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Kenneth Hagin

Kenneth Hagin, who has taken many of his teachings from E. W. Kenyon, is considered by most to be the father of the Word of Faith movement, even to the point that he is often referred to as "Dad Hagin." Many of the heresies now circulating among these teachers have some basis in the teachings of Hagin. For instance, Hagin holds to teaching very similar to Price and Copeland when it comes to the atonement:

He [Jesus] tasted spiritual death for every man. And His spirit and inner man went to hell in my place. Can't you see that? Physical death wouldn't remove your sins. He's tasted death for every man. He's talking about tasting spiritual death.(1)

[s]piritual death means something more than separation from God. Spiritual death also means having Satan's nature.... Jesus tasted death - spiritual death - for every man.(2)

Despite verses like Colossians 2:15; Romans 3:25, 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9:22; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 1:5 and others, Hagin still manages to claim that Jesus physical death did not pay the price for our sins. Where does the Bible speak of Christ's spiritual death? If that can be found, where does it say this was necessary for our atonement? It is amazing that the Bible would say so much about Christ's physical death and it's role in our atonement, and yet would fail to say anything about what these men claim to be the key to our atonement. Could this be right? No! Christ's physical death was the atonement for our sins, and Hagin and his cohorts are dead wrong. Again, Hagin makes the assertion that Christ took Satan's nature upon Himself, another teaching that finds no support in the Bible.

Hagin also believes that Jesus was not unique in His designation as God incarnate:

Every man who has been born again is an incarnation and Christianity is a miracle. The believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.(3)
Though heretical (Christ alone was God incarnate - John 1:14), it is no surprise for Hagin to say this considering he believes that we were originally created to be equal with God:
Man...was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God's presence without any consciousness of inferiority.... God has made us as much like Himself as possible.... He made us the same class of being that He is Himself.... Man lived in the realm of God. He lived on terms equal with God.... [T]he believer is called Christ....That's who we are; we're Christ!(4)
Contrary to Hagin, the Bible teaches that man was never equal to God, and we have always been conscious of our inferiority. We are not the same class of being that God is, we have never lived on terms equal with God, and the believer is not called Christ nor is he Christ. These blasphemous and heretical teachings have historically been relegated to the kingdom of the cults, but unfortunately, through Hagin and his colleagues, these teachings have wormed their way into the church and into acceptance by hoards of unsuspecting and undiscerning Christians. This fits very well with the scripture that teaches that:
"...there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovreign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." - 2 Peter 2:3-5
Hagin also teaches that by our faith, we can have whatever we want. According to Hagin:
Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me. He stood within three feet of me.... [Jesus said] "Write down: 1, 2, 3, 4.... if anybody, anywhere will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father."(5)
God, however, is not a means to our ends; He is the end. Nowhere does the Bible promise we will receive whatever we want; it does however, teach that we will receive whatever we ask for if our hearts are aligned with His, in which case we will be asking for what He wants anyway ( 1 John 5:14-15). Of course, the title of the booklet this quote comes from says it all: "How to Write Your Own Ticket with God." It is therefore no surprise to have Hagin write that this same "Jesus" who appeared before him said of Christians, "it would be a waste of their time to pray for Me to give them the victory. They have to write their own ticket."(6) Considering that these teachings contradict the clear teaching of scripture, it is safe to say that either this was another Jesus (i.e. not the Jesus of the Bible) who appeared to Hagin, or the entire story is a fabrication. It is amazing that people can accept these teachings without question. Despite the error proclaimed by Hagin, he continues to reap incredible financial gain from his followers through the proliferation of these false doctrines, and not only that, but he also continues to be heralded as a great man of God by multitudes.

Bibliography

  1. Kenneth E. Hagin, "How Jesus Obtained His Name" (Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries), tape #44H01, side 1.
  2. Kenneth E. Hagin, "The Name of Jesus" (Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1981), p. 31, emphasis in original.
  3. Kenneth E. Hagin, "The Word of Faith 13, 12 (December 1980):14.
  4. Kenneth E. Hagin, "Zoe: The God-Kind of Life" (Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc., 1989), pp. 35-36, 41.
  5. Kenneth E. Hagin, "How to Write Your Own Ticket with God," pp. 3, 5.
  6. Kenneth E. Hagin, "How to Write Your Own Ticket with God," p. 20.

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