn’t tell anybody. And if somebody asked me how I was feeling, I would say, I’m fine, thank you” (In the Name of Jesus, p.44).

E.W. Kenyon studied at the Emerson College of Oratory in Boston which was a hotbed at the time for the emerging New Age thought. They imagined they have discovered laws of faith, promoting a Christianized version of occultism.

Kenyon had divorced his wife even when he taught that what one speaks they will possess. E.W Kenyon who is certainly the Father of the Word of Faith Movement taught divine healing and that it was always God's will to heal. But he died in a coma, brought on by a malignant tumor. He died from disease.

E.W. Kenyon wrote mockingly, “We have sung `Nearer the cross' and we have prayed that we might be `Nearer the cross' but the cross has no salvation in it. It is a place of failure and defeat” (Advanced Bible Course, p.279). Does this sound familiar? It should. Kenneth Hagin copies him, (as he did most of his theology) saying, “Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God...Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had him bound, and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence.”

If Jesus was not victorious on the cross, he was not victorious at all! Yet these same men will teach by his stripes we are healed. Which is it? Are we healed for our sicknesses at the cross and not for our sins?

Copeland says “I've had people die on me standing there saying bless God you ain't gonna die. And they did anyway and I'm glad I stood, and I'm glad I stood, and I'm glad I stood. I ain't never stood for anything in my own life that didn't come to pass. I can only use my faith just so far with you.”

Copeland is saying that his faith works efficiently and successfully for himself but for others it is not optimum strength. Yet it is not his fault. He teaches faith never fails, especially for himself. So where is God in this. It’s all dependent on him—his faith, his power, his will. But it can fail for you. 

http://www.letusreason.org/wf25.htm