Aontas - Advancing the Gospel of Christ Together

An Evaluation of the Key Doctrines in the Health and Wealth Faith Movement

© Spotlight Ministries
www.spotlightministries.org.uk

The Christian Church has always seen divergent groups arise from among its ranks that have emphasized certain doctrines to such a degree that they have become synonymously associated with their teachings. 1 Likewise, 'the health and wealth faith movement', sometimes also called 'the name it and claim it movement' 2 has arisen deriving its titles from its primary teachings, namely that all mature and spiritual Christians should be living lives of total success, health and wealth, attained through positive confession. In addition to these beliefs, many observers have discerned other doctrines peculiar to the movement that have deviated from the beliefs of the traditional historic Christian Church. This essay will therefore seek to expound and evaluate the key doctrines of this movement.

Visualisation and Positive Confession

Visualisation and positive confession are of vital importance in the faith movement and are inseparably linked together as one spiritual law. 3 Copeland teaches that if a believer desires to have something it must be first visualised in the mind, then spoken into existence with the mouth. What is confessed will then come to pass. 4 Hagin teaches that if a believer wants to be successful over their circumstances they must confess, and confess positively. In doing so, faith's confession creates a positive reality. 5 Negative confession likewise creates a negative reality. 6 Modern faith teachers, such as Capps, continue to assert this doctrine and claim that eternal life, prosperity, and health can be born in the believer's life, but they must first be spoken from the mouth. 7 It should be noted however, that God is not controlled by human thoughts and is not dictated to by the words of men. 8 Also, if Job, Jeremiah, David, Jonah and Elijah had commanded their situations by their thinking or words, they would have met with utter disaster because they all confessed negatively. An example of this is when Elijah asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4). His words, however, could not change his destiny and God took him to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). 9 If visualisation and positive confession automatically equalled possession there would be nothing to stop believers from writing like Shakespeare, having the thinking capacity of Plato, and being able to preach like Charles Spurgeon. 10

Divine Healing

The faith movement's brand of divine healing is inseparably linked to its positive confession doctrine. For example, Hagin reflects on the many occasions whereby people who have come to him to be prayed for healing and speaks of praying over them and confessing in faith that they will be healed. However, when the same people come back to him and ask for more prayer, he tells them that they have denied their healing and the Word of God, nullified his prayer, and destroyed the effects of his faith through their negative confession. 11 Hagin teaches that it is a mistake to examine oneself after praying for healing 12 and that a person should accept the testimony of the Bible even if his or her physical senses indicate otherwise. 13 Hagin claims that if he had a headache, he would not tell anyone; and if someone should ask him how he was feeling he would reply "I'm fine thank you." 14 Such denial is probably the most dangerous aspect of the faith movement. To deny the symptoms of such discomforts as common headaches and colds, does not usually bring any serious repercussions, but in more serious instances, such as cancer (where an early diagnosis is vital in combating the disease), the denial of an illness can progress to such a point that it becomes terminal. 15 However, the faith teachers themselves do not regard their blend of divine healing as denial. On the contrary, Copeland states that healing always comes and that the problem is with our receiving not God's giving. 16 Concerning the many instances where believers are not healed, Copeland goes as far as to say that such stories are lies. 17 As a result of such teaching, Christians who are not healed often feel that they have not only failed themselves, but God as well. 18 But despite the words of the faith teachers, the fact remains that Christians often develop sicknesses and don't always get healed, regardless of their level of faith. 19 To deny such a fact not only results in a denial of reality but also of what the Bible itself has to say on the matter. For example, although the apostle Paul operated in the power of God to heal the sick (Acts 19:11), on many occasions he was unable to heal those closest to him (1 Tim. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:20; Phil. 3:25-27). 20 Not only was Paul at times unable to see healing in the lives of his friends but even in his own life sickness was still a reality. Writing to the Galatians, Paul reminds them how it was because of an illness he had suffered that an occasion for ministry among them arose (Gal. 4:13-15). 21 Likewise, writing to the Corinthians he explained how his 'thorn in the flesh' remained even though He asked the Lord to take it from him three times (2 Cor. 12:7- 9). 22

Probably the text that is quoted most repeatedly by adherents of the health and wealth movement as a proof text to support their theology of healing is Isaiah 53:5 4-5. 23 But it should be noted that this text is referring primarily to the redemptive value of the atonement. Its major emphasis is on sin not physical sickness. 24 Hanegraaff points out that the Hebrew word for heal in verse 5 (raphah) is commonly used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to spiritual healing, not physical (eg. Jer. 3:22). 25 Although verse 4 does indeed appear to be referring to physical healing, it is given an important qualification in the Gospels. Matthew writes how the sick and demon possessed were brought to Jesus and He healed them and how this occurred "so that what was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled" (Matt. 8:16-17). The healing that Isaiah was speaking of was therefore fulfilled during Christ's earthly ministry, before the atonement, and so cannot be used as a proof text to automatically guarantee a Christians healing today. 26

Although God does indeed heal today under the New Covenant, and does indeed respond to faith, the error of the faith movement is that they deny God's sovereignty and have attempted to reduce Him to a puppet who must always respond with healing. 27 In so doing they reject all prayers that are asked in God's will and boldly assert that by praying as such, one is actually calling God a fool. 28 But contrary to what the faith teachers say, Christ Himself prayed that God's will be done (Matt. 6:10; 26:39), as did His brother James (James 4:15) and the apostle Paul (Rom. 1:10; 15:32). It is the faith teachers themselves who are acting like fools in that they fail to realise that God, being God, can act as He pleases. The truth is, that as a result of the fall, all of creation groans under the curse of suffering (Rom. 8:19-21), and disease will only be fully defeated in the believers life when death is defeated with the coming of Christ and the general resurrection (1 Cor. 15:51-55). It is only then that the natural body, characterised by perishability, weakness, and dishonour will be raised imperishable, powerful, and in glory (1 Cor. 15:42-44). 29