The Word of Faith Movement: Towards a Constructive Engagement

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The Word of Faith Movement: Towards a Constructive Engagement THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT: TOWARDS A CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT by Genis J P Pieterse A dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology at the South African Theological Seminary Promoter: Dr Kevin G. Smith February 2016 The opinions expressed in this thesis do not necessarily reflect the views of the South African Theological Seminary. DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this dissertation is my own original work, and has not previously in its entirety or in part been submitted to any academic institution for degree purposes. Signed: Genis J. P. Pieterse Date 18 March 2016 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A great many individuals aided me in my personal journey that culminated in the completion of this dissertation. To each and every person who made a contribution I extend my gratitude, key among these: My wife, Tanya, who showed great understanding and patience during both the research and drafting of the dissertation and who often encouraged me to continue when the journey became difficult. My supervisor, Dr. Kevin Smith (D.Litt., Ph.D.), whose patience, understanding and encouragement combined with his drive for academic excellence was a guiding light throughout this journey. His commitment to see this project through played a key part in its completion. The South African Theological Seminary under the guidance of Dr. Reuben van Rensburg (D.Th.) who gave me the opportunity to pursue this PhD as well as allowing me to choose the area of study that culminated in this dissertation. The numerous other individuals, my daughter, parents, parents’ in-law, family and friends who understood the commitment I had to make towards this project, who showed a true interest, and who gave encouragement throughout. 2 ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to come to an authentic understanding of the Word of Faith movement at a variety of levels: its origins, its theology, and its influence, all for the purpose of laying a foundation for constructive and informed engagement with the Word of Faith movement. This study is not easy to classify in terms of the standard sub- divisions of theology. Since the objective of the study is to come to an accurate understanding of a contemporary religious movement so as to facilitate constructive dialogue, it involves a combination of historical, systematic, and practical theological components. The methodology throughout is based on literary methods. The study aims to answer four key questions. Firstly, is the Word of Faith movement a metaphysical cult or an authentically Christian movement with aberrant theology? The study concludes that the Word of Faith movement is authentically Christian; however, the movement has theological teachings and beliefs that are not supported by a contextual Bible reading. Secondly, what is the organising framework for the theology of the Word of Faith movement, and how plausible is the movement’s theology? On this point the study demonstrates how the key theological beliefs of the movement relates to its ‘little gods’ teaching and how these key beliefs are dependent upon an understanding and acceptance of the ‘little gods’ teaching. Thirdly, why does the Word of Faith movement attract and keep adherents despite its theological deficiencies? Here the study relies, among others, on Bainbridge and Stark who showed that cults form to address people’s immediate and social needs. It also makes use of Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance to show that individuals respond to a tension between their beliefs and their experiences by 3 adapting their beliefs in terms of their perceived and/or real reward. Avery and Gobbel show how powerful the relationship between the spiritual leader and the listener can be, this results in a form of surrogate validation whereby the individual allows him or herself to be influenced. Finally, how should the Evangelical Church engage with the Word of Faith movement? In answering this question it is clear that education is central. I further argue, that from an ethics perspective, a Christ centered approach to theology is of equal importance as is using scripture as the foundation used for the validation of beliefs and teachings. I conclude that Smith’s model for doing theology addresses all these elements and, if used, arrives at a missional focused theology where theological belief and scriptural reading speaks to the contemporary church. 4 Contents Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 9 1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 9 1.2. Problem .................................................................................................................... 10 1.3. Hypotheses .............................................................................................................. 11 1.4. Purpose .................................................................................................................... 13 1.5. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 13 1.5.1. Methodology for Chapter 2: The Origin of the Word of Faith Movement. ............ 13 1.5.2. Methodology for Chapter 3: The Theology of the Word of Faith Movement ........ 14 1.5.3. Methodology for Chapter 4: The Influence of the Word of Faith Movement ........ 15 1.5.4. Methodology for Chapter 5: Dialogue with the Word of Faith Movement ............ 15 1.6. Overview of the Study ............................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 ................................................................................................................. 17 The Origin of the Word of Faith Movement .............................................................. 17 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 17 2.2. The Word of Faith Movement Has Christian Roots ................................................... 22 2.2.1. The Rise of Pentecostalism ................................................................................ 22 2.2.2. The Rise of the Word of Faith Movement ........................................................... 26 2.2.3. The Alleged Connection to Eastern Metaphysics ............................................... 30 2.3. The Word of Faith Movement Holds Christian Beliefs ............................................... 35 2.3.1. Their published statements of faith ..................................................................... 35 5 2.3.2. Their distinctive theological emphases ............................................................... 39 2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 61 Chapter 3: ................................................................................................................ 67 The Theology of the Word of Faith Movement ......................................................... 67 3.1. Human Deification in Historical Perspective .............................................................. 68 3.2. Human Deification in the Word of Faith Movement ................................................... 76 3.3 Human Deification as a Central Organising Tenet of Word of Faith Theology ....... 84 3.3.1. Dominion Theology ............................................................................................ 86 3.3.2 Covenant Theology ........................................................................................... 99 3.3.3 Faith Theology ................................................................................................ 104 3.3.4 Confession Theology ...................................................................................... 112 3.3.5 Health and Prosperity Theology ...................................................................... 120 3.3.6 Word of Faith Soteriology................................................................................ 125 3.4 Summary of Word of Faith Theology ................................................................... 129 3.5 Chapter Three Conclusion .................................................................................. 131 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................... 133 The Influence of the Word of Faith Movement ....................................................... 133 4.1. Bainbridge and Stark: Models of Cult Formation ..................................................... 136 4.2. Festinger’s ‘Theory of Cognitive Dissonance’ ......................................................... 144 4.3. Fowler’s ‘Stages of Faith’ and Allport’s ‘Theory of Group Formation’ .................. 147 4.4. Avery and Gobbel’s ‘Minister Validation’ ................................................................. 152 4.5. Towards an Explanatory Model .............................................................................. 155 6 4.6. Influence over Non-adherents ................................................................................. 157 4.7. Conclusion .............................................................................................................
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