 |
The "Toronto Blessing"
A Theological Examination of the Roots, Teaching and Manifestations, and Connection Between the Faith Movement and the Vineyard Church
By Stephen Sizer
Note: This is an older page within Apologetics Index. The formatting will be updated soon. Instead of the menu on the left, you may want to use the expanded menu found on newer pages.
CHAPTER 2 : TORONTO - THE ROOTS
While most reporters and proponents have emphasised the
manifestations and stressed how wonderful God's blessing has
been, it is essential to take a step back and examine the roots
of this phenomena. Here many have found much that is worrying
since the roots of the Toronto Blessing appear to run deep into
heretical and occult teaching. These roots can be traced to at
least three sources, the Word of Faith teachers, the Vineyard
denomination and the Latter Rains movement.
2.1 The Word of Faith Movement - Health and Wealth
The Word of Faith movement, also known as the "Faith" movement,
represents a group of powerful and influential neo-Pentecostal
church leaders and televangelists who, through their broadcasts,
reach several hundred million viewers world-wide every week
(Ankerberg & Weldon, 1990, p.9). They include Kenneth Hagin,
Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard-Browne, Benny Hinn, Maurice
Cerullo and David Yonggi Cho.
Central to their teaching is the concept that "faith" is a force
that once appropriated, unlocks the universe, and God's
blessing. These men and their disciples like Rodney
Howard-Browne are influencing many church leaders in Britain who
have embraced their heretical ideas.
The "Faith" Movement believes that the human mind and tongue
contain a supernatural ability or power. When a person speaks
expressing his faith in supposedly divine laws, his positive
thoughts and positive verbal expression allegedly produce a
"divine force" that will heal, produce wealth, bring success,
and in other ways influence the environment....According to the
"Faith" teachers, God automatically responds and accomplishes
what we command when we positively confess our needs and desires
in faith, (Ankerberg and Weldon, 1993, p.6)
Benny Hinn, infamous for his claim that God revealed to him that
there are nine in the Trinity, is representative of the "Faith
Movement", and coincidentally worked in Toronto for many years.
He has had a profound influence on the Church through his
flamboyant ministry, unorthodox theological speculations and
extra-biblical revelations. In his book, Good Morning Holy
Spirit, (Word, 1991) Hinn makes the following incredible
statements,
And then like a child, with my hands raised, I asked, "Can I
meet you? Can I really meet you?"....After I spoke to the Holy
Spirit, nothing seemed to happen......Then, like a jolt of
electricity my body began to vibrate all over....I felt as if I
had been translated to heaven....(p.12-13)
Once, my mother was cleaning the hallway while I was in my room
talking with the Holy Spirit. When I came out, she was thrown
right back. Something had knocked her against the wall. I said,
"What's wrong with you Mama?" She answered, "I don't know?"
Well, the presence of the Lord almost knocked her down. (p.42)
What was the appearance of God the Father? Like that of a
man...God has the likeness of fingers and hands and a face (p.82)
What does God the Father look like? Although I've never seen
Him, I believe - as with the Holy Spirit - He looks like Jesus
looked on earth. (p.87)
Had He (Jesus) not offered Himself through the Holy Ghost, He
would not be accepted in the eyes of God the Father. Nor would
He have endured the sufferings of the cross. Had He not
presented Himself through the Holy Ghost, His blood would not
have remained pure and spotless. And let me add this: Had the
Holy Spirit not been with Jesus, He would have sinned. (p.135)
Can you imagine Christ headed for the grave knowing He would
remain there forever if the Holy Ghost would change His mind
about raising Him from the dead? (p.136)
Do you know that every unbeliever is filled with a demon spirit
(p.146)
I feel that the Holy Spirit has the capacity to feel human
emotions-even pain, grief and anguish-with an intensity that is
known only to Him. You say, "Do you mean that the Holy Ghost can
feel deeper heartache than the Father and the Son?".....I
believe it is because He is touched in a deeper, more profound
way than the other members of the Godhead (p.153)
Benny Hinn has made even more outrageous claims on Trinity
Broadcast Network television programmes. These quotations are
quoted from a critique of the Word of Faith Movement by John
Ankerberg & John Weldon,
Christians are "Little Messiah's and "little gods" on the
earth. Thus [Encouraging the audience]...say "I am a God-man....This
spirit-man within me is a God-man..." say "I'm born of heaven-a
God-man. I'm a God man. I am a sample of Jesus. I'm a super
being. Say it! Say it! Who's a super being? "I walk in the realm
of the supernatural." Say it!...You want to prosper? Money will
be falling on you from left, right and centre. God will begin to
prosper you, for money always follows righteousness....Say after
me, "everything I ever want is in me already."
Hinn teaches that Christians confessing they are "a sinner saved
by grace" only insult God with such "garbage".
According to his November 6, 1990, TBN sermon and other
lectures, Hinn teaches that poverty is from the devil and that
God wants all Christians prosperous.
Hinn teaches that....Jesus temporarily lost His divinity after
the crucifixion; and that using words as "if it be thy will,"
are destroyers of true faith. (The Facts of the Faith Movement,
Harvest House Publishers, 1993, p.22-23)
According to Perucci Ferraiuolo and Paul Carden, Benny Hinn
sought ordination by the Assemblies of God denomination in 1993
but his application was put on hold because Hinn made headlines in June when,
at his Philadelphia crusade,
he declared former heavy weight boxing champion Evander
Holyfield healed of the heart problems that cost him the
title.....According to a volunteer helping Hinn with security
on-stage, Hinn asked crusade-goers for $1,000 to help with
costs. When Holyfield raised his hand, Hinn reportedly asked him
for $100,000 - and when the boxer agreed, Hinn pressed him
further, asking him to underwrite the entire crusade to the tune
of $250,000. Holyfield acquiesced, and Hinn reportedly prayed
that God would enable the pugilist to earn $200 million because
of his donation. ("Where are they now? A Televangelist Update:
slick. hypocritical. greedy. power-hungry. flamboyant. sleazy"
Christian Research Journal Fall, 1994, p.45)
Hank Hanegraaff, in his classic book, Christianity in Crisis,
(1995, Nelson Word) shows conclusively that men like Kenneth
Hagin, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Morris Cerullo and Paul
Yonggi Cho are denying fundamental Christian doctrines, and in
particular how they are compromising the deity of Christ,
deifying mankind and impugning the sufficiency of the atonement
and the Scriptures.
Michael Horton, quoted by Ankerberg and Weldon, from his book,
The Agony of Deceit (Moody Press, 1992), makes the following
assessment,
....the abnoxiousness of offering salvation for money is
itself heretical, indeed pagan. Nevertheless, the gospel heralded by
some of the television preachers is even more perverted than
that....It is not only crass and ugly, it is overtly blasphemous
and anti-Christian....[They] are preaching another Word, another
God, and another Christ. (The Faith Movement, 1993, p.12)
In Chapter 4 there is a more detailed analysis of the teaching
and ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne. The views of David Yonggi
Cho another "Faith" teacher are examined in Chapter 6. A summary
of heretical quotations from the leaders of the Word of Faith
Movement, quoted from Hank Hanegraaff's Christianity in
Crisis (1995), has been added as an Appendix.
2.2 The Vineyard Movement - Signs and Wonders
A number of important studies have been published recently on
the ministry of John Wimber and the Vineyard Movement (notably
Michael Horton (1992); Phillip Jensen (1990); Clifford Hill
(1990); and most recently Gary McHale & Michael Haykin (1995)
see bibliography).
John Wimber's Vineyard Movement shows similarities with the
"faith" teachers. It has taught that the western church needs a
major paradigm shift in world view from one that is
rationalistic and "Book" centred, to a more supernatural and
experience related stance. Thus Wimber's emphasis has shifted
from proclamation of the Word of God to a demonstration of the
Holy Spirit's power - hence his "power evangelism and "power
healing". (Jo Gardner & Rachel Tingle, "Ticket to Toronto" The
Churchman, vol. 109, no. 1, 1995)
Similarly, under the heading "Purple Haze: The Inducement of
Mental Minimalism", Alan Morrison traces the Gnostic and
anti-intellectualism of some elements of the
Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement, and in particular that of John
Wimber.
For example, former Quaker and rock guitarist John
Wimber.....openly advocates a "paradigm shift" away from
thinking with Western logic into the exclusively experimental
way of oriental thinking-a concept thoroughly in line with the
mystical ideology of the New Gnosticism. He also claims that
"first century Semites did not argue from a premise to a
conclusion; they were not controlled by rationalism (Power
Evangelism 1985, p.74) This is a highly erroneous and
mischievous statement. Not only is it historically inaccurate
but it also attempts to denigrate logic, as if this is something
to be shunned. (The Serpent and the Cross, 1994)
Gary McHale, in an important five volume critique of the
Vineyard Movement, traces for example, the revisionist
tendencies to re-write Church history with a "signs and
wonders" gloss, to suite their need of an historical precedent
in the way that someone might try and create a fictitious and
fraudulent family tree. McHale shows, for example, how Wimber
distorts Augustine by using selective quotations to imply that
he believed in the perpetuation of New Testament signs and
wonders (p.54). Augustine most clearly did not. The stories of
miracles which Augustine alludes to he attributed to the relics
of dead martyrs and shrines not a ministry of signs and wonders,
hardly something to strengthen the Vineyard case. (p.57)
Likewise, McHale shows that the teachings of Montanus and
Tertullian, whom Wimber argues advocated the continuation of
"signs and wonders" were both condemned as heretics (p.23) He
shows that the early church grew through the proclamation of
the Gospel, the holy lives of the Christians and their
willingness to endure martyrdom in the face of persecution.
"In a way the early church did believe that the Holy Spirit
continued to give them the gifts of signs and wonders. The sign
was the boldness of the public confessions. The wonder was
planted into the heart of those who watched the torturing and
asked, "What god do these people worship that they would be
willing to stand and proclaim him through all this?" (p.37)
The second section, by Michael Haykin, provides some evangelical
perspectives from the 18th Century and Revivals. He shows again,
that by and large, Evangelicals of this era who witnessed
revival, nevertheless believed the "extraordinary" gifts of the
Spirit to have been for the Apostolic era (p.160). Jonathan
Edwards was, for example, actually a Calvinist and cessationist.
God's power was identified in the preaching of the Gospel and
the renewed zeal for missionary work.
In the third section, McHale deals with the immediate context
of the "Toronto Blessing" in the theology of the Vineyard
Church, the alleged restoration of Apostles and Prophets, the
Kansas City Prophets, John Wimber and Jack Deere. Here the
astrological, occult and heretical roots of some Vineyard
theology are traced back to the writings of Franklin Hall and
William Branham perpetuated by men like Paul Cain and Bob
Jones, drawing also from the Latter Rains Movement, the Manifest
Sons of God and Restorationism. The catalogue of false doctrines
and failed prophecies propounded by the Vineyard leadership is a
lamentable, but self-imposed indictment on a movement that has
clearly departed from the Scriptures for their spiritual
authority.
During a Vineyard pastor's conference, Wimber apparently
apologised to the Catholic Church on behalf of Protestants, and
in a seminar on church planting states,
..the pope....by the way, is very responsive to the
charismatic movement and is himself a born-again evangelical. If you read
any of his texts concerning salvation, you'd know he is
preaching the gospel as clear as anybody is preaching it in the
world today. (Michael Horton ed. Power Religion, 1992, p.80)
John Armstrong comments,
This assertion of the possibility that a Christian leader who
is bound by his office and his creed to regard anyone who believes
in justification by grace through faith alone as "eternally
lost" (cf. The Canons of the Council of Trent) may be "preaching
the gospel as clear[ly] as anybody is preaching it in the world
today" surely says more about the confusion of Protestant
preaching than the faithfulness of the pope to the gospel. And
if John Wimber thinks the pope is preaching the gospel as
clearly, ought one not to seriously question Wimber's
understanding of the gospel? (Michael Horton ed. Power Religion,
1992, p.80)
Wayne Grudem, in trying to soften the damage of such statements,
claims in Wimber's defence that,
Wimber was an unknown pastor in a church of perhaps 700
people, and when he himself was developing his understanding of
spiritual gifts....he had no idea that every sentence that he
had said......would be scrutinised for any hint of doctrinal
error by his critics Power & Truth: Vineyard Position Paper 4,
1993, p.52
McHale also shows John Wimber to be something of a chameleon,
modifying his theology and shifting his ground whenever
challenged. The authors point to significant variations in his
published testimonies (1995, p.221ff); they question the
authorship of books bearing his name (p.222); note his attack on
the need for a rational mind (p.235); and his unfulfilled
prophecies (p.239ff). These include claims made in 1989 that a
new strain of AIDS would be released which only the church would
be able to heal (p.239), and that,
"Angelic appearances would become common in meetings and even
the Lord will appear in the coming weeks, months and years.
Healings will become so common that even children will be able
to perform them on a regular basis...It will go beyond that
which was done during the Apostolic period of the First
Century....even resurrections will be common...You [will] even
see amputated arms and limbs growing out when the light from the
evangelist's hands hits them..." (p.7)
J.I Packer, in Laid-Back Religion, criticises this kind of
super-supernaturalism as "Hot Tub Religion".
"Hot tub religion....attempts to harness the power of God to
the priorities of self-centredness......Symptoms of hot tub religion
today include...an overheated supernaturalism that seeks signs,
wonders, visions, prophecies, and miracles; constant soothing
syrup from electronic preachers and the liberal pulpit;
anti-intellectual sentimentalism and emotional "highs"
deliberately cultivated, the Christian equivalent of cannabis
and coca." (1989: p.53,58)
More recently, J.I. Packer, has apparently, engaged in
"fair-minded dialogue with John Wimber and the Vineyard
leaders." He summed up his assessment, rather charitably, in
this way,
My God is not frustrated by any failure on man's part (as
Wimber suggests). I think that this is the Bible's view of God; He is a
sovereign God; He does what He pleases....God works out all
things according to His own will (Eph 1:11). God does whatever
He pleases (Ps 135). And if you are going to lose sight of that
aspect of the matter, well then, your doctrine of God is out of
shape. (quoted by John Armstrong in Power Religion, 1992, 82)
McHale & Haykin also reveal some fascinating but less well known
insights into the ministry of Jack Deere, heralded as the
"theologian" of the Vineyard Movement.
"To use Jack Deere's background as a professor at Dallas
Theological Seminary without informing people that Dallas
removed him from his position because of his changing views, is
misleading." (p.241)
Furthermore, Deere is apparently no longer working with the
Vineyard Church. In a sermon preached in November 1994 at the
Toronto Airport Vineyard, Deere stated,
"...I became a Vineyard pastor....and thought I was very much
at the cutting edge of what God was doing.....But now I am a Pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church, in White Fish, Montana.....now
I'm a Pastor in that denomination, which is the most liberal of
all the Presbyterian Churches." (p.242)
Haykin asks why Deere would want to leave the Vineyard which at
one time he believed was at the "cutting edge of what God is
doing", supposedly, the greatest movement of God since the New
Testament Apostles, to pastor a church in the most liberal
Presbyterian denomination? (p.242)
2.3 The Latter Rain Movement
The claims made by John Wimber in 1989 (quoted on the previous
page) to increasing angelic appearances and amazing healing
miracles bear a remarkable similarity to some of the prophecies
given by those associated with the Latter Rains Movement, whose
teachings clearly influenced the Kansas City Prophets who, in
turn, are now aligned with the Vineyard Movement.
Franklin Hall is commonly regarded as the "father" of the
movement which he began in 1946 in San Diego with his "fasting
and prayer daily revival centre." In that same year he
published a book "Atomic Power with God through Fasting and
Prayer" (Phoenix: Hall Deliverance Foundation) that had,
according to Clifford Hill, an immense impact on the whole
Pentecostal world, including the Kansas City Prophets. (They
Shall Prophesy 1990, p.136)
One of the outstanding elements in Hall's teaching was his
belief that Christians can actually become immortal through
progressive stages of spiritual growth. His teachings on
attaining immortality in this life through psycho-spiritual
exercises and through "holiness" or righteous living, have
provided the foundation upon which many subsequent teachings in
the charismatic/restoration churches have been based. Hall
believed that in the last days a generation would arise who will
experience "real gushers and torrents of a long, past due RAIN
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. A rain of IMMORTALITY UPON THE
EARTH.....permanent, lasting freedoms from all sickness,
harmful, accident things and defeat will come about. Freedom
from the imprisonment of all gravitational forces....... (Hill,
1990. p.136)
The teaching given by the Kansas City Prophets on the subject of
the special power that is going to be exercised by the last
generation preceding the Second Coming of Christ, bears
remarkable similarity to Hall's teaching. They believe the
generation born since 1973 to be the "special generation" marked
out by God for this anointing...(p.137)
They refer to the children as "an elected seed generation and an
endtime. Omega generation who will possess the Spirit without
measure as the manifested sons of God." They will do "ten
thousand times the miracles in the Book of Acts.
They will move their hands and the power of God will go like
flashes of lightening, and as they go like this over a million
people, if a person is missing an arm, it will instantly be
created....they will walk through walls...they will be
translated....hundreds of dead will be raised during meetings in
ball park stadiums," They will speak to meetings of a million
or more people when multitudes will be saved; amazing miracles
will take place such as "eyes put back in eye sockets"; they
will be invincible and immortal; they will be used to confound
unbelievers and subdue the nations (from KCF tapes). (Hill,
1990. p.137)
John Armstrong traces another source of the Latter Rain
Movement which has influenced the Kansas City Prophets through
the relationship between William Branham and Paul Cain, the
leading prophet at KCF.
Cain was also an associate of the healer-evangelist William
Branham, who received revelations from an angel...Among those
revelations were the following: the doctrine of the Trinity is
"a doctrine of demons"; Eve's sin involved sexual relations with
the serpent, but the "seed of God" were Branham's followers,
otherwise known as "the Bride" or "the New Breed" (popular
designations in the "Latter Rain" version of
Pentecostalism).........Among those who acknowledge his
influence on their ministries are Jack Coe, A.A. Allen,
T.L.Osborne, Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, and Benny Hinn; the
latter two claim he was a prophet. So does Paul
Cain....(who)...refuses to distance himself completely from
Branham. In an interview conducted by Kevin Springer a question
regarding this matter was asked of Cain.
You have been quoted from a taped talk as saying, "William
Branham was the greatest prophet in the 20th century." How
could this be true if he denied the historic, orthodox view of
the Trinity....and if he taught the so-called "Serpent's Seed"
theory of original sin?....How could he teach such error and
have a genuine gift?
Cain responded that such errors were "such a small part of his
presentation that it just swept by everyone, until it became his
pet theology" and then turned attention to Branham's character,
which was not the issue in question: "No one ever challenged
{Branham's] Christ-like character." Affirming that he had
indeed said that Branham was "the greatest prophet of the 20th
century," Cain nevertheless insisted that that was due not to
Branham's doctrines but to "his gifting in the word of
knowledge." After all (and notice the pragmatism here that so
often resists genuine criticism), during that time thousands
came to a saving knowledge of Christ in his meetings." Armstrong
in Michael Horton ed. Power Religion, 1992, p.67)
Armstrong asks how it is possible for anyone to come to "a
saving knowledge of Christ" through the ministry of one whose
theology is so distorted.
Responding to claims that the Kansas City Prophets, now under
the authority of the Vineyard Church, have repented of some
"Latter Rains" teaching, Clifford Hill writes,
They made a vague reference to false doctrine in that they
repented of "the attempt by some prophetic ministers to
establish doctrine or practice by revelation alone, apart from
clear biblical support" (point 2). But they did not say which
doctrines they were abandoning. The printed teaching notes
issued to conference participants at Holy Trinity, Brompton,
London, in July 1990 referred to some prophets receiving a
"constant flow of revelatory information" and being "more at
home in heaven than on earth" and others who "will receive
words, dreams, visions daily, or at least very regularly. Will
have "open visions" at least occasionally (i.e. angelic
visitations, theophanies, audible voice)." All of which sounds
very much like the teaching KFC have been giving for a number of
years that "the end time/Omega generation super-church will do
ten thousand times the miracles in the Book of Acts". (Clifford
Hill, 1990, p.138)
2.4 The Word of Faith - Latter Rain - Vineyard Connection
But what have the teachings of men like Rodney Howard-Browne and
Benny Hinn or the Latter Rains Movement got to do with the
"Toronto Blessing"?
McHale & Haykin are not alone in showing that the influence of
heretical "Word of Faith" teacher Benny Hinn over the Vineyard
Movement has been deep, long standing and significant. John
Arnott, pastor of the Toronto Vineyard, admits to having been a
friend of Benny Hinn for 20 years and that he has been a leading
figure in shaping his view of divine healing and anointing
(p.245). In January 1994, John Wimber also confessed the impact
Benny Hinn has had upon him,
"...he was the most sweet, broken person I've ever talked to.
I cry out now, thinking about it. He's so full of the Holy Ghost.
I just loved him." (p.249)
The indisputable link between the "Word of Faith" preacher
Rodney Howard-Browne and Randy Clark, the other Vineyard leader
to have introduced the "Blessing" in Toronto, is also
reiterated by McHale & Haykin (p.249ff).
According to Alpha magazine (July 1994), the "authorised"
account of the events leading to the "Toronto Blessing" are that
John Arnott, the pastor of the Toronto Vineyard church, was
searching for "a fresh spiritual anointing" and so attended a
meeting led by Benny Hinn, a neo-Pentecostal "Faith teacher".
Benny Hinn's particular emphasis is upon a powerful "anointing"
he is able to bestow simply by blowing on people and according
to Guy Chevreau, by 1992, Arnott and Hinn had known each other
for many years in Toronto and at that time Arnott had "longed
for a similar kind of empowerment" as Hinn demonstrated. A year
later, Arnott was also attracted to the "Holy laughter" ministry
of Rodney Howard-Browne, although he was troubled by the fact
that he had not been slain or received an anointing as others
did. (Chevreau, 1994:22-23)
Randy Clark, another "key figure in the Airport Vineyard
Renewal" received his anointing through Rodney Howard-Browne at
Kenneth Hagin's "Rhema" church. In the Alpha article (July
1994), Clark admitted having had reservations over "theological
differences" with Hagin. However, he believed the Holy Spirit
rebuked him saying, "how badly do you want to be touched
afresh?" So Clark and Arnott, leaders of the Toronto Vineyard
Fellowship went in search of spiritual blessings from men whose
teachings have been criticised as heretical and cultic.
According to the Church Times (23 September 1994), the "strange
things" which occurred in Toronto, "happened after a visit by
Rodney Howard-Browne." Subsequently, the manifestations of
hysterical laughter, growling, shaking, and falling associated
with Howard-Browne and Hinn's ministry were experienced not
only at the Toronto Vineyard Church, but as Vineyard leaders and
lay people visited the church from around the world, they too
received an anointing, and the manifestations spread to their
churches as well.
If Randy Clark's blessing had its origin in the ministry of
Rodney Howard-Browne at Hagin's church, and John Arnott's at the
hands of Benny Hinn, another of Hagin's disciples and a close
friend, the origin of this phenomena must seriously be
questioned.
It is clear from the quoted testimony of Benny Hinn who claims
"like a jolt of electricity, my whole body began to vibrate all
over..." and of Rodney Howard-Browne who says he tapped
"heaven's electric supply" (see Chapter 4), that these men
perceive the "anointing" of the Holy Spirit which they received
and which they in turn pass on to others has the characteristics
of electricity.
Very worryingly, that is precisely how Randy Clark, describes
his own understanding of God's "Blessing". The following is his
testimony of what happened when he went to a meeting led by
Rodney Howard-Browne.
I wanted to be prayed for so I came forward, Rodney's coming
by "Fill, fill, fill, come to me, fill, fill" and I went, (Randy
Clark gets on the floor to show what happened to him) and I went
down like this, now you have to understand (laughter), I had
been touched by the power of God before, in a Baptist church in
'84, and in the Vineyard in '89, but every time major baptisms
of the Spirit, I was getting electrocuted, I was doing this,
shaking like this, feeling .....from electricity all the next
day in the joints, now I had a couple of those, so I equate
strong anointing with shaking and electricity only problem is
I'm not shaking, I don't feel no electricity......why don't you
just get up..alright...(laughter) nothings working, something
happened, I can't move, OK God I don't understand this, I'll
just lay here, I can't move, I might as well lay (laughter)
while I'm laying there, there's this woman two bodies down, she
gets the cackles, she starts cackling and she gets the
anointing, and you can hear her, (sound of Randy Clark making
the sound of a pig grunting with audience laughing). At first I
think its just natural, I'm just laughing because she has the
anointing, and I was real laughing and I couldn't stop
laughing...(shows how he attempted to get up off the floor). I
get together with the other guys and we start to go home only
problem is the longer after that...how drunk have we got
(laughter) so we're going down that mile walk (shows how he
staggered home with much laughter from the audience) I'm afraid
the police are going to pick us up, and how are we going to
explain this, laughing our heads off, that was wonderful...only
problem is that was August '93, now a long time, and I've only
been like that three times...I think (because of a Baptist
background) subconsciously its difficult for us to enter into
this holy drunkeness......so Rodney says, "Tomorrow night were
going to have a Holy Ghost blow out".........(Taken from a
Toronto Vineyard video and included in "A Plague in the Land" a
video recording of a talk by Alan Morrison (1995))
In Randy Clark's own testimony he equated this "blessing" with a
powerful force like electricity, associated with being thrown to
the floor, a loss of control over the body, shaking, animal
noises, drunkenness and hysterical laughter. Furthermore his
testimony was very positive toward Howard-Browne whom he called
"Rodney." He assumes that this "anointing" was divine in origin,
and more powerful than those he had previously received "like
electricity". There is no hint of the apparent theological
reservations he had which were mentioned in the Alpha article
(July 1994) .
What ever it was that Clark received from Howard-Browne, and
Arnott from Hinn has come to be known as the "Toronto Blessing"
as they in turn have laid hands on Vineyard Church leaders and
those of other denominations sympathetic to their ministry. It
is clearly that the phenomena which Randy Clark describes in his
own testimony is identical to that associated with the "Faith"
teachers, and have come to represent the hallmarks of the
Toronto Blessing.
2.5 Biblical Injunctions Ignored
The leaders of the Vineyard Church in Toronto, by their actions
and relationships were already seriously compromised by
association with heretical "Faith teachers" long before the
"Toronto Blessing" occurred. It is inconceivable that the
Spirit of Truth would tell Randy Clark or anyone else to ignore
theological error of this magnitude in order to receive a
"blessing" reduced to the level of a "jolt of electricity" no
matter how pleasant, from the hands of heretics.
Scripture specifically warns that false teachers will introduce
destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1-22) and that deceiving spirits
will entice people away from the truth (1 Timothy 4:1). It is
sobering therefore that while in Toronto, Eleanor Mumford, the
wife of the London Vineyard Church leader, claims she was told
"don't question this, just receive it..." (from an audio tape of
her testimony in Toronto used at Holy Trinity Brompton).
The apostle John is most emphatic in 2 John 10 "If anyone comes
to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into
your house or welcome him". How can the Holy Spirit guide
someone to do that which He has plainly and explicitly forbidden
in the Scriptures He inspired?
It must also be asked, why it is necessary for people to attend
a "receiving meeting" to receive and pass on this so called
"blessing"? Supporters of the "Toronto Blessing" frequently urge
sceptics to attend a meeting "to experience it for yourself" not
critically, but with an open mind asking God to bless if this is
of Him.
The Bible in fact teaches us to do the very opposite.
However, it is far from an invariable biblical principle either
that we should assess claims to God's activity personally and
uncritically, or that we must look at the fruits to make an
assessment. For example, claims that Christ has returned in
secret are not to be assessed personally: "So, if they say to
you, `Lo, he is in the wilderness,' Do not go out". Nor are
they to be assessed uncritically: "if they say, `Lo, he is in
the inner rooms,' Do not believe it" (Matt 24:26). If the claim
had been made that Jesus was in Toronto we would be entitled not
to go and not to believe. Why should we then go if the claim is
that the Spirit is moving in Toronto? Unbelief can be a sign of
faith! (John Richardson. From a talk given at a conference
"Toronto Blessing? It's OK to ask Questions" at St Andrew's
Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, 16th September 1995)
In the conversation, recorded in John 4, between Jesus and the
Samaritan woman, to her question as to whether they should
worship God in Jerusalem or Samaria, Jesus did not say, "Go to
Toronto." The Holy Spirit is sovereign and omnipresent.
Deceiving spirits are not.
The history of the Roman Catholic Church is replete with
similar claims to extra-biblical revelations and heresies
associated with visions of Mary at particular locations, where
divine blessings and healings are reputedly attainable. This
deception continues on a massive scale. According to Time
magazine, annual attendance figures are: Lourdes (5.5 million);
Knock (1.5 million); Fatima (4.5 million); Czestachowa (5
million); with Medjugorje catching up fast. In so far as they
draw people toward Mary and new revelations, and away from the
Lord Jesus as revealed in the Scriptures, pilgrims, however
sincere, are being deceived.
This should also warn us not to be mesmerised by numbers, or
confuse size and success with spiritual truth. Yonggi Cho's
church in South Korea, for example, at 750,000 members and the
largest in the world, is, nevertheless, small in comparison to
the Buddhist cult of Saki Gakkai, (a Buddhist version of "Health
and Wealth"), on which it appears to be modelled. (Hanegraaff,
1994:352)
It is unnecessary to visit a place to receive a blessing which
the Lord is quite capable of giving where we already are. If you
are tempted to visit a church where these phenomena have
occurred, ask yourself why? Are you looking for a short cut to
spiritual growth? Assurance of salvation? An awareness of the
presence of God? These things and more, God offers now, right
where you are, as you obey His Word and trust the Holy Spirit
who inspired them, to continue His work in you.
How should we respond to the teachings of men like Kenneth
Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard-Browne and Benny Hinn?
(see appendix for a selection of quotations taken from their
teaching). Gerald Coates offers what appears to be a charitable
and tolerant approach. He is wary of judgement based on the
spiritual roots of Hagin and Hinn.
"Many key biblical characters were less than perfect. King
David and the Apostle Peter are examples. God used them nevertheless.
Men and women who take risks are going to get into trouble. That
doesn't mean we should write them off..." (Alpha Magazine, July
1994)
Such uncritical reasoning is very dangerous. David and Peter did
indeed sin, as we do, but they repented, as we must. That is the
only reason God continued to use them. That is the difference.
Jesus said that a bad tree will not bear good fruit (Matthew
7:18).
According to Philip Foster, vicar of St Matthew's Church,
Cambridge, Gerald Coates, while speaking about the Toronto
Blessing at Spring Harvest at Easter 1995 said,
It's very important that we judge a movement by the best and not
the worst. If you want to look at Conservative Party politics,
don't look at the worst and then write Conservatism off as a
result of it. If you want to look at Socialism or the Labour
Party, don't look at the worst and then write Socialism off as a
result of it. You always look at the best and it's very
important, as we shall see later, we look at the best that is
coming out of this and that'll help us then deal with other
things that are perhaps not honouring God. (Taken from the
script of a talk given by Philip Foster at a Conference on the
Toronto Blessing held in Cambridge, 16th September 1995)
Such natural logic is actually very dangerous and deceptive.
Indeed Foster calls it "frightening", for this is precisely what
many Evangelicals did in pre-war Nazi Germany. We must evaluate
this movement by the truth test, that is, how it matches up to
the Scriptures, the revealed Word of God, and not on the basis
of their sincerity or the alleged benefits or "fruit" of this
movement.
Mike Fearon is rather more blunt in branding Frederick Kenyon
and Kenneth Hagin's work as "nakedly from the occult" (1994,
p.169), and Rodney Howard-Browne's ministry as "remarkably
similar to Hindu practice.." (p.92). He also concedes that there
is a "straight line connecting" the leaders at Toronto with
these Faith teachers (p.106). However, if this is true, it is
surely shocking of Fearon, and dangerous logic, to say that the
founders of the "Toronto Blessing", Randy Clark and John Arnott,
were merely "unwise in their choice of spiritual mentors."
(p.111). God has commanded that we have nothing whatsoever to do
with false teachers. (Gal 1:8-9, Titus 3:10, 2 Thessalonians
3:6,14, 2 John 1:10-11).
Nor is it good enough of Fearon to say that such contact with
heresy and occult teaching merely, "watered down the Spirit's
anointing at times." (p111). Surely it is not merely a question
of "wisdom" or "dilution" as he suggests. God has plainly
prohibited contact with false teachers, and any "blessing"
apparently received from their ministries, against the will of
God, must surely be as lethal as the apple Eve ate in the Garden
of Eden because it was "pleasing to the eye" (Genesis 3:6).
When the heart of the Christian faith is at stake, and heresy
has been substituted for the truth, there is no place for
compromise or tolerance. The apostle Paul was very specific in
the way he spoke to Elymas the sorcerer,
"You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that
is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will
you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?" (Acts
13:10)
Jesus was no less scathing in his denunciation of false teachers.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert...you make
him twice as much a son of hell as you are....You snakes! You
brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?"
(Matthew 23:15,33)
We must never determine "authenticity" or truth on the basis of
sincerity or personal loyalty, but rather by the plain teaching
of Scripture. In Titus 1:9, the Apostle Paul instructs us to
"...hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been
taught, so that we can encourage others by sound doctrine and
refute those who oppose it." Heresy must be exposed, repented of
and pruned before God does so in judgement.
 Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Bibliography
Return to Top Return to Sugar and Vinegar Menu
Go to Apologetics Index What's New?
|
 |
A Quick Guide To Apologetics Index 