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These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. Psalm 42:4

These psalms reflect upon better days for Israel, better days of worship. Some of us have seen better days of worship—when the atmosphere was so rich and thick with the Manifest Presence of God that we could touch it, feel it, see it, even hear the joyful songs of angels, and even, dare I say it, have seen a glory cloud. So powerful we would get on our knees and our faces before the Lord. The convicting power of God was so strong people would flock to get right with God. Those times are the sovereign move of God. Some people try to duplicate it or manufacture it, but only God can do it.

We can pine about those days and end up depressed or complaining, bemoaning the lack of the moving of God today, and blaming it on this thing or that. I have had that tendency to say, “Those were the days!”

Or we can respond like the psalmists:

^“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name” (Psalm 63:3-4).

“Why are you ^[in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence” (Psalm 42:4).

The psalmists responded with praise, with focus on the lovingkindness of God, with crying out to God to move again, and to respond with hope and expectation that He will. Have you seen God’s power and glory manifested in the past? Don’t despair about the present. Praise God and have hope.

Dallas Willard once said, “Where God has moved before, He would love to do so again.” And so, remember those days with fondness, but don’t get stuck in the past. Pray the prayer of Habakkuk: “Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years” (Hab 3:2). Let’s pray, “Do it again, Lord” Revive us again.

Revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love. Let each soul be rekindled with fire from above! Hallelujah! Thine the glory; Hallelujah, Amen. Revive us again!

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Note: For brevity, documentation has not been cited in this summary, but extensive endnotes will be included in the fuller paper.

ESSENTIALS, DISTINCTIVES, OPEN QUESTIONS:

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE 3-TIER ALLIANCE THEOLOGICAL HERMENEUTIC

By Paul L. King, Th.D., D.Min.

 INTRODUCTION—WHY THIS PAPER?

As I read and study the wealth of writings from A.B. Simpson and other early Alliance leaders, what richness and depth I encounter, far beyond the basics of the great foundation of the Fourfold Gospel than most have read. As I have dialogued with other Alliance leaders on Facebook, over Zoom, telephone, and in conferences and seminars, I have seen how little many Alliance leaders really know about our heritage.

Dr. Arnold Cook, former president of the C&MA in Canada warned about what he calls “generational slippage” or “historical drift,” “the inherent tendency of human organizations to depart over time from their original beliefs, purposes, and practices, which in the Christian context results in the loss of spiritual vitality.” Of course, what one person calls drift and another person calls drift may vary. This study is intended to ferret out what Simpson and the early leaders intended to be the essential standards and distinctives of the Alliance from which to avoid drift, and what are open questions or secondary issues which have greater flexibility.

WHAT IS THE THEOLOGY OF THE CHRISTIAN AND MISSIONARY ALLIANCE?

That is a question that has been simmering and perhaps coming to a boiling point in the 21^st century. Because of the nature of the Alliance “big tent,” Alliance theology and hermeneutics have not been articulated clearly across the board through the years. Consequently, various theologies and hermeneutics have been propagated as “Alliance”, some of which are actually in conflict with Alliance theology and hermeneutics, or have been elevated to the level of 1^st or 2^nd tier doctrines, when our founders intended them to be 3^rd tier non-essential open questions.

Since we are a big tent, pastors and leaders coming into the Alliance from other varied backgrounds have brought with them their favorite Bible teachers and preachers, on every end of the theological spectrum, such as John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Paul Washer, John Stott, C. Peter Wagner, and Bill Johnson, to name just a few, who often have great biblical teaching in some areas, but unfortunately do not share Alliance beliefs and values; and some of their teachings or emphases actually conflict with Alliance theology and practice. I have also heard others say regarding a vast array of issues that they want to move away from, dis-identify with, significantly modify, and/or discard some historic Alliance doctrines and practices:

• “Well, this is what the Alliance believed in the past, but we know better now.”
• “We can’t go back to the past.” We need to look forward, not backward.”
• “Since we are a denomination now, we can’t go back to the flexibility and exceptions we made when we were a movement. We have to get things in order.”
• “We have learned from the mistaken theology of Simpson and the early Alliance.”
• “I am not interested in old dead guys.”
• “Early Alliance exegesis and theology was loose; ours is more precise today.”

These are statements I have actually heard some Alliance leaders make. What comes to my mind is the Scripture: “All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). Of course, the first clause does not apply, because this new generation does know the Lord. However, the second clause may apply in a way. They do know the Lord, but later generations often do not know the mighty works of God He had done in and through the early Alliance and truths He had revealed to Simpson and the early Alliance.

Thus, I would rephrase this as, “All the original generation of the Alliance passed on, and a new generation arose who know the Lord, but don’t know the Lord like A.B. Simpson did and the mighty works the Lord did in and through the early Alliance.” They don’t have a personal understanding and appreciation for the foundations of our wonderful message and ministry.

I shared this about a year ago with a couple I consider mentors in my life, Bob and MaryK Petty (Bob has since become the Superintendent of the Alliance Midwest District). They urged me, challenged me, even commissioned me as it were, to present the wealth of writings and Higher Life message of A.B. Simpson to this generation and mentor this new generation in the rich heritage of Simpson and The Alliance. This study is as a result of that challenge.

This is not to say that we should not be critical of Simpson and early Alliance leaders if they had some unsound teaching. Certainly, there are aspects of some teachings and practices of Simpson and early Alliance leaders that we need to adjust or abandon. I admit that I tend to be a Simpson-ite and a Tozer-ite, but I assure you that don’t agree with everything Simpson or Tozer taught. I like what another District Superintendent once said, “I would die for Jesus, but not for the Alliance.” (Although sometimes I might come close to dying for the Alliance as well!).

Nonetheless, we miss a lot of the depth and richness of our heritage if we become too critical or indifferent about our past. Dr. Arnold Cook cautions those who would “celebrate drift”:

If this becomes the first response to drift, we would be doing an end run around the Holy Spirit’s commitment to renewal. Unlike secular structures, the church is first an organism, secondly an organization. God designs organisms for renewal. Organizations can only be restructured.

     Second, much of drift is intertwined with generational issues. God is committed to working through generations, the art of Christian leadership, not around them. The art of Christian leadership is the challenge of blending in generations into dynamic synergism to a watching and fragmented world.

      These issues are not easy to discern. When is something an end run around the Holy Spirit, and when is the Holy Spirit doing something new? To what things of the past should we be anchored, and what things should be let go of for new generations? Are we like Tevya in the classic Jewish musical Fiddler on the Roof, bound to the past, for “without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof?” What are the legitimate anchors to which we need to hold, regardless of generations? This study explores those anchors for the Alliance.

Partly as a response to Dr. Cook’s book, I was commissioned in 2000 by Dr. K. Neill Foster (Board of Managers member and publisher of Christian Publications) and Dr. Donald Wiggins (then Vice President of Church Ministries) to research and write a document on Hermeneutical Implications in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith, that would be co-authored by the three of us and possibly be used in ordination studies. It was never published, in part due to the closure of the Alliance publishing house, but several Alliance leaders have affirmed to me that the need for a similar book is even more pressing now.

The intent of this study is to provide a valuable Alliance theological and hermeneutical resource for Alliance seminary students, Licensing, Ordination, and Consecration Councils members, and candidates for licensing, ordination, and consecration, as well as for pastors, elders, boards, and lay leaders. When I served on Licensing, Ordination, and Consecration Councils, we did not want to know only what the interviewee believed, but why he or she believed and howthey articulated it, to have scriptural support, but also why that Scripture supports it and how to communicate it with others

An Alliance Theological Hermeneutic

Every denomination or theological group has its own theology and hermeneutic, its own perspective of doctrine and interpretation: a Reformed theological hermeneutic, a Wesleyan theological hermeneutic, a Pentecostal theological hermeneutic, a Baptist theological hermeneut-tic, a Lutheran theological hermeneutic, etc. The Alliance hermeneutic is none of these and all of these! The Alliance theological hermeneutic is comprised of three tiers that give liberty to all of these theologies, expressed in one dimension or another or to one degree or another without fully embracing or dogmatizing any of them. The Alliance theological hermeneutic is not Reformed or Lutheran or Methodist, or Arminian, or Episcopal, or Quaker, or Baptist, although, as we will see below, it may be in some ways inclusive of all of them in the 3^rd tier.

Because of the nature of the Alliance “big tent,” Alliance theology and hermeneutics have not been articulated clearly or consistently across the board. Hence, various theologies and hermeneutics have been propagated as “Alliance”, some of which are actually in conflict with Alliance theology and hermeneutics or have been elevated to the level of 1^st or 2^nd tier doctrines, when our founders intended them to be 3^rd tier non-essential doctrines and practices to be held as open questions. What has sometimes happened is that one side begins to emphasize and to push, so then the other side feels a need to push back. Our strength, having an inclusive harmonized unity of doctrinal viewpoints, has also been a weakness when the lack of a strong, clear centerpiece of the three-tier doctrinal foundations has allowed for one theological viewpoint to rise up and take dominance.

Some in the Alliance try to impose a Reformed hermeneutic or an Arminian hermeneutic or a dispensational hermeneutic, etc., upon the Alliance. The Alliance “big tent” allows for each of these hermeneutics to “co-exist” in the Alliance without imposing that particular conviction upon all. By “co-exist,” I do not mean compromising our essentials, but rather living in harmony while disagreeing on secondary or tertiary issues.

Simpson’s “Living Theology.” A.B. Simpson was not a systematic theologian in the academic sense. He did not try to systematize theology. Rather, all theology needed to relate to life. He was a practical biblical theologian. He was not interested in abstract concepts, but in concrete application to Christian living in the world. Although he believed in the ideal, he recognized the real, the living.

Living Truth or Dead Theologies? Introducing the first issue of his periodical Living Truths in 1902, Simpson asserted that there are “living truths and dead theologies.” Theology had to be alive and had to relate to life. Preeminently, theology related to Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Simpson’s theological hermeneutic included these principles (summarized here and elucidated in the proposed book). For Simpson, “Living Theology”:

• Is Christocentric.
• Is Confirmed in Experience with Christ.
• Must Be Biblical.
• Sustains the Essentials.
• Is Flexible in the Non-Essentials.
• Is Demonstrated in Typology.
• Can Be Drawn from or Confirmed by Diverse Sources.
• Calls People to a Deeper and Higher Life

THE BIBLICAL AND HISTORICAL BASIS FOR THE ALLIANCE HERMENEUTIC

 Early Alliance “Big Tent” and “Ecumenical” Fraternalism. From its inception in 1887, The Christian and Missionary Alliance was formed to be an “ecumenical” (in a positive way) interdenominational organization (including Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Mennonites, Quakers, Salvation Army, among others, and later, Pentecostals), focusing on missions and the Higher Christian Life with the motto of Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. The terms “ecumenical,” “fraternal,” “inclusive,” “broad platform,” “big tent,” among others, are terms that have been used throughout Alliance history to describe endeavoring within evangelical orthodoxy to live the motto: “Unity in things essential; liberty in things non-essential; love in all things.” The adaptability of Simpson is observed in his 1900 policy: “God’s methods in matters of outward form are flexible enough to allow for exceptions and adjustments.”

Covenant Theology—The Theological-Historical Foundation for The Alliance Hermeneutic

Although the Alliance is not distinctly Reformed in theology (as we will see that Calvinism and Arminianism are 3rd-tier open question doctrines), certain aspects of Alliance theology and hermeneutics are rooted in Covenant theology. Developed by Reformation leaders such as Zwingli and Bullinger, Covenant Theology set the foundation for much of the 19^th century Higher Life teaching. It was adopted by one strain of the Calvinist Reformed tradition and especially found its consummation in the Dutch Puritan theology of Cocceius and the Scotch Covenanter movement. Anabaptists and Wesleyans also adopted elements of Covenant Theology. Its appeal to diverse theological groups also laid a foundation for Simpson’s ecumenical “broad platform.”

The Covenant Theology hermeneutic is centered around God’s covenants as a central theme of Scripture. It interprets from Scripture that the Church is spiritual Israel in covenant relationship with God. The promises of God to the nation of Israel are fulfilled on a higher, spiritual plane through the Church, through what Covenant Theology writers called the “covenant of grace” and “covenant of redemption” through Jesus Christ. Just as Israel had covenant rights and privileges through their covenant with Yahweh, so through these covenants from Christ the Church has similar parallel rights and privileges.

These doctrinal foundations of the Reformation period were further developed by the Puritans and Pietists, were adopted into nineteenth-century Reformed holiness beliefs, and provided a foundation for nineteenth and twentieth-century Higher Life movements, as taught especially by William Boardman (Presbyterian), Andrew Murray (Dutch Reformed), A.B. Simpson (Scotch Presbyterian), A.T. Pierson (Presbyterian), and others in the Higher Life/Keswick Reformed holiness movement, as well as by Charles Spurgeon (Baptist), who is sometimes called the last of the Puritans. Simpson promoted Covenant Theology through the Alliance, which became a major stream of the Higher Life movement

The Alliance Ecumenical Hermeneutic: Essentials, Non-Essentials, Loving Liberty in Unity

Simpson and the early Alliance sought to represent unifying factors within evangelical orthodoxy, living the motto: “Unity in things essential; liberty in things non-essential; charity in all things.” Simpson and the early Alliance modeled a “unity-in-loving-liberty” big tent biblical hermeneutic that allows for varying viewpoints on the role and meaning things considered to be non-essential or secondary or “open questions.”

Unity in Things Essential—Non-negotiables and Distinctives (2 Thess 2:15). These were the non-negotiables of the faith passed down through the apostles and the New Testament writers. Regardless of denominational or theological persuasion, we are united around the central doctrines and issues of the Christian faith, about which we will not compromise. In addition to the non-negotiable essentials of the faith are the distinctives that make the Alliance “The Alliance.” These are not essentials to faith in Christ, but they are essentials to the vision and ministry of The Alliance, core values and doctrines that are unique and specific to The Alliance.

Liberty in Things Non-essential. Romans 14:5-10, 22 give us principles and examples of freedom of personal convictions and beliefs without judgment. Paul recognizes that a variety of beliefs and practices are not essential doctrines of the faith. Paul stipulates, “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God” (Rom 14:22). On this basis, A.B. Simpson and The Alliance granted people “liberty to present the truth … in such phases and phrases as their convictions warrant.” Many other doctrines and issues are secondary, and in those The Alliance has granted liberty of conscience and belief. These secondary issues can be interpreted in different ways by evangelical, Bible-believing Christians, and thus regarded as “open questions.”

Charity in All Things (Col 3:14-15). The Alliance gave liberty to teachers in presenting various opinions, so long as they “shall not be pressured in an aggressive or controversial spirit toward those who differ,” and “with the understanding that any spirit of antagonism and strife toward those who may hold different opinions is discountenanced.”Alliance leaders agreed to disagree peacefully on those things in an attitude of love, charity, and acceptance.

 Historical Background of the Alliance Statement of Faith

• Original Official Statement of Faith, 1892: “I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, in the verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures as originally given, in the vicarious atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the eternal salvation of all who believe in Him, and the everlasting punishment of all who reject Him.’”
• 1906 Statement of Alliance Testimony, expanded upon this statement, principles of the Fourfold Gospel, Alliance distinctives, and what constitutes open questions.
• 1910—The 5 Fundamentals—Affirmed by the Alliance: 1) verbal inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, 2) Virgin Birth, 3) deity of Christ, 4) substitutionary atonement of Christ, and 5) the resurrection and the literal, visible Second Coming of Christ. Note: don’t confuse “The Fundamentals” and Fundamentalism. Many who affirm the Fundamentals of Faith would not be considered “Fundamentalist,” including the C&MA.
• Expansion of the Fundamentals to 9 points in 1919: (1) verbal inerrancy of the Scriptures, (2) personal, premillennial, imminent return of Christ, (3) one God in three persons, (4) deity of Jesus, (5) sinfulness of man, (6) substitutionary atonement, (7) bodily resurrection of Jesus, (8) justification by faith, (9) bodily resurrection of the just and unjust.
  • Note: C&MA Leadership Played a Prominent Role in Drafting the Fundamentals—Paul Rader (2^nd president of the C&MA) and Dr. Charles Blanchard (President of Wheaton College and an honorary Vice President of the C&MA)
• 1922 Board statement: “the distinctive testimony of the Alliance” for Alliance schools, reaffirmed the 1906 declaration as well as “the historical fundamentals of the faith as embodied in ‘The Apostles Creed’ and ‘The Niagara Creed’ [The Great Fundamentals].”
• 1927 document: “The Message of the Christian and Missionary Alliance” included the “Great Fundamentals,” as well as Alliance distinctives. This document became the basis of the 1928 C&MA Statement of Faith for Alliance schools.
• 1928 Statement of Faith for Alliance Schools: (Fundamentals plus Alliance Distinctives embodied in the Fourfold Gospel. Note: Separation from Fundamentalism: since the Alliance doctrinal statement included an article about belief in healing and the Alliance believed in all of the gifts of the Spirit, it parted company from the World Christian Fundamentals Association (WCFA) in 1928 when the WCFA passed a resolution against Pentecostal teaching, including speaking in tongues and healing.
• Official Statement of Faith—1965. The C&MA Statement of Faith of 1965 was adapted almost completely from the “Doctrinal Statement of 1928,” adopted by General Council and the C&MA Bible schools. It is also the Statement of Faith of the Alliance World Fellowship.
• Canadian Statement of Faith—1985, 1998, 2000. The book will discuss adaptations.

ALLIANCE HERMENEUTICAL PRINCIPLES

Hermeneutical Principles For All Tiers 

• The authority and inspiration of the Bible as God’s infallible and inerrant Word is the biblical foundation for the Alliance hermeneutic.
• Use of the basic accepted principles of grammatical-historical exegesis: Plain Intent; Scripture Comparison; Literal Priority; Grammar, Syntax, and Context; Culture, History, and Genre; reverent, discerning use of critical methodology; and being Spirit-taught, not just Word-taught.

2^nd Tier Hermeneutics of Alliance Distinctives

• Maintain the principles of grammatical-historical exegesis mentioned above.
• Stay Christocentric: “Jesus only is our message.”
• Affirm All Scripture as Useful for Doctrine (didaskalia) and Practice (2 Tim 3:16), thus we can get doctrine from both didactic (Epistles) and historical Scripture (Luke/Acts).
• Maintain the Essential Distinctives Flexibly without Compromise. The Alliance Distinctives are what make The Alliance “Alliance”—non-negotiable essentials to the foundation and ministry of The Alliance, but not essentials of the faith at the same level as the Fundamentals. They are non-negotiable yet flexible in expression.
• Follow the Principle of “We Believe This, But We Allow That.” Strong belief, but with loving allowance without disharmony for certain differing views.
• Be Flexible, But Not Loose. “The Alliance cannot afford to compromise…. Loose views about sanctification, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and Divine Healing through the name of Jesus are out of place on such a platform.”—A.B. Simpson
• Beware of Drift: “We should deeply deplore any drift from this high and established standard.”—A.B. Simpson

3^rd Tier Alliance Ecumenical Hermeneutics—Open Questions/Non-Essentials.

 General Principles

• If it does not qualify as a 1^st Tier Essential or a 2^nd Tier Distinctive, it is a 3^rd Tier Open Question Non-Essential.
• Be as inclusive as Scripture allows and as exclusive as Scripture mandates.
• Foster interdenominational evangelical harmonious cooperation, diversity and unity with Christ-centered bridge-building across denominations and theological viewpoints.

 Tozer’s Principles for Determining What Is Essential and What Is Non-Essential.

• Distinguish between majors and minors.
• Recognize that truth has two wings.
• Don’t hold tightly to one text.
• Balance Scripture with Scripture.
• Maintain the Spirit of the Word, not the letter.
• Follow the principle that internal essence is most important.

 Other Alliance 3^rd Tier Hermeneutical Principles

• Harmonize seemingly contradictory texts. Hold both in balance.
• Acknowledge that normal does not necessitate a norm. That which is common does not automatically make it binding. Consider a broader, more charitable hermeneutic.
• Maintain the principles of grammatical-historical exegesis mentioned above.
• Yet realize “The final exegesis is not always found in the lexicon and grammar.”—J. Gordon. Even by using sound grammatical-historical hermeneutical principles, evangelical Christians disagree over how to interpret certain texts.
• Leave room for divine ambiguity in Scripture for non-essentials/open questions.
• Don’t try to make a 3^rd Tier non-essential an Essential or a Distinctive or an open question a closed question.
• Maintain The Alliance Hermeneutical Ethic: Maintain unity, liberty, and love.

 THE 3-TIER ALLIANCE HERMENEUTIC SUMMARIZED

 All denominations or theological groups have a hermeneutic, a perspective of interpretation of Scripture: a Reformed hermeneutic, a Wesleyan hermeneutic, a Pentecostal hermeneutic, a Baptist hermeneutic, etc. The Alliance hermeneutic is none of these and all of these! The Alliance hermeneutic embraces or gives liberty to all of these, expressed in one dimension or another or to one degree or another without fully embracing or dogmatizing any of them.

Recognizing that godly people who use sound biblical hermeneutics disagree on how to interpret the same Scriptures, The Alliance allowed for these variances to be downplayed for the sake of harmony and the greater purpose—evangelizing the lost. Because of the nature of the Alliance “big tent,” Alliance theology and hermeneutics have not always been articulated clearly across the board. Thus, as stated earlier, various theologies and hermeneutics have been propagated as “Alliance,” some of which are actually in conflict with Alliance theology and hermeneutics, or else have been elevated to the level of 1^st or 2^nd tier doctrines when our founders intended them to be 3^rd tier non-essential open questions.

From its inception in 1887 and throughout our history, The Alliance has had an informal 3-tier hermeneutic, although not always expressed in a clear or consistent manner. These three tiers have been determined from numerous Alliance documents from various sources, including Simpson’s writings, Alliance periodicals, official Alliance documents, such as board minutes, Council documents, etc. These three tiers are as follows:

1st Tier: Essentials/Non-negotiables: “Unity in things essential” (2 Thess 2:15; 1 Cor 15:1-4)

• ·      Belief in the three persons of the Trinity
• ·      Divinity and humanity of Christ—Incarnation and Virgin Birth
• ·      Divinity and personhood of the Holy Spirit
• ·      God as Creator and the nature of creation
• ·      Saving Work and Substitutionary Atoning Death of Christ
• ·      Physical Resurrection of Christ and Ascension
• ·      Scripture is verbally inspired and inerrant as originally given
• ·      Man’s original creation in the image of God
• ·      The fall of man through sin and sinful nature
• ·      Lostness of man and need of salvation/new birth through Christ’s atonement
• ·      The state of the lost and believers.
• ·      Salvation by grace through faith has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men
• ·      Imminent, physical and personal, visible Second Coming of Christ

2nd Tier: Alliance Distinctives

• ·      Christocentric Fourfold Gospel (“the rallying point”—A.B. Simpson)
• ·      Continuism—Christ the same in all ages (Heb 13:8), gifts of the Spirit continue
• ·      Theological Foundations: Covenant Theology and Higher Life
• ·      Jesus Christ as Savior—The Gospel of Full Salvation
• ·      Believer’s baptism by immersion—2nd tier practice with 3rd tier liberty
• ·      Jesus Christ as Sanctifier—the sanctifying baptism in the Spirit and progressive work
• ·      Jesus Christ as Healer—of the whole person
• ·      Jesus Christ as Coming King—premillennial with 3rd tier liberty

3rd Tier: Non-essentials, Open Questions

“Liberty in things non-essential; Love in all things” (Rom 14; Col 3:14-15)

• ·      Church government (polity, ordination, roles of women in ministry)
• ·      Worship practices (hymns vs modern, Sabbath,foot-washing, musical instruments0
•        Fasting
•        Communion
•        Dedication of children
• ·      End-times (tribulation, rapture, interpretation of Daniel and Revelation, etc.)
• ·      Expressions or views of sanctification
• ·      Varying views of creation (but not Darwinian evolution)
• ·      Practices of tongues (but not tongues as THE evidence or anti-tongues)
• ·      Calvinism and Arminianism
• ·      Water baptism (2nd tier with 3rd tier liberty. Universal practice became baptism of believers by immersion, but not required for membership)
• ·      Catholicism vs Protestantism
• ·      Views on Israel (such as Zionism and the Anglo-Israel theory)—but not the replacement theory—that the church replaced Israel, or unorthodox British-Israelism
• ·      Various views on tongues permitted except: 1) insistence on tongues as the initial evidence of the baptism in the Spirit and 2) tongues are not for the church today.
• ·      Regarding dos & don’ts: “operation of a principle rather than application of a rule.”

Modeling a “unity-in-loving-liberty” hermeneutic, The Alliance has allowed for varying viewpoints on the role and meaning of things considered non-essential, secondary, or open questions. The early Alliance was thus as inclusive as Scripture allows and as exclusive as Scripture mandates.

1^st TIER—ALLIANCE ESSENTIALS/NON-NEGOTIABLES

According to A.B. Simpson these are the “great essential principles that we cannot compromise,” what Alliance theologian George Pardington calls the “fundamental doctrines,” based on the “Great Fundamentals” of 1910ff.  The US and Canadian Alliance Statements of Faith are based on these, citing scriptural support from the grammatical-historical hermeneutical approach. They are the cardinal doctrines of evangelical Christian faith:

Trinitarian Essentials

• Belief in the 3 persons of the Trinity
• Divinity and humanity of Christ
• Divinity and personhood of the Holy Spirit
• God as Creator and the nature of creation as fundamental

Christological Essentials

• Deity and Humanity of Christ
• Incarnation and Virgin Birth
• Saving Work and Substitutionary Atoning Death of Christ
• Physical Resurrection of Christ and Ascension

Pneumatological Essentials: The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit 

• The divinity and the personality of the Holy Spirit as a member of the Triune Godhead
• The Holy Spirit is not an “it,” not an impersonal force, not a law or principle, but is a person.
• Stands against unorthodox teachings and religious groups at the time that denied the Trinity and the divine personhood of the Holy Spirit, regarding the Spirit a force, such as Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Oneness (“Jesus Only”) Pentecostals, or Seventh-Day Adventists who regard the Holy Spirit as “the Law.”
• Lays the foundation for the Alliance distinctive of sanctification and baptism in the Spirit.

Scripture Essentials: Inspiration, Authority, Infallibility & Inerrancy

A.B. Simpson: “The Bible is either everything or nothing. Like a chain which depends upon its weakest link, if God’s Word is not absolutely and completely true, it is too weak a cable to fix our anchorage and guarantee our eternal peace.” From statements throughout Alliance history by Alliance leaders, we can observe that The Alliance holds to the following:

• Scripture is verbally inspired and inerrant as originally given.
• Errors may occur in transmission of texts, but the original manuscripts are without error.
• Original autographs are inerrant in both in basic truths and in historical matters
  • Historicity of creation, the flood, the exodus, the defeating of Jericho
  • Authorship of the book of Isaiah by one Isaiah, not two or three
  • Authorship of the Book of Daniel in the 6^th century Babylonian period, not the 2^nd century
  • Genuine authorship of letters attributed to Paul

From studying statements throughout Alliance history by Alliance leaders, it can be determined that the C&MA takes the position H. Wayne House identifies as complete inerrancy and what David Dockery identifies as absolute and critical inerrancy.

Inerrancy views that the C&MA does not embrace include: mechanical dictation, limited inerrancy (or qualified or nuanced inerrancy), inerrancy of purpose or function, irrelevancy of inerrancy, biblical authority only.

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. Although the Alliance has no official statement regarding the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, statements by leaders throughout Alliance history have affirmed the contents of the Chicago statement, in particular, Article 10 on the original autographs.

• Accuracy of Available Texts
• Copies and Translations as the Word of God
• No Faith Tenets Are Affected by Lack of Autographs.
• Lack of Autographs Does Not Make Inerrancy Invalid or Irrelevant.

Soteriological Essentials:

• Man’s original creation in the image of God
• The fall of man through sin and sinful nature
• Lostness of man and need of salvation/new birth through Christ’s atonement
• The state of the lost and believers.
• Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men
• Those who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God.
• The story of the fall of man in Genesis 3 is viewed by The Alliance as a literal true event, not merely a symbolic myth

Ecclesiologcal Essentials

• The doctrine of redemption through the blood of Christ as stated in 1 Peter 1:1-2.
• Christ as the Head of the Church as His body
• Priorities/essential activities of the Church: worship, teaching, fellowship, prayer, the breaking of the bread (Acts 2:42).
• Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are essential 1^st tier ceremonies, not to be neglected.
  • Yet varying beliefs and practices regarding baptism and communion are not regarded as 1^st tier doctrines and practices.

Eschatological Essentials

• Reality of Heaven and Hell: Eternal salvation of those who believe in Christ and the everlasting punishment of those who reject Him; Bodily resurrection
• Second Coming of Christ—Visible “all eyes shall see him.” Physical and Personal–not merely a vision, but a real appearance. Imminent–could come very soon—in this very generation if the gospel is preached to all people—Matt 24:14
• Premillennial Is Not 1^st Tier Essential Doctrine of the Faith, but a 2^nd Tier Distinctive, with 3^rd tier liberty—see under 2^nd and 3^rd tiers

Challenges to the Essentials: Application to Theological Areas of Controversy Today 

Unorthodox Theological/Trinitarian Teachings Not Acceptable as Open Questions

• “The doctrine of creation is fundamental to every other doctrine in the Scriptures.”—A.B. Simpson. Essential, non-negotiable, not open to question. Direct ex nihilo—out of nothing by the power of God, not by Darwinian evolution. The C&MA accepts “without question the historicity of the early chapters of Genesis.”
• Open Theism: opposed to any form of openness theology that makes God less than God.
• Modalism: Alliance “Jesus Only” is not similar to and does not accept modalistic Oneness Pentecostal “Jesus Only.” 

Unorthodox Christological Teachings Not Acceptable as Open Questions

• Unorthodox kenotic theories that make Jesus less than God or that He gave up being God—the doctrine of “kenosis” based on “Christ emptied (kenoo) Himself” (Phil 2:7).
  • Note: Sub-kenotic theories, such as those held by A.B. Simpson and A.W. Tozer, are orthodox and acceptable. Simpson and Tozer maintained that Jesus did His miraculous works, not as God but as man, yet he never ceased to be God. Rather, He gave up or suspended His rights to exercise His power.
• “carnality of Christ,” the teaching that Jesus had a sinful nature, but did not sin.
• Alternative atonement theories that conflict with substitutionary atonement. For example, some current theology holds to what is called a “non-violent” view of the atonement, which appears in conflict with the substitutionary view. Such a view would not be considered an open question if it conflicts with or waters down a substitutionary view of the atonement.
  • Note: On the other hand, so long as another view of the atonement accepts also the substitutionary view, the views can be held concurrently. For example, while affirming substitutionary atonement, Simpson also accepted the ransom theory of atonement. Both views can be held without conflict. 

Unorthodox Soteriological/Eschatological Teachings Not Acceptable as Open Questions

• Annihilationism (John Stott)
• Inclusive Pluralism.
• Another chance after death.

2^ND TIER: ALLIANCE DISTINCTIVES (with some 3^rd tier liberty)

These Distinctives are what make The Alliance “Alliance” the doctrines considered essential to the ethos and vision of The Alliance as founded by A.B. Simpson. These include the Fourfold Gospel and vital related truths. A.B. Simpson maintained, “The points essential to our united testimony are Salvation, Sanctification, Divine Healing and the Lord’s Coming.” They are based on the foundations of Scripture, the Higher Life message and Covenant Theology.

• Christocentric
  • “Jesus only is our message.” The hermeneutical grid for The Alliance is “Christ in the Bible,” interpreting all of Scripture—every book—Christologically.
  • Not a doctrine, but a person: “This is not a doctrinal affirmation, this is an invitation to enter into the divine life and experience God’s fullness.”—Dr. Franklin Pyles, former president of The Alliance in Canada
• Christological Continuism
  • High Christology, emphasizing the unchangeable character, purpose, and work of Christ (Heb 13:8).
  • A.B. Simpson: “If the Christ of Christianity is the same yesterday, today and forever, the Chris­tianity of Christ ought also to be the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
  • The clear implication is Continuism: all supernatural gifts of the Spirit continue today vs. cessationism or dispensationalism, the belief that certain gifts of the Spirit ceased after the end of the apostolic age or the completion of Scripture.
  • Implicit 2^nd Tier Distinctives in the sanctifying filling of the Spirit and Christ as Healer
  • The Alliance Hermeneutic believes in an end-time Latter Rain revival.
  • The Alliance Hermeneutic affirms power evangelism.
  • The Alliance Continuist Hermeneutic has a strong biblical basis.
  • 2^nd Tier Alliance Distinctive: Tongues is not THE evidence of the Baptism in the Spirit
  • The Alliance continuist hermeneutic is expressed in “Expectation Without Agenda”
  • 2^nd Tier Continuist Distinctive with 3^rd Tier liberty. “Don’t be too wary; don’t be too wild; be watchful and wise.”
• The Fourfold Gospel—“The Rallying Point”
  • Fourfold unity is essential—with diversity and balance. A.B. Simpson
    • 2^nd Tier Fourfold Unity with 3^rd Tier flexibility and freedom. Limits to liberty:
    • Avoid side issues. Don’t make minor points into major points.
    • Don’t drift from these standards.
    • Avoid antagonism and attack.
• Foundations for the Fourfold Gospel—Covenant Theology and the Higher Life 
  • Covenant Theology: The Church as spiritual Israel has responsibilities, rights and privileges in the New Covenant.
  • Higher Life: Seated in heavenlies with Christ, called ever higher (Eph 2:6; Phil 3:10-14)
• Jesus Christ Our Savior
  • Salvation of the whole person—spirit, soul, and body—“the gospel of full salvation.” Jesus saves from sin and hell, but also lifts the believer into a higher life.
  • A Supernatural Salvation with a Supernatural Savior.
  • A Person, Not a Doctrine.
  • A “Whole” Gospel, Not a Merely a “Holistic” Gospel.
  • A Distinctive Within a Distinctive: Full Salvation Experienced Through Believer’s Baptism by Immersion.
    • 2^nd Tier Distinctive With 3^rd Tier Liberty—“We believe this but we allow that.
• Jesus Christ Our Sanctifier
  • 2^nd tier doctrine with 3^rd tier liberty allowing for different terminology and variations of understanding.
  • The essence of Christ Our Sanctifier: the sanctifying baptism or filling with the Spirit and the progressive work of the Spirit following that “crisis” experience.
  • 1906 C&MA Statement for Christ as Sanctifier:
    1. a definite second blessing, distinct in nature, though not necessarily far removed in time, from the experience of conversion.
    2. the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a distinct experience, not merely for power for service, but for personal holiness over the world and sin.
    3. the indwelling Christ in the heart of the believer as a distinct experience
    4. sanctification by faith as a distinct gift of God’s grace to every open and surrendered soul
    5. growth in grace and the deeper filling of the Holy Spirit as distinct from and the            result of the definite experience of sanctification.
  • Firmly a 2^nd Tier Alliance Distinctive. A.B. Simpson cautions:
    • “Loose views about sanctification, the baptism of the Holy Spirit are out of place.”
    • “We should deeply deplore any drift from this high and established standard.”
  • A Distinct, Subsequent “Crisis” Experience of the Spirit: “a second definite work of grace—a crisis as radical and revolutionary as the crisis of conversion.”—Alliance theologian Dr. George Pardington
  • A Sanctifying Experience—1 Thess 5:23; Rom 12:1-2; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1
  • Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Fire (Luke 3:16-17)
    • The language used by A.B. Simpson and early Alliance leaders, though a variety of other terminology was also used.
    • Baptism means immersed, saturated, overwhelmed.
    • “and fire” is the Holy Spirit’s work of cleansing, purifying
    • Not at conversion, but distinct–There is good exegetical and historical theological evidence for using the term “Baptism in the Spirit.” (provided in a separate paper)
  • Acts 1:4, 5, 8. Jesus identifies this baptism in the Spirit He gives as the Holy Spirit coming upon people for the purpose of power to be a witness—a 3-fold power:
    • Power to speak a witness with boldness, wisdom, effectiveness, and anointing from the Holy Spirit
    • Power to live a witness through transformed holy living, overcoming sin and the devil
    • Power to demonstrate a witness supernaturally through the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit
  • Crisis and progressive–“Deeper, fuller baptisms,” “Pentecosts and second Pentecosts”—A.B. Simpson
  • Sanctification is not eradication or suppression of the old self, but the law of lift—lifted into a Higher Life through “Christ in you.”
• Jesus Christ Our Healer
  • Presents healing as a provision of the atonement is a 2^nd Tier Doctrine with some 3^rd tier liberty, allowing variations or nuances of interpretation and practice.
  • 1887—Alliance founded with the Fourfold Gospel motto. A crippled woman was mira-culously healed at the founding of the Alliance, confirming the healing ministry calling.
  • Key Scriptures exegeted include Isaiah 53:3-5; Matthew 8:16-17; 1 Peter 2:24; Psalm 103:1-5; James 5:13-17; Exodus 15:26, among others.
  • 1906 Board of Mgrs statement on Christ Our Healer: “the Alliance holds and teaches:
    1. The will of God to heal bodies of those who trust and obey Him by His own direct power without means.
    2. The atonement of Christ for the body.
    3. The life of the risen Christ for our mortal frame received by faith.
    4. The ordinance of anointing and laying on of hands with proper recognition of the necessity of faith on the part of the individual anointed.
    5. Power over evil spirits through the name of Jesus.
    6. The disclaiming of merit or individual power on the part of the worker, and the constant recognition of the name of Jesus as the source of all supernatural power.”
  • Additional Alliance Principles and Concepts of Christ Our Healer
    • Whole Person Healing (Psalm 103:1-5).
    • A Covenantal Redemption Right
    • Healing in the Atonement Not an Absolute. “A man is immortal until his work is done”—Simpson quoting Spurgeon and Cromwell
    • The Overlapping of the Ages—The Kingdom Here Now, But Not Fully Here Yet
    • There is a place for medicine and doctors.
  • Deliverance Ministry as a Part of Alliance Healing Ministry
    • “Power over evil spirits through the name of Jesus”—1906, 1922 Board Statements
    • “Deliverance from demons stands right alongside divine healing and stands or falls with it.”—A.B. Simpson
    • Satan is not currently bound on earth (Rev 20:1-3). Believers are thus called to bind and loose—A.B. Simpson, Robert Jaffray, John MacMillan, Ethan O. Allen
    • We have the authority of the believer—taught by A.B. Simpson and John MacMillan
    • There are varying degrees of demon presence and power—William C. Stevens
    • Christians can be demonized, but not possessed, i.e., owned by demons.
    • Sources of demonization of believers include: Involvement with the occult; transmission of unclean spirits; generational bondages and curses; counterfeit supernatural manifestations; passive, undiscerning acceptance of demonic forces
    • Be Christ-conscious, not devil-conscious—A.W. Tozer
  • Note: Some of the major opponents of the Alliance position on healing in the atonement include B.B. Warfield, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Hank Hanegraaff, Tim Challies, etc.
• Jesus Christ Our Coming King
  • Premillennial 2^nd Coming: a 2^nd tier doctrine with 3^rd tier liberty. The founding Constitutional Statement of The Alliance, August 1887, reads: “Inasmuch as many persons who desire to become members of this Alliance and are in full accord with its principles in other points, cannot yet fully accept the doctrine of Christ’s Pre-millennial Coming, it is agreed that such persons may be received into full membership provided they receive the first three points of testimony, and are willing to give this subject their candid and prayerful consideration.”
    • This is a case of “We believe this but allow that.”
    • During Simpson’s life, he did stress that the Alliance was premillennial but did not make it a condition for fellowship or doctrine. His attitude and teaching were more like, “this is a great truth and here are good reasons for believing it.” One of those good reasons was that all of the earliest church fathers before Origen viewed the Second Coming as premillennial.
  • Simpson—An Amillennial Premillennialist. Simpson believed in a dual millennium—both now and future—the beginning of a personal spiritual millennium for the believer now and a physical millennium for the church in the future:
    • “There is a sense in which His coming to each heart will bring a millennial blessing to that heart. There is a millennium for the soul as well as for the Church. There is a kingdom of peace and righteousness and glory into which, in a limited sense, we can enter with Him here. There is a Kingdom of God which is within us.”
    • He taught the principle of the “kingdom here now, but not yet,” calling it “the overlapping of the ages”:
      • “We may press forward to His coming… by anticipating already in some measure the millennial life. Even here and now we may receive a foretaste of the coming kingdom.”
      • “God permits us to live under the powers of the age to come and come into the border zone.”
      • “As in the past God was always overlapping the coming age, so is He today overlapping the next age…. All this is the overlapping of the millennial day…. We shall find nothing awaiting us yonder that we have not begun to find in our experience here.”
      • “Let us begin the millennial life here if we expect to enjoy it by and by.”
      • “To each of us, like Esther, God has given a kingdom of influence and power…. Our king has given to each of us a trust to occupy…. Have you claimed all your kingdom?”
• Note: In Simpson’s framework, a person can be both an amillennialist and a premillennialist—thus, an amillennial premillennialist, making room for both in Scripture without sacrificing a literal interpretation of Scripture. So we see that some features of amillennialism and post-millennialism can be compatible with premillennialism and fit into a premillennial framework. A premillennial framework can be malleable enough to encompass some amil and post-mil aspects.
• Of course, some elements of post mil and a mil are not compatible. For instance, some brands of amillennialism teach that Satan is currently bound on earth, according to their interpretation of Revelation 20:1-3. The Alliance does not hold that Satan is currently bound and not deceiving the nations. Satan is very much active in harassing people’s lives and deceiving.

3^RD TIER—ALLIANCE NON-ESSENTIALS/OPEN QUESTIONS–LIBERTY

Third tier doctrines and practices are termed in Alliance documents as “secondary” or “side” issues that are “non-essential,” “open questions.” With a hermeneutic of “unity in loving liberty,” the early Alliance was as inclusive as Scripture allows (based on Romans 14) and as exclusive as Scripture mandates, building bridges of interdenominational cooperation in “harmonized diversity,” avoiding extremes and side issues such as “fads, frauds, phases, and hobby horses.”

What Are Not Considered Open Questions—The Essentials and Distinctives

• Any belief that watered down the Trinity; the sovereignty of God; God as Creator (vs. evolution); the authority, infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture; the lostness of man; the deity, humanity, incarnation, virgin birth, death, vicarious atonement, physical resurrection, ascension, and second coming of Christ.
• Any belief that watered down or compromised the Alliance distinctives of Christ-centeredness, supernatural continuism, Christ as Savior, Sanctifier (the sanctifying baptism/filling with the Spirit), Healer, and Coming King
• Anything that would disrupt unity on the points above.
• 3^rd tier flexibility was allowed in terminology and understanding of “phases and phrases,” but no laxity or excessive latitude that would compromise any of these points.

3^rd Tier Principles Regarding Open Questions

• The Principle of a “Broad Platform” and “Bridge-Building.”
• The Principle of Flexibility, Not Rigidity: “God’s methods allow for exceptions and adjustments.”–A.B. Simpson
• The Principle of Family over Religious Formality—“fraternal vs. ecclesiastical”
• The Principles of Harmonious Disagreement and Harmonious Liberty.
• The Principle of Keeping to Biblical Terminology as Much as Possible
• The Principle of “We Believe This But Allow That.” How practiced in The Alliance?
  • The Alliance believes in the premillennial 2^nd coming of Christ, but allowed for other viewpoints so long as open to premillennialism.
  • The Alliance believes in believer’s baptism by immersion, but “No one was excluded from membership whose conscience was satisfied with their infant baptism.”
  • The Alliance believed that men are usually elders and pastors but allowed for women to be pastors and elders if the local church so desired and the woman was under authority and had an anointing from God.
• The Principle of Balance: “Overstress the minors, and you have chaos; overlook the majors, and you have death.”—A.W. Tozer.

How Are Disagreements Over Open Questions To Be Handled?

• Let there be no controversy or argument on these issues—agree to differ, not divide.
• Don’t make a major over a minor even if it is a major in your eyes.
• Don’t become dogmatic and warlike over your position.
• Do not judge one another—be one in heart.
• Do not be aggressive or pressure others with your viewpoint.
• Avoid any spirit of antagonism.
• Avoid attacking those who differ.
• Don’t let a narrow, sectarian spirit divide us.
• Don’t speak a reckless word against another believer—don’t speak unkindly, don’t slander, don’t be bitter.
• Have an attitude of humility—none of us have the whole truth.
• Don’t force your interpretation of Scripture on others.
• Even if separation is necessary, like Paul and Barnabas, separate in a spirit of mutual love.

Tozer: The Main Difficulty—Disagreement Over What Constitutes 3^rd Tier: “I have seen the motto, ‘In essentials unity; in nonessentials charity,’ and I have looked for its incarnation in men and churches without finding it, one reason being that Christians cannot agree on what is and what is not essential. Each one believes that his fragment of truth is essential and his neighbor’s unessential, and that brings us right back where we started.”—A.W. Tozer

Issues Considered 3^rd Tier “Open Questions” for the Alliance

Through thorough research of Alliance documents, the following have been documented historically as considered “open questions” or “side issues” in the Alliance, among others:

• Church government (polity, ordination, women in ministry).
• Calvinism and Arminianism (either may be held, but agree to disagree harmoniously)
• Various worship practices
  • Water baptism. (The almost universal practice became baptism of believers by immersion, but not required for membership—2^nd tier with 3^rd tier liberty)
  • Views regarding communion
    • open or closed communion (most practice open communion, but decision rests with the local congregation).
    • theology of communion—3^rd tier liberty except for Catholic transubstantiation
  • dedication of children
  • modern hymns and tunes (use of musical instruments, etc)
  • when to worship (sabbath, etc.)
  • fasting
  • foot washing
• Roles of the ministry of women: open question, not to be aggressive about. The decision rests with the local congregation. An ecumenical middle path that was both egalitarian and complementarian, affirming male headship and at the same time granting virtually full freedom for women in ministry, including pastoral ministry and performance of all pastoral functions, providing latitude for both personal liberty of conscience, unity, and tolerance. Weighing differing interpretations of pertinent biblical passages, Alliance leadership determined that there was sufficient ambiguity in the Scripture so as to have no clear example or sanction to ordain women, yet sufficient biblical evidence to allow practically complete latitude for women to serve in virtually any capacity of ministry as long as they were submitted to appropriate authority. The position of the C&MA until 1998 US change.
• Catholicism vs Protestantism: Some Roman Catholic theology was not accepted (transubstantiation, relics, baptismal regeneration, purgatory, and salvation by works), but an appreciation for the evangelical Catholic mystics. The Alliance understood that some people had a real deep relationship and fellowship with God even with defective theology. Avoid arguing over doctrines, but rather lead people to Christ.
• Varying views on Creation (but Darwinian evolutionary theory was not accepted)
• Views on sanctification: “liberty to present the truth of sanctification in such phases and phrases as convictions warrant,” but with the understanding that views “shall not be pressured in an aggressive or controversial spirit toward those who differ.”
• End-times, 2^nd Coming and rapture: The C&MA held to a pre-millennial eschatology, but not rigidly, giving liberty to teachers in presenting various opinions about the end-times
• Views on Israel: (such as Zionism and the Anglo-Israel theory)—However, The Alliance did not believe in the replacement theory—that the church replaced Israel.
• Various views on tongues permitted except: 1) insistence on tongues as the initial evidence of the baptism in the Spirit and 2) tongues are not for the church today.
• Regarding dos & don’ts: “operation of a principle rather than application of a rule.”

 SUMMARY OF THE ALLIANCE 3^RD TIER HERMENEUTIC: AN ECUMENICAL MIDDLE PATH

• Apply the Two Wings Principle.
• Recognize that the final exegesis not in the lexicon and grammar.
• Recognize a divine ambiguity.

Ultimately, agree to disagree harmoniously. Accept that there are good godly people on both sides of these issues.One can take a position on one of these issues without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward those taking an opposing view.

• In the Alliance 3^rd Tier Ecumenical Hermeneutic, one can be
  • a Calvinist without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward Arminians.
  • an Arminian without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward Calvinists.
  • premillennial without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward amillennialists.
  • amillennial without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward premillennialists.
  • complementarian without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward egalitarians.
  • egalitarian without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward complementarians.
  • young earth, 6 day-24 hour creationist without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward old earth, day-age or other creationists.
  • old earth, day-age or other creationists without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward young earth, 6 day-24 hour creationists.
  • fond of traditional hymns and worship without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward those who love contemporary worship music.
  • fond of contemporary worship music without being argumentative, dogmatic, or hostile toward those who love traditional hymns and worship.
  • And the list of applications goes on!

The post Essentials, Distinctives, Open Questions — The 3-Tier Alliance Hermeneutic appeared first on Paul King Ministries.

[B]lessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit (Jer. 17:7 – 8).

Consecrated to Him

The highest Christian life begins with the roots. You cannot have a tall, strong, majestic tree without deep, healthy roots. The highest Christian life begins with the depths of surrender, consecration and self-denial, or dying to self.

Simpson’s poetic motto for this stage is "Not mine, but Thine." We live not for ourselves, but for Christ. We surrender our desires, hopes, ambitions and plans – "indeed, ourselves – "laying all on the altar before Him. This involves what historically in The Alliance we have called "the crisis of sanctification" or "the deeper life." There comes a critical point in our spiritual lives in which we realize that we cannot live the Christian life in our own ability.

A. W. Tozer and other great Christian leaders of the past have called this the desert experience or, in the words of St. John of the Cross, the "dark night of the soul," a time of dryness or wrestling. In Israel, it is common to see trees in the wilderness alongside a dry riverbed, called a wadi. At certain times of the year, the wadi is flooded, but in the dry seasons the trees survive by growing deep roots to draw moisture. Similarly, it is in the desert experiences in our lives, when there seems to be no water of life available, that we have to stretch our roots deep to find the hidden sources of water far below the surface. We can do this through seeking God in prayer, practicing the presence of God, reading and meditation of Scripture and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

We all want to experience the abundant, resurrection life of Christ. But there is no resurrection without death. Paul writes, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Simpson expressed it this way: "We cannot go up until we first go down. We cannot take any more than we give. We cannot be filled until we are emptied. Giving all we receive all. Losing all, we gain all. Ceasing to belong to ourselves we enter into the possession of God. ‘Having nothing and yet possessing all things’" (2 Cor. 6:10). Such depth of trust is enduring, weathering the desert droughts, horrid heat and wicked winds. We can be without fear when heat comes, without worries in drought, unshakable, immovable.

Supernatural Living

Once we have our roots deep in Christ drawing nourishment from the Holy Spirit, then He causes us to flourish, to burst forth as a tall, majestic, fruitful tree. As the tree planted by the waters reaches its branches to the sky, drinking in the sunshine, so we lift our arms in worship. We stay ever green, ever full of abundant life.

The highest Christian life is the supernatural life of the Resurrected Christ in us. As Simpson put it, "Not I, but Christ!" It is not our power, but the dynamic power of Jesus working in and through us. This is the victorious life of becoming who we are in Christ, walking in the power, gifts and graces of the Spirit, overcoming temptation and living a holy life. We tap into this supernatural power, first of all, as J. Hudson Taylor explains it, by exchanging our life for His life. As we surrender our abilities to Him, He gives us His ability, which is so much greater. Then we ask Jesus to baptize or fill us with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:8), and out of our innermost being flow rivers of living water (John 7:37 – 39), which give us the holy power to overcome. As Simpson wrote, "The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the great elevator to the higher planes of the Christian life."

Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:6: "God raised us up with Christ and seated seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." Early Alliance leaders called this heavenly life on earth "Throne Life" or "Throne Power," meaning that we are coheirs on the throne of God and vice-regents with Christ. We can walk in our authority as a believer and exercise the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit by asserting who we are in Christ according to the Word of God, drawing upon the resources of God by continually being filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) and engaging in spiritual warfare in the heavenlies against evil powers (Eph. 6:10 – 19). Thus, He enables us to soar like an eagle and abide in the presence of God.

Overflowing with Love

The highest Christian life is also the overflowing life of love and service – "not putting myself first but my brother. The highest life of all is living to serve others. Elton Trueblood writes, "The Church is never true to itself when it is living for itself, for if it is chiefly concerned with saving its own life, it will lose it." (The Company of the Committed, p. 69).

Simpson noted, "The highest Christian life will always find it easy to stoop to the lowest need. The brook is a brook because it is always flowing to the lower places. The bog is a bog because it is always receiving and never giving out its stagnant waters. The happiest life is the life that least seeks for happiness and lives for the happiness of others."

As we fellowship with God – "our roots going deep and our limbs stretching to the heights – "we are nourished and have the strength to nourish others. The tree that has reached to the heights with its arms lifted heavenward provides shade, shelter and fruit to weary, hungry and thirsty travelers. If we are living the highest Christian life, we will become an oasis in the desert to bring hope and help for others, to be a signpost for the refreshing living water and to heal wounds. As we overcome our trials and temptations, we can help others overcome their trials and temptations through the power of the Spirit. Paul tells us that God comforts us in our afflictions that we may comfort others (2 Cor. 1:4). As Henri Nouwen puts it, we are "wounded healers."

Hunger and thirst for the depths and heights of God then partakes of God’s passion – "compassion for the weak and hurting, and passion for lost souls, overflowing in a life of sacrifice and service for the sake of Christ and the needs of others. Then we can rescue others from the miry pits and bondages of their lives, lifting them up and leading them to a Higher Life of freedom, healing, hope, victory and restoration.

Are you experiencing the highest Christian life – "consecrated, supernatural and overflowing?

The post Rediscovering the Highest Christian Life appeared first on Paul King Ministries.

With the phenomena associated with the "Toronto Blessing," the Pensacola/ Brownsville revival, and the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne, such as falling under the power of the Spirit, trembling, holy laughter, etc., people have tended to either completely accept or completely reject all such phenomena. However, when we study the history of the church, in particular the evangelical and holiness movements of the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, we see that many of these manifestations have occurred in these movements, but such phenomena were neither accepted out of hand, nor dismissed summarily. As an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) who also serves on the faculty of Oral Roberts University, through this study I desire to provide a bridge and a buffer between the evangelical/holiness and the Pentecostal/charismatic camps. This study explores the experiences of evangelical and holiness revivals, and how such manifestations were viewed.

Falling Under the Power of the Spirit

The phenomenon of falling under the power of the Spirit occurred in the revivals of Jonathan Edwards. His assessment was that a person may "fail bodily strength" due to fear of hell and the conviction by the Holy Spirit or due to a "foretaste of heaven."1 John Wesley recognized falling to the ground as a manifestation from God, and records many such instances in his ministry. In fact, George Whitefield criticized Wesley for permitting the phenomena until it began happening in his own meetings.2 The Kentucky revivals of 1800-1801, which involved Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, was replete with similar demonstrations.3 In the early 1800s, the revivals led by Methodist circuit riding preacher Peter Cartwright (who was converted in the Kentucky revivals) were often accompanied by people falling under God’s power, including some Baptists.4 Finney’s ministry also frequently manifested fainting or swooning, what he called "falling under the power of God."5 The Welsh revival of 1859 was accompanied by swooning as "waves of power often overwhelmed" people.6 In the 1860s, Andrew Murray’s church started to speak out against people who began to shout and cry and swoon in a revival in his church, until a visitor from America told him about similar manifestations in American revivals.7 Decades before holiness evangelist Maria Woodworth-Etter’s involvement in the Pentecostal revival, many people in her meetings fell under the power of the Spirit, including Carrie Judd (Montgomery), an early leader in the C&MA.8 Moody’s associate R.A. Torrey testified of people falling under the power of God due to conviction of sin.9 Torrey himself fell under power of the Spirit when baptized with the Holy Spirit.10 Presbyterian missionary Jonathan Goforth makes reference in his book By My Spirit to the phenomenon occurring in his revivals.11

Instances of falling under the power of the Spirit also occurred periodically at C&MA meetings for two decades before Azusa Street. In 1885 A.B. Simpson, the founder of the C&MA, received what we would call today a "word of knowledge" that someone was resisting the Lord. A woman responded, saying it was her. She came forward, and as Simpson anointed her for healing, she was overcome, falling under the power of the Spirit seemingly unconscious for about half an hour, and she received a healing.12 In 1897 at a joint C&MA/Mennonite camp meeting in Allentown, Pennsylvania, C&MA General Field Supt. Dean Peck preached six services in three days and described: "At service after service . . . I saw people fall as dead under the power of God." He said it was a genuine revival from God and talked about such things happening among the Methodists 50-60 years ago, but are not frequent now because many revivals are of human manufacture.13 Manifestations of falling also occurred during the 1907 revival at Simpson’s Gospel Tabernacle, apparently with his approval.14 Presbyterian Greek professor T. J. McCrossan, who joined C&MA in 1923, while serving as interim president of Simpson Bible Institute, wrote in his book Bodily Healing and the Atonement: "Hundreds are healed, who do not fall under this power, because they simply trust God’s promises; and it is the prayer of faith that heals. Going under this power seems, however, to bring an extra spiritual blessing… This power is not hypnotism… This is not devil power."15 McCrossan spoke out of the experience of his own life, for not only did he frequently assist Charles Price in laying hands on the sick with people falling, but he himself fell under God’s power and was enraptured with visions when he was baptized in the Spirit in 1921 through Price’s ministry.16

Holy Laughter

Holy laughter also occurred in early evangelical and holiness circles. Jonathan Edwards describes the reaction of some who were converted in the Great Awakening revival: "Their joyful surprise has caused their hearts as it were to leap, so that they have been ready to break forth into laughter, tearing often at the same time issuing like a flood, and intermingling a loud weeping."17 E. M. Bounds records Wesley saying, "The power of God came mightily upon us, so that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground."18 Charles Finney wrote that after he testified about his experience of being baptized in the Spirit, a usually serious elder of his church "fell into a most spasmodic laughter. It seemed as if it was impossible for him to keep from laughing from the very bottom of his heart."19

Jessie Penn-Lewis recounts manifestations of holy laughter and being drunk in the Spirit taking place during the Australian Keswick Convention of 1891:

The Convention was marked by clean-cut surrender to God for all His will to be done at all costs, and by an overflowing joy which followed in hundreds of hearts, so that, as Mr. George Soltau wrote, "Literally ‘our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with singing’… It was impossible to restrain one’s heart, the Lord giving us such a foretaste of heaven. Talk of "fleshly excitement," I wish to bear my testimony that it was nothing less than the fulness of the Spirit. We were verily drunk with the joy of the Lord, and with the vistas of the possibilities of faith opening up to the fully surrendered life of the believer. But it was equally manifest to us all that this joy and blessing is only to be received and retained and increased by the death to self and of self and the most painful crucifixion of self.20
In 1897 A.B. Simpson wrote that one of the effects of being filled with the Spirit is "fullness of Joy so that the heart is constantly radiant. This does not depend on circumstances, but fills the spirit with holy laughter in the midst of the most trying surroundings."21 Simpson himself records in his diary on September 12, 1907, that he experienced holy laughter for more than an hour.22

Oswald Chambers also recorded in his diary on April 19, 1907: "Last night we had a blessed time. I was called down by the teachers to pray and anoint a lady who wanted healing, and as we were doing it God came so near that upon my word we were laughing as well as praying! How utterly stilted we are in our approach to God. Oh that we lived more up to the light of all our glorious privileges."23 Chambers evidently believed that laughter could be a sign of revival and, like Simpson, a result of the baptism in the Spirit.24

Praying John Hyde, the great intercessor and missionary to China also experienced holy laughter in the summer of the same year. His companion relates of a low caste Punjabi intercessor:

How often has G_____, after most awful crying seemed to break through the hosts of evil and soar up into the presence of the Father! You could see the smile of God reflected in his face. Then he would laugh aloud in the midst of his prayer. It was the joy of a son reveling in the delight of his father’s smile. God has been teaching John [Hyde] and me that his name is the God of Isaac – laughter… Rejoicing, laughing, the same word as Isaac. This holy laughter seemed to relieve the tension and give Heaven’s own refreshment to wrestling spirits."25
Even C&MA leader A. W. Tozer also spoke positively of holy laughter:

Now I say that worship is subject to degrees of perfection and intensity. There have been those who worshiped God to the place where they were in ecstasies of worship. I once saw a man kneel at an altar, taking Communion. Suddenly he broke into holy laughter. This man laughed until he wrapped his arms around himself as if he was afraid he would bust just out of sheer delight in the presence of Almighty God… So worship is capable of running from the very simple to the most intense and sublime.26
Spontaneously Dancing for Joy

During the Welsh revival of 1859, "many leaped and danced in the exuberance of their rapture."27 Sometimes related to the laughing phenomenon is a spontaneous dancing for joy. Praying Hyde, a staid Presbyterian, is described after a time of intense prayer at the Sialkot Convention (similar to Keswick), "He begins to sing, ‘Tis done, the great transaction’s done,’ and he is so full of joy that his whole body begins to move, he claps his hands, then his feet begin to move, and look! he begins to dance for joy, and others join him until the whole place rings with God’s praises."28 Such dancing also occurred upon occasion in C&MA meetings. Simpson writes of an African-American C&MA meeting he visited in 1895: "We witnessed a sacred dance by about fifty of the women." They swayed and moved arms and feet, keeping time to the music. "The effect was truly grand."29 As Vinson Synan notes, for some holiness groups, spontaneous dance or holy laughter was considered an evidence of Holy Spirit baptism.30

Physical Sensations

Such manifestations of laughing or falling were sometimes accompanied by unusual bodily sensations. Charles Finney avowed his baptism in the Spirit was "like a wave of electricity, going through and through me."31 Early C&MA pastor Dr. E. D. Whiteside’s testimony of healing in 1888 included both physical sensations and falling under the power of the Spirit: "Like a flash of electricity, I was instantly thrilled. Every point of my body and nerves was controlled by a strange sensation that increased in volume, until I bowed lower and lower to the floor. I was filled with the ecstatic thrill. My physical frame was unable to stand the strain."32 Reminiscent of holy laughter, he reported that he felt he was on the verge of "dying from overjoy."33 The C&MA journals record many instances of physical sensations like heat, electrical shocks or bright lights accompanying healing.34

Trembling, Shaking, and Convulsions, Strange Sounds and Behavior

Along with swooning, such phenomena as trembling, shaking and convulsions occurred in the ministry of Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening. Quakers received their name because they shook. At the outset of the Welsh revival of 1904, Evan Roberts experienced the manifestation of shaking on several occasions: "In the spring of 1904, Evan found himself, as it were, on the Mount of Transfiguration. In his own home and out on the countryside, his loving Heavenly Father revealed Himself to His child in an amazing overwhelming manner which filled his soul with divine awe. At these special seasons, every member of his body trembled until the bed was shaken."35

A more intense form of trembling or shaking is a convulsing or jerking of the body in contortions, characteristic of some under intense conviction. Jonathan Edwards described a child in this condition, "She continued crying, and writhing her body to and fro, like one in anguish of spirit."36 Speaking of the revival of 1740-1742, Edwards writes, "It was a very frequent thing to see a house full of outcries, faintings, convulsions, and such like, both with distress, and also with admiration and joy."37

Sometimes strange sounds accompanied some of these manifestations, such as groaning or weeping. A companion of Praying Hyde relates of Hyde and the Punjab Prayer Convention of 1906 (similar to Keswick), "We began to pray, and suddenly the great burden of that soul was cast upon us, and the room was filled with sobs and cries for one whom most of us had never seen or heard of before. Strong men lay on the ground groaning in agony for that soul."38 In 1902, after being anointed by C&MA pastor Peter Zimmerman, a woman who had been an invalid for 18 years received a gradual healing over three days accompanied by jerking sensations. She described it as, "The quickening power of God began to come into my body until it seemed every bone in my body would unjoint… For weeks I felt the quickening power four or five times a day, until I became strong in body."39

These types of phenomena also occurred in the ministries of Finney and Wesley and other holiness groups, as well as Pentecostals.40 In holiness and some Pentecostal circles some of these manifestations were regarded as the work of the Holy Spirit, others of the flesh, and still others as demonic in origin.41

Trances, Visions, and Dreams

Trances, visions, and dreams occurred frequently in early Methodist camp meetings, and in Maria Woodworth-Etter’s meetings, as well as other denominations and movements.42 Presbyterian missionary Praying Hyde, it is recorded, "began to have visions of the glorified Christ as a Lamb on His throne – suffering such infinite pain for and with His suffering Body on earth."43 Torrey recalled that a man praying for revival in Australia saw a prophetic vision of crowds of people coming to hear Torrey speak.44 Street evangelist Jerry McAuley experienced a trance and a vision that led to his founding of a rescue mission.45 Prophecies and visions were also features of the Welsh revival.46 Amy Carmichael, Anglican Keswick missionary to India, also received prophetic dreams and visions.47 Likewise, Charles Spurgeon recognized the validity of dreams and visions from the Lord.48 His friend and colleague, F.B. Meyer, a Baptist Keswick leader, also recounted a vision.49

Such manifestations occurred in the early C&MA as well. In fact, the missions emphasis of the C&MA was established on Simpson’s response to a vivid dream in which he awoke trembling.50 In 1883 early C&MA leader John Cookman had an experience in which "the Lord appeared to him in a vision, and said, ‘I am thy Healer, thy Sanctifier, thy Savior, and thy Lord.’"51 C&MA missionary statesman Robert Jaffray experienced several dreams with strong impressions from the Lord.52 Visions preceding or accompanying healing were not uncommon in the ministry of A.B. Simpson and the early C&MA.53

But Not All Such Manifestations Are from God

On the other hand, not all such physical manifestations were automatically accepted among holiness leaders and some Pentecostals to be a result of the Spirit’s workings.54 Classic evangelical and holiness leaders understood that God can lead by impressions, visions, and revelations, but they needed to be tested.55 Moravian leader Count Zinzendorf, who was open to supernatural movings of the Holy Spirit, witnessed a man falling into an "inspired fit, jerking and convulsing, and prophesying. Zinzendorf did not hesitate to reject the inspiration."56 John Wesley’s counsel was: "Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions, or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from Nature. They may be from the devil. Therefore believe not every spirit, but ‘try the spirits whether they be from God.’"57 Even though people fell under God’s power in Cartwright’s meetings, he also discerned false falling, visions and trances.58

Evangelical and holiness leaders recognized that some laughter is"fleshly excitement" and some may even be demonically inspired. John and Charles Wesley discerned that some manifestations were unholy laughter.59 In 1912, Jessie Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts in their book War on the Saints also write of demonical inspired laughter with twisting and jerking.60 Even Catholic exorcists have cautioned that the devil may cause laughter to distract and disrupt.61

Peter Cartwright regarded the jerking movements in his meetings as the judgment of God or fleshly manifestations of superstitious people, which would subside through fervent prayer. Likewise, he considered manifestations such as jumping, barking and other wild exercises, often accompanied by falling, visions, or trances, to be delusions.62

Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis comment, "No one can with safety accept all the supernatural manifestations which accompany Revival, or believe all seeming ‘Pentecostal power’ to be of God."63 They recognized that gifts of the Spirit such as prophecy, healing, and tongues could be genuine or false, saying that counterfeit tongues were only a fraction of the counterfeit manifestations.64 They cautioned, "Counterfeit manifestations of the Divine life in various ways now follow quickly; movements in the body, pleasant thrills, touches, as glow as of fire in different parts of the body, or sensations of cold, or shakings and tremblings, all of which are accepted as from God."65 However, they did not dismiss all such manifestations as demonic, for Roberts himself experienced some of these manifestations authentically during the Welsh revival, and was by experience able to recognize the counterfeit.66 Pentecostals like Carrie Judd Montgomery warned about unusual phenomena and motions which have been accepted in some Pentecostal circles are really a form of witchcraft.67

Many animal-like sounds and behavior have been recognized throughout church history as demonic.68 Such exhibitions were often considered demonic, both by Pentecostals and non-Pentecostal holiness people. A.B. Simpson, who believed in supernatural gifts and manifestations, nonetheless observed, "There have been many instances where [seeking for] the gift of tongues led the subjects and the audiences in to the wildest excesses and were accompanied with voices and actions more closely resembling wild animals than rational beings, impressing the unprejudiced observers that it was the work of the devil."69 Paul Rader, pastor of Moody Memorial Church and President of the C&MA after Simpson’s death, writes of casting out a demon from a man who came down the aisle of Moody Church barking like a dog.70 Pentecostal leader Charles Parham also described as demonic manifestations of barking like a dog, braying like a donkey, and crowing like a rooster, and contortions and fits.71 Woodworth-Etter admonished to "try the spirits," citing a woman who "commenced to go about on her knees, twisting about like a serpent" and speaking in tongues. She said, "Everyone knew it was not of God," and that the devil had gotten hold of her.72

That is not to say that in every instance animal-like sounds and behavior are demonic. They may be of the flesh, or they may be a response to something God is doing in a person – like the unutterable groanings of Romans 8:26-27. Cartwright described a man who "roared like a bull in a net" under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.73 The phenomena may even be misinterpreted by observers. A colleague of this writer who is a researcher of the Campbellite/Christian church movement determined through his research on the 1801 Cane Ridge revival that what was reported by the media as "barking up a tree" and "treeing the devil" was, in reality, people under such conviction and emotional distress that they were heaving and groaning in such a manner that it sounded like barking and all the while feeling faint so that they were holding themselves up against a tree.74

This calls for caution in automatically branding all such phenomena as demonic. There may be occasions in which sounds are made that are from the heart and soul that cannot be articulated clearly, which may fall under the category of "groanings too deep for words" (Rom. 8:26). Nonetheless, the preponderance of evidence would indicate that the vast majority of such animal-like manifestations are either demonically inspired or originate in the flesh. Those which are demonic in nature may be Satanic counterfeits meant to deceive, or they may be already existing demonic influences being exposed or brought to the surface by the moving of the Holy Spirit in revival, like a birddog flushing out a pheasant.

Conclusion

These are just a sampling of the occurrences of such manifestations in evangelical and holiness movements. Supernatural physical manifestations such as holy laughter, falling under the power of the Spirit, shaking, etc., have occurred outside of Pentecostal and charismatic circles among holiness and evangelical movements in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, hence, both prior to and simultaneously with the Pentecostal movement. My own study of John Wesley’s journal has turned up numerous instances of dreams, visions, trances, falling, trembling, voices and heavenly sounds.75 My research of Christian and Missionary Alliance history has discovered in the period of time before the Azusa Street revival that references to charismatic phenomena before Azusa Street in C&MA and other holiness and evangelical groups included: 36 visions, 15 dreams, 16 records of falling under power of Spirit (sometimes masses of people), 3 occasions of sacred dance, 11 instances of shaking or trembling, 10 testimonies of electrical-like shocks, and 9 records of holy laughter.76 Further, these phenomena occurred among many denominations, including Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Campbellite/Christian, Episcopalian, Adventist, Quaker, Lutheran, C&MA, etc.

Hank Hanegraaff claims some of these phenomena are indicators of counterfeit revival.77 While some such manifestations could be counterfeit, in the light of these examples it would be more accurate to say that there are counterfeits in the midst of revival. In most every revival in church history – Wesleyan, Great Awakening, Cane Ridge, Welsh Revival, Azusa Street, charismatic – there has been mixture. Where there is counterfeit, there must also be the genuine. Wesley warned of a two-fold danger: 1) to regard them too much, as essential to revival, 2) to regard them too little, condemning them altogether.78 The position of many of the early evangelical and holiness leaders was one of a "middle ground,"79 one that neither accepts nor rejects such phenomena without further discernment. The viewpoint of Jonathan Edwards (which both critics like Hanegraaff and Toronto blessing supporters sometimes have seemed to ignore) is perhaps the wisest counsel:

A work is not to be judged of by any effects on the bodies of men; such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies of body, or the failing of bodily strength. The influence persons are under is not to be judged of one way or other by such effects on the body; and the reason is because the Scripture nowhere gives us any such rule. We cannot conclude that persons are under the influence of the true Spirit because we see such effects on their bodies, because this is not given as a mark of the true Spirit; nor on the other hand, have we any reason to conclude, from any such outward appearances, that persons are not under the influence of the Spirit of God, because there is no rule of Scripture given us to judge of spirits by, that does either expressly or indirectly exclude such effects on the body, nor does reason exclude them.80
Through studying the history of revivals, Martyn Lloyd-Jones came to much the same close:

I would conclude that the phenomena are not essential to revival. . . I believe that in their origin they are essentially of the Spirit of God, but we must always allow for the fact that because of the very frailty of human nature, and of our physical frames, you will have a tendency to an admixture, partly along the physical, partly along the psychic, and partly s the result of the Devil’s activity. But there is nothing more foolish or more ridiculous than to dismiss the whole because of a very, very small part… expect this, and . . . be on guard against the false and spurious… But we must not seek phenomena and strange experiences…What we must seek is revival… Anyone who tries to work up phenomena is a tool of the Devil, and is putting himself in the position of the psychic and the psychological.81
Generally among holiness and evangelicals of the eighteenth to early twentieth century such manifestations were accepted as genuine but not sought or emphasized, and caution was exercised in not accepting all such manifestations as from God. Non-charismatic or non-Pentecostal people today can thus be assured that such manifestations can be recognized as from God, with use of discernment. At the same time, Pentecostals and charismatics need to be careful to exercise discernments and "test the spirits," not accepting uncritically all such phenomena as genuinely from the Spirit of God.

ENDNOTES

1 Jonathan Edwards, "The Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God," Jonathan Edwards on Revival (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1984), 91, 92. He gives as biblical examples the fainting of the queen of Sheba, the trembling and falling of the Philippian jailer, and others (pp. 91-94).

2 John Wesley, The Journal of John Wesley (Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.), 76. For other incidents of falling, see pp.81, 99, 293. See also Ann Taves, Fits, Trances, and Visions (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999), 72-74, 76-117.

3 Eddie L. Hyatt, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2002), 114-117.

4 Peter Cartwright, Autobiography of Peter Cartwright (New York, NY, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1956), 68, 88-89, 102-104, 130, 143, 161.

5 Charles G. Finney, The Autobiography of Charles Finney (Minneapolis: Bethany House, Inc., 1977), 100-101; also 23, 37, 46, 57-58, 63, 116, 120, 125, 131, 139, 163.

6 Eifion Evans, Revival Comes to Wales (Bryntirion, Bridgend, Wales: Evangelical Press of Wales, 1959, 1967), 70.

7 Leona Choy, Andrew and Emma Murray: An Intimate Portrait of Their Marriage and Ministry (Winchester, VA: Golden Morning Publishing, 2000), 85-90.

8 Wayne E. Warner, The Woman Evangelist: The Life and Times of Charismatic Evangelist Maria B. Woodworth-Etter (Metuchen, N.J. & London: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1986), 82, 83, 95.

9 R. A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 46-47.

10 Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Feb. 10, 1906, 84.

11 Jonathan Goforth, By My Spirit (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1942, reprint 1964), 9-10.

12 "Healing of Mrs. Williams," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, May 9, 1890, 295-296.

13 "Alliance Notes," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Aug. 11, 1897, 137; Dean Peck, "Field Notes," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Aug. 11, 1897, 137.

14 W. A. Cramer, "Pentecost at Cleveland," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly 27 (April 27, 1907), 201; A. B. Simpson, "Editorial," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly 27 (June 8, 1907), 205; Stanley H. Frodsham, With Signs Following, rev. ed. (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1946), 51-52.

15 T. J. McCrossan, Bodily Healing and the Atonement (Youngstown, OH: Clement Hubbard, 1930), 109-110.

16 Charles S. Price, See God (Pasadena, CA: Charles S. Price Publishing House, 1943), 80; compare T. J. McCrossan, Speaking with Other Tongues: Sign or Gift – Which? (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1927), 34.

17 Edwards, 91.

18 E. M. Bounds, The Possibilities of Prayer (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 138.

19 Finney, 22.

20 Mary N. Garrard, Mrs. Penn-Lewis: A Memoir (Hants, Eng.: The Overcomer Book Room, distrib. Ft. Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1947), 36-37.

21 A. B. Simpson, Days of Heaven on Earth (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1984), June 27.

22 A.B. Simpson, "Simpson’s Nyack Diary," Sept. 12, 1907, cited in Charles W. Nienkirchen, A.B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1992), 145.

23 Oswald Chambers: His Life and Work (London: Simpkin Marshall, Ltd., 1947), 103.

24 Again Chambers records in his journal May 6, 1907, "It is an unspeakably blessed thing to see souls come out under the blessing of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire. Some simply laugh, peals of the heartiest and most blessed laughter you ever heard, just a modern edition of ‘Then was our mouth filled with laughter.’" A third time Chambers writes on May 27, "Many souls cut loose, there were tears and laughter and all the blessed signs of those revival times the Lord brings so mysteriously and suddenly upon His people. It is a great business to open up all the windows of the soul to heaven and live on the Hallelujah side." (Ibid., 104-105).

25 Capt. E. G. Carre, ed., Praying Hyde: A Challenge to Prayer, (Asheville, NC: Revival Literature, n.d.), 26.

26 A. W. Tozer, Worship: The Missing Jewel (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 20-21.

27 Evans, 70.

28 Ibid., 31.

29 A.B. Simpson, "Editorial Correspondence," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, April 17, 1895, 248.

30 Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1971, 1997), 95, 108-109.

31 Finney, 21.

32 Irene E. Lewis, Life Sketch of Rev. Mary C. Norton: Remarkable Healings on Mission Fields (Los Angeles: Pilgrim’s Mission, Inc., 1954), 27.

33 Ibid.

34 George P. Pardington, Twenty-five Wonderful Years, 1889-1914: A Popular Sketch of the C&MA (New York, NY: Christian Alliance Publishing Co., 1914), 216; John Cookman, "Divine Holiness," The Word, The Work, and the World, Dec. 1885, 336; John E. Cookman, "A Testimony of Healing, The Word, The Work, and the World, Sept. 1886, 160-162; Mrs. George W. Ford, "Testimony of Divine Healing," The Word, The Work, and the World, May 1887, 267; Mary A. Manning, "Healed and Kept," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Feb. 11, 1905, 85; Mrs. M.J. Clark, "Testimonies of Healing," The Word, The Work, and the World, Jan. 1887, 33; Rev. McBride, "Testimonies of Healing," The Word, The Work, and the World, Sept. 1886, 164; R.E. Jeanson, "Divine Healing: A Testimony," The Word, The Work, and the World, Apr. 1887, 215. These are just a few of the many testimonies of physical sensations of warmth, electricity, power, light, etc.

35 James A. Stewart, Invasion of Wales by the Spirit (Asheville, NC: Revival Literature, n.d.), 29.

36 Edwards, 64.

37 Ibid., 151.

38 Carre, 23-24.

39 Mrs. James Gainforth, "Consumption," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, May 31, 1902, 317.

40 Finney, 23, 163-164; Wesley, 76, 293.

41 See Cartwright, 45-47, 66-67; Maria Woodworth-Etter, Marvels and Miracles (Indianapolis, IN: M.B.W. Etter, 1922), 503, 505-508. For instance, Maria Woodworth-Etter wrote:

A woman came to me and said, "I am afraid this spirit on me is not of God; I was baptised [sic] in the Holy Ghost; I went into a mission where they did everything by tongues and they got me so mixed up I did not know where I was; then this spirit got hold of me; it shakes my head and makes my head ache." That is spiritualism. Some people, when they pray for anyone and lay on hands, throw their slime off. That is spiritualism… Be careful who lays hands on you, for the devil is counterfeiting God’s work. Woodworth-Etter, 508.
42 Taves, 132-135, 152-165, 206, 226-234, 241-247.

43 Carre, 22.

44 Torrey, 48.

45 "The Jerry McAuley Mission," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Jan. 28, 1911, 275.

46 Stewart, 31-33, 36, 43, 46, 51, 61, 76.

47 Elizabeth Elliot, A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1987), 89-90, 99, 168, 181, 193, 210, 221, 222, 235, 253, 276, 292-293.

48 Lewis Drummond, Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1992), 81, 167, 173, 181, 184, 221, 235-236, 271, 281, 285.

49 F.B. Meyer, Five Musts of the Christian Life (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1927), 122.

50 A. W. Tozer, Wingspread (Harrisburg: Christian Publications, 1943), 62.

51 Pardington, 216.

52 Louise Green, "Robert Jaffray: Man of Spirit, Man of Power," His Dominion, 16:1, 10, 11.

53 For example, C. H. Gootee recounts a healing service led by A. B. Simpson and Henry Wilson in which he received a miraculous healing. When Wilson anointed him with oil, he saw a vision of the blood of Jesus sprinkled on his breast and body. C.H. Gootee, "The Miracle of My Healing," Triumphs of Faith (March 1926), 62.

54 For instance, Maria Woodworth-Etter, who circulated both in holiness and early Pentecostal circles, advised, "Don’t take up with every vision that comes along." She gave an example of one such spurious revelation: "In the midst of a vision she heard a voice say to her, ‘You are going to die.’ But it was the devil." Woodworth-Etter, 503, 506.

55 Martin Wells Knapp, Impressions (Cincinnati: Revivalist Publishing House, 1892), 15.

56 Thomas Upham, The Life of Faith (New York: Garland Publishing, 1984 reprint Boston: Waite, Pierce, 1845), 85.

57 Knapp, 34.

58 Cartwright, 76-77.

59 B. J. Oropeza, A Time to Laugh: The Holy Laughter Phenomenon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), 158.

60 Jessie Penn-Lewis with Evan Roberts, War on the Saints: Unabridged Edition (New York: Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd., n.d.), 320, 324.

61 Adolf Rodewyk, Possessed By Satan, trans. Martin Ebon (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975), 152.

62 Cartwright, 45-47.

63 Penn-Lewis and Roberts, 131.

64 Ibid., 297-298.

65 Penn-Lewis and Roberts, 285.

66 Stewart, 29.

67 Carrie Judd Montgomery, "Witchcraft and Kindred Spirits," The Alliance Weekly, Oct. 15, 1938, 660-661, Oct. 22, 1938, 676-677, see also Taves, 231.

68 Oesterreich, in his monumental work Possession, writes of many examples of possession by animal spirits, such as cats, badgers, tiger, ox, dogs, monkeys, snakes, lions, and foxes. T.K. Oesterreich, Possession: Demonical and Other (New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1966), 144-145. A person with a fox spirit, for instance, "adopts the habits of foxes" (224). A person with a tiger spirit would get on his hands and knees and growl (274-275). Another woman would glide like a snake and speak in tongues (144). He also records that a demon roared (184). In another instance, St. Francis cast out roaring demons (182). Jerome reports in his biography of St. Paula that possessed persons in Samaria "howled like wolves, barked like dogs, roared like lions, hissed like serpents, bellowed like bulls" (162). In Algiers dancers are possessed and imitate voices of lions and camels (263). In another instance, a monkey spirit caused a child to swing to and for and to climb supernaturally (276). John Wesley also spoke of roaring taking place in demonized people. Frederck S. Leahy, Satan Cast Out (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 121. Nineteenth century Presbyterian missionary John Nevius writes of demons with a voice like a bird and twisting of body. John L. Nevius, Demon Possession and Allied Themes (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), 46, 53. Johann Christoph Blumhardt describes a demons roaring or howling during deliverance. McCandlish Phillips, The Bible, the Supernatural, and the Jews (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1970), 199; Friedrich Zuendel, The Awakening (Farmington, PA: Plough Publishing House, 1999), 58.

69 A. B. Simpson, Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Feb. 2, 1907.

70 Paul Rader, "At Thy Word – A Farewell Message," The Alliance Weekly, Nov. 20, 1920, 532.

71 Charles Parham, The Everlasting Gospel (Baxter Springs, KS: n.p., 1911), 71, 72.

72 Woodworth-Etter, 507-508.

73 Cartwright, 102.

74 A missionary friend in South Africa reported that on two separate occasions he observed two different pastors apparently roaring. Believing the phenomena to be demonic, he attempted to cast out demons without any response. When questioned about it, in both instances each pastor responded that he was crying out in words for the nations to repent, but the listeners only heard roaring. This could be a similar phenomenon to the incident when God the Father spoke to Jesus and some thought it thundered (John 12:28-29), or when Paul heard Jesus speak but others only heard a sound (Acts 22:9).

75 Wesley, 71, 76, 81, 99, 207, 213, 215, 222, 234, 239, 293, 331-333, 378, 389.

76 See Paul L. King, Accepting the Supernatural with "Candor and Caution": An Annotated Chronological Catalog of Charismatic History of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (Tulsa, OK: Paul L. King, 2002).

77 Hank Hanegraaff, Counterfeit Revival (Dallas: Word Publishers, 1997).

78 Wesley, 239.

79 McCrossan, Speaking in Other Tongues, 42.

80 Edwards, 91.

81 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Revival (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1987), 146-147.

The post Supernatural Physical Manifestations in the Evangelical and Holiness Revival Movements appeared first on Paul King Ministries.

Most people associate teaching on the authority of the believer from a charismatic source, usually Kenneth Hagin or Kenneth Copeland. Some evangelicals, such as Hank Hanegraaff and John MacArthur tend to regard exercise of the believer’s authority, especially binding and loosing, as an excessive teaching of the charismatic movement.1 However, the original source of teaching on this vital doctrine comes not from the charismatic or Pentecostal movements, but from John A. MacMillan, a former Presbyterian layman who became a missionary, writer, editor, and professor, and from and his classic holiness roots in the Higher Life and Keswick movements. My doctoral dissertation presented a case study of the life, ministry, and impact of John MacMillan, particularly as it relates to the authority of the believer and spiritual warfare.2This paper is a distillation of that dissertation.

Introducing John A. MacMillan

John MacMillan (1873-1956) was a Canadian Presbyterian businessman who became actively involved with ministry to Chinese and Jewish people in Toronto.3 At the age of 41 he married Isabel Robson, who had been a missionary to China with China Inland Mission from 1895 to1906 and a personal nurse to J. Hudson Taylor. Ordained in 1923 at the age of 49, MacMillan and his wife went to China as missionaries with The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He then became field director of the floundering C&MA mission work in the Philippines. Following the death of his first wife in 1928, he returned to North America to do pastoral and itinerant ministry. Subsequently, he became Associate Editor of The Alliance Weekly magazine, a member of the Board of Managers of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, and a professor at Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York, now known as Nyack College. In 1932 after nine years of many dramatic experiences with spiritual warfare, he wrote a series of articles in The Alliance Weekly, the periodical of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, entitled "The Authority of the Believer."4 Eventually they were published in book form, distributed widely and also republished in other periodicals. MacMillan had a remarkable and extensive ministry in the exercise of the authority of the believer and spiritual warfare spanning more than thirty years.

MacMillan’s Exercise of the Authority of the Believer

John MacMillan’s practice of the authority of the believer began when as a businessman, he was informed that the house next to his house caught on fire. Calmly, "he committed the crisis to God in prayer, claiming divine protection according to Psalm 91:10 that ‘no destruction would befall the house.’" He drove home to find out that the fire had miraculously stopped at a wooden fence that separated the two houses.5

MacMillan turned his business over to another man when he left for the mission field, designating a portion of the profits to go to his missionary support, but the man reneged on his contract, failing to forward the funds. Speaking with the believer’s authority, MacMillan prophesied, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Eventually the business went bankrupt. So through MacMillan’s application of the believer’s authority, he was vindicated and the dishonest contract-breakers suffered the judgment of God.6

On the mission field in China an Asiatic cholera epidemic threatened the mission. MacMillan again confessed Psalm 91:3, "Surely he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence." He prayed, "May we be enabled to keep the Home ‘in the secret place of the Most High and under the shadow of the Almighty.’" They emerged victorious and received divine protection from the plague. 7

MacMillan told of how Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries would claim land from demonic control in China and bind the powers of darkness. On a certain occasion, the missionaries took possession of a piece of land and began moving logs. Evil spirits resisted the takeover by projecting a supernatural voice from a log. The voice in the log threatened, "Don’t you dare move it!" The missionaries were not taken aback, but rebuked the voice. They then removed the log without any further incident and gained the victory over the dark powers.8 MacMillan’s most dramatic illustration of exercising the authority of binding and loosing occurred in 1924 when several missionaries were kidnapped. As MacMillan and the remaining missionaries exercised the believer’s authority of binding and loosing, the missionaries were released without harm.9

John MacMillan’s exercise of the authority of the believer and engagement with the powers of darkness increased during his ministry in the Philippines. He exercised authority over nature, binding the Enemy as a tree fell toward him and the mission buildings. As a result, the tree fell between the buildings, causing no harm to the buildings or himself. MacMillan perceived in this startling occurrence of divine protection a spiritual message from the Lord, "The way out is blocked – is it not a gracious call to prayer, lest the great adversary block our efforts and shut us up in a small place? We have prayed for the binding of the strongman – we must watch and pray that the strong man does not bind us."10 As he took authority over tobacco addictions, many people were set free and in one district in the Philippines, all the believers stopped growing tobacco.11

Another remarkable and dramatic demonstration of MacMillan’s authority as a believer resulted in miraculous healing of his broken leg. Retired pastor Otto Bublat recalls that MacMillan described the incident years later in a class at the Missionary Training Institute: "Once on an emergency mission trip where he was alone on the rainy slippery trail, he slipped and broke his ankle. . . . His only recourse was the Lord since he was alone and about twenty miles from even a first aid station. In simple faith, he stepped out and began walking those many miles. He got home safely, and shortly thereafter had the ankle X-rayed. There had been a clean break, but it was perfectly healed."12

MacMillan frequently exercised authority over demonic occult powers in China, the Philippines, and later in North America. On one occasion a spiritist witchdoctor was performing a ceremony, chanting in a trance-like mediumistic state and calling on the spirits. A drum in the room began to beat in rhythm without anyone touching it. Then it rose to the ceiling in a state of levitation. MacMillan walked into the room, took authority over the spirits, rebuking them in the name of Jesus Christ. The drum immediately dropped to the floor and ceased pounding.13This was a strong demonstration of what we call today a "power encounter."

For nearly three years he battled the principalities and powers in the Philippines and encountered personal attack upon him and his wife. In the midst of his wife’s grave illness he wrote in his diary: "We are, by prayer in Jesus’ name, dislodging the spirits that have bound the people of this field. It seems to me that an infernal fiat has gone forth that we must be crushed. But, ‘rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though I fall, I shall rise.’ God is with us and we shall live and triumph."14His wife died a month later, but her death was not a defeat for MacMillan and the Philippine mission. Rather, it galvanized and united people in prayer more and more. The morale and fortitude the Enemy tried to destroy was actually strengthened. His son Buchanan remarked, "This seemed to be the beginning of a new era of spiritual life in the mission field, that . . . has been singularly unresponsive and discouraging."15 The loss that resulted in the breaking of John’s heart actually became a breakthrough – a breaking of the Enemy’s stronghold on the peoples of the Philippines. The outbreak of revival for which MacMillan had been earnestly praying and waging war for more than three years began the latter part of 1929 as the floodgates opened and hundreds were converted in the ensuing months. MacMillan’s legacy continues into the twenty-first century, for out of the Philippine mission that MacMillan revitalized, the Christian and Missionary Alliance has grown to be the largest evangelical Protestant church denomination in the Philippines today. All this has been the outcome of the exercise of the authority of the believer.

MacMillan was a trailblazer in the concept of "territorial spirits," describing what he called "praying geographically" in dealing with demonic strongholds over a region. He appealed for intercessors at home "to roll back the powers of the air, and make it possible to bring the Truth to bear on these regions where the devil is blocking the way."16He had viewed his battle for Isabel’s life as an "infernal fiat" intended to crush them because they were dislodging the spirits that held the territories of the Philippines in darkness. He also was a pioneer of recognizing and dealing with generational bondage. Predating modern teaching on "generational sin" and "generational curses" by decades, MacMillan warned on the basis of Exodus 20:5, of the consequences of sin being visited upon succeeding generations, what he called "an inexorable law of return and of increase," and the "principle of heredity."17

The Development of Teaching on the Authority of the Believer

John MacMillan was not the first to teach principles on the authority of the believer, but he was apparently the first to combine many of those principles together into one treatise and to expand upon them, thus becoming the seminal writer on the concept. The notion of the authority of the believer arose originally out of the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of the believer and developed embryonically. A. J. Gordon notes that Swiss healing movement leader Dorothy Trudel realized the authority of the believer, declaring that it is the believer’s privilege to be kings and priests of God.18 The Keswick and Higher Life movements picked up the theme with their emphasis on Covenant theology and the privileges and inheritance of the saints through the Covenant. In 1885 Andrew Murray was teaching that believers have authority: "Church of the living God! Your calling is higher and holier than you know! God wants to rule the world through your members. He wants you to be His kings and priests. Your prayers can bestow and withhold the blessings of heaven."19 He quoted famed Scottish preacher and hymn writer Horatius Bonar, saying, "God is seeking kings. Not out of the ranks of angels. Fallen man must furnish Him with the rulers of His universe. Human hand must wield the scepter, human hands must wear the crown."20 In 1895, as interim successor to Charles Spurgeon, A. T. Pierson taught, "Obedience to Him means command over others; in proportion as we are subject to Him, even the demons are subject to us in His name."21 Pierson also taught "the authority of faith": "This we regard as the central, vital heart of this great lesson on Faith. The Master of all girds the servant with His own power and entrusts him with authority to command."22

The concept of the believer’s authority was also taught in germinal form by Pierson’s friend A. B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, in an article entitled "The Authority of Faith":

The word "power" should be frequently translated "authority," in the New Testament. "Behold, I give unto you authority," Christ says, "to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

He did not promise the disciples power first, but the authority first; and as they used the authority, the power would be made manifest, and the results would follow.

Faith steps out to act with the authority of God’s Word, seeing no sign of the promised power, but believing and acting as if it were real. As it speaks the word of authority and command, and puts its foot without fear upon the head of its conquered foes, lo, their power is disarmed, and all the forces of the heavenly world are there to make the victory complete.

This was the secret of Christ’s power that He spake with authority, prayed with authority, commanded with authority, and the power followed. The reason we do not see more power is because we do not claim the authority Christ has given us. The adversary has no power over us if we do not fear him, but the moment we acknowledge his power, he becomes all that we believe him to be. He is only a braggart if we will dare to defy him, but our unbelief clothes him with an omnipotence he does not rightly possess. God has given us the right to claim deliverance over all his attacks, but we must step out and put our foot upon his neck as Joshua taught the children of Israel to put their feet upon the necks of the conquered Canaanites, and faith will find our adversaries as weak as we believe them to be. Let us claim the authority and the victory of faith for all that Christ has purchased and promised for our bodies, our spirits, or His work.23

MacMillan expanded upon Simpson’s teaching. An article by Simpson in The Alliance Weekly on June 14, 1919, would appear to be a source for MacMillan’s policeman analogy of spiritual authority: "’I give you authority.’ This is the policeman’s badge which makes him mightier than a whole crowd of ruffians because, standing upon his rights, the whole power of the state is behind him. . . . Are we using the authority of the name of Jesus and the faith of God?"24 MacMillan, further expounding upon the idea in The Authority of the Believer, changed the illustration from a mob to bustling traffic stopped by a policeman at a busy intersection.25 MacMillan’s illustration has since been frequently used to describe the believer’s authority.

At a China Inland Mission conference in 1897 Jessie Penn-Lewis, whose writings MacMillan absorbed, taught on the believer’s position in Christ according to Ephesians 1 and 2.26Later, in 1912 she and Evan Roberts included a short section on the believer’s authority in their book War on the Saints.27 Also about 1897, A. B. Simpson, also began teaching the believer’s position in Christ according to Ephesians 1.28Whether he was influenced by Penn-Lewis, or vice versa, we cannot be sure, but apparently they all came to the same basic insight, either through the Holy Spirit independent of one another or perhaps through interchange of ideas. MacMillan’s book The Authority of the Believer is a more thorough exposition of the position of the believer according to Ephesians 1 and 2, expanding on the germinal thought of both Penn-Lewis and Simpson. Alluding to Simpson’s exposition of Ephesians entitled The Highest Christian Life, MacMillan wrote, "The Epistle to the Ephesians is the manual of the higher life. In a fuller degree perhaps than any of the others its leads the believer up to the heights of fellowship, of authority, and of victory."29

The concept of throne life described by Simpson is one of the foundational principles of MacMillan’s understanding of the authority of the believer. MacMillan declared that the believer can assert "in prayer the power of the Ascended Lord, and the believer’s throne union with Him."30 Again he writes, "Where in faith the obedient saint claims his throne-rights in Christ, and boldly asserts his authority, the powers of the air will recognize and obey."31 Commenting on Exodus 17, he writes, "The rod [of Moses] symbolizes the authority of God committed to human hands. By it the holder is made a co-ruler with his Lord, sharing His throne-power and reigning with Him. . . . So today, every consecrated hand that lifts the rod of the authority of the Lord against the unseen powers of darkness is directing the throne-power of Christ against Satan and his hosts in a battle that will last until ‘the going down of the sun.’"32

The theme of throne life permeated the Keswick, Higher Life, and Overcomer movements. In 1888, George B. Peck, a friend of A. J. Gordon and A. B. Simpson, wrote his book Throne-Life, or The Highest Christian Life, in which he wrote concerning "throne-power," or the "command of faith."33 Also in the late 1800s George D. Watson, popular Methodist holiness leader who later affiliated with the C&MA, wrote Steps to the Throne.34 In 1906, Jessie Penn-Lewis wrote a booklet entitled Throne Life of Victory which was hailed as "God’s answer to powers of darkness."35 MacMillan developed his concept most directly from George D. Watson’s book Bridehood Saints in a chapter entitled "The Hand on the Throne" (also one of MacMillan’s sub-titles).36

MacMillan’s Impact on Evangelical Christianity

MacMillan’s first and almost immediate impact on the evangelical world came just a year after the publication of his series of articles on "The Authority of the Believer" in The Alliance Weekly in 1932. The seventh edition of War on the Saints by Jessie Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts, published in 1933, included in its introduction a reference to MacMillan’s recent writing: "It is perhaps striking that in recent months a magazine so well informed of Christian work in many lands as The Alliance Weekly of America, should feel it necessary to publish some very able articles by The Rev. J. A. MacMillan dealing with demon possession."37 It goes on to quote a lengthy section of MacMillan’s writing. Shortly after this, the articles were published in pamphlet form.

The British deeper life periodical The Overcomer, founded by Jessie Penn-Lewis and edited by J. B. Metcalfe, also published MacMillan’s articles in the 1930s.38 MacMillan’s sequel article "The Authority of the Intercessor" was also produced in pamphlet form, then later published by another evangelical organization.39 Eventually it was included with The Authority of the Believer and produced by Christian Publications in book form. MacMillan’s 1948 series of articles in The Alliance Weekly on demonization and deliverance ministry were compiled together in a small book entitled Modern Demon Possession, later republished with additional material under the title of Encounter with Darkness.40 These writings have been referenced again and again through the years by ministers and theologians alike.

Herald of His Coming became a popular interdenominational evangelical newspaper in the 1940s and 50s. It featured articles by many evangelical leaders including Keswick and Higher Life holiness writers such as A. B. Simpson, A. W. Tozer, G. D. Watson, A. T. Pierson, Oswald J. Smith, and others. In July 1948, the editor of the monthly journal wrote regarding The Authority of the Believer, "This is so far as I know the very best presentation of the great subject of the believer’s place and power with the Lord Jesus to be found anywhere."41 They advertised and reprinted MacMillan’s works several times between 1948 to 1956.42Hence, this journal became one of the most extensive disseminators of MacMillan’s teachings in the mid-twentieth century evangelical community.
Even more significantly, Paul Billheimer, a Bible college president and radio preacher in the Wesleyan holiness tradition, gave a radio message entitled "Deliverance from the Hands of Our Enemies," which was printed in Herald of His Coming in 1952. He did not mention MacMillan by name, but he spoke on MacMillan’s themes, declaring on the basis of Ephesians 1 that believers are "made sharers potentially of the authority which is His. They are made to sit with Him. That is they share His throne."43 This and other parts of the article are virtual quotes of MacMillan’s words. My dissertation compares Billheimer’s article and MacMillan’s The Authority of the Believer, showing some of the parallels and discussing the question of plagiarism and other possible explanations.44 On other occasions he expanded upon MacMillan’ themes.45 He became a leading holiness proponent of the overcoming Christian life.

Additional influence from MacMillan can be observed in Billheimer’s more recent book Destined for the Throne. Though he does not make reference to MacMillan, he does make mention of some of the same themes of the authority of the believer based on Ephesians 1:20-22 taught by MacMillan in his chapters entitled "Christ’s Gift of Authority" and "The Legal Basis for the Authority of the Church."46 Other similar MacMillan-like themes can be found throughout the book. The ramification of this is that Billheimer’s popular book Destined for the Throne is based on and birthed out of MacMillan’s principles.47 MacMillan’s teachings clearly predate and furnish the foundation of thought upon with Billheimer built. When a person thus reads Billheimer, he is reading a magnification of what MacMillan originally presented in germinal form, and no doubt, MacMillan would add his "Amen!"

The most widespread referencing of MacMillan’s material by an evangelical occurs in the writings of Merrill F. Unger, one-time Foursquare Church minister who became a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Unger was a 1934 graduate of the Missionary Training Institute at Nyack. Although he graduated the semester before MacMillan joined the Nyack faculty, he likely had known of MacMillan and his popular classic. He makes four references to MacMillan in What Demons Can Do to Saints and eight references in Demons in the World Today.48 In addition to numerous citations of MacMillan’s published writings, he included a lengthy, previously unpublished letter written by MacMillan, describing a significant and difficult case of exorcism which took place in 1951 at Nyack.49 It is apparent that Unger, himself a scholar, regards MacMillan as an authority on dealing with demonic forces. Unger has become the foundational scholarly work on spiritual warfare and demonology upon which other academic study has been built.50 Unger’s theology, in turn, was influenced in part by MacMillan.

Many other evangelicals have cited MacMillan and/or his themes, including Moody Press, Baptist pastors C. S. Lovett and Ernest Rockstad, Episcopalian John Richards, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professors Tim Warner and Wayne Grudem.51 Mark Bubeck, in his 1975 book The Adversary quotes from MacMillan’s The Authority of the Believer, avowing, "This is one of the finest expositions on the subject and basis of the believer’s authority that I have ever read."52 Professor Ed Murphy, in his monumental volume The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare, frequently cites Unger and uses a variation of MacMillan’s policeman illustration. Though he does not mention MacMillan, in a personal interview he confirmed to me that MacMillan’s writings have influenced his ministry and teaching.53 It is clear that MacMillan’s works and concepts have been cited as standard fare in scholarly books and bibliographies, and have been highly regarded by evangelical leaders and academics from a variety of backgrounds.

MacMillan’s Impact on the Charismatic Movement

By far the greatest popular dissemination of teaching on the authority of the believer has been through the charismatic movement. In fact, it has been so much so, that some have erroneously believed that the concept originated with charismatics, or more specifically, the Word of Faith movement. The periodical Herald of His Coming had circulated among Pentecostals, as well as the evangelical community, so undoubtedly the Pentecostal movement picked up the concept of the authority of the believer from MacMillan’s material that was featured from time to time.

The first known recorded impact of John MacMillan’s teaching in Pentecostal/ charismatic circles is found in the Pentecostal publication Herald of Faith, published by Joseph D. Mattsson-Boze, which featured news and articles about Pentecostal ministries, especially that of William Branham. Beginning the June 1963 issue, MacMillan’s booklet was published for three months as a series of articles. It was advertised as a "New series of articles that will thrill our readers."54 At the end of the third article (August 1963) a note appeared saying "continued next month" as in the prior issues.55 Inexplicably, however, the September issue did not continue the series, nor did any future issue. No explanation was given. In what appeared to be a substitution, an article by Pentecostal missionary Cornelia Nuzum appeared, entitled "The Authority of the Blood."56 One can only venture a guess as to why the series which would "thrill" their readers was cancelled.

The next influence of MacMillan’s writings, which has become the major impact on the charismatic movement, comes from the writings of Kenneth Hagin. In 1967 Hagin began teaching on the authority of the believer in churches and on radio. Also in that year, his booklet Authority of the Believer was published.57Like Billheimer, Hagin quoted MacMillan’s writing extensively so that some have accused him of plagiarism, though others have exonerated him. (See endnotes for a discussion of this controversy.)58 In his 1984 edition retitled The Believer’s Authority, Hagin acknowledged his indebtedness to MacMillan: "Then [in the 1940s] I came across a wonderful pamphlet, entitled The Authority of the Believer by John A. MacMillan, a missionary to China who later edited The Alliance Weekly."59 The chief point for this study is that MacMillan’s concept of the authority of the believer has been propagated widely in the charismatic movement, predominately through the teaching of Kenneth Hagin. In particular, other Word of Faith leaders such as Kenneth Copeland and Charles Capps have further expanded upon Hagin’s teachings on the authority of the believer.60 Though their present form and application differs in some respects from MacMillan’s original teaching, MacMillan’s basic principles furnish the foundation of contemporary charismatic understanding and practice of the concept.

While Hagin’s popularization of MacMillan’s principle of the authority of the believer predominates, other charismatic leaders have made use of MacMillan’s concepts and/or writings on the authority of the believer and spiritual warfare as well, including Michael Harper, Don Basham, Dick Leggatt, and New Wine magazine.61 In addition to MacMillan’s writings and the referencing of Unger, other evangelical writers influenced by MacMillan have also impacted the charismatic movement. Paul Billheimer’s books and teachings, which, we have seen, are founded in large part by MacMillan’s principles, have been popular among charismatics. Oral Roberts University has used Destined for the Throne in a course on prayer for several years. Billheimer also appeared a number of times on the charismatically-oriented Trinity Broadcasting Network – TBN.62 Wayne Grudem, now associated with the Vineyard movement, has also been consulted by serious-minded charismatics. Because of the proliferation of current teaching on spiritual warfare, additional leaders could be cited ad infinitum.

This review has demonstrated that John MacMillan’s ministry and writings have exercised great influence in these significant contemporary Christian streams. In many instances, MacMillan has not been given credit for his role. The impact of MacMillan has resurfaced and is being extended once again through the recent publishing of the book Binding and Loosing: Exercising Authority over the Dark Powers by K. Neill Foster in collaboration with myself, in which we cite MacMillan’s principles and experiences. In fact, my dissertation was birthed out of that book in order to bring to light the extent and significance of MacMillan’s contribution.63Whether dependence on MacMillan’s concepts has been direct or indirect, his thought has been seminal to most teaching on the authority of the believer that has followed. In some cases, his principles have been expanded upon and modified, sometimes in ways he would not agree with or approve of today (such as "little gods" and "name it and claim it").64 Former Nyack College President Rexford A. Boda (who was a student of MacMillan) aptly summarizes MacMillan’s contribution: "In his ministry and writing, he laid down the basic principles which, in theory and practice we, the Body of Christ, continue to work out in the battle for souls as we approach the twenty-first century."65

ENDNOTES

1 D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988), 142; Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), 131-135, 257-258; John F. MacArthur, Jr., Our Sufficiency in Christ (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1991), 213-237; John F. MacArthur, Jr., Charismatic Chaos (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 360-361. The book Binding and Loosing: Exercising Authority Over the Dark Powers by K. Neill Foster with Paul L. King (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1998) addresses this particular area, providing a moderate position between the two camps.

2 Paul L. King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer: The Impact of the Life and Ministry of John A. MacMillan," D. Min. Dissertation (Tulsa, OK: Oral Roberts University, 2000).

3 Unless otherwise noted, the biographical information in this paper is taken from John MacMillan’s family and other genealogical sources including his daughter-in-law Jane MacMillan, grandson Alan MacMillan and handwritten notes of his son J. Buchanan MacMillan entitled "J. B. MacMillan: An Acct. of Family and Self," written 1964-1965. For more detailed genealogical information and sources on the history of John MacMillan’s family, see King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," Chapters 2-4.

4 John A. MacMillan, "The Authority of the Believer," The Alliance Weekly, Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30; Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27, 1932; The Alliance Weekly, Mar. 9, 1935, 147; John A. MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980).

5 Rev. Jay Smith (C&MA chaplain), letter to author, Sept. 24, 1998. Smith, as a student at Nyack, lived with the MacMillans 1952-1956. MacMillan later wrote out of his own proven experience about the authority of claiming divine protection from Psalm 91:

True it is that the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, with a view to their deliverance. But the child of God is personally responsible for the definite claiming of such protection, and also for abiding within the circumscribed limits wherein it is effective.
Faith is the channel along which the grace of God flows, consequently, there is the necessity for maintaining a constantly victorious spirit over all the wiles and the attacks of the enemy. . . . More and more, therefore, it is vital that every true servant of God learn the secret of dwelling "in the secret place of the Most High," thereby in all the going out and coming of life, experiencing the security of those who "abide under the shadow of Shaddai. "Raging Chariots," The Alliance Weekly, May 15, 1937, 307; see also John A. MacMillan, The Adult Full Gospel Sunday School Quarterly, Dec. 27, 1936, 40.

6 Journal of John MacMillan, May 4, 1923; Apr. 2, 1924; May 19, 1924; Aug. 18, 1925; Mar. 31, 1926; notes from C&MA Archives.

7 MacMillan Journal, Sept. 26, 1924; Oct. 4, 1924; Nov. 6, 1924.

8 Rev. Paul Valentine (Minister-at large for the C&MA), phone interview, Oct. 23, 1998.

9 Foster and King, Binding and Loosing, 247-248.

10 MacMillan Journal, Sept. 26, 1926.

11 "Cleansed Within," The Alliance Weekly, Jan. 14, 1939, 19; SSQ, Aug. 9, 1953, 17-18.

12 Rev. Otto Bublat, letter to author, Jan. 7, 1998. Bublat was a student of MacMillan’s at Nyack 1938-1941.

13 Rev. Richard Barker (retired C&MA pastor), phone interview, Jan. 19, 1999. Rev. Barker was a student of MacMillan’s in the early 1950s.

14 MacMillan Journal, July 24, 1928.

15 Buchanan MacMillan’s Philippine Archive Notes.

16 The Adult Full Gospel Sunday School Quarterly, Aug. 9, 1953, 18; John A. MacMillan, "Our Mohammedan Problem in the Philippines," The Alliance Weekly, June 22, 1929, 404; John A. MacMillan, "Let Down Your Nets for a Draught," The Alliance Weekly, Dec. 28, 1929, 833; Benjamin Y. Mendoza, The Philippine Christian Alliance: First Seventy-Eight Years. Self-published and printed in the Philippines, 1985, 46-47; Robert Ekvall, et al., After Fifty Years: A Record of God’s Working Through the Christian and Missionary Alliance (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1939), 233, 234 for more on MacMillan’s pioneering concept of "territorial spirits" and "spiritual mapping," see "Praying Geographically," The Alliance Weekly, Sept. 14, 1946, 579.

Also, at that time MacMillan’s friend Frank Laubach, had become a semi-invalid, submerged in deep depression and defeat. He returned a new man in 1930 to discover a breakthrough in literacy and evangelism, for which he would become world-famous. Helen M. Roberts, Champion of the Silent Billion: The Story of Frank C. Laubach "Apostle of Literacy" (St. Paul, MN: MacAlester Park Publishing Co., 1961), 68-69; Marjorie Medary, Each One Teach One: Frank Laubach, Friend to Millions (New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1954), 28ff.

17 MacMillan, The Adult Full Gospel Sunday School Quarterly, Oct. 10, 1943, 6. Chaplain Jay Smith comments on MacMillan’s teaching, "Breaking family curses was not a concept articulated in those words in the 1950s; but John felt strongly that demonic hold on some had its roots in family history, in spiritism, occult, drugs, etc, and referenced the Old Testament Scripture that speaks to the iniquity of the fathers being visited on the children." Letter from Rev. Jay Smith.

18 A. J. Gordon, The Ministry of Healing, quoting Trudel in Healing: The Three Great Classics on Divine Healing (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 215.

19 Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1981), 136; see also 116-117, 178.

20 Ibid., 136.

21 A. T. Pierson, The Acts of the Holy Spirit (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980), 92.

22 Arthur T. Pierson, Lessons in the School of Prayer (Dixon, MO: Rare Christian Books, n.d.), 59. This was republished in Herald of His Coming under the title of "The Authority of Faith." A. T. Pierson, "The Authority of Faith," Herald of His Coming, July, 1953, 7.

23 A. B. Simpson, "The Authority of Faith," The Alliance Weekly, Apr. 23, 1938, 263.

24 A. B. Simpson, "Spiritual Talismans," The Alliance Weekly, June 14, 1919, 178. Simpson taught that authority on the basis of Luke 10:19, as the authority to act as Christ’s law enforcement officer, as a legal authority as a representative of the government of the King. A. B. Simpson, Christ in the Bible (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 4:338.

25 MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer, 11-12.

26 Jessie Penn-Lewis, The Warfare with Satan (Dorset, England: Overcomer Literature Trust, 1963), 63, 65.

27 Jessie Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts, War on the Saints – Unabridged Edition, Ninth Edition (New York: Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd., 1973), 259-262.

28 Simpson, Christ in the Bible, 5:413-414. For more on this, see Paul L. King, "The Restoration of the Doctrine of Binding and Loosing," Alliance Academic Review, ed. Elio Cuccaro (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1997), 57-80.

2 9MacMillan, The Adult Full Gospel Sunday School Quarterly, Oct. 28, 1934, 12.

30 MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer, 49.

31 Ibid., 55.

32 Ibid., 93, 96.

33 George B. Peck, Throne-Life, or The Highest Christian Life (Boston, MA: Watchword Publishing, 1888), 171, 174-175, 177.

34 George D. Watson, Steps to the Throne (Cincinnati, OH: Bible School Book Room, n.d.).

35 Brynmor Pierce Jones, The Trials and Triumphs of Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis (New Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1997), 136; see also Penn-Lewis and Roberts, War on the Saints, 183.

36 Compare MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer, 93-96, with George D. Watson, Bridehood Saints (Cincinnati, OH: God’s Revivalist, n.d.), 117-118, 120-122. For a comparative analysis, see King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," 274, 289-290, note 43.

37Penn-Lewis and Roberts, War on the Saints, n.p.

38 Interview with Dr. Keith Bailey. Bailey first became acquainted with MacMillan’s articles on the believer’s authority in the 1940s when someone gave him copies of The Overcomer from the 1930s in which he discovered MacMillan’s series.

39 John A. MacMillan, "The Authority of the Intercessor," The Alliance Weekly, May 23, 1936, 334; John A. MacMillan, The Authority of the Intercessor, Minneapolis, MN: Osterhus Publishing Co., n.d.

40 John A. MacMillan, "Modern Demon Possession," The Alliance Weekly, July 24, July 31; Sept. 4, Sept. 11, Sept. 18, 1948; John A. MacMillan, Encounter with Darkness (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980), 9.

41 The Alliance Weekly, Sept. 18, 1948, 604.

42 James A. MacMillan, "The Authority of the Intercessor," Herald of His Coming, June 1952, 11. The editors mistakenly listed his byline as " James A. MacMillan." See also Lulu Jordan Cheesman, Herald of His Coming, Apr. 1952, 12; Lula Jordan Cheesman, "Oppression, Obsession, and Possession," Herald of His Coming, Aug. 1953, 7; J. A. MacMillan, "The Authority of the Believer," Herald of His Coming, Apr. 1954, 4; Herald of His Coming, Apr. 1956, 7; also Herald of His Coming, Sept. 1956, 6.

43 Paul E. Billheimer, "Deliverance from the Hands of Our Enemies," Herald of His Coming, Jan. 1952, 3.

44 See King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," 271-273. It can be observed that some citations are a shortening or paraphrase of MacMillan; others are virtually word for word. On the face of it, it would appear that Billheimer has plagiarized MacMillan. However, in light of the godly reputation of Billheimer and the content of his other writings on the deeper life in Christ and the cross life (crucified life, death to self), such a charge is incongruous. Thus, it is highly unlikely that his seeming plagiarism was intentional. Rather than impugn the integrity of Billheimer, it would seem prudent to consider other more valid explanations.

It is commonly known among ministers that preachers sometimes preach a message and refer to someone else’s writings or sermons without giving the source in a message. In all likelihood, Billheimer read from MacMillan in his radio address without citing him by name; then when it was transcribed and published MacMillan did not get the credit. In fact, MacMillan himself quoted from other authors without mentioning their names; however, when he did so, he usually marked the statements with quote marks, indicating they were not his own. MacMillan, The Adult Full Gospel Sunday School Quarterly, Aug. 13, 1939, 22. Even more significantly, MacMillan used distinctive words, phrases and concepts from other authors without noting the source. See King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," 274, 289-290, notes 41-44.

This may have been a common and accepted practice then, and today’s standards of plagiarism may not have been in force at that time. Even today, it is not uncommon for a pastor to preach someone’s material without mentioning his sources. Billheimer does acknowledge that some of his material comes from another source when he states, "Not until it was pointed out . . ." and "One who understands the original tells us . . ." Billheimer, "Deliverance from the Hands of Our Enemies," 3.

One would also think that the editors of Herald of His Coming, who were familiar with MacMillan’s work, would recognize the parallels and dealt with the issue if it had not been acceptable then. Since Billheimer is no longer living and unable to respond to the allegation, it is best to give Billheimer the benefit of a doubt regarding his motives, while at the same time recognizing that the practice would not be legally acceptable today.

45 Paul E. Billheimer, "Man Was Made To Have Dominion Over the Works of God’s Hands," Herald of His Coming, July 1951, 4; see also Paul E. Billheimer, "Prayer Controls Events," Herald of His Coming, June 1951, 2. After MacMillan’s "The Authority of the Believer" was republished by Herald of His Coming in April 1954, an article by Billheimer on authority and deliverance was published a month later as a follow-up. Paul E. Billheimer, "Awake, Awake . . .," Herald of His Coming, May 1954, 6-8. See also Paul E. Billheimer, Destined To Overcome (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1982), 10.

46 Paul E. Billheimer, Destined for the Throne (Ft. Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1975), 57-81.

47 Compare MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer, 22; "Commanding God," The Alliance Weekly, Oct. 7, 1939, 626; "The Kingdom of the Messiah," The Alliance Weekly, Feb. 17, 1940, 98; "Behavior in the House of God," The Alliance Weekly, Oct. 29, 1949, 690; MacMillan, The Adult Full Gospel Sunday School Quarterly, Sept. 4, 1949, 31, with Billheimer, Destined To Overcome, 36. Compare also "Facing Deadly Foes," The Alliance Weekly, June 3, 1939, 338, with Billheimer, Destined for the Throne, 40. See King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," 275-276.

48 Merrill F. Unger, What Demons Can Do to Saints, 94-97; Merrill F. Unger, Demons in the World Today (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1971), 122, 123, 193-195, 199, 203, 204, 207. Unger does not refer to MacMillan in his earlier work, Biblical Demonology. The Authority of the Believer was not directly relevant to his study in that book. He may not have been familiar with MacMillan’s Modern Demon Possession when he first wrote the book in 1952. Merrill F. Unger, Biblical Demonology (Wheaton, IL: Scripture Press, 1952).

49 Unger, What Demons Can Do to Saints, 94-97.

50 In 1969, J. Dwight Pentecost, a colleague of Unger’s at Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote Your Adversary, the Devil, in which he included a chapter entitled "The Believer’s Authority Over Satan." Written as a popular evangelical treatment of the topic of Satan and spiritual warfare, he does not reference other sources, as does Unger. Hence, though he does not mention MacMillan or his writings, he is very likely familiar with MacMillan’s material as he comments on Scriptures included in MacMillan’s exposition, such as Eph. 1:19-23, Eph. 2:1-10 and Col. 3:15. J. Dwight Pentecost, Your Adversary, the Devil (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1969), 156-165.

Fuller Theological Seminary professor Charles Kraft includes a chapter on the authority of the believer in his book Defeating the Dark Angels, but again like Murphy, does not cite MacMillan, though he makes several references to Unger. Charles Kraft, Defeating the Dark Angels (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publishing, 1992), 79-98.

51 In 1960, a portion of MacMillan’s Modern Demon Possession was reprinted in Demon Experiences in Many Lands, a compilation of the experiences of many missionaries dealing with demonic forces published by Moody Press. Demon Experiences in Many Lands (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1960), 132-136. In 1967, Baptist pastor C. S. Lovett, in his book Dealing with the Devil, makes use of a policeman illustration similar to that of MacMillan’s, but makes no reference to its source. C. S. Lovett, Dealing with the Devil (Baldwin Park, CA: Personal Christianity Chapel, 1967), 140, 141. John Ellenberger, professor of missions at Alliance Theological Seminary, claims that the deliverance ministry of another Baptist, Ernest Rockstad, was derived out of MacMillan’s ministry and teaching, in particular, the use of the I John 4:3 method of testing spirits. Rockstad became a mentor to Ed Murphy, a missionary and professor who recently authored The Handbook of Spiritual Warfare, the most comprehensive study on the subject to date.

Episcopalian John Richards, in his book on exorcism entitled But Deliver Us From Evil, cites MacMillan’s book Modern Demon Possession (retitled later as Encounter with Darkness) in his bibliography. John Richards, But Deliver Us From Evil (New York, NY: The Seabury Press, 1974), 233. More recently, Samuel Wilson, an ordained C&MA minister and former missionary serving as a Professor of Missions and Evangelism at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, in his article "Evangelism and Spiritual Warfare" makes reference to MacMillan’s Encounter with Darkness, calling it "an old but reasonably sound exposition of the power given to believers by our identification with Christ." Samuel Wilson, "Evangelism and Spiritual Warfare," reprinted on the Internet (http:// www.episcopalian .org/TESM/writings/spirwil.htm) from the Journal of the Academy of Evangelism in Theological Education. Wilson served as a C&MA missionary in Peru and as research director at World Vision’s MARC and the Zwemer Institute for Islamic Studies. He is currently Director of the Stanway Institute for World Mission and Evangelism.

Professor Timothy Warner in Spiritual Warfare: Victory Over the Dark Powers of Our World cites from The Authority of the Believer MacMillan’s illustration of the policeman’s authority to stop a car in the name of the law as an analogy of the believer’s authority in the name of Jesus, and gives him credit as the source. Timothy Warner, Spiritual Warfare: Victory Over the Dark Powers of Our World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), 74. Wayne Grudem, professor of Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, recently published his extensive Systematic Theology. In his chapter on "Satan and Demons" he discusses the concept of the authority of the believer and deals with questions regarding demonization of Christians. While he does not cite MacMillan by name. In his discussion, he does list The Authority of the Believer and The Authority of the Intercessor in his bibliography at the end of the chapter. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leischester, England: Inter-Varsity Press; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 426-428, 435. For fuller documentation and discussion, see King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," 276-280.

52 Mark I. Bubeck, The Adversary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), 115.

53 Ed Murphy, Handbook of Spiritual Warfare (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1993, 1996), 20, 49-51, 277, 300, 477, 539, 541, 542, 544, 545. Phone interview with Ed Murphy, Nov. 6, 2000.

54 J. A. MacMillan, "The Authority of the Believer," Herald of Faith, June 1963, 9, 10, 23; July 1953, 9-11; Aug. 1963, 8, 10, 19.

55 Herald of Faith, Aug. 1963, 19.

56 C. Nuzum, "The Authority of the Blood," Herald of Faith, Sept. 1963, 13. This article had appeared a decade earlier in Herald of His Coming. C. Nuzum, "The Authority of the Blood," Herald of His Coming, Jan. 1953, 8

57 Kenneth Hagin, "The Authority of the Believer," sound recording (Tulsa, OK: n.p.,1967).

58 Kenneth Hagin, Authority of the Believer (Tulsa, OK: Faith Library Publications, 1967). Several years after Hagin’s publication of Authority of the Believer, Oral Roberts University graduate student Dale Simmons (who had become a Christian in a C&MA church) was studying the writings of Kenneth Hagin, when he observed a remarkable similarity between MacMillan’s 1932 The Authority of the Believer and Hagin’s 1967 Authority of the Believer. Simmons concluded that Hagin had plagiarized MacMillan’s writings. See Dale H. Simmons, "Mimicking MacMillan," unpublished term paper, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Apr. 23, 1984. See also McConnell, A Different Gospel, 69-71.

On the other hand, other scholars have refuted the charge of plagiarism. William DeArteaga, for instance, dismissed the accusation of plagiarism by Hagin in his book Quenching the Spirit. DeArteaga concluded that Hagin was not intentionally plagiarizing, but rather possessed a photographic memory, and engaged in "the informal borrowing that happens every Sunday from countless pulpits across the nation. . . . Hagin’s books and pamphlets are mostly transcribed radio and camp-meeting sermons." For a lengthy discussion of DeArteaga’s explanation, see William DeArteaga, Quenching the Spirit (Lake Mary, FL: Creation House, 1992), 228-229. Other scholars have confirmed this as well as pointed out to me by James Zeigler. See also James R. Zeigler, "Oral Tradition and Pentecostal Publications: The Problems of Doing History in an Electronic Age," a paper read at the Society of Pentecostal Studies, Southeastern Bible College, Lakeland, Florida, Nov. 9, 1991; conversation with James Zeigler, Oral Roberts University. My listening to a taped sermon on the authority of the believer by Hagin in 1967 further confirms this hypothesis. Kenneth Hagin, "The Authority of the Believer," sound recording, 1967. It would appear, then, that Hagin’s use of MacMillan is thus very similar to that of Billheimer, and also the practice of Bosworth, and even MacMillan himself, as cited above.

In today’s academic and professional publishing arenas where precise documentation and accuracy are important, such undocumented borrowing by these writers would be considered abnormal. But in the informal, non-academic, and often loose atmosphere of preaching and teaching, uncited borrowing from one another has been and continues to be commonplace and accepted practice in many circles.

59 Kenneth Hagin, The Believer’s Authority (Tulsa, OK: Rhema Bible Church, 1984).

60 Kenneth Copeland has taught on the authority of the believer from the same passage of Scripture of MacMillan’s exposition, Ephesians 1. He also used the same police officer illustration used by MacMillan. Kenneth Copeland, "Prayer of Binding and Loosing," Ft. Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, sound recording, 1987. Charles Capps wrote a booklet Authority in Three Worlds on the authority of the believer. Charles Capps, Authority in Three Worlds (Tulsa, OK: Harrison House, 1982). Since both Copeland and Capps are leaders in the modern Word of Faith movement, undoubtedly they gleaned the illustrations and teaching from their mentor Kenneth Hagin, but MacMillan was the originator. MacMillan, however, would not approve of all that is currently taught regarding the authority of the believer and faith.

61 Anglican charismatic Michael Harper, in his 1970 book Spiritual Warfare, refers to the authority of the believer, but does not mention MacMillan. MacMillan’s influence is evident indirectly, however, as Harper cites Unger four times. Michael Harper, Spiritual Warfare (Plainfield, NJ: Logos Intl., 1970), 26, 29, 56-59, 68-69, 116. In 1974 Don Basham and Dick Leggatt co-authored a book entitled The Most Dangerous Game as a "Biblical expose of occultism." While they do not mention MacMillan by name in the text of the book, they do list another of his books, Modern Demon Possession, in the bibliography at the end of the book. This demonstrates that they were familiar with and dependent upon MacMillan’s work, and found his material important enough for others to read and study. Don Basham and Dick Leggatt, The Most Dangerous Game (Greensburg, PA: Manna Christian Outreach, 1974), 128. Basham published other books on the subject as well including: A Manual for Spiritual Warfare; Can a Christian Have a Demon?; Deliver Us from Evil. Don W. Basham, Manual for Spiritual Warfare (Greensburg, PA: Manna Books, 1974); Don W. Basham, Can a Christian Have a Demon? (Monroeville, PA: Whitaker House, 1971). New Wine, a charismatic magazine with which Basham was associated, carried an article entitled "Prayer Works," by Erik Krueger and Ron Milton, which taught the authority of the believer according to Ephesians 1, but with no acknowledgement of MacMillan as the source. Erik Krueger and Ron Milton, "Prayer Works," New Wine, Feb. 1980, 27-28. For fuller documentation and discussion, see King, "A Case Study of the Authority of the Believer," 283-285.

62 Because of his connection with TBN and a questionable interpretation of a certain passage of Scripture, Hank Hanegraaff mistakenly labeled him as a cultic faith teacher, not knowing his teaching comes out of the classical holiness camp. Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), 164-165, 383, 396.

63 Foster and King, Binding and Loosing, 13, 18, 62, 67, 107, 119, 135, 138, 247, 248.

64 King, "A Case Study of a Believer with Authority," 389-410.

65 Boda, "J. A. MacMillan and Spiritual Warfare," Communicate, 8, no. 4 (May 1998), 1.

The post John A. MacMillan’s Teaching Regarding the Authority of the Believer and its Impact on the Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic Movements appeared first on Paul King Ministries.

Holy Laughter

Jonathan Edwards describes the reaction of some who were converted in the Great Awakening revival: "Their joyful surprise has caused their hearts as it were to leap, so that they have been ready to break forth into laughter, tearing often at the same time issuing like a flood, and intermingling a loud weeping."2 E.M. Bounds records Wesley saying, "The power of God came mightily upon us, so that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground."3 Charles Finney wrote that after he testified about his experience of being baptized in the Spirit, a normally serious elder of his church "fell into a most spasmodic laughter. It seemed as if it was impossible for him to keep from laughing from the very bottom of his heart."4

Manifestations of holy laughter and being drunk in the Spirit occurred during the Australian Keswick Convention of 1891:

The Convention was marked by clean-cut surrender to God for all His will to be done at all costs, and by an overflowing joy which followed in hundreds of hearts, so that, as Mr. George Soltau wrote, "Literally `our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with singing.’ . . . It was impossible to restrain one’s heart, the Lord giving us such a foretaste of heaven. Talk of `fleshly excitement,’ I wish to bear my testimony that it was nothing less than the fullness of the Spirit. We were verily drunk with the joy of the Lord, and with the vistas of the possibilities of faith opening up to the fully surrendered life of the believer. But it was equally manifest to us all that this joy and blessing is only to be received and retained and increased by the death to self and of self and the most painful crucifixion of self."5

In 1897 A.B. Simpson wrote that one of the effects of being filled with the Spirit is "fullness of Joy so that the heart is constantly radiant. This does not depend on circumstances, but fills the spirit with holy laughter in the midst of the most trying surroundings."6

Oswald Chambers recorded in his diary on April 19, 1907:

Last night we had a blessed time. I was called down by the teachers to pray and anoint a lady who wanted healing, and as we were doing it God came so near that upon my word we were laughing as well as praying! How utterly stilted we are in our approach to God. Oh that we lived more up to the light of all our glorious privileges.7

Again Chambers records in his journal May 6, 1907, "It is an unspeakably blessed thing to see souls come out under the blessing of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire. Some simply laugh, peals of the heartiest and most blessed laughter you ever heard, just a modern edition of `Then was our mouth filled with laughter.’"8 A third time Chambers writes on May 27, "Many souls cut loose, there were tears and laughter and all the blessed signs of those revival times the Lord brings so mysteriously and suddenly upon His people. It is a great business to open up all the windows of the soul to heaven and live on the Hallelujah side."9 Chambers evidently believed that laughter could be one of the signs of revival and, like Simpson, a result of the baptism in the Spirit.

Praying John Hyde, the great intercessor and missionary to China, also experienced holy laughter in the summer of the same year. His companion relates of a low caste Punjabi intercessor:

How often has G_____, after most awful crying seemed to break through the hosts of evil and soar up into the presence of the Father! You could see the smile of God reflected in his face. Then he would laugh aloud in the midst of his prayer. It was the joy of a son revelling in the delight of his father’s smile. God has been teaching John [Hyde] and me that his name is the God of Isaac – laughter. . . . Rejoicing, laughing, the same word as Isaac. This holy laughter seemed to relieve the tension and give Heaven’s own refreshment to wrestling spirits.10

Sometimes related to the laughing phenomenon is a spontaneous dancing for joy. Praying Hyde, a staid Presbyterian, is described after a time of intense prayer at the Sialkot Convention (similar to Keswick), "He begins to sing, `’Tis done, the great transaction’s done,’ and he is so full of joy that his whole body begins to move, he claps his hands, then his feet begin to move, and look! he begins to dance for joy, and others join him until the whole place rings with God’s praises."11

A.W. Tozer also testified of holy laughter:

Now I say that worship is subject to degrees of perfection and intensity. There have been those who worshiped God to the place where they were in ecstasies of worship. I once saw a man kneel at an altar, taking Communion. Suddenly he broke into holy laughter. This man laughed until he wrapped his arms around himself as if he was afraid he would bust just out of sheer delight in the presence of Almighty God. . . . So worship is capable of running from the very simple to the most intense and sublime.12

Nevertheless, we must recognize that some laughter is "fleshly excitement" and some may even be demonically inspired. Catholic exorcists have discerned that the devil may cause laughter to distract and disrupt.13 In 1912, Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis in their book War on the Saints also write of demonical inspired laughter with twisting and jerking.14 John and Charles Wesley also recognized that some manifestations were unholy laughter.15

Falling Under the Power of the Spirit

As cited above, both Wesley and E.M. Bounds recognized falling to the ground as a manifestation from God. George Whitefield criticized Wesley for allowing the phenomenon until it began happening in his own meetings.16 Jonathan Edwards indicated that a person may "fail bodily strength" due to fear of hell and the conviction of the Holy Spirit or due to a "foretaste of heaven."17 Finney’s ministry also frequently manifested what he called "falling under the power of God."18 R.A. Torrey testifies of people falling under the power of God due to conviction of sin.19 Presbyterian Jonathan Goforth makes reference to the phenomenon in his book By My Spirit, originally published by The Christian and Missionary Alliance.20

Instances of falling under the power of the Spirit also occurred at Alliance meetings in 1907, including Simpson’s Gospel Tabernacle21 and at Fred F. Bosworth’s Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Dallas in 1912.22 Greek professor T.J. McCrossan, who wrote the book Speaking in Other Tongues: Sign or Gift, Which? published by The Christian and Missionary Alliance in 1927, three years later wrote in another book, Bodily Healing and the Atonement:

Hundreds are healed, who do not fall under this power, because they simply trust God’s promises; and it is the prayer of faith that heals. Going under this power seems, however, to bring an extra spiritual blessing. . . . This power is not hypnotism. . . . This is not devil power.23

McCrossan is cautious in his writings about accepting all supernatural manifestations, but he speaks positively about this one in particular. This is because McCrossan is speaking out of the experience of his own life, for he fell under God’s power and was enraptured with visions when he was baptized in the Spirit in 1921.24

Physical Sensations

Such manifestations were sometimes accompanied by unusual bodily sensations. Charles Finney avowed his baptism in the Spirit was "like a wave of electricity, going through and through me."25 McCrossan wrote of a woman who received the baptism in the Spirit: "The third one was filled, and for days there seemed to be a veritable fire burning within her."26 Early Alliance pastor Dr. E.D. Whiteside’s testimony of healing in 1888 included both physical sensations and falling under the power of the Spirit:

Like a flash of electricity, I was instantly thrilled. Every point of my body and nerves was controlled by a strange sensation that increased in volume, until I bowed lower and lower to the floor. I was filled with the ecstatic thrill. My physical frame was unable to stand the strain.27

Reminiscent of holy laughter, he reported that he felt he was on the verge of "dying from overjoy."28

Trembling, Shaking and Convulsions

At the outset of the Welsh revival of 1904, Evan Roberts experienced the phenomenon of shaking on several occasions:

In the spring of 1904, Evan found himself, as it were, on the Mount of Transfiguration. In his own home and out on the countryside, his loving Heavenly Father revealed Himself to His child in an amazing overwhelming manner which filled his soul with divine awe. At these special seasons, every member of his body trembled until the bed was shaken.29

A more intense form of trembling or shaking is a convulsing of the body in contortions, characteristic of some under intense conviction. Jonathan Edwards described a child in this condition, "She continued crying, and writhing her body to and fro, like one in anguish of spirit."30 Speaking of the revival of 1740-1742, Edwards writes, "It was a very frequent thing to see a house full of outcries, faintings, convulsions, and such like, both with distress, and also with admiration and joy."31 These phenomena also occurred in the ministries of Finney and Wesley.32 In some cases these were regarded as the work of the Holy Spirit, others of the flesh, and still others as demonic in origin.33

Strange Sounds and Behavior

Sometimes strange sounds accompanied some of these manifestations, such as groaning or weeping. A companion of Praying Hyde relates of Hyde and the Punjab Prayer Convention of 1906 (similar to Keswick), "We began to pray, and suddenly the great burden of that soul was cast upon us, and the room was filled with sobs and cries for one whom most of us had never seen or heard of before. Strong men lay on the ground groaning in agony for that soul."34

On the other hand, not all strange sounds can automatically be accepted as a result of the Spirit’s workings. Many animal-like sounds and behavior have been recognized throughout Church history as demonic.35 Such exhibitions in the early Pentecostal movement were also often considered demonic. A.B. Simpson observed, "There have been many instances where [seeking for] the gift of tongues led the subjects and the audiences in to the wildest excesses and were accompanied with voices and actions more closely resembling wild animals than rational beings, impressing the unprejudiced observers that it was the work of the devil."36 Pentecostal leader Charles Parham also described demonic manifestations of barking like a dog, braying like a donkey, crowing like a rooster and contortions and fits.37 Woodworth-Etter admonished:

"Try the spirits." In one of our meetings there was a colored woman who had a wonderful experience spiritually; that is the kind the devil gets after. One day she commenced to go about on her knees, twisting about like a serpent. God does not tell anyone to do that. She spoke in tongues; then she said, "I don’t want to do it; I don’t want to do it."

Everyone knew it was not of God; and I said to her: "that is not God; the enemy has got hold of you."38

While we see from this overview that animal sounds and behavior have been viewed throughout Church history as predominately demonic in origin, that is not to say that in every instance animal-like sounds and behavior are demonic. They may be of the flesh, or they may be a response to something God is doing in a person – like the unutterable groanings of Romans 8:26-27. The phenomena may even be misinterpreted by observers. A colleague of this writer who is a researcher of the Campbellite/Christian church movement determined through his research on the 1800 Cane Ridge revival that what was reported by the media as "barking up a tree" and "treeing the devil" was, in reality, people under such conviction and emotional distress that they were heaving and groaning in such a manner that it sounded like barking and all the while feeling faint so that they were holding themselves up against a tree.

A missionary friend in South Africa reported that on two separate occasions he observed two different pastors apparently roaring. Believing the phenomena to be demonic, he attempted to cast out demons without any response. When questioned about it, in both instances each pastor responded that he was crying out in words for the nations to repent, but the listeners only heard roaring. This could be a similar phenomenon to the incident when God the Father spoke to Jesus and some thought it thundered (John 12:28-29), or when Paul heard Jesus speak but others only heard a sound (Acts 22:9).

This calls for caution in automatically branding all such phenomena as demonic. There may be occasions in which sounds are made that are from the heart and soul which cannot be articulated clearly, which may fall under the category of "groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). Nonetheless, the preponderance of evidence would indicate that the vast majority of such animal-like manifestations are either demonically inspired or originate in the flesh. Those which are demonic in nature may be satanic counterfeits meant to deceive, or they may be already existing demonic influences being exposed or brought to the surface by the moving of the Holy Spirit in revival, like a bird dog flushing out a pheasant.

Impressions, Prophecies, Visions and Dreams

Contrary to the beliefs of some modern authors, such as Gary Friezen, who has claimed impressions have no part in a believer’s life,39 impressions and supernatural revelation from God were experienced in holiness and evangelical revival movements. A.T. Pierson writes of George Müller, "Müller cultivated habits of life which made his whole nature more and more open to divine impression, and so his sense of God became more and more keen and constant."40 Praying Hyde, it is recorded, "began to have visions of the glorified Christ as a Lamb on His throne – suffering such infinite pain for and with His suffering Body on earth."41 Torrey recalled that a man praying for revival in Australia saw a prophetic vision of crowds of people coming to hear Torrey speak.42 Prophecies and visions were features of the Welsh revival.43

Such manifestations occurred in the early Christian and Missionary Alliance as well. In fact, the missions emphasis of The Christian and Missionary Alliance was established on Simpson’s response to a vivid dream in which he awoke trembling.44 In 1883 early Alliance leader John Cookman had an experience in which "The Lord appeared to him in a vision, and said, `I am thy Healer, thy Sanctifier, thy Savior, and thy Lord.’45 Robert Jaffray experienced several dreams with strong impressions from the Lord.46 C.H. Gootee recounts a healing service led by A.B. Simpson and Henry Wilson in which he received a miraculous healing. When Wilson anointed him with oil, he saw a vision of the blood of Jesus sprinkled on his breast and body.47

But such experiences were not accepted automatically among holiness leaders and some Pentecostals.48 In 1898 when Carrie Judd Montgomery had been very ill, she testified at The Christian and Missionary Alliance convention of prophecies that she received from three women, two of which said she would die, one of which said she would recover: "The Lord spoke to her and told her that I would be raised up speedily and that I would be able to attend the Christian Alliance [now The Christian and Missionary Alliance] convention, which would take place in a few days. I was so very weak and ill that her prophecy seemed incredible, but praise God, it came true." Of the two other women she said: "Two Christian women thought they had it from the Lord that I was going to die. . . . How this shows us that we must not depend on impressions that do not harmonize with the word of God. . . . Dear readers, always stand firmly upon God’s Word, and not upon the impressions of those around you."49

Classic evangelical and holiness leaders understood that God can lead by such impressions and revelations, but they needed to be tested.50 Moravian leader Count Zinzendorf, who was open to supernatural movings of the Holy Spirit, witnessed a man falling into an "inspired fit, jerking and convulsing, and prophesying. Zinzendorf did not hesitate to reject the inspiration."51 John Wesley’s timeless counsel is:

Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions, or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from Nature. They may be from the devil. Therefore believe not every spirit, but "try the spirits whether they be from God."52

Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis comment that "No one can with safety accept all the supernatural manifestations which accompany Revival, or believe all seeming `Pentecostal power’ to be of God."53 They recognized that gifts of the Spirit such as prophecy, healing and tongues could be genuine or false, saying that counterfeit tongues were only a fraction of the counterfeit manifestations.54 Again they warn: "Counterfeit manifestations of the Divine life in various ways now follow quickly; movements in the body, pleasant thrills, touches, a glow as of fire in different parts of the body, or sensations of cold, or shakings and tremblings, all of which are accepted as from God."55 However, they did not dismiss all such manifestations as demonic, for Roberts himself experienced some of these manifestations authentically during the Welsh revival, and was by experience able to recognize the counterfeit.56

Conclusion

These are just a sampling of the occurrences of such manifestations in evangelical and holiness movements. Hank Hanegraaff claims these phenomena are indicators of counterfeit revival.57 While some such phenomena clearly are counterfeit, in the light of these examples it would be more accurate to say that there are counterfeits in the midst of revival. In most every revival in Church history – Wesleyan, Great Awakening, Cane Ridge, Welsh Revival – there has been mixture. Where there is counterfeit, there must also be the genuine. Wesley warned of a twofold danger: 1) to regard them too much, as essential to revival, 2) to regard them too little, condemning them altogether.58 The position of the Alliance and early holiness leaders was one of a "middle ground," as McCrossan suggests, one that neither accepts nor rejects such phenomena without further discernment. The viewpoint of Jonathan Edwards (which both critics like Hanegraaff and Toronto Blessing supporters seem to ignore) is perhaps the wisest counsel:

A work is not to be judged of by any effects on the bodies of men; such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies of body, or the failing of bodily strength. The influence persons are under is not to be judged of one way or other by such effects on the body; and the reason is because the Scripture no where gives us any such rule. We cannot conclude that persons are under the influence of the true Spirit because we see such effects on their bodies, because this is not given as a mark of the true Spirit; nor on the other hand, have we any reason to conclude, from any such outward appearances, that persons are not under the influence of the Spirit of God, because there is no rule of Scripture given us to judge of spirits by, that does neither expressly or indirectly exclude such effects on the body, nor does reason exclude them.59

Through studying the history of revivals, Martyn Lloyd-Jones came to much the same conclusion:

I would conclude that the phenomena are not essential to revival. . . . I believe that in their origin they are essentially of the Spirit of God, but we must always allow for the fact that because of the very frailty of human nature, and of our physical frames, you will have a tendency to an admixture, partly along the physical, partly along the psychic, and partly as the result of the Devil’s activity. But there is nothing more foolish or more ridiculous than to dismiss the whole because of a very, very small part. . . . [E]xpect this, and . . . be on guard against the false and spurious. . . . But we must not seek phenomena and strange experiences. . . . What we must seek is revival. . . . Anyone who tries to work up phenomena is a tool of the Devil, and is putting himself in the position of the psychic and the psychological.60

How then can people guard against deceiving spirits regarding such phenomena today? Two suggestions are recommended. First, A.B. Simpson’s counsel from the first decade of the century is just as timely and timeless in the last decade as well: "In these days when the forces of heaven and hell are so intensely active, let us seek from God that gift which is of such practical value, the Spirit of discernment."61 Secondly, Neil T. Anderson recommends the following prayer which bears repeating here:

Heavenly Father, I commit myself unreservedly to Your will. If I have been deceived in any way, I pray that You will open my eyes to the deception. I command in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that all deceiving spirits depart from me, and I renounce and reject all counterfeit gifts (or any other spiritual phenomena). Lord, if it is from You, bless it and cause it to grow that Your body may be blessed and edified through it. Amen.62

If these guidelines are followed, we do not need to fear being deceived by counterfeit manifestations.

Endnotes

1 T.J. McCrossan, Speaking in Other Tongues: Sign or Gift, Which? (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1927), 42.

2 Jonathan Edwards, "The Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God," Jonathan Edwards on Revival (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1984), 91.

3 E.M. Bounds, The Possibilities of Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1979), 138.

4 Charles Finney, The Autobiography of Charles Finney (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1977), 22.

5 Mary N. Garrard, Mrs. Penn-Lewis: A Memoir (Hants, England: The Overcomer Book Room, 1947), 36-37.

6 A.B. Simpson, Days of Heaven on Earth (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1984), June 27.

7 Oswald Chambers: His Life and Work (London: Simpkin Marshall, Ltd., 1947), 103.

8 Ibid., 104.

9 Ibid., 105.

10 Capt. E.G. Carre, ed., Praying Hyde: A Challenge to Prayer (Asheville, NC: Revival Literature, n.d.), 26.

11 Ibid., 31.

12 A.W. Tozer, Worship: The Missing Jewel (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 20-21.

13 Adolf Rodewyk, Possessed by Satan, trans. Martin Ebon (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975), 152.

14 Jessie Penn-Lewis with Evan Roberts, War on the Saints: Unabridged Edition (New York: Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd., n.d.), 320, 324.

15 B.J. Oropeza, A Time to Laugh: The Holy Laughter Phenomenon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), 158.

16 John Wesley, The Journal of John Wesley (Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.), 76.

17 Edwards, 91-92. He gives as biblical examples the fainting of the queen of Sheba, the trembling and falling of the Philippian jailer, and others (pp. 91-94).

18 Finney, 100-101; also 23, 37, 46, 57-58, 63, 116, 120, 125, 131, 139, 163.

19 R.A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971), 46-47.

20 Jonathan Goforth, By My Spirit (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany Fellowship, 1942, reprint 1964), 9-10.

21 W.A. Cramer, "Pentecost at Cleveland," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly 27 (April 27, 1907): 201; A.B. Simpson, "Editorial," Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly 27 (June 8, 1907): 205; Stanley H. Frodsham, With Signs Following, rev. ed. (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1946), 51-52.

22 Maria Woodworth-Etter, Acts of the Holy Ghost: The Life, Work, and Experience of Mrs. M.B. Woodworth-Etter (Dallas, TX: John F. Worley Printing Co., n.d.), 354-355, 357, 369.

23 T.J. McCrossan, Bodily Healing and the Atonement (Youngstown, OH: Clement Hubbard, 1930), 109-110.

24 Charles S. Price, See God (Pasadena, CA: Charles S. Price Publishing House, 1943), 80; compare T.J. McCrossan, Speaking with Other Tongues, 34.

25 Finney, 21.

26 McCrossan, Speaking with Other Tongues, 46.

27 Irene E. Lewis, Life Sketch of Rev. Mary C. Norton: Remarkable Healings on Mission Fields (Los Angeles: Pilgrim’s Mission, Inc., 1954), 27.

28 Ibid.

29 James A. Stewart, Invasion of Wales by the Spirit (Asheville, NC: Revival Literature, n.d.), 29.

30 Edwards, 64.

31 Ibid., 151.

32 Finney, 23, 163-164; Wesley, 76, 293.

33 Maria Woodworth-Etter wrote:

A woman came to me and said, "I am afraid this spirit on me is not of God; I was baptized in the Holy Ghost; I went into a mission where they did everything by tongues and they got me so mixed up I did not know where I was; then this spirit got hold of me; it shakes my head and makes my head ache."

That is spiritualism. Some people, when they pray for anyone and lay on hands, throw their slime off. That is spiritualism. . . . Be careful who lays hands on you, for the devil is counterfeiting God’s work. (Woodworth-Etter, 508)

34 Carre, 23-24.

35 Oesterreich in his monumental work Possession writes of many examples of possession by animal spirits, such as cats, badgers, tiger, ox, dogs, monkeys, snakes, lions and foxes. T.K. Oesterreich, Possession: Demonical and Other (New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1966), 144-145. A person with a fox spirit, for instance, "adopts the habits of foxes" (224). A person with a tiger spirit would get on his hands and knees and growl (274-275). Another woman would glide like a snake and speak in tongues (144). He also records that a demon roared (184). In another instance, St. Francis cast out roaring demons (182). Jerome reports in his biography of St. Paula that possessed persons in Samaria "howled like wolves, barked like dogs, roared like lions, hissed like serpents, bellowed like bulls." (162). In Algiers dancers are possessed and imitate voices of lions and camels (263). In another instance, a monkey spirit caused a child to swing to and fro and to climb supernaturally. (276).

John Wesley also spoke of roaring taking place in demonized people. Frederick S. Leahy, Satan Cast Out (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 121. Nineteenth-century Presbyterian missionary John Nevius writes of demons with a voice like a bird (46) and twisting of body. John L. Nevius, Demon Possession and Allied Themes (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), 53. Johann Christoph Blumhardt describes a demon roaring during deliverance. McCandlish Phillips, The Bible, the Supernatural, and the Jews (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1970), 199.

36 A.B. Simpson, Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly, Feb. 2, 1907.

37 Charles Parham, The Everlasting Gospel (Baxter Springs, n.d.), 71-72.

38 Woodworth-Etter, 507-508.

39 Garry Friesen with Robin Maxson, Decision Making and the Will of God (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1980), 127ff.

40 A.T. Pierson, George Müller of Bristol (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1899), 134-135.

41 Carre, 22.

42 Torrey, 48.

43 Stewart, 31-33, 36, 43, 46, 51, 61, 76.

44 A.W. Tozer, Wingspread (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1943), 62.

45 George Pardington, Twenty-five Wonderful Years (New York: Christian Alliance Publishing Co., 1914), 216.

46 Louise Green, "Robert Jaffray: Man of Spirit, Man of Power," His Dominion, 16:1, 10-11.

47 C.H. Gootee, "The Miracle of My Healing," Triumphs of Faith (March 1926), 62.

48 For instance, Maria Woodworth-Etter, who circulated both in holiness and early Pentecostal circles, advised, "Don’t take up with every vision that comes along." She gave an example of one such spurious revelation: "In the midst of a vision she heard a voice say to her `You are going to die.’ But it was the devil." Woodworth-Etter, 503, 506.

49 Carrie Judd Montgomery, The Life and Teaching of Carrie Judd Montgomery: Under His Wings (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985), 159-161.

50 Martin Wells Knapp, Impressions (Cincinnati: Revivalist Publishing House, 1892), 15.

51 Thomas Upham, The Life of Faith (New York: Garland Publishing, 1984 reprint Boston: Waite, Pierce, 1845), 85.

52 Knapp, 34.

53 Roberts and Penn-Lewis, 131.

54 Ibid., 297-298.

55 Ibid., 285.

56 Green, 10-11, also Stewart, 29.

57 Hank Hanegraaff, Counterfeit Revival (Dallas: Word Publishers, 1997).

58 Wesley, 239.

59 Edwards, 91.

60 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Revival (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1987), 146-147.

61 Richard Gilbertson, The Baptism of the Holy Spirit: The Views of A.B. Simpson and His contemporaries (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1993), 321-322.

62 Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publisher, 1990, 1993), 165.

The post Holy Laughter and Other Phenomena in Evangelical and Holiness Revival Movements appeared first on Paul King Ministries.

Research demonstrates that it is not only an idea rooted in both the Old and New Testaments, but that binding and loosing in regard to the powers was practiced frequently in Jesus’ day, and that it was taught by early church fathers as well.5 Further, it cannot simply be dismissed as false charismatic or faith teaching, for, as will be shown, many non-charismatic evangelicals also advocate binding and loosing. A forthcoming book by K. Neill Foster and this writer deals with various aspects of the binding and loosing doctrine.6 This study, which is partially included in the research done for that book, traces the loss and restoration of the doctrine of binding and loosing in the contemporary Church.

The usual argument against the application of binding and loosing to confronting supernatural powers, as advanced by Hanegraaff, is that the context of Matthew 18:18 is ecclesiastical discipline, not dealing with demons.7 However, many evangelical leaders and scholars recognize that while the primary application in Matthew 18 is discipline, the concept of binding and loosing, in the words of G. Campbell Morgan, "have much wider application than the application Jesus made of them at this point. We are perfectly justified in lifting them out of their setting and using them over a wider area of thought."8 The many godly, evangelical leaders who through the centuries have taught and practiced binding and loosing with supernatural results should not be ignored or dismissed.

Binding and Loosing in the Church Fathers

For example, binding Satan was a part of the exorcistic process as early as the third century and was commonly carried out before a catechumen was baptized.9 The practice of deliverance by its very nature and etymology involves binding, as Anglican exorcist Elijah White explains:

The Greek root exorkidzo means "to bind or charge with an oath" with semantic overtones from the classical Greek exoridzo, "to banish, to send beyond the frontier." The Church Fathers found these terms more authoritative and more descriptive of what actually happens during an exorcism. . . . In a properly conducted exorcism, the demon is first bound by the power of Christ, and then cast out under orders to harm no one present and to depart to the place appointed for it, there to remain forever. This thorough-going procedure suggests why the early church chose exorkidzo and its derivative words to describe this work."10

Though the terms "bind" and "loose" are not frequently used among the early church fathers, the concept is inherent in the use of the more frequent term "exorcism." Rather than speaking of binding and loosing as separate acts, they viewed both as a part of the exorcistic process.

Nevertheless, several church fathers do make reference to binding and loosing as the believer’s authority over supernatural forces. Origen, in his commentary on Matthew, asserted that the promise given to Peter "[is] not restricted to him, but applicable to all disciples like him."11 He associates Matthew 16:18-19 with Ephesians 6:12 in the light of spiritual warfare:

You can say that each power and world-ruler of this darkness, and each one of the "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" is a gate of Hades and a gate of death. Let, then, the principalities and powers with which our wrestling is, be called gates of Hades, but the "ministering spirits" gates of righ-teousness.12

Augustine equates the binding of Satan in Matthew 12:29 with Matthew 18:18 and affirms that the Church has the authority of binding and loosing through those who govern.13 Contrary to some of amillennial persuasion who would claim that Christ bound Satan once for all, Augustine uses the present tense in referring to Matthew 12:29, saying that "He who binds the strong man, taketh away his good, and maketh them His own goods," indicating, along with another church father, Methodius, that Christ is still binding the strong man.14 So he views the binding of Satan by Christ as something which has been accomplished through Jesus’ invasion of Satan’s territory on earth, but that there are also continuing acts of binding by the Church.

Chrysostom, a contemporary of Augustine, considers it an authority that is exercised by priests, but he also presupposes the authority of the believer, because in his sermons he exhorts lay people to exercise their spiritual authority by binding and loosing:

Despise thine own concerns, and thou wilt receive those of God. This He Himself wills. Despise earth, and seize upon the kingdom of heaven. Dwell there, not here. Be formidable there, not here. If thou art formidable there, thou wilt be formidable not to men, but to demons, and even to the devil himself. . . . Such were the Apostles, despising a servile house and worldly wealth! And see how they commanded in the affairs of their Master. "Let one," they said, "be delivered from disease, another from the possession of devils: bind this man, and loose that." This was done by them on earth, but it was fulfilled as in Heaven.15

In this sermon, Chrysostom relates binding and loosing to dealing with the powers and disease. To Chrysostom, the authority of binding and loosing is a real spiritual action, in which "this binding lays hold of the soul and penetrates the heavens."16

Fourth-century leader Cyril, too, believed that binding and loosing dealt with spiritual warfare. Making reference to Matthew18:18-20, he speaks of launching "the weapon of their concord in prayer."17 He evidently viewed this pericope of Scripture as relating to warfare prayer against demoniacal spirits. Cyril also refers to Peter bearing the keys of the kingdom of heaven when he healed Aeneas, raised Tabitha (Dorcas) from the dead and saw heaven opened in a trance.18

Loss of the Believer’s Authority of Binding and Loosing

By the time of Leo the Great (fifth century) and Gregory the Great (sixth century), Peter was viewed as the Rock and the power of binding and loosing was conveyed through the apostolic office of Peter.19 Leo still recognized that the exercise of the authority of binding and loosing is a faith that "conquers the devil, and breaks the bonds of his prisoners. It uproots us from this earth and plants us in heaven, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it."20 However, he limits that power to the formal priesthood. Later documents purporting papal authority relegate binding and loosing to ecclesiastical discipline by bishops and popes.21 Thus, during the Middle Ages, binding and loosing became institutionalized and formalized in the Roman Catholic Church and relegated to the authority of priests or bishops in legislative and judicial decisions, retaining or remitting sins and in the ritual of exorcism. The authority of the believer had been lost to the Church as a whole.

Martin Luther and the Reformation brought a restoration of belief in the priesthood of the believer, but in discarding the structures and traditions of Roman Catholicism he did not recognize the authority of binding and loosing supernatural forces. He understood binding and loosing more narrowly in terms of retaining or forgiving sins, though he does declare it is the prerogative of the Church, not just priests and bishops.22 Luther believed in the reality of the powers, but unlike the early Church fathers mentioned earlier, he did not believe in direct exorcism or commanding of evil spirits.23 While he did believe satanic forces could be overcome by prayer, faith and the preached Word,24 his more passive understanding of the priesthood of all believers and indirect view of confronting spiritual forces weakened the full exercise of the believer’s authority.25

Also in the Reformation period, Menno Simons and Huldrych Zwingli exhibited the beginnings of recovering the authority of binding and loosing when they questioned the application of Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 to bishops only; but they, too, failed to grasp the authority of binding and loosing in regard to supernatural forces.26 John Calvin also believed in the reality of the counter kingdom, but forbade the ancient practice of exorcism at baptism, emphasizing instead overcoming the powers by prayer, faith and putting on the full armor of God.27 Menno Simons also opposed exorcism prior to baptism, but for a different reason – its connection with infant baptism.28 After the Reformation some German Lutheran churches retained the exorcistic rite while others eliminated it, and still others, like Spener, made it optional.29 Koch comments, "Rationalism then did away with exorcism. From this time it disappeared from the liturgy."30 The common practice and belief in Reformed churches up until the end of the nineteenth century appears to negate use of direct spiritual authority in exorcism.31

The failure by these reformers to recognize the authority of the believer was, in effect, the error of not seeing the baby in the bathwater. Professor Timothy Warner asserts, "The elimination of the renunciation of the devil by baptismal candidates is another reflection of the Western worldview with its lack of a functional view of demons."32 Nevertheless, they did have some measure of success at curbing the power of satanic forces.33 Because they did exercise persevering prayer and faith, God honored their prayers in spite of their ignorance of the believer’s authority.

Another reason for the passive view of the believer’s authority of binding and loosing during the time of the Reformation was the amillenial interpretation of the binding of Satan in Revelation 20. Amillennialists believe this Scripture means that Satan, the strong man, was bound by Christ’s life and death, and consequently, is bound in this present age. So while there may be some limited satanic activity, there is no great need for the exercise of binding and loosing since according to that theology he has already been bound.34

A third factor was that seventeenth-century scholarship, such as John Lightfoot and others, began to interpret binding and loosing in the later rabbinic terms as forbidding and allowing,35 further watering down the supernatural dimension of the doctrine. It was not until late in the nineteenth century that scholars began to acknowledge the parallels with supernatural binding and loosing in Jewish and pagan literature.36

Restoration of the Authority of Binding and Loosing

The foundation for this recovery was laid in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Notably, Jacob Spener and the German Lutheran Pietist movement emphasized the recovery of the priesthood of the believer.37 The seventeenth century Scottish mystic who impacted the Wesleys and Whitefield showed insight into the authority of the believer when he declared that we can take command over the unruly forces of our nature and "bind up our natural inclinations."38 The Wesleyan Revival, influenced also by Pietism, and its descendants the Moravians,39 continued to bring about a greater awareness of the authority of the believer as Wesley himself engaged in exorcisms upon occasion when evil spirits manifested themselves.40

However, the authority of the believer was not fully understood until the nineteenth century through the ministry and teaching of Dorothea Trudel and Johann Christoph Blumhardt. Trudel taught the authority of believers as kings and priests of God.41 Blumhardt worked for nearly two years to free a woman from demonization, learning from practical experience how to exercise direct authority over the powers.42 Perhaps it took him so long because he was plowing new ground in discovering how to exercise faith and authority in performing exorcisms effectively and had not yet learned how to bind spirits.

With restoration of the understanding of the believer’s authority through the movement of the Spirit in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries came a growing awareness of the nature and authority of binding and loosing. One of the earliest nineteenth-century teachings on binding and loosing as the authority of the believer came from the famous preacher Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), preaching on Matthew 16:19. He calls it "the opening and shutting power of the Christian life," asserting:

Every praying man and every praying woman . . . has this power of the keys. . . . And every man that has that spirit has God’s keys in his hands, and has authority to bind and loose – to bind lies and all iniquity, and to set loose all those that suffer oppression by reason of spiritual despotism.43

Andrew Murray was perhaps the next great preacher to affirm the concept of binding and loosing, influenced by Blumhardt.44 In his book With Christ in the School of Prayer, published in 1885, declaring that "God rules the world by the prayers of His saints,"45 he prays, "Grant especially, blessed Lord, that your Church may believe that it is by the power of united prayer that she can bind and loose in heaven, cast out Satan, save souls, remove mountains, and hasten the coming of the Kingdom."46 Here he associates binding and loosing with the casting out of Satan by the Church.

Charles Spurgeon soon followed, endorsing the practice of binding and loosing. Speaking of the believer’s privilege and authority in prayer, in 1888 Spurgeon makes reference to the concept, saying, "Thus are Elijahs trained to handle the keys of heaven, and lock or loose the clouds."47 He may have been paraphrasing Chrysostom who preached centuries earlier, "If we pray, we shall be able even to open heaven. Elias both shut and opened heaven by prayer (James 5:17). There is a prison in heaven also. . . . Let us pray by night, and we shall loose these bonds."48 This was a common evangelical teaching at that time; for evangelist D.L. Moody, noted prayer writer E.M. Bounds and Keswick leader Jessie Penn-Lewis also speak of Elijah’s power to lock and loose the heavens.49

A Pivotal Year

1897 appears to be a pivotal year in the recovery of the doctrine of binding and loosing. Scholar F.B. Conybeare, in an article entitled "Christian Demonology," demonstrated that Jesus’ statements about binding and loosing were parallel to expressions and practices in Jewish and pagan religions relating to the occult and the deliverance ministry.50 However, this does not mean that he considered Christian binding and loosing as occultic, only that he rediscovered the ancient association between binding and loosing and dealing with the powers. He was followed by other scholars recognizing the link, such as Bousset in 1906,51 Dell in 191452 and Oesterreich in his monumental work on demonization in 1921,53 as well as others.54

Christoph Blumhardt, the son of Johann Christoph Blumhardt, followed in his father’s footsteps, more as a theologian working out what his father had discovered and pioneered practically. In 1897 he preached on "The Church of Jesus Christ," proclaiming:

It is a great mistake to think that every theologian, every pastor, can loose and bind. . . . Only one who receives God’s revelation can be a man who looses or releases. Any farmer, any woman, can be a person who releases. . . . The Living Church of Christ may be made up of poor, simple, little people; it will yet be able to loose and set free.55

He is not denying the authority of the believer here; rather, he warns against arbitrary or indiscriminate binding and loosing. Also in 1897, at a China Inland Mission Conference, Jessie Penn-Lewis taught on the authority of the believer, providing the doctrinal foundation necessary from Ephesians 1 for the understanding of binding and loosing:

The Cross is the gate into this heavenly sphere, so that if the Holy Spirit reveals to us that when we are submerged into the death of Christ, we are loosed from the claims of sin, the flesh, and the devil, He will as certainly impart to us the life of the Risen Lord. He will lift us in real experience into our place in Him, seated with Him in the heavens far above all principalities and powers . . . far above the powers of darkness.56

Further she says, "The soul hidden with Christ in God has authority over all the power of the enemy, for he shares in the victory of Christ. In Him he has power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and power to deliver and loose others from the bonds of the evil one."57 We see here a gradual but definite and fuller development in the Church’s interpretation of the binding and loosing Scriptures.

About the same time, A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, also began teaching the believer’s position in Christ according to Ephesians 1:

He "raised us up with Christ and seated us" (Ephesians 2:6) with Him in the heavenlies. This is much more than resurrection. It is ascension. It is taking the place of accomplished victory and conceded right, and sitting down in an attitude of completed repose, from henceforth expecting with Him until all our enemies be made our footstool. . . . It is throne life. It is dwelling with Christ on high, your head in the heaven even while your feet still walk the paths of the lower world of sense and time. This is our high privilege.58

Whether he was influenced by Penn-Lewis or Blumhardt, or vice versa, we cannot be sure, but apparently they all came to the same basic insight, either through the Holy Spirit independent of one another or perhaps through interchange of ideas. At any rate, by 1903 Simpson was also recognizing that a broad principle of binding and loosing was given to the Church:

He has given authority to His servants to remove from this fellowship everything in opposition with its holy character. He has invested this discipline with the most sacred and binding authority, and he tells us in this passage that what we bind on earth, He will bind in heaven, and what we loose on earth He will loose in heaven.59

In Simpson’s view, binding is not mere discipline or excommunication, for "such an act on the part of the Church of God will be followed by the Lord’s effectual dealing in all such cases. . . . God’s hand will deal with the offender through temporal judgment."60

He likens this power of binding to Paul’s handing over to Satan the incestuous man from the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 5:5). He also understood the authority of loosing to include loosing or freeing ourselves from fear, the power of evil habits and sickness.61

Also commenting on Matthew 16:18-19 around the turn of the century, popular British Baptist preacher F.B. Meyer, a Keswick leader and friend of both D.L. Moody and A.B. Simpson, wrote, "The Church is the special object of hatred to the dark underworld of fallen spirits, which our Lord refers to as ‘the gates of hell.’ "62 Speaking of Jesus’ eternal relationship to the Father as the only foundation rock, Meyers says, "Against this foundation, the waves of demonic and human hatred will break in vain."63 He then quoted Matthew 16:19, commenting on the believer’s authority of binding and loosing, "This is the secret of the blessed life. Go through the world opening prison-doors, lifting heavy burdens, and giving light, joy, and peace to the oppressed."64 He identified this Scripture as Christ giving the believer authority to wage war against demonic powers.

Revival Breakthrough

It would appear that as a result of the 1904-1906 revival in Wales, America and around the world, there emerged a fuller understanding of the implications of binding and loosing in the evangelical world. Evan Roberts spoke of binding during the Welsh Revival.65 In their 1912 book, War on the Saints, which was based on things learned about spiritual warfare from the Welsh Revival, Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts wrote:

The awakened part of the Church today has now no doubt of the real existence of the spirit beings of evil, and that there is an organized monarchy of supernatural powers, set up in opposition to Christ and His kingdom, bent upon the eternal ruin of every member of the human race and these believers know that God is calling them to seek the fullest equipment attainable for withstanding and resisting these enemies of Christ and His Church.66

They recognized the commanding authority of the believer on a higher plane and the power of binding and loosing as a part of "the fullest equipment": "The Church of Christ will reach its high water mark, when it is able to deal with demon possession; when it knows how to ‘bind the strong man’ by prayer; ‘command’ the spirits of evil in the name of Christ, and deliver men and women from their power."67 Here is a decided shift in spiritual warfare strategy from just praying for God to intervene in dealing with evil spirits to authoritatively binding and commanding the evil spirits. Penn-Lewis also wrote an article entitled "How to Pray for Missionaries," containing more extensive teaching on binding the strong man, which was later reprinted in the Alliance Weekly in 1937.68

In 1914 E.W. Kenyon, whose later teachings would make him known as the founder of the modern faith movement, wrote an article for Carrie Judd-Montgomery’s Triumphs of Faith magazine on the believer’s authority and binding and loosing.69 Before he began to err grievously, he had contacts with the Keswick movement, so it is likely he was drawing upon the principles Roberts and Penn-Lewis had mentioned two years prior, as well as Meyer’s earlier teaching. In her 1921 book The Secrets of Victory Carrie Judd-Montgomery devoted an entire chapter to binding and loosing, admitting it was a recent perception that had transformed her ministry.70 Dr. Robert Jaffray, pioneer Alliance missionary to China and Indonesia in the early part of the twentieth century, put into action in his meetings the practice of binding demonic forces.71 Likewise, famed biblical expositor G. Campbell Morgan also taught a wider application of the principle of binding and loosing in 1929.72

Christian and Missionary Alliance missionary John A. MacMillan really wrote the seminal book on the believer’s authority with his series of articles based on Ephesian 1 in 1932.73 In effect, he developed the theology at that time for the recovered understanding of binding and loosing. The seventh edition of the unabridged version of Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts’ book War on the Saints (published in 1933) makes reference to MacMillan’s articles in the Alliance Weekly.74 No doubt MacMillan was influenced by his mentor Robert Jaffray and the teaching of Penn-Lewis. His material is referred to by a wide variety of contemporary Christian leaders, including dispensationalists like Merrill Unger, evangelical publishers like Moody Press, evangelical scholars like Professor Timothy M. Warner and charismatic faith leaders like Kenneth Hagin.75 Chinese spiritual leader Watchman Nee, who was influenced by Penn-Lewis, Simpson and Andrew Murray, also taught authoritative "commanding" prayer and the power of binding and loosing in 1934.76 So we see that by the early twentieth century the teaching on binding and loosing as the believer’s authority had proliferated among evangelical leaders.

By 1960 modern fundamental evangelicals like Dick Hillis writing for Moody Press recognized that "prayer was not enough," admitting: "We learned further that it is not enough to pray or sing, though I believe Satan hates both prayer and song. We must resist the Devil and command that he depart."77 In 1965 Theodore Epp, founder of Back to the Bible Broadcast, wrote a book entitled Praying with Authority, in which he wrote, "If Satan has blinded and bound men and women, how can we ever see souls saved? This is where you and I enter the picture. Spoiling the goods of the strong man has to do with liberating those whom Satan has blinded and is keeping bound."78

Binding and loosing became standard teaching among charismatics in the 1970s, picked up from early Pentecostal practices, which, in turn, came out of the holiness teaching on the believer’s authority.79 But contrary to the claims of some contemporary leaders like Hanegraaff,80 the concept of binding and loosing is not exclusively the interpretation of modern faith and charismatic teaching. Dutch scholar H. Van der Loos, for example, in his 1965 book The Miracles of Jesus asks, "Why should not men in their turn be able to bind or release a demon?"81 Among contemporary evangelical leaders, Kurt Koch advocated the practice in 1973,82 soon followed by Merrill Unger, speaking of the pre-exorcism preparation of renunciation and of the power of loosing believers from demonic forces.83 Alliance evangelist K. Neill Foster continued promulgating the concept which had been a part of Alliance teaching from its early days.84 Popular writer and speaker on prayer Rosalind Rinker taught binding and loosing by 1981 as well.85 Also in 1981 New Testament scholar and Gordon-Conwell Seminary professor J. Ramsay Michaels asserted, "The work of binding and loosing – binding the strong man and loosing his captives – the work that dominated Jesus’ ministry and filled his vision, will be the work of his disciples during the period of his absence."86

Popular seminar teacher Bill Gothard does not advocate rebuking Satan directly, but taught, nevertheless, in 1982 that we can and should bind Satan: "Before we attempt to reclaim a loved one who has come under Satan’s power, we must first bind Satan. Otherwise, he works through that loved one to create a reaction toward every attempt of restoration."87 Writing for Moody Press in the 1980s, Mark Bubeck refers to Matthew 12:29, saying:

As believers, united with Christ in His authority, we are able to so war against Satan that we can bind him, tie him up, and rob or take away what he wants to claim as his own. . . . We are to see ourselves as invincible soldiers of Christ who can advance against this "strong man," Satan, invade his domain, and take away from him those people and spiritual fortifications he claims.88

Toccoa Falls College professor Dr. Gerald McGraw makes regular practice of binding spirits before casting them out in his ministry of deliverance.89 More recently, Quaker scholar and devotional writer Richard Foster has referred to Matthew 18:18, advocating binding and loosing: "We bind bitterness and hardheartedness. We loose forgiveness and tenderheartedness."90 He also recognizes it as authoritative prayer against the powers:

We stand against evil thoughts and suspicions and distortions of every sort. We bind the spirit of anger and jealousy and gossip and release the spirit of love and faith. How do we do it? We do it by demon expulsion. Wherever we find evil forces at work, we firmly demand that they leave.91

Among the most recent non-charismatic leaders to advocate binding and loosing are Neil Anderson and Larry Crabb. Former Talbot School of Theology professor Neil Anderson frequently commends the practice of binding and loosing, saying, "We bind by renouncing and loose by announcing. . . . We renounce the efforts of the ‘Gates of Hades’ to hold people captive and hinder the building of Christ’s Church. Then we announce our resources in Christ by which our Lord builds His Church."92 He makes reference to Penn-Lewis in his book The Bondage Breaker, showing support for her teaching.93 In biblical psychologists Larry Crabb and Dan Allender’s newest book, Hope When You’re Hurting, they advocate "binding evil through spiritual discipline":

The spiritual binding of evil involves sensing temptation, rebuking the devil, and then resisting evil’s pull, while putting on all the protection and carrying the armaments that we are given to biblically defend ourselves. It may include confessing our sins to our friends, our spiritual director, or our deliverance therapist. It may be necessary under intense, direct assault to be anointed with oil and to have a group of spiritual men and women pray and lay on hands for deliverance.94

They suggest that the process of binding may need to be repeated again and again "until greater freedom and strength is gained to fully bind evil."95

We have demonstrated that belief in the believer’s authority of binding and loosing is a valid and vital doctrine, and certainly not limited to charismatic and modern faith teaching. Rather, it was birthed out of New Testament church doctrine, promulgated by early Church fathers, lost as a result of Middle Age Church formalism and Reformation reaction. It was recovered through the rediscovery of the believer’s authority during the holiness revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by non-charismatic evangelicals. Restoration of this biblical truth is a part of what God is reviving in the Church today to enable the Church to overcome spiritual forces of wickedness in these last days. Binding and loosing are indispensable weapons of spiritual warfare for every believer.

Endnotes

1 John MacArthur, Jr., Our Sufficiency in Christ (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1991), 213-237; Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), 257-258.

2 Ibid. Also see MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 360-361.

3 See forthcoming book by K. Neill Foster with Paul L. King, Binding and Loosing (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1998).

4 Paul L. King, "A.B. Simpson and the Modern Faith Movement," Alliance Academic Review (May 1996): 1-22.

5 See Foster and King, chapter on "Where We Differ."

6 Ibid., chapters on "Binding and Loosing in the Church Fathers," "Jewish Concepts of Binding and Loosing," "Binding and Loosing in the Old Testament" and "Binding and Loosing in the New Testament."

7 Hanegraaff, 257, 405.

8 G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Matthew (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Publishing Co., 1929), 233.

9 Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., Ante Nicene Fathers (ANF) (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1885, reprint 1979), 7:484.

10 Elijah White, Exorcism as a Christian Ministry (New York: Morehouse-Barlow Co., 1975), 70-71.

11 ANF, 10:456.

12 Ibid., 10:458.

13 City of God, 20:9, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (NPNF), 1:2:430.

14 Augustine, "On the Psalms – Psalm 48," Section 4, NPNF, 1:8:165; see also Methodius, "Oration on the Palms," ANF, 6:395, 397.

15 NPNF, 1:13:516; see also NPNF, 1:13:91-92.

16 NPNF, 1:9:47. Chrysostom points out the paradox of binding and loosing in Paul and Silas’s imprisonment in the Philippian jail and their release through earthquake as a result of praise: "Do you mark what happened? . . . There a girl was released from a spirit, and they cast them into prison, because they had liberated her from the spirit. . . . What is equal to this? He is put in bonds, and looses, being bound: looses a twofold bond: him that bound him, he looses by being bound. These are indeed works of (supernatural) grace " (NPNF, 1:11:225). He relates this physical loosing to a heavenly loosing, referring to Matthew 16:19: "Let us think over that night, the stocks, and the hymns of praise. This let us do, and we shall open for ourselves – not a prison, but – heaven. If we pray, we shall be able even to open heaven. Elias both shut and opened heaven by prayer (James 5:17). There is a prison in heaven also. . . . Let us pray by night, and we shall loose these bonds" (NPNF, 1:11:226).

17 NPNF, 2:7:38.

18 NPNF, 2:7:130.

19 Gregory – NPNF, 2:12:228-229; Leo – NPNF, 2:12:117.

20 NPNF, 2:12:117.

21 Among some documents which purport to be from Roman bishops in the second and third centuries (but have been demonstrated to be from about the ninth century) are several references to ecclesiastical binding and loosing. The Epistles of Zephyrinus claim that the binding and loosing authority of Matthew 16:19, which is a judicial decision regarding those accused of transgression, belongs to "the seat of the apostles" (ANF, 8:609). The Second Epistle of Pope Callistus referring to Matthew 16:18, speaks of "the power of the keys committed to the Church," regarding authority to restore a repentant priest after a lapse (ANF, 8:617). Epistle of Pope Urban I cites Matthew 18:18 and John 20:23 regarding the bishops’ authority, saying, "The power of inspection and of judging, and the authority to loose and bind, are given to them by the Lord" (ANF, 8:620). These documents view binding and loosing ecclesiastically as exercising judgment and discipline, and were a forged attempt to read back into the third century the belief in the superiority of the bishop of Rome.

22 Luther says, "I believe that in this congregation, and nowhere else, there is forgiveness of sins. . . . To this congregation Christ gives the keys, and says in Matthew 18, ‘Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.’ " Works of Martin Luther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1982), 2:373. He recognizes a connection between faith and the exercise of the keys: "The power of the keys extends only as far as your faith extends; not as far as the pope and his followers choose" (Ibid., 3:51).

23 Luther says: "We cannot expel demons with certain ceremonies and words, as Jesus Christ, the prophets, and the apostles did. All we can do is in the name of Jesus Christ pray the Lord God, of His infinite mercy, to deliver the possessed persons. And if our prayer is offered up in full faith, we are assured by Christ Himself (John 16:23), that it will be efficacious, and overcome all the Devil’s resistance. I might mention many instances of this. But we cannot of ourselves expel the evil spirits, nor must we even attempt it." Frederick S. Leahy, Satan Cast Out (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 113.

24 Ibid., 112.

25 Luther seemed to be undecided about the role of exorcism, at one point eliminating the rite from his handbook of baptism (1523), but including it in his second edition (1526). Kurt Koch, Christian Counseling and Occultism (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1965), 277.

26 Clyde E. Fant, Jr. and William M. Pinson, Jr., 20 Centuries of Great Preaching (Waco, TX: Word, 1971), 2:119; The Complete Writings of Menno Simons (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1956), 989.

27 Leahy, Satan Cast Out, 114.

28 The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, 252.

29 Koch, Christian Counseling and Occultism, 277.

30 Ibid.

31 On page v. of the introduction to nineteenth century Presbyterian missionary John Nevius’ book Demon Possession and Allied Themes (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), this observation was made: "Missionaries in China have all proceeded with great caution in this matter. Dr. Nevius and others have avoided any measures which might lead the people to suppose that they claim the power to cast out devils even in Jesus’ name. Nor does it appear that any native minister has claimed any such power. The most that has been done has been to kneel down and pray to Jesus to relieve the sufferer, at the same time inviting all present to unite in the prayer; and it seems a well established fact that in nearly or quite every instance, the person afflicted, speaking apparently in a different personality and with a different voice has confessed the power of Jesus and has departed."

32 Timothy M. Warner, Spiritual Warfare: Victory Over the Powers of This Dark World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), 120-121.

33 In 1535 Luther comments, "About ten years ago we had an experience of a very wicked demon, but we succeeded in subduing him by perseverance and by unceasing prayer and unquestioning faith. . . . By this means I have restrained many other similar spirits in different places, for the prayer of the Church prevails at last" (Ibid., 112). In spite of this prevailing belief, Luther did upon occasion go against his general counsel by advising the addressing of such forces directly. To one pastor who was experiencing supernatural disturbances with poltergeists actually hurling pots and pans, he counseled, "Let Satan play with the pots. Meanwhile, pray to God with your wife and children and say, ‘Be off, Satan! I’m lord in this house, not you. By divine authority I’m head of this household, and I have a call from heaven to be pastor of this church’ " (Ibid., 111). Nevius recognized the power of the Word of God in deliverance and many times saw demons leave through the reading of the Bible: "A prayer offered by a Christian, foreign or native, or even proximity to a Christian place of worship, has driven away the demon, and restored the demoniac to a sound mind, praising God" (Nevius, 71, see also p. 76).

34 Leahy, 27-28.

35 Joseph A. Burgess, A History of the Exegesis of Matthew 16:17-19 from 1781 to 1965 (Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, Inc., 1976), 62.

36 Ibid., 105.

37 Cited in "From the Archives" and in C. John Weborg, "Reborn in Order to Renew," Christian History 5, 2 (1986):29, 35 respectively.

38 Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1946, 1976 reprint), 76.

39 Robert G. Tuttle, Jr., John Wesley: His Life and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), 220-221.

40 The Journal of John Wesley (Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.), 81-83.

41 A.J. Gordon, The Ministry of Healing, quoting Trudel in Healing: The Three Great Classics on Divine Healing (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 215.

42 Ibid., 221-223; R. Lejuene, <MI>Christoph Blumhardt and His Message<M> (Woodcrest, Rifton, NY: The Plough Publishing House, 1938, 1963), 20; Koch, Christian Counseling and Occultism, 281. Pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor also recognized the authority of the believer and at times was involved in exorcism. Nevius, 85. Keswick and Welsh Revival leaders Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis give this assessment of church history: "When the Church of God in the old and new dispensations was at the highest point of spiritual power, the leaders recognized, and drastically dealt with, the invisible forces of Satan; and when at the lowest they were ignored, or allowed to have free course among the people." Jessie Penn-Lewis with Evan Roberts, <MI>War on the Saints,<M> abridged version (Ft. Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1977), 19.

43 Joseph S. Exell, ed., The Biblical Illustrator: St. Matthew (New York: Randolph & Co., n.d.), 345-346.

44 William Lindner, Jr., Andrew Murray (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1996), 28.

45 Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1981), 115.

46 Ibid., 117.

47 Charles Spurgeon, Faith’s Checkbook (Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.), 28.

48 NPNF, 1:11:226.

49 Mrs. Charles Cowman, Springs in the Valley (Minneapolis: Worldwide Publications, 1939, 1968), 63; E.M. Bounds, The Preacher and Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1950), 100; Jessie Penn-Lewis, Prayer and Evangelism (Dorset, England: Overcomer Literature Trust, n.d.), 5-6.

50 Burgess, 105.

51 Traugott Konstantin Oesterreich, Possession, Demonical and Other (New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1966), 170.

52 Burgess, 105.

53 Oesterreich, 170.

54 Burgess, 105.

55 Lejuene, 165.

56 Jessie Penn-Lewis, The Warfare with Satan (Dorset, England: Overcomer Literature Trust, 1963), 63.

57 Ibid., 65.

58 A.B. Simpson, Christ in the Bible (CITB) (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 5:413-414.

59 Simpson, CITB, 4:96.

60 Ibid.

61 Ibid., 3:491.

62 F.B. Meyer, Changed by the Master’s Touch (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1985, 134-135).

63 Ibid., 135.

64 Ibid., 135-136.

65 James A. Stewart, Invasion of Wales by the Spirit Through Evan Roberts (Asheville, NC: Revival Literature, 1963), 47, 66.

66 Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints, 22.

67 Ibid., 33, see also p. 26.

68 Jessie Penn-Lewis, "How to Pray for Missionaries, Alliance Weekly (June 12, 1937): 373-375; June 26, 1937: 406-407. Reprinted from Penn-Lewis’ booklet Prayer and Evangelism, 53-62. Throughout this booklet, Penn-Lewis makes reference to binding and loosing, advocating "binding the evil and loosing the good"; Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints, 7.

69 E.W. Kenyon, "Legal Authority," Triumphs of Faith (December 1914): 283-284.

70 Carrie Judd-Montgomery, The Secrets of Victory (Oakland, CA: Triumphs of Faith, 1921), 67-74.

71 John A. MacMillan, Encounter with Darkness (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980), 56-57.

72 Morgan, 233.

73 John A. MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980).

74 Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints, i.

75 Merrill Unger, Demons in the World Today (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1971), 193ff., 203; What Demons Can Do to Saints (Chicago: Moody Press, 1977), 94-97, 178; Demon Experiences in Many Lands (Chicago: Moody Press, 1960), 122-126; Timothy M. Warner, Spiritual Warfare: Victory Over the Powers of This Dark World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), 74; Kenneth Hagin, Authority of the Believer (Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1967).

76 Watchman Nee, God’s Plan and the Overcomers (New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1977), 72-77.

77 Dick Hillis, "Prayer Was Not Enough: China," Demon Experiences in Many Lands (Chicago: Moody Press, 1960), 39.

78 Quoted by Neil Anderson in The Bondage Breaker (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1990, 1993), 87.

79 Kenyon and Hagin as mentioned above, among others.

80 Hanegraaff, 257-258; MacArthur, Our Sufficiency in Christ, 213ff.

81 Richard H. Hiers, " ‘Binding’ and ‘Loosing’: The Matthean Authorizations," Journal of Biblical Literature 104, 2 (1985): 238.

82 Kurt Koch, Demonology, Past and Present (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1973), 154.

83 Merrill Unger, What Demons Can Do to Saints, 179-180.

84 K. Neill Foster, Alliance Witness, January 16, 1977, 3-5.

85 Rosalind Rinker, How to Get the Most Out of Your Prayer Life (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1981), 135-138.

86 J. Ramsay Michaels, Servant and Son: Jesus in Parable and Gospel (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1981), 301.

87 Bill Gothard, Rebuilder’s Guide (Oak Brook, IL: Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, 1982), 119; see also pp. 114-121.

88 Mark I. Bubeck, Overcoming the Adversary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984), 113; see also pp. 20, 37.

89 Gerald E. McGraw, "An Effective Deliverance Methodology: Then and Now," Alliance Academic Review (May 1996): 163, 165, 166.

90 Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (San Franciso: Harper, 1992), 44.

91 Ibid., 241.

92 Neil T. Anderson, Setting Your Church Free (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1994), 271-272.

93 Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1990, 1993), 78.

94 Larry Crabb and Dan B. Allender, Hope When You’re Hurting (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 128.

95 Ibid., 129.

The post The Restoration of the Doctrine of Binding and Loosing appeared first on Paul King Ministries.

If we look at the teachings of A.B. Simpson and other early Christian and Missionary Alliance leaders, as well as classic evangelical leaders of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we will find both areas of agreement with and opposition to the contemporary faith movement. Recent books such as A Different Gospel by Dan R. McConnell, The Seduction of Christianity by Dave Hunt and Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff have declared the modern faith movement cultic and heretical.2 Yet some of the faith teachings considered heretical by these writers are similar to the teaching of early Alliance leaders and classic evangelical writers. In fact, modern faith teachers refer extensively to the writings of three early Alliance-affiliated writers: The Authority of the Believer by missionary and Alliance Life editor John A. MacMillan;Bodily Healing and the Atonement by professor T.J. McCrossan (who also authored a book on the gift of tongues published by The Christian and Missionary Alliance); andChrist the Healer by Alliance healing evangelist F.F. Bosworth.3

While we would agree with McConnell, Hunt and Hanegraaff that certain elements of faith teaching are cultic and heretical,4 they also attack teachings on faith which have been taught by leaders of the early healing and holiness movement, including those of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Some have thus not only rejected modern faith teaching, but also valid principles of faith which sound like modern faith teaching. We must recognize that not all principles taught by contemporary faith teachers are invalid. The Latin phrase abusus non tollit usus applies here: “The abuse does not bear away the use,” or in other words, the abuse should not obscure or negate legitimate use. Simpson phrased it this way: “The best remedy for the abuse of anything is its wise and proper use.”5 In this analysis, we want to point out the areas of legitimate use in principles of faith taught by Simpson, early Alliance leaders and other classic evangelical holiness/healing leaders. These classic teachings which are sound in faith will be compared and contrasted with contemporary faith teaching.

A.B. Simpson is considered by modern church historians to be one of the foremost leaders in the “faith cure” movement, second only to Dr. Charles Cullis.6 While some of these leaders used the term “faith healing” or “faith cure,” Simpson himself preferred to avoid these terms and use the term “divine healing.” Nevertheless, Simpson wrote and preached extensively on faith and was one of the leading teachers of what could be considered the “classic faith movement” of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are some who, because of the similarity of Simpson’s writings to some contemporary faith teachings, regard Simpson as radical and unsound in his teaching.7However, other sound evangelical faith leaders of his day, such as W.E. Boardman, A.J. Gordon, Dr. Charles Cullis, Andrew Murray, R.A. Torrey, E.M. Bounds, George Muller, Charles Spurgeon and many others, taught sound principles of faith in relation to healing and prayer, similar to Simpson’s teaching.

We must admit that some similarities exist between The Christian and Missionary Alliance and the modern faith movement. Both believe 1) healing is a provision of the atonement of Christ for the believer; 2) since Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), healing and the supernatural power and gifts of Spirit are still operative today; and 3) as believers we have an inheritance in Christ and the right to exercise spiritual authority. Writers such as Hank Hanegraaff and John MacArthur (Charismatic Chaos) deny some of these truths.8

However, there are strong contrasts as well between modern faith teaching and what Simpson and early Alliance leaders taught. Modern faith teachers have gone far beyond the sound teaching of classic faith writers, borrowing from their principles, but also supplementing them with humanistic and secular metaphysical concepts. In reality, they teach a mixture of genuine truth and dangerous error.

The Authority of the Believer

For instance, modern faith teaching emphasizes the “authority of the believer,” that is, believers have certain rights and privileges as children of God and spiritual authority to overcome Satan and claim our inheritance.9 This teaching is not original with modern faith leaders, but was promoted by classic teachers of faith in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.10 Simpson taught as a truth being restored to the Church that we have spiritual authority as a believer as part of our inheritance as a child of God: “We must be ready also to claim our victory and exercise the authority which He has given us.”11 Simpson also preached on the believer’s authority of binding and loosing.12

Alliance missionary and editor John A. MacMillan expanded upon Simpson’s principles of spiritual authority and binding and loosing in a series of articles entitled The Authority of the Believer, published in the Alliance Weekly in 1932. One scholar has shown that modern faith leader Kenneth Hagin, who has popularized the principle, extensively plagiarized Dr. MacMillan’s material.13 Hanegraaff, however, attacks modern faith teaching on binding and loosing, asserting that application to church discipline is the only valid interpretation, and that they are distorting Scripture by applying it to binding demonic powers.14 Certainly the modern faith teachers have taken the concept too far in calling some things demonic which are of the flesh, but, contrary to Hanegraaff, the concept is biblical.

Although the primary application of binding and loosing in the context of Matthew 18 is in relation to church discipline, famed Biblical expositor G. Campbell Morgan says of this Scripture: “They have much wider application than the application Jesus made of them at this point. We are perfectly justified in lifting them out of their setting, and using them over a wider area of thought.”15 Twice earlier in Matthew, Jesus refers to the concept of binding and loosing in relation to exercising spiritual authority over demonic activity (Matthew 16:18-19; 12:28-29; see also Mark 3:27; Luke 11:20-22). Thus, the concept is sound and was taught, not only in early Alliance circles through Simpson and MacMillan, but also universally by classic faith teachers such as Andrew Murray, Jessie Penn-Lewis and Watchman Nee.16

Modern faith teachers, however, stretch this truth beyond anything Simpson and MacMillan taught, claiming that Christ gave all authority to believers, rather than delegating a portion of His authority to the Church.17 This is a serious error and gives glory to man rather than God.

Faith as a Force

Hanegraaff says that the modern concept of faith as a creative force is metaphysical.18Nevertheless, Simpson and other classic evangelical teachers refer to faith, prayer and even God Himself as a force.19 Simpson believed that faith is a creative force from God Himself as part of His all-powerful nature which we can harness to accomplish God’s will: “Faith is an actual spiritual force. It is no doubt one of the attributes of God Himself. There is no doubt that while the soul is exercising, through the power of God, the faith that commands what God commands, a mighty force is operating at that moment upon the obstacle.”20

Simpson’s understanding of faith as a force is probably most influenced by W.E. Boardman, a nineteenth-century holiness and healing leader. In his book The Higher Christian Life, which had a strong impact on Simpson’s experience and understanding of the crisis of sanctification, Boardman writes that faith is “an abiding force” along with hope and love.21

While modern faith teachers claim to teach this, they teach a serious error by considering faith to be an impersonal force which can be exerted by unbelievers as well as believers, influenced perhaps by the New Age Star Wars concept of “The Force.”22 They also teach a metaphysical concept that words are containers for the force to create that which does not exist.23 Thus they attribute to man the power to create out of nothing, something that should only be attributed to God.

While Simpson did believe faith is a force, he did not believe it is an impersonal force, but an attribute of God Himself. He clearly asserts, “Divine healing is not metaphysical healing,” which he explains as healing “by mental force.”24 “It is not a mysterious current which flows into one body from another. . . . [S]uch an influence is repudiated by all who act as true ministers of divine healing.”25

Positive Mental Attitude and Positive Confession

While McConnell, Hanegraaff and Dave Hunt in The Seduction of Christianity rightly warn against psychological or psychic use of the mind,26 they fail to discern that there is a valid Scriptural application of positive mental attitude (PMA), of which modern PMA teaching is a counterfeit. Classic evangelical leaders taught that focusing on Christ is a “right mental attitude” and that rejoicing is a “Scriptural state of mind.”27

Simpson clearly believed a positive mental attitude contributes to healing and answered prayer:

A flash of ill temper, a cloud of despondency, an impure thought or desire can poison your blood, inflame your tissues, disturb your nerves and interrupt the whole process of God’s life in your body! On the other hand, the spirit of joy, freedom from anxious care and worry, a generous and loving heart, the sedative of peace, the uplifting influence of hope and confidence—these are better than pills, stimulants and sedatives, and the very nature of things will exercise the most benign influence over your physical functions, making it true in a literal as well as a spiritual sense, that “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”28

In his pamphlet “How to Receive Divine Healing,” Simpson advises, “Don’t expect to have a spell of weariness and reaction,” but rather “just go calmly forward, . . . expecting Him to give you the necessary strength to carry you thru [sic].”29 This was not a psychological or soulish power, but the power of Christ Himself.

He also encouraged making positive confessions of our faith: “We must confess Him as our Guardian and Deliverer. . . . We must say it as well as feel it,”30 and “Faith will die without confession.”31 McConnell claims that teaching on positive confession originates not with Kenneth Hagin, but with E.W. Kenyon, and is rooted in the metaphysical cults.32 On the other hand, Bruce Barron, author of The Health and Wealth Gospel, asserts, “The beginnings of positive confession with regard to healing can be spotted as far back as the work of A.B. Simpson.”33

Both writers are wrong, for the idea is not original with Kenyon or even Simpson. In actuality, the roots of the principle of confessing one’s faith are found in eigh-teenth-century Methodist leaders such as John Fletcher, Hester Ann Rogers and William Corvosso, and were expanded upon and popularized by holiness leader Phoebe Palmer.34Later holiness leaders such as Simpson, Andrew Murray, W.E. Boardman and Hannah Whitall Smith all continued to advocate positive confession of one’s faith.35

While classic teaching on positive confession sounds very similar to modern faith theology, unlike faith teachers the classic teachers did not believe that you can “name and claim” or “confess and possess” anything you desire, use confession as an automatic formula or make people feel guilty about making the slightest “negative confession.” For example, Palmer warned against those who taught what she called “faithism,” which she defined as “telling others to `only believe you have it, and you have got it.’ ”36 Apparently an early version of “name it and claim it” was being promulgated in her day as well.

Faith in Faith, in God or of God?

Simpson taught you should “act your faith,” “not to show your faith or display courage,” as modern faith leaders teach, “but because of your faith.”37 Whereas modern faith teaching claims we should have faith in our faith, Simpson taught with foresight a century ago, “It is most important that you should be careful that you do not do this on any human faith or word,”38 and again, “Faith is hindered by what we call `our faith.’ ”39 Popular modern faith teacher Fred Price, a former Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor, abandoned Simpson’s sound teaching by saying that it is not God who heals, but your faith that heals.40 Simpson always points us back to focus on Jesus, not on our own efforts, saying, “We must claim the faith of God, letting the Spirit of Jesus sustain our faith with His strong faith.”41

This quote from Simpson leads to another faith teaching. Both Simpson and modern faith leaders claim that according to the Greek of Matthew 11:22, we should have the “faith of God,” not merely faith in God. Hanegraaff and McConnell take issue with this interpretation, and McConnell claims Kenyon is the originator of this belief.42 But his own mentor and critic of the modern faith movement, Dr. Charles Farah (whose father was an Alliance pastor), cites Charles Price and demonstrates this is a valid interpretation.43 Further, while Hanegraaff and McCon-nell cite several scholars to support their contention, they fail to point out that just as many evangelical leaders and exegetes can be cited which accept the “faith of God” interpretation, including Simpson, Charles Price, Carrie Judd Montgomery, Charles Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, Jessie Penn-Lewis, Princeton scholar Joseph Alexander, Greek professor T.J. McCrossan and theologian Charles Farah.44 So Simpson is no maverick when he declares, “We must claim the faith of God, letting the Spirit of Jesus sustain our faith with His strong faith.”45

Faith Developed or Imparted?

There is an important difference, however, between Simpson’s understanding of the faith of God and contemporary faith teaching of a “God-kind of faith.” One of the critical errors modern faith teachers make is to generalize the “faith of God” (or “mountain-moving faith”) of Mark 11:22-24 as a universal principle for all believers to develop and use in all situations. In contrast, Simpson taught that such mountain-moving faith isimparted by God, not developed in the ordinary everyday exercise of faith, commenting that “this is a special work of the Holy Ghost.”46 Andrew Murray puts it this way: “Every exhibition of the power of faith was the fruit of a special revelation from God. . . . Our spiritual power depends on God Himself speaking those promises to us.”47

This makes a crucial difference in the appropriate application of faith. For instance, while modern faith teachers urge abandoning medicine as an exercise of faith, Simpson counsels, “If you have any question about your faith for this, make it a special matter of preparation and prayer. Ask God to give you special faith for this act.”48 Whereas modern faith teachers make a blanket application of Jesus’ statement to all situations, classic faith teachers recognize that this type of faith is given by God only on special occasions. Another example is that Simpson taught that as a response of faith you should ignore your symptoms and put the focus on Christ only if God has imparted faith to you for healing.49 Modern faith teachers have gone beyond this truth, saying that you should deny your symptoms to prove your faith, not as a response of the faith God has given. This again is the error of putting faith in one’s faith, rather than in God. Simpson taught that you should act your faith only when God has given you a clear indication:

Whenever faith can clearly know that He has spoken, all it has to do is to lay the whole responsibility on Him and go forward. . . .50 This is the faith that claims divine healing. It is not merely a general trust that God will do what is best, but a specific confidence that He will do the thing we ask Him, if that thing is one that He has promised in His word.51

Sickness, Death and Long Life

Similar to modern faith teaching, both Simpson and Andrew Murray believed that it was possible for a person to live out a full life in faith without sickness:

There is no need that we should die of disease. The system might just wear out and pass away as naturally as the apple ripens and falls in autumn, or the wheat matures and dies. It has simply fulfilled its natural period. . . . The promise of healing is not physical immortality, but health until our life work is done.52

Unlike modern faith teachers, however, Simpson would not say that a person necessarily lacked faith because he was not healed, died in sickness or died young:

Sometimes the Master is taking home His child and will He not, in such cases, lift the veil and show the trusting heart that its service is done? How often He does! A dear young girl in Michigan who for some time claimed healing, awoke one day from sleep, her face covered with the reflection of heaven, and told her loved ones that the Master had led her to trust for life thus far, but now was taking her to Himself. It is well, and let no one dare to reproach such a heart with unfaithfulness.53

Whereas many modern faith teachers would berate the child or parents for lack of faith, Simpson makes clear that her death at a young age was God’s sovereign will.

Modern faith teaching has often put a guilt trip on people, saying that it is absolutely God’s will for all to be healed, and if a person isn’t healed, it is man’s fault. While sin or lack of faith could be causes for lack of healing, Simpson listed a variety of reasons, asserting that while it is generally God’s will to heal all who believe, God in His sovereignty may not always grant healing.54 Simpson taught that we should pray for and claim deliverance unless we get a clear indication from God otherwise.55

Faith, Doctors and the Use of Medicine

Simpson’s views on medicine are perhaps the most controversial and also the most misunderstood of his faith teachings. Dr. Paul Chappell, Dean of the School of Theology and Mission at Oral Roberts University, considers him a radical because he encourages trusting God without medicine.56 Simpson does teach that healing without medicine is to be preferred as God’s way:

God has nowhere prescribed medical “means,” and we have no right to infer that drugs are ordinarily his “means.” . . .57 But for the trusting and obedient child of God there is the more excellent way which His word has clearly prescribed, and by which His name will be ever glorified afresh, and our spiritual life continually renewed.58

However, Chappell misunderstands Simpson’s teaching, which was virtually the same as that of Andrew Murray.59 In reality, it was more moderate than healing evangelists Maria Woodworth Etter and John Dowie, who were closer in their beliefs to the modern faith teachers. Modern faith teachers imply that if you have to use doctors and medicine, your faith is weak. But Simpson stated that though divine healing without doctors and medicine is God’s preferred way, you should not abandon medicine unless clearly directed by God.60 This is the key difference between Simpson and modern faith teachers, one which Chappell fails to recognize, claiming Simpson “allowed only limited use of physicians and medicine.”61 Simpson does assert that once a person has received faith for healing, “from that moment doubt should be regarded as absolutely out of the question, and even the very thought of retreating or resorting to old `means’ inadmissible. Of course, such a person will at once abandon all remedies and medical treatment.”62 In isolation from his other teachings, that statement would appear to be radical. However, Simpson makes clear that “from that moment” means from the point that faith has been imparted by God, not from when a person exercises faith on his own.

On the contrary, Simpson stated, “We do not mean to imply . . . that the medical profession is sinful, or the use of means always wrong. There may be, there always will be, innumerable cases in which faith cannot be exercised,” and there is “ample room for employment” of such “natural means.”63

We do believe God heals His sick and suffering children when they can fully trust Him. At the same time we believe that no one should act precipitously or presumptuously in this matter, or abandon natural remedies unless they have an intelligent, Scriptural and unquestioning trust in Him alone and really know Him well enough to touch Him in living contact as their Healer.64

Faith and Prosperity

Whereas modern faith teachers put a high emphasis on prosperity, Simpson quotes the German mystic John Tauler, saying, “Thou didst say, `God prosper thee.’ I have never been unprosperous, for I know how to live with God.”65 A faith that is focused on God through the life of the indwelling Christ is not focused on one’s own welfare. In fact, this emphasis on claiming things for one’s self is one of the most crucial flaws of the modern faith movement. Contrary to modern faith emphasis, Simpson realized “faith [is] yielding up the world for a better inheritance.” Like Lot, Simpson says, people with an “earthly spirit . . . contend for the best of the land.” But, in contrast, “the man of faith can let the present world go because he knows he has a better, but even as he lets it go God tells him that all things are his because he is Christ’s.”66

One definition of a heresy is “one truth emphasized to the exclusion of another truth.” The focus on claiming one’s rights as a child of God has ignored the place of the cross and self-denial. Some faith teachers go so far as to say that Christ suffered so you don’t have to suffer. The chief lacking message of the modern faith movement, which in contrast was a strong emphasis of Simpson and the faith movement of a century ago, is the crucified life, the message of God-centered holiness. The real walk of faith and victory can only be lived by dying to self and being infused with the resurrection life of Christ. Simpson wrote, “How very much of the life of faith consists in simply denying ourselves.”67 It is what Martin Luther called a theology of the cross as opposed to a theology of glory.

Conclusion

This is a brief synopsis of faith teachings in light of A.B. Simpson’s writings, historic Christian and Missionary Alliance teaching and classic evangelical teaching on faith. Further analysis would reveal both additional similarities as well as additional contrasts between classic and contemporary faith teaching.

Writers such as Hunt, Hanegraaff, McArthur and McConnell do expose much wrong teaching and practice in the modern charismatic and faith movements. But they also oppose positions held by classic faith and holiness leaders such as Simpson, so their conclusions must not be accepted uncritically. On the other hand, while there are elements of truth in some contemporary faith leaders’ teachings, there is also much serious error. Simpson and the classic faith teachers provide a healthy balanced theology and practice of faith. We must be careful not to “throw out the baby with the bath water,” i.e., abandon valid principles of faith just because they have been mixed with unsound teaching. Alliance people should be encouraged to shun unsound teachings and instead read, study and pray over the writings of sound classic faith teachers such as Simpson, J.A. MacMillan, Andrew Murray, E.M. Bounds, George Muller and Charles Spurgeon. These are the men who can show how to really walk by faith. With these mentors we need not be afraid of being led astray. Then we will be both strong in faith and sound in faith.

Endnotes

1 A.W. Tozer, Of God and Men (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1960), 54.

2 D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988); Dave Hunt and T.A. McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1985); Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993).

3 John A. MacMillan, The Authority of the Believer (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980); T.J. McCrossan, Bodily Healing and the Atonement (Youngstown, OH, 1930); F.F. Bosworth, Christ the Healer (River Forest, IL, 1924). Reprint of 1948 revised edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 1973). See also T.J. McCrossan, Speaking with Other Tongues: Sign or Gift—Which? (Christian Publications, 1927). McCrossan’s and Bosworth’s books on healing are used as textbooks at Kenneth Hagin’s Rhema Bible Training Center.

4 As McConnell has demonstrated, E.W. Kenyon was the father of the modern faith movement. Hagin depends very heavily on his concepts and writings. Kenyon promulgated many of the classic faith teachings, but also added his own beliefs tainted by New Thought metaphysics. The problem is in rejecting or accepting Kenyon or Hagin’s teaching indiscriminately. McConnell and Hanegraaff clearly delineate where Kenyon and modern faith teachers deviate from orthodox Christian doctrine:             1. A faulty view of Christology—The spiritual death and new birth of Jesus

2. A distorted view of Atonement—The atonement of the devil

3. An inflated view of man —The little gods concept

4. A deflated view of God—God has abdicated control to the Christian

5. Deistic concepts regarding spiritual laws and forces

6. Gnostic and dualistic tendencies of revelation knowledge

7. An unbalanced, materialistic view of prosperity

5 The Christian and Missionary Alliance Weekly (March 27, 1891), 195.

6 Donald Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1987), 128.

7 Bruce Barron, The Health and Wealth Gospel (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1987), 60; Paul Chappell, “Healing Movements,” Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids,MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 363-364.

8 John F. MacArthur, Jr., Charismatic Chaos (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 237-269, 314; Hanegraaff, 249-251. MacArthur denies healing in the atonement, the crisis experience of the baptism or filling of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit for today. Hanegraaff berates belief in healing in the atonement and exercise of spiritual authority through binding and loosing.

9 See Kenneth Hagin, Authority of the Believer (Tulsa, OK: Faith Library Publications, 1967).

10 For instance, Andrew Murray was teaching on the spiritual authority of the believer through the name of Jesus as early as 1885 (With Christ in the School of Prayer[Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1981], 116-117, 132-138, 176-183). He also refers to the popular hymn writer Dr. Horatius Bonar who was teaching the concept before him (p. 136). In 1895 Dr. A.T. Pierson, a Presbyterian friend of Simpson, taught, “Obedience to Him means command over others; in proportion as we are subject to Him, even the demons are subject unto us in His name” (The Acts of the Holy Spirit [Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1980], 92). Jessie Penn-Lewis, collaborating with Evan Roberts inWar on the Saints (Ft. Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1977, 1984, 22, 32-33), following the Welsh revival of 1904-1905, taught the authority of the believer over Satan.

11 A.B. Simpson, Christ in the Bible (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 4:190.

12 Ibid., 4:94-96; see also 3:491.

13 McConnell, 69-71; Dale H. Simmons, “Mimicking MacMillan,” unpublished term paper, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 23, 1984.

14 Hanegraaff, 257-258.

15 G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Matthew (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Publishing Co., 1929), 233.

16 Andrew Murray taught the concept as early as 1885 in With Christ in the School of Prayer, 117. Jessie Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts taught the concept of binding and loosing in War on the Saints, 33. Also, the February 20, 1937, issue of the AllianceWeekly features an article by Jessie Penn-Lewis entitled “How to Pray for Missionaries,” which contains teaching on binding the strong man. MacMillan writes that Dr. Robert Jaffray, Alliance pioneer missionary to China and Indonesia in the early part of the twentieth century, put into action in his meetings the practice of binding demonic forces. (Encounter with Darkness [Harrisburg: Christian Publications, 1980], 56-57). No doubt MacMillan received some of his teaching on binding and loosing from Jaffray. Chinese spiritual leader Watchman Nee, whose father-in-law was an Alliance pastor and who was influenced by Penn- Lewis, Murray and Simpson, also taught authoritative prayer and the power of binding and loosing in 1934. (God’s Plan and the Overcomers[New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1977], 72-77). More recently, K. Neill Foster published an article in the Alliance Witness entitled “Binding and Loosing” (January 16, 1977, 3-5).

17 Simmons, 11. Simmons cites other differences between MacMillan and Hagin, such as MacMillan’s christocentric approach to authority vs. Hagin’s anthropocentric approach and MacMillan’s partially-realized eschatology vs. Hagin’s hyper-realized eschatology.

18 Hanegraaff, 65-71.

19 The concept of spiritual force may be traced back at least as far as the writings of Madame Guyon, who influenced a whole host of evangelical writers (Thomas Upham, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee, A.B. Simpson, Hudson Taylor, W.E. Boardman, Jessie Penn-Lewis, A.W. Tozer, etc.) and refers to God Himself as “The Central Force”(Experiencing God Through Prayer [Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1984], 41-42). Andrew Murray, similarly, speaks of Christ Himself as “a living force” (God’s Best Secrets[Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971], Nov. 12). E.M. Bounds says that God Himself is a force and talks of believing prayer as a force (Purpose in Prayer [Chicago, IL: Moody Press, n.d.], 9, 24, 78, 80). Similarly, S.D. Gordon says, “Every time I pray my prayer is a spirit force” (Quiet Talks on Prayer [Chicago, IL: Fleming H. Revell, 1904], 32). A.T. Pierson asserts that believers are conductors of spiritual forces (The Acts of the Holy Spirit, 92). Likewise, Charles Spurgeon writes of spiritual forces likened to an electrical current and that “the influences of the Spirit of God are a force most spiritual” (1000 Devotional Thoughts [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1976 reprint], 443). Charles Price, who has opposed some the teachings of the modern faith movement, nonetheless wrote: “Faith is the root force from which all things of God spring” (Two Worlds[Pasadena, CA: Charles S. Price, 1946], 13). Price probably got his teaching from A.B. Simpson, for a few pages later in the same book he writes that Simpson had received spiritual revelation (p. 19).

20 A Larger Christian Life (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1988), 13. Again, he says, “The act of believing God for anything He has promised is, in reality, a creative force that produces effects and operations of the most important character” (The Life of Prayer [Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1989], 60). See also pp. 61- 62; Christ in the Bible, 4:199.

21 “They are also the great permanent forces wrought and employed by the Spirit of God for the development and progress of the divine life in the soul, and for its outraying influence” (W.E. Boardman, The Higher Christian Life [Boston, MA: Henry Hoyt, 1858], 247-48). “Faith is the all inclusive gift of God, as the great force for sustaining and developing the Christian life” (p. 256).

22 McConnell, 143.

23 Hanegraaff, 66.

24 A.B. Simpson, The Fourfold Gospel (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, n.d.), 48ff.

25 Ibid, 51.

26 Hunt, 13ff.; Hanegraaff, 80ff.; McConnell, 138ff.

27 S.D. Gordon uses the term “right mental attitude” in relation to health and healing, rather than positive mental attitude, meaning that one is thinking on Christ, not circumstances: “That mental attitude [thinking on Christ] will vitally and radically affect your body” (The Healing Christ [New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1924], 104, 108). “A right mental attitude exerts enormous influence. . . . Incidently, this is the process of faith at work, a simple faith in Christ, in-breathed by the Holy Spirit. The objective mind lays hold of Christ’s promises and accepts unquestioningly the result as already assured” (p. 62-63). F.F. Bosworth uses Gordon’s term “right mental attitude” on page 136 of Christ the Healer (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1948, 1973), which shows he is influenced in this instance by Gordon rather than Kenyon as McConnell claims (McConnell, 68). Thomas Upham writes about rejoicing the Lord as a “scriptural state of mind” and that faith is expressed by rejoicing in the Lord (The Life of Faith [Boston, MA: Waite, Pierce, 1845], 319-324). Andrew Murray says, “Do not lose time in deploring your unbelief but look to Jesus,” confessing and getting rid of it (Divine Healing [Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1982], 36). He indicates that time should not be spent dwelling on one’s problems, but in speaking by faith and confessing the Word of God. Charles Spurgeon writes of a joyful attitude restoring health: “Let your conscious feebleness provoke you to seek the means of strength: and that means of strength is to be found in a pleasant medicine, sweet as it is profitable—the delicious and effectual medicine of `the joy of the Lord’ ” (1000 Devotional Thoughts, 470).

28 Pamphlet, “Christ for the Body” (Nyack, NY: The Christian and Missionary Alliance, n.d.), 7-8.

29 Pamphlet, “How to Receive Divine Healing” (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, n.d.), 12.

30 The Lord for the Body (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1959), 66.

31 Seeing the Invisible (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1994), 35.

32 McConnell, 137-138.

33 Bruce Barron, 60, quoting Simpson in The Fourfold Gospel (p. 62): “We believe that God is healing before any evidence is given. It is to be believed as a present reality and then ventured on. We are to act as if it were already true.”

34 See Harold E. Raser, Phoebe Palmer: Her Life and Thought (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), 249-50. Referring to Romans 10:9,10 in Faith and Its Effects (New York, NY: Palmer & Hughes, 1848) Palmer writes:

“Do not forget that believing with the heart, and confessing with the mouth, stand closely connected” (p. 113). “Your heart has believed, but your lips have not fully, freely, and habitually made confession. And thus your part of the work has been left in part unfulfilled” (p. 296). “The one who initially `claims the blessing,’ but who does not perservere in regular testimony, loses the blessing” (p. 327). “You became `cautious in professing the blessing,’ and have `ceased to comply with the condition’ laid down by God” (p. 327).

“We pronounce our own blessings and curses.” (p. 31).

35 As early as 1858, W.E. Boardman also writes of “speaking out the faith” (The Higher Christian Life, 261, 263). Simpson’s contemporary Andrew Murray wrote in 1885 that “it is necessary to testify to the faith one has” and that a person should give a testimony of faith “before feeling its effect on the body” (Divine Healing, 36, 27-28). He also taught we should speak out our desires in the name of Christ (The Prayer Life [Alresford, Hants, Great Britain: Christian Literature Crusade, 1981], 53). Hannah Whitall Smith wrote in 1870, “Put your will, then, over on the believing side. Say, `Lord, I will believe, I do believe,’ and continue to say it” (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life [Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1942], 53). Again she wrote, “I have begun to assert over and over, my faith in Him, in the simple words, `God is my Father; I am His forgiven child; He does love me; Jesus saves me; Jesus saves me now!’ The victory has always been complete. . . . Let your unchanging declaration be from henceforth, `Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.’ When doubts come, meet them, not with arguments, but with assertions of faith. . . . Go at once and confess your faith, in the strongest language possible, somewhere or to someone. If you cannot do this by word of mouth, write it in a letter, or repeat it over and over in your heart to the Lord” (pp. 81-83).

36 Palmer, 189-90.

37 The Gospel of Healing, 90.

38 Ibid.

39 A Larger Christian Life, 19.

40 McConnell, 97.

41 The Life of Prayer, 70.

42 Hanegraaff, 87-95; McConnell, 141, 145.

43 See Charles S. Price, The Real Faith (Pasadena, CA: Charles S. Price Publishing Co., 1940), 58-69; The Creative Word (Pasadena, CA: Charles S. Price Publishing Co. 1941), 86; Charles Farah, Jr., From the Pinnacle of the Temple (Plainfield, NJ: Logos, n.d.), 100-103.

44 Though “faith in God,” as the object of faith seems to be the favored interpretation generally in modern scholarship, the idea of “faith of God” as a secondary or alternative translation is found as early as 1858 in Princeton scholar Joseph Addison Alexander’s The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1980), 310. In his commentary on the Book of Acts, Simpson refers to Dr. Alexander (Christ in the Bible, 4:591), so his interpretation may have based on Alexander’s exegesis. This apparently was an acceptable interpretation in scholarly evangelical circles, for in 1878 Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon on Mark 11:22 in which he used both interpretations, saying that we should have faith in God as the object of our faith and the faith of God as the source of faith: “It is literally, `Have the faith of God’—the faith which is wrought in us by God, and sustained by God, for that is the only faith that is worth the living. . . . He is the author, the giver and the nourisher of faith” (The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1979], 24:645). Andrew Murray also makes reference to both “the faith of the Beloved Master” and “faith in God” (With Christ in the School of Prayer, 9, 89). One scholar friend remarked that such passages are “divinely ambiguous” so as to allow both interpretations. So it is not a matter of faith in God vs. faith of God, but both. Carrie Judd Montgomery, friend and associate of Simpson, points out that Bibles printed in 1921 give “faith of God” as an alternative translation (Secrets of Victory [Oakland, CA: Triumphs of Faith, 1921], 28). Jessie Penn-Lewis also teaches the “faith of God” interpretation in her book The Spiritual Warfare (Ft. Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1989, 56-57). Dr. T.J. McCrossan, professor of Greek at Manitoba University, taught that the “faith of God” interpretation was valid: “This `faith of God’ is the faith the Holy Ghost imparts to God’s saints, just in proportion as we allow Him to control our lives. First Corinthians 12:9 tells us that `faith’ is one of the gifts of the Spirit, and this `Spirit-imparted faith’ is the faith of God” (Christ’s Paralyzed Church X-Rayed [Youngstown OH, 1937], 320-321). Price no doubt received his understanding of the faith of God from his close friend McCrossan, both of whom were influenced by Simpson. Kenyon may have received his interpretation from any of these sources.

45 The Life of Prayer, 70; see also p. 60; A Larger Christian Life, 54, 137-38; The Gospel of Healing, 89, 142-143; Seeing the Invisible, 18.

46 The Gentle Love of the Holy Spirit (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1983), 135. Referring to Mark 11:22-24, George Muller records that he had a special gift of faith (The Autobiography of George Muller [Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1984], 85).

47 With Christ in the School of Prayer, 93. While Rhema Bible Training Center makes use of some of Murray’s writings, faith teachers fail to follow his counsel in these teachings on faith.<J25>

48 Gospel of Healing, 88-89. Similarly, Simpson’s associate Russell Kelso Carter writes, “If the faith is not given or inwrought by the Holy Spirit, no cure will follow” (Faith Healing Reviewed After Twenty Years [Boston & Chicago: The Christian Witness Co., 1897], 101).

49 Gospel of Healing, 91; also The Lord for the Body, 132, 134.

50 Seeing the Invisible, 33.

51 Ibid., 35. Again Simpson says: “To all who wait upon His will the Master gives some word of faith for the future” (Ibid., 62). “It is most essential in our conflicts of faith that we have a sure word of prophecy on which to rest, otherwise our struggle will be a very perplexing one” (Ibid., 129-130). Likewise, Carter writes, “Anyone may be healed who is drawn of the Spirit to seek healing. . . . We may be drawn of our own desire to be free from suffering or drawn by a mistaken notion of the purpose of God. In such cases the `prayer of faith’ simply cannot be offered. It is purely will power to `act faith’ and make believe we are healed. God holds the `prayer of faith’ in His own keeping, and when He `inworks’ it, the result, the positive result, certainly comes.” Faith Healing Reviewed, 88-89.

52 The Lord for the Body, 116. See also Murray, Divine Healing, 44-45.

53 Ibid., 123-4.

54 Ibid., 122.

55 Ibid., 120. See also R.A. Torrey, Divine Healing (Chicago: Moody Press, 1924), 19; R.K. Carter, The Atonement for Sin and Sickness (Boston: Willard Tract Repository, 1884), 126.

56 Chappell, 363.

57 Gospel of Healing, 64.

58 Ibid., 68-69. See also 65-69, 88-89.

59 Murray, Divine Healing, 54.

60 Simpson advised, “If you have any question about your faith for this, make it a special matter of preparation and prayer. Ask God to give you special faith for this act [abandoning medical treatment]. All our graces must come from Him, and faith among the rest. We have nothing of our own, and even our very faith is but the grace of Christ Himself within us. We can exercise it, and thus far our responsibility extends; but He must impart it, and we simply put it on and wear it as from Him” (Gospel of Healing, 88-89). Again he counsels, “Unless they have been led to trust Christ entirely for something higher and stronger than their natural life, they had better stick to natural remedies” (The Fourfold Gospel, 48).

61 Chappell, 363.

62 Gospel of Healing, 88.

63 Ibid., 68.

64 Simpson, “Editorial,” The Christian Alliance and Missionary Weekly (November, 1890), 274.

65 Seeing the Invisible, 68-69.

66 Ibid, 36.

67 Days of Heaven on Earth (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1984), October 19. Murray also asserts that without self-denial and letting the world go faith cannot be exercised (The Prayer Life, 18). Likewise, Hannah Whitall Smith taught that abandonment precedes faith (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, 38-40). Faith healing evangelist Charles Price says similarly, “We have found that a broken spirit and a contrite heart and a feeling of unworthiness is generally an assurance of faith enough for healing, while on the other hand many people lose the blessing because they feel they are entitled to it” (And Signs Followed, [Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 1972], 129). A.J. Gordon quotes faith healing pioneer Johann Christoph Blumhardt saying, “The way to have a strong faith is to think nothing of yourself” (The Ministry of Healing [Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1961], 159).

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