KENNETH HAGIN
The Other Side© 1997 Mark E. Howerter
Tongues-speaking charismatic Kenneth Hagin is known as the father of the "Word-Faith"/"Positive Confession" movement. In his Word of Faith magazine he teaches the following heresies: Receiving physical healing, just as receiving salvation, is simply a matter of appropriating what already belongs to us (6/90); physical healing is included in the gospel (8/92); God does not afflict people with sickness and disease (12/90); he (Hagin) went to heaven and talked with his sister (6/91); Jesus appeared to him (Hagin) in a vision in 1950 (8/91); he (Hagin) once went to hell in an out-of-body experience (9/91); he (Hagin) does not believe in sickness and disease (7/92); it is always God's will to heal the sick (12/92); and believers have a legal and redemptive right to divine healing (1/93). Hagin says: "Your confession of faith in God's Word will bring healing or whatever it is you need from God into the present tense and make it a reality in your life!" (12/92). (Reported in the 2/1/93 Calvary Contender .)
In Hagin's book, Having Faith in Your Faith , he teaches that anyone can develop universal "laws of faith" to get what he wants. Hagin teaches that for a pastor or anyone to drive a Chevrolet instead of a luxury car isn't "being humble, that's being ignorant" of God's "law of prosperity" that works for "whoever you are," saint or sinner. "Having Faith in Your Faith" is a far cry from what Jesus taught: "Have faith in God." [Other Hagin books that clearly detail his "theology" are How to Write Your Own Ticket with God (Tulsa: Faith Library, 1979) and Godliness is Profitable (Tulsa: Faith Library, 1982).] Hagin claims Jesus told him , "If anybody, anywhere, will ... put these [positive confession] principles into operation, he will always have whatever he wants from Me or God the Father" (Charismatic Chaos , p. 281).
In a recent edition of his magazine, The Word of Faith , Hagin clearly delineates this heresy of "positive confession." The article was entitled "You Can Have What You Say":
"Often you create your own negative situations yourself with wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong speaking. So start believing according to God's Word. Then begin making positive confessions of faith and victory over your life. ... You will never receive anything from God beyond the words you speak. ... If you don't like what you have in life, then begin to change the way you are thinking, believing, and speaking. Instead of speaking according to natural circumstances out of your head , learn to speak God's Word from your spirit . Begin to confess God's promises of life and health and victory into your situation. Then you can begin to enjoy God's abundant life as you have what you say !"
Hagin goes a step further, from heresy to blasphemy, when he tells us:
"The believer is as much an incarnation of God as Jesus Christ. ... If we ever wake up and realize who we are, we'll start doing the work that we're supposed to do. Because the church hasn't realized yet that they are Christ. That's who they are. They are Christ."
Hagin obviously does not believe God is sovereign. Jesus, according to Hagin's theology, has no authority on earth, having delegated it all to the church. (He develops this point in his book The Authority of the Believer [Tulsa: Faith Library, 1979]).
In How to Write Your Own Ticket with God , Hagin sees a vision of Jesus and says to Him: "Dear Lord, I have two sermons I preach concerning the woman who touched Your clothes and was healed when You were on earth. I received both of these sermons by inspiration " (emphasis added). Later, Hagin quotes what Jesus told him in reply: "You are correct. My Spirit, the Holy Spirit, has endeavored to get another sermon into your spirit, but you have failed to pick it up. While I am here, I will do as you ask . I will give you that sermon outline. Now get your pencil and paper and write it down."
Hagin claims to have received numerous visions, as well as eight personal visitations from Jesus . Hagin has written, "The Lord Himself taught me about prosperity. I never read about it in a book. I got it directly from heaven " (How God Taught Me About Prosperity , Tulsa: Faith Library, 1985). That claim, of course, is a lie (Charismatic Chaos , p. 268). [Hagin also claims that he knows that Paul wrote Hebrews because Jesus appeared to him (Hagin) and told him so!] (written by a brother in Christ Pentecostal)
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