Truth in Mikra

A look at the Word of Faith movement

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by

The Hoosac historian
in

So what is then the “Word of faith movement”?

The basic answer is that it is a Pentecostal Christian based theology with heavier emphasis on reciting scripture out loud and also believing by blind faith ahead of time that you have already received what you have prayed for. For instance this from Mark 11:22-24 would define the theology fairly well.

CJB (Complete Jewish Bible)

He responded, “Have the kind of trust (faith) that comes from God! 23 Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, ‘Go and throw yourself into the sea!’ and it will be done for him. 24 Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours. 

Here is also from Romans 10:7-8

“‘Who will descend into Sh’ol?’” —

that is, to bring the Messiah up from the dead. 8 What, then, does it say?

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”] —

that is, the word about trust (faith) which we proclaim, namely,

First let us look at the origins of the movement. This below from Wikipedia.

Word of Faith is a movement within charismatic Christianity which teaches that Christians can get power and financial prosperity through prayer, and that those who believe in Jesus’s death and resurrection have the right to physical health.

The movement was founded by the American Kenneth Hagin in the 1960s, and has its roots in the teachings of E. W. Kenyon. Several characteristic traits of the movement have attracted much criticism.

Teachings

Distinctive Word of Faith teachings include physical, emotional, financial, relational, and spiritual healing for those who keep their covenant with God. The movement urges believers to speak what they desire, in agreement with the promises and provisions of the Bible, as an affirmation of God’s plans and purposes. They believe this is what Jesus meant when he said in Mark 11:22–24 that believers shall have whatsoever they say and pray with faith. The term word of faith itself is derived from Romans 10:8  which speaks of “the word of faith that we preach.

Here is another Wikipedia quote .

Many of the movement’s essential beliefs are criticized by other Christians. Christian author Robert M. Bowman, Jr. states that the word of faith movement is “neither soundly orthodox nor thoroughly heretical“.

The above opinion by Robert M. Bowman Jr sort of sums up my thoughts. I feel that word of faith teachings can be truthful and life changing or dangerous depending on who is teaching them. For instance things like the little gods theory I find disturbing but I also find much of the word of faith inspiring and well grounded in scripture.

The first point I would make is that the concept of reciting scripture out loud is not new at all. Here is from Revelation 1 on the blessing of reading Revelation.

(ESV)

 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Romans 10:17 (CJB)

17 So trust (faith) comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah. Yes faith comes from hearing.

We must also remember that universal literacy is fairly new and went on the rise with the printing press and greater availability of books. In early Israel the Torah was read by scribes and Rabbi’s and Priests in small Temples and Synagogues and few people could read. That is why to this day that the Torah is divided into weekly reading parashat (portions). Every week to this day a portion of the Torah is read. There are two main cycles that are used, most common is the yearly 54 week cycle that doubles a couple parashah’s per year to give a full Torah reading from after Yom Kipur and ending the next year.

The the Jewish year 5786 (2025-2026 Roman) the last portion of the previous year is October 4th and the 12th of Tishrei is Ha’azinu the last chapter of Deuteronomy. Starting the 26th of Tishrei or October 18 is Breishit the first Chapter of Genesis. There is also a more ancient triennial cycle and a alternative more modern triennial cycle also that is a 150 or so week three year cycle. Also in the early Church the Greek scriptures were read out loud in meeting houses. Then into the Catholic medieval era also illiterate people heard the Bible read in Church. So vocalization of the Bible is not new and Revelation 1 validates it’s blessing. There is reason on face value to believe “Word of Faith” teachings are at all heretical, yes some Pastors have abused it but it and of itself is very Biblical. Its teachings are not new but ancient.

Singing scripture is also been a long tradition also and especially in Judaism and in Synagogue’s the Torah is still sung. If you look at the Hebrew text you notice cantillation markings. Here below is Exodus 15:1 in the Hebrew.

אָ֣ז יָשִֽׁיר־משֶׁה֩ וּבְנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה וַיֹּֽאמְר֖וּ לֵאמֹ֑ר אָשִׁ֤ירָה לַּֽיהֹוָה֙ כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה ס֥וּס וְרֹֽכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם:

You notice below the letters are the nikud, the vowel diacritics but if you look above the text you see the cantillation marks in forms of אֵ֜ like that the squiggle above the Alef. So singing scripture out loud is an ancient tradition still observed today. Modern Christian praise and worship music is often also based on scripture. It was the common practice and often times today still for the Torah to be sung. Although some people do have theories on how the Torah being sung may have sounded it is not known for sure what the cantillation marks precisely mean and they do not correspond to any modern music scale or mode but it is clear that the Torah was meant to be sung.

So pragmatically what is the “Word of Faith”? It is simply reading out loud scripture in prayer vocally that you want to come to fruition and believing you have already received its blessing. For instance if you want healing reading something like 1 Peter 2:24 or Isaiah 53:5 read out loud as a prayer to bring healing. So to my mind the Word of Faith seems well grounded in scripture and history but what are the counter points on Word of Faith?

This here from Wikipedia

John Macarthur of Grace Community Church accused Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Robert Tilton, Oral Roberts, Paul Crouch, Joel Osteen, and others of preying on the “weak and the desperate” through the “blasphemous lie” of the Word Faith Movement. He said, “You have been exposed to this lie, this deception, this pagan pantheistic perspective that has been turned into a spiritual Ponzi scheme, making the people at the top of the food chain rich, preying on the desires, the material worldly desires, of the people who want all this stuff. Comes under the name the Word Faith movement, prosperity gospel, name-it-and-claim-it.

Robert Tilton was sued but not much else. Nothing criminal was ever proven against Joel Osteen but he is criticized for being light on teaching on the realities of sin (which is likely true). As far as the “little gods” teaching I would be against that for sure. I would agree that like all teachings that embrace the supernatural that it can be abused. Life is always safer when things stay corporeal, anytime things get spiritual it can get dangerous. I make no denial that Word of Faith has been abused by the wrong people. Although we have established how ancient the principles are the modern movement started with Essek William Kenyon of Spencer, Massachusetts in the early 1900”s with the “Positive confession” belief system. Kenneth E. Hagin would follow Kenyon and expand the WOF movement into the later 20th century.

There have been many scandals associated with Television ministers. Robert Tilton almost faced Federal prison time and Ravi Zacharias was associated with a sex scandal but neither appeared to have associated with the WOF movement. Tilton maybe on the general Pentecostal movement and used some Prosperity Gospel idioms but he never taught basic word of faith teachings. Jimmy Swaggart also had no known affiliation with the WOF movement. Here below is a list of Ministers and Preachers associated with the WOF movement.

  • Kenneth E. Hagin (1917–2003): Regarded as the “father” of the movement; founded RHEMA Bible Training Center.
  • Kenneth Copeland: Considered a primary leader and “heir-apparent” to Hagin.
  • E. W. Kenyon (1867–1948): Laid the theological groundwork, considered the “grandfather” of the movement.
  • Benny Hinn: Known for worldwide healing crusades and TV ministry.
  • Creflo Dollar: Atlanta-based preacher known for “Changing Your World”.
  • Joel Osteen: Pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston.
  • Joyce Meyer: Author and teacher known for her international ministry.

Although there have been some scandals associated with some of these names but none ever served jail time accept David Cho, Tilton was sued but nothing criminal. I am sure that there maybe others I have not found but overall the bigger scandals were not from Ministers who were serious about WOF teachings.

Famous Preachers Who Served Prison Time

  • Jim Bakker: Televangelist convicted in 1989 of fraud and conspiracy regarding his PTL ministry, serving nearly five years of a 45-year sentence (later reduced).
  • Chuck Colson: Known as President Nixon’s “hatchet man” and founder of Prison Fellowship, he served seven months for obstruction of justice during the Watergate scandal.
  • Martin Luther King Jr.: Arrested multiple times for civil disobedience during the Civil Rights Movement, most notably writing his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in 1963.
  • David Yonggi Cho: Founder of the world’s largest megachurch in South Korea, he was sentenced to three years in prison in 2014 for embezzling 13 billion won ($12 million) in church funds.
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer: German pastor and theologian arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 for his involvement in resistance against the Nazi regime; he was executed in 1945.
  • Barry Minkow: Former conman turned pastor who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 for defrauding his own congregation of over $3 million.
  • Todd Coontz: A televangelist who served time at Pensacola Federal Prison Camp for tax evasion and failing to pay income taxes.
  • Robert Morris: Former Texas megachurch pastor who was released from jail in 2026 after serving time for charges related to indecent acts with a child.
  • Joseph Bondarenko: Soviet-era pastor who spent nine years in prison for evangelizing, turning his imprisonment into a mission field. 

I am aware that I have not done a background check on every TV minister or Preacher that ever lived, that would be very very hard and the results would not be worth the effort. If none of the most famous scandals commonly known scandals are not WOF associated then that says a lot in and of itself. So in reality scandals are minimal to the number of WOF teachers and preachers. The main founders of the modern movement seem squeaky clean. We also know that the WOF is not new anyway but old.

So now let’s address the some of the common criticisms.

That the Prosperity Gospel is heretical and is a false gospel.

So first what defines true heresy that is deadly heresy, a heresy that makes one unsaved!

  1. To deny of face value that God exists.

2. To deny God’s identity in three persons: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit as defined by the Bible itself.

3. To deny Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead.

4. To deny that man is alienated from God by our sin and we personally need that salvation or face eternal separation from God.

So I personally have never heard any WOF Minister deny those facts so I would not call the prosperity Gospel a heresy.

That “name it and claim it” as they say is selfish and promotes instant gratification.

Sometimes this can be true when prayer can get very selfish by an individual but this happens in all types of theology. Baptists and Calvinists pray for selfish and ungodly things all the time, this is not unique to the WOF teachings. There is nothing wrong at all in claiming the blessings in the Bible that God has for you in scripture and believing you will receive them with a strong faith. If you are praying for pleasures not promised in scripture that is not WOF teachings that is praying for whatever you want. WOF teachings are believing you have already received what God wants for you with a heavier emphasis of your faith as opposed to chalking up every unanswered prayer to God’s will alone.

One observation that I think is also relevant is that the early prosperity Gospel preachers had they been thinking of how the Baptists and Calvinists would react may have played things much differently. I think early when the WOF movement became popular on TV they were reacting to people coming to faith in Christ and being born again later in life who were raised in traditional denominational churches or the Roman Catholic Church. This was a time when many people view Christianity through the stereotypical lens of masochism and hardcore self denial. So in that era the idea of it being ok to pray to God for money, pay raise or promotion was very radical and in some ways a reaction by those and to those raised Catholic. I think some of the excesses of the early prosperity movement may have been trimmed if the reaction of the Baptists and Calvinists had been known at that time but I think the early prosperity movement was reacting more to Catholicism. Trying to teach those raised Catholic that you can have worldly things to a point. As one Pastor I respect once said: “Its ok to have things, just don’t let the things have you”. Many in older times thought any worldly gain and Christianity was a deadly sin and the prosperity movement reacted to this and maybe to much. So many think that the prosperity Gospel is about nothing but praying for money, but the original idea was simply that it is ok to pray about money, which I know today is nothing extraordinary but in 1982 that notion was very radical.

How do I view the Baptist and Calvinist view on the WOF movement?

Mark 14:3-9

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

What scripture would I use to show the meaning of the WOF movement is this from Matthew.

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Another thing that I wanted to point out is that prosperity teachings are not just for the rich or making large amounts of money. Many people pray for their washing machine to keep running or for their car or even their lawn mower. The prosperity teachings can benefit any income level and through prayer your washer and dryer lasts 30 years and your neighbors are going to Rent A Center every five years. People often times do not know about these types of things.

Here is some scripture from Corinthians 12 to finish this article.

4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5 Also there are different ways of serving, but it is the same Lord being served. 6 And there are different modes of working, but it is the same God working them all in everyone. 7 Moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good. 8 To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith, by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit; 10 to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the ability to judge between spirits; to another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; and to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses.

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