Faith In Faith
I have come to part two today in Christianity in Crisis, and there are four different sections to this chapter. They are the Force of Faith, Formula of Faith, Faith of God, and the Faith Hall of Fame.
This chapter/part continues to expose the false teaching of the Faith Movement a little more in-depth. I plan on briefly highlighting a few of them. The first is the Force of Faith.
“Words are containers for power. They carry creative or destructive power, positive or negative power. And so we need to be speaking right things over our lives and about our futures if we expect to have good things happen. Because what you say today is what you’ll probably end up having tomorrow.” – Joyce Meyer
In the theology of the Faith movement, words are containers that carry the substance of faith. If you speak words of faith, you activate the positive side of the force, if you speak words of fear, you activate the negative side of the force. I know what you’re thinking… “I feel like I’m reading a Star Wars novel, may the force be with you.” Anyways to shorten this view everything that happens to us is a direct result of our words. Not only are the Faith movement’s concepts anti-biblical, it also resembles the beliefs of New Thought metaphysics.
But where does all this false theology come from. Hanegraaff lays out the misinterpretation that Faith teachers have of Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (KJV) They clearly misinterpret the word substance.
Second, we come to the formula of their belief system which is actually very simplistic, but at the same time very wrong. “Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it.”
I actually found myself saying today….”Is all this stuff really relevant? Does anybody really care? Maybe Hank is over emphasizing all of this.” Then I came to page 108 of this book, and Boom! Reality sets in. “Why Be So Harsh?” “Because when the core of Christian faith is imperiled, strong measures are necessary.” – Hank Hanegraaff
This section goes on to reveal the testimonies of broken hearts and lost lives of former followers of these false teachings. As section three of this chapter is introduced Hank goes on to reveal the God of the Faith movement. According to their cultic theology, God is nothing but a “faith being.” God is portrayed as a pathetic puppet at the beck and call of His creatures. That doesn’t sound like my God at all. Apparently we must serve different Gods.
The final section of this chapter goes into the Faith Hall of Fame which I really don’t have anything to say about it. You will have to read it for yourself. Be sure to get your copy of Christianity in Crisis 21st Century by Hank Hanegraaff today. http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=0849900069
