Word of Faith--Contexts

• Messages sorted by:[ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]

Dave,

You improperly indict me for not doing my homework.  I simply cited a secondary
source, which is completely acceptable in research.  I do not have access to
complete primary sources, but the appropriate endnotes were provided.  I simply
cited the published comments of the WoF theologians.  I did not use the
compilers comments but my own.

Clearly, the truth is that you cannot answer for these mens' comments, so you
are pleading contextual misrepresentation.  Can you even hypothetically create
a context where the comments of Capps, Hagin and Copeland would be acceptable
or orthodox?  I'm sure you cannot.

I did find these PRIMARY sources of popular WoF 'theologoy' concerning personal
faith.  These comments are made by WoF adherents, Dave, not their opponents.
Many of the comments reveal the extreme exaggerations and distortions of this
doctrine:

	If you think for a moment of the time Jesus spoke to the
	fig tree because it bore NO frut.  He cursed it.  Which
	is to say, he spoke negatively to the tree.  The end
	result as they passed on there [sic] return trip, was
	that the fig tree had DIED.  It withered to the root.

	This is exactly what happens when we speak negatively to
	someone or about a situation.  It goes directly to the
	root, or heart and destroys.

	Does this have physical things as well as, speaking
	negatively of pople or to people. [sic]

	YES!! Jesus spoke to a fig tree.  It was an object
	yet it was affected [sic] to the root.
	(www.public.usit.net/lafpro/tongue.htm)

This passage suggest that, like Jesus, we can command objects, and they
will obey.  The idea is re-iterated and taken to its ridiculous ends in
a later quotation:

	Your faith-filled words are servants.  They work for you
	just as a seed will work for you . . . Speak faith-filled
	words concerning these problems and tell them what you
	want them to do.  Speak the solution, not the problem.
	Jesus said you can speak to these problems and they
	must obey you.

	Line up your bills on the table and talk to them.
	Speak to them and tell them to be paid.  Believe
	in your heart that they are paid, and you are out
	of debt.

Again, we are encouraged by the WoF teachers to command physical objects.
I can tell you that no bill will be paid simply because you speak to it
as it lies on your coffee table.

	Your spirit man takes those faith-filled confessions, and
	while you sleep, makes intercession with the Holy Spirit
	because he is in constant communication with the Holy
	Spirit, and they never sleep.

	You are getting what you say--right now!  It's time to
	change what you say; knowing full well that you will
	get what you say eventually.

	Your voice carries more weight with your spirit than
	anyone else's.  This is why confession is so important
	in the life of the believer.  Because your faith will
	never rise any higher than you confession.  The confession
	of God's word will produce God's faith on the inside of
	you.  Your voice is picked up by your inner ear and
	sounds differently when you hear yourself on a tape
	recorder by your outer ear.

Again, this is nothing more than metaphysics.  These false teachers are
instructing us to simply creatively address our difficulties and receive
victory.  Anyone could plainly see that this is nothing more, in its
reduced form, than motivationalism.  These heretics are simply spreading
a message of positive thinking and speaking that will affect and effect
our personal lives.  But they are not placing faith in God but faith in
their own faith.  For WoFers, results ['manifestations'] depend expressly
on our willingness and ability to speak positive things into our lives.


I am extremely interested in the idea of our words as 'servants' and
intercessors for our situations.  To say that my words are working for
me in the sense suggested by these writings is pure rubbish.  My words
are not animated beings who are able to accomplish any works!

Dave, I read the passage that you suggested from Deuteronomy 28, but the
Bible clearly delineates the blessings and cursings of God on a basis of
obedience not confession.  It's really not what we say as much as it is what
we do:

		 . . . if thou shalt hearken diligently unto
		 the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and
		 to do all His commandments which I command thee
		 this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee
		 on high above all nations of the earth:  And
		 all these blessings shall come on thee, and
		 overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the
		 voice of the Lord thy God.  (1-2)

God's blessings are not conditional upon confession or positive speaking.  The
Children of Israel were not blessed because of what they said but what they
did.

WoF simply focuses improperly upon the spoken word and thereby shifts the
miraculous from God to man.  All miracles, are according to you, hinged on what
we say.

I would leave you with an admonishment from one of your own:

	Don't give the Faith Message a bad name.  Don't go
	around trying to convince other people of what you
	are doing . . . This can only cause bad feelings
	in others and strife between them and you.  Keep
	this between you and God.  If another believer wants
	to take part, that's great, but don't let the un-
	believer steal this Kingdom Principle away from you.
	(www.tcgcad.com/bread/warrior/saying1.html, --saying2.
	html., --saying3.html., saying4.html)

You are not convincing us of your heresies; rather, you are showing an un-
willingness and an inability to answer the charges against your lifestyle/
movement.  You plead for context, cite scriptures about faith superimposing
your own fallacious tenets over their clear, Scriptural meanings, etc.
It's just getting a bit old.  The only reason I continue to refute this
heresy is in the interest of those whom you may otherwise persuade if you
were to continue to proliferate unchecked.

All Honour to Christ Jesus.





Matthew Shaw
00mcshaw@bsu.edu