By Victor Adeyemi
The late Dr Kenneth E. Hagin remains one of the most positive influences on my life and ministry and I will confidently identify with him and his impactful ministry any day, anywhere, and anytime. He remains one of the most misunderstood spiritual figures of the last one hundred years and my heart aches when I see people rob themselves of his rich ministry by not reading his books but jump into conclusions from a distance.
I am inspired today by a video teaching of a popular teacher of the Word in Nigeria castigating the Word of Faith teachings with lots of misconceptions. The video by THE REAL GOSPEL TV on YouTube is titled, ‘THE ERROR IN KENNETH HAGIN’S TEACHINGS’ and attributed to a highly respected minister of God in Nigeria. I must confess I did not hear him mention Kenneth Hagin’s name in the video I watched but if the video is credited to him and he has not dissociated himself from it, I would like to respectfully dissociate Kenneth Hagin from some of the errors he was rightfully correcting in his teaching.
While I have not met him personally, I hold the teacher in high esteem for his spiritual scholarship, his longevity and influence in ministry and certainly his age as a Yoruba man that I am. I have refrained from mentioning his name so this is not misunderstood as a personal attack on him or a disrespect to him. I also do not fault any of the errors he pointed out in the video I watched, except that the caption of the video credits the errors to Kenneth E. Hagin and the wrong may be with THE REAL GOSPEL TV and not with the man of God himself.
I will be hypocritical to claim that everything imported or taught in the name of ‘Word of Faith’ in Nigeria has been helpful. There have been excesses and errors that Kenneth Hagin sought to correct in books like The Triumphant Church; Plans, Purposes and Pursuits; A fresh Anointing; The Midas Touch, Greater Glory; He gave Gifts Unto Men, and others.
However, the following identified errors in the video were never taught by Kenneth Hagin in his books.
CONFESSING THE WORD OF GOD INSTEAD OF PRAYING
.The teacher mentioned the sad observation of a sister pasting some positive confessions that she claimed had replaced fervent prayer. If she alluded to having picked such nonsense from Brother Hagin, then she misrepresented him. My spiritual father, George Adegboye, and my late Uncle, Moji Adeyemi, both highly influenced by Kenneth Hagin’s teachings, taught me to pray for long hours and made me participate in prayer meetings where we prayed NON-STOP for as long as 8 hours on several occasions. In books like
The Art of Prayer, Bible Prayer Study Course, Prevailing Prayer, and others, Brother Hagin advocates spending extended time in prayer. He teaches positive confessions of the Word of God as an integral part of the exercise of Faith according to Mark 11:23, Romans 10:9-10, 2 Corinthians 4:13, but never as a replacement for effective fervent prayer (James 5:16, Ephesians 6:18).
IRREVERENCE IN PRAYER
The man of God corrected the replacement of kneeling in prayer with strolling around, hands in pockets. Kenneth Hagin taught ‘Reverence’ as an important part of worship in books like ‘A Fresh Anointing’ and ‘Plans, Purposes and Pursuits’. From a few of the video recordings available to us, we see Him kneeling in prayer. Those familiar with Brother Hagin knew kneeling was one of his favourite prayer postures. He encouraged people to gather around old-fashioned altars at the end of some of his teachings and to kneel in prayer. He knelt to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Reference: The Holy Spirit and His gifts), He was caught up into the Spirit and received revelations about demon spirits and deliverance while kneeling by a kitchen chair in his book ‘I believe in visions’ and ‘The Triumphant Church’. Such irreverent prayer postures as described in the video did not emanate from Kenneth Hagin.
THEOLOGY OF SEED FAITH AGAINST HARD WORK
As popular as SEED FAITH is in the body of Christ today, Kenneth Hagin NEVER taught it. Instead, he corrected it as a false teaching along with first-fruits and several others in his book, THE MIDAS TOUCH, which he wrote to correct doctrinal errors about prosperity.
It amazes me how little of Kenneth Hagin is known by many who just stand aloof and make conclusions on him without reading his materials. I have read resources by critics of the Word of Faith and of the likes of Smith Wigglesworth and E.W. Kenyon of blessed memories. Some of their conclusions are nothing but filled with religious bias and legalism.
Brother Hagin never advocated laziness nor did he advocate materialism. Prosperity, in his opinion, was not all about money, neither did he believe God intended for all of us to be billionaires. He lived modestly and shunned materialism. Brother Hagin taught voluntary giving and would not take an offering when emotions were high.
He taught hard work, believed in it, and never taught giving as the only key to prosperity. He never advocated that people should borrow to invest in God. He always advocated that tithes should go to the local churches people belonged to and never to him.
PREACHING AGAINST REPENTANCE AND BEING BORN AGAIN
Thank God this was credited to another preacher and not Brother Hagin because not only did Brother Hagin talk about his salvation experience on his sick bed in 1934, he tells the exact time he repented and gave his life to Christ. He emphasized the preaching of the gospel and the first chronicled vision of Jesus he had in his book, ‘I Believe in Visions,’ was that of being taken to hell and asked to warn people of the place.
He was shown the soul winner’s crown by the Lord Jesus as a reward reserved for the faithful in evangelism. Brother Hagin also wrote a mini-book, ‘I Went to Hell,’ to warn people of the dangers of eternal destruction. He taught that every minister in the fivefold ministry gifts according to Ephesians 4:11 are first called to preach the gospel before anything else.
To my beloved brothers behind THE GOSPEL TV (if you get to read my article), I perceive your noble intentions to save the body of Christ from erroneous teachings. However, taking on such responsibility requires diligent Bible study, thorough investigative journalism, and meticulous fact-checking to avoid misrepresentations, baseless claims, and irresponsible journalism.
will even advise a couple of your team members to attend RHEMA BIBLE TRAINING CENTER, NIGERIA by correspondence to expose yourselves to details of the teachings and practices of Kenneth Hagin Ministries for more professional critique of his teachings.
I must, however warn, that you may end up with richer prayer lives, greater love for God’s Word and God’s people, multiplied faith, deeper insights into the Word of God, and more heightened sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
Copyright © 2023, Victor Adeyemi Ministries
