This will be my final post on the “Christianity In Crisis 21st Century” other than my final book review.  It has been a very interesting read, and I have discovered a lot about the Faith movement, however I am glad to be finished with this book.  In the final 5 chapters of this book we get a further insight into twisted views and beliefs of the Faith Movement.

Little Gods

It is exactly as it sounds.  Every since the dawn of time, Satan has tried to peddle the lie that mere men can become gods, and that is exactly what Faith teachers have bought into.

“The now deceased Kenneth Hagin asserted that 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…The believer is called Christ… That’s who we are; we’re Christ!” – The God Kind of Life, K. Hagin

This kind of belief system is ridiculous, and even so radical that cult groups such as the Mormons even consider such beliefs blasphemous.  Once again man has taken scripture, and twisted it to meet their self-righteous desires.  Their foundation for this belief is found in John 10:31-39, however they have so misinterpreted this. 

“Is it not written in you law, ‘I said, “You are gods”? – John 10:34

The only reason we are referred to as gods is because we falsely idolize ourselves.   Satan is also referred to as a “god” in 2 Corinthians 4:4.  Not only does this kind of thinking demote God / Christ, it also demoralizes Him, and results in dualism.

Atonement Atrocities

Once again we come face to face with our atonement and redemption of sin.  In the Faith movement theology the cross was “only the beginning.” “For three days Jesus fought with the enemy.  It was the battle of the ages. Light versus darkness. Good versus evil.  Satan was no match for our Champion.  Jesus crushed Satan’s head with His foot.  He bruised his head. And He once and for all, forever defeated and dethroned and demoralized our enemy.  One translation says, “He paralyzed him and rendered him powerless.  He didn’t even stop there.  He went over and ripped the keys of death and hell out of Satan’s hands.  And He grabbed Satan by the nap of his neck and He began to slowly drag him down through the corridors of Hell. All beat up and bruised because He wanted to make sure that every single demon saw very clearly that Jesus was indeed the undisputed Champion of all time!” – Joel Osteen

As much as I love Joel Osteens version of Jesus visiting Hell he  misses the point.  If Jesus was to battle with Satan He would definately have laid the smack down on Satan, but where Mr. Osteen falls short is on the redemptive end.  It wasn’t in hell that you and I were redeemed, it was on the cross.  When Jesus stated “It is finished” the atonement for our sin was paid. 

“You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell.”  – Joyce Meyers

Once again a poor job of interpreting the scriptures.  Jesus took my place on the cross, and the whole view of Christ being re-born or reincarnated in hell and through His resurrection is a joke.  Where do they come up with this stuff.

Wealth And Want

This chapter goes on to speak about prosperity preachers, Jesus with a Rolex, to the Cons and Cover-ups of the Health and Wealth Christianity movement within the Faith Movement.  The Faith notion that all Christians have a divine right to wealth and prosperity is rooted in the myth that God is a failure.

The question immediately arises, “How can I determine whether someone is correctly interpreting God’s Word?” – CIC 233

Hank Hanegraaff gives us the acronym L-I-G-H-T-S & L-E-G-A-C-Y

• L – Literal Principle – Interpret it Literally
• I – Illumination Principle – Interpret in in the Spirit of God
• G – Grammatical Principle -
• H – Historical Principle – L-E-G-A-C-Y
• L – Location
• E – Essence
• G – Genre    
• A – Author   
• C – Context 
• Y – Year      
• T – Typology Principle – The type of writing
• S – Scriptural Synergy Principle – The whole of Scripture is greater than the sum of its individual passages. 

In chapter 6 we come to Sickness and Suffering which I really don’t have anything to say about it, but in chapter 7 we go Back to Basics.

• A=Amen – Prayer – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication
• B=Bible – Memorize, Examine, Apply, Listen, Study
• C=Church – God, Oneness, Disciples
• D=Defense – Creation, Incarnation, Inspiration,
• E= Essentials – Gospel, Doctrine, Deity, Trinity, Resurrection, Eschatology

The book closes with an exhaustive Epilogue, Appendix, and Apologetics that is insightful, and extremely useful. 

In closing Hank Hanegraaff and the Christian Research Institute have outdone themselves once again.  Keep up the good work.