Apostasy and the End-Time Church

E.W. Kenyon: Doctrines of Demons

According to prophecy, as the time nears for the return of Jesus Christ, the Christian church will increasingly abandon biblical truth for dangerous heresies and unbiblical doctrines that are demonically inspired.

Concerning this prophetic fall, that's also known as the great end time apostasy, the apostle Paul wrote this: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." (1 Timothy 4:1-2)

Paul followed up that prophesy with this one in his second letter to fellow apostle Timothy: "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Are Paul's prophecies being fulfilled? Yes they are, and their fulfillment began in the 19th century with the advent of "New Thought" theology that's known today as "Positive Confession" or "Word of Faith" theology. What is New Thought-Positive Confession-Word of Faith theology? It's the belief that human beings have the power to be healthy, wealthy and successful by putting faith in their own faith and verbalizing it.

Where did that heresy come from? It originated from three heretical theologians named E.W. Kenyon, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and Ralph Waldo Trine who believed that human beings suffered from failure, misfortune, poverty and sickness because they thought and confessed negatively. According to the logic of New Thought, people possess the power to reverse their fortunes if they merely take dominion over their circumstances, and think and confess positively. 

In other words, if you are sick, you profess the opposite. If you're poor, you profess great wealth. If you're a failure in school, in personal relationships, at work etc., you profess yourself to be successful. Though that's complete nonsense, Kenyon, Quimby and Trine were absolutely convinced that positive confession worked.

The New Thought gospel was picked up in the 20th century by positive confession preachers Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller who taught that mankind's worst nemesis was poor self-esteem rather than sin. In fact, Schuller taught that human beings committed bad deeds (sins) because of low self-esteem rather than the influence of evil in their hearts.

Peale and Schuller corrupted the souls and minds of tens-of-thousands of people by denying the reality of sin and redirecting the blame for man's evil behavior toward poor self-esteem. Schuller even claimed that Christ died on the cross not for sin but rather for poor self-esteem. If that was true then Christ must have negatively confessed himself into his crucifixion.

Many other preachers have utilized the New Thought-Positive Confession gospel to enrich themselves at the expense of their gullible followers. Mega-preachers such as Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, Fred K.C. Price and Benny Hinn have become obscenely wealthy by peddling the lie that positive confession works. It certainly works for them. However, it doesn't work for anyone else.

New Thought-Positive Confession-Word of Faith has occult roots and is also related to Humanistic Psychology. Quimby practiced hypnotism that has its roots in eastern mysticism. While at Emerson College, Kenyon became immersed in metaphysics that's a first cousin of Gnosticism. And Trine also became involved with metaphysics as a young man growing up in New York state.

Not surprisingly, New Thought philosophy has heavily influenced "Christian Psychology" that's become a substitute gospel in many churches today. New Thought-Positive Confession has seduced many people into turning away from God and trusting in themselves and self-esteem for their happiness and well-being.

Where does the Bible tell us to place our faith? In our own faith? In positive confession? In high self-esteem? Rather it tells us this: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6) And it says this: "Cast all your anxiety on him (Jesus Christ) because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Faith in God and reliance on Christ has always worked and will continue to work. Why did Kenyon, Quimby, Trine et. al. promote a dangerous heresy that doesn't work and has never worked? Because they had no faith in God, that's why.

And because of that, they promoted a false gospel. Here's what Paul warned the early believers concerning those who peddle false gospels: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" (Galatians 1:8-9)

Saying and Reaping

Ronnie Van Zant

Though I'm not into the positive-negative confession movement, I do know that words can have power. And sometimes, they can have deadly consequences.

Take Ronnie Van Zant, for example. Who was Van Zant? He was the lead vocalist for the popular southern heavy metal rock band Lynryrd Skynyrd that produced several hits in the 1970s.

Those who follow rock music and are old enough to remember Lynyrd Skynyrd, know what happened to Van Zant. On October 20, 1977, he died in a tragic plane crash along with band members Steve and Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. While the other band members survived the crash, they were badly hurt and required major surgery and extensive recovery time.

Van Zant and his band were on their way to a concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when the Convair CV-300 plane they chartered ran out of fuel and plunged into a swamp five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi. A subsequent investigation determined that the plane took off from Greenville, South Carolina with mechanical problems that forced it to fly with one engine. That caused the plane to burn up all of its fuel before it reached its destination, and the rest as they say, is history. 

What does Van Zant's death have to do with words and confessions? It seems that Van Zant frequently confided to his father Lacy that he would never see his 30th birthday. Former band member Artimus Pyle also recalls Van Zant telling him that he wasn't going to live a long life: "Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would go out with his boots on, in other words, on the road. I said, 'Ronnie, don't talk like that,' but the man knew his destiny."

Van Zant was 29 years old when he died. Indeed, he died with his boots on during a road tour. Was his death a coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not. When you listen to some of Skynyrd's songs, you can detect an underlying tone of personal fate in Van Zant's lyrics. He was convinced that he was going to die early. And he confessed that.

Then, there's a man I worked with who told me the story of a former friend of his who cursed his father during a heated argument. My co-worker related that his friend admitted he called his father a "stroke" during the argument and his father subsequently died later that day after he suffered a massive stroke. His friend was devastated and convinced that he had caused his father's death.

Again; was that merely a coincidence? Or, did the man indeed curse his father to death?

Obviously, not everything we proclaim happens. But sometimes it does. How can we explain this? It's easy. We live in a world that's controlled by a dark spiritual realm under the authority of Satan and his demons. (Ephesians 6) Those who've never been born again by faith in Jesus Christ belong to Satan (John 8:44). And when they pronounce curses upon themselves by predicting their own demise, or upon others, their words can have deadly consequences. Satan is all about death and destruction, and if he has a legal right to destroy your life, he'll never pass up the opportunity.

What about proclaiming the opposite? If we confess positively, will we reap blessings such as great health, wealth and long life? There are a lot of folks who believe that. A theologian named E.W. Kenyon believed that so strongly that he launched the Positive Confession Movement in the 19th century within the Christian church.

Kenyon believed that people got sick, suffered misfortune and died prematurely because they uttered negative confessions. For example, when people got sick, Kenyon encouraged them to proclaim that they felt great even when they were desperately ill. He believed that the positive confession would heal the person, while complaining about the illness would only make them worse.

Is there any evidence that positive confession works? Is there any biblical evidence for positive confession? None at all, although there are those who will claim that Kenyon's methods do work. Obviously, positive confession failed Kenyon because he became ill and died at the age of 81 in 1948.

Certainly, even Christians can say the wrong things and bring serious trouble upon themselves and upon others. That's why it's imperative for Christians to be careful with their words and language.

What does the Bible say about cursing? It says this: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." (Romans 12:14-16)

Indeed, bless and don't curse. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart, soul and mind, and avoid sin like the plague. And when you get sick? Should you confess your healing? Rather, "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:13-16)