Question: Everywhere I turn I find the “Alpha Course.”... What is the “Alpha Course” and ...

Question: Everywhere I turn I find the “Alpha Course.” It is advertised in Christian media and on billboards and in church bulletins. I have friends who say they were filled with the Holy Spirit and really came alive in Christ through taking it. At the same time, I’ve met people who obviously were not saved and yet had “gotten the Holy Ghost” at the intensive weekend. What is the “Alpha Course” and what is your opinion about it?

Response: The Alpha Course is the creation of Nicky Gumbel on the pastoral staff of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) Anglican church in England. From a small beginning about 10 years ago, it exploded after the “Toronto Blessing” came to HTB in 1994. Recently its success has been phenomenal because of its ecumenical appeal and acceptance by almost every denomination. Alpha refers often and favorably to Roman Catholicism and is very popular in the Roman Catholic Church. Gumbel admiringly quotes Pope John Paul II and other leading Roman Catholic clergy, believes that Catholicism is the true gospel and, having read Vatican II, finds nothing wrong with it. Alpha is endorsed by a host of church leaders, including Robert Schuller and Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey (“I think it’s superb”), who tolerates gays in the Church of England, seeks full unity with the Roman Catholic Church and believes that Hindus share a common spiritual walk with Christians. Sadly, it is also praised by many evangelical leaders such as J. I. Packer, Os Guinness, Luis Palau, Gordon Fee and Leighton Ford.

While much that Alpha offers is evangelical and biblical, in the final analysis it gives one the impression that it is not truth but experience that matters most. Alpha conversions seem to be to a Christian lifestyle rather than to Christ through the gospel. Alpha’s proof of the gospel is not the Word of God, conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit and broken repentance, but the display of supposedly supernatural power, primarily in healing and speaking in tongues.

Testimonies refer to being baptized in the Spirit, a new prayer life and interest in the Bible and in going to church, including increased enthusiasm for the Roman Catholic Mass, how great Alpha is and how it changed lives—but Christ, His payment for sin, repentance and salvation are scarcely mentioned. There is little said about sin and God’s judgment, but the message is almost entirely about God’s love and blessing. On the video Gumbel tries to lead those giving testimonies about Alpha into saying some- thing about Christ and basically fails.

The major feature is the special weekend when the Holy Spirit is “received.” The teaching on “How can I be filled with the Spirit?” puts much emphasis upon the gift of tongues. The training manual instructs, “Encourage the person to start to speak in another language....” There are numerous instances of those who are clearly not saved but who nevertheless “get the Holy Spirit,” which Gumbel promises can be experienced in a manner compatible with any view.

Gumbel was so powerfully indoctrinated into the Toronto Blessing that it felt like 10,000 volts of electricity going through his body. HTB has been the center from which Toronto’s charismania has spread throughout England and the Continent. Alpha endorses the animal noises and being “thrown, literally, across the room” allegedly by the Holy Spirit to lie “on the floor, just howling and laughing...making the most incredible noise.”

The above should provide enough information to show that Alpha has some serious problems.