This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume31, number2 (2008). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org Modalism first surfaced in the third century in the writings of Sabellius and Paul of Samosata. This heretical view denies there are three distinct [...]

This article first appeared in the Viewpoint column of the Christian Research Journal, volume29, number4 (2006). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org One great temptation for Christians is to compromise the truths of the faith for the sake of peace and unity. No one likes to be [...]

This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 27, number 5 (2004). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org SYNOPSIS The teachings of Finis Jennings Dake, author of The Dake Annotated Reference Bible, have had a profound impact on conservative Pentecostalism and have been embraced by [...]

Vancouver recently experienced the “Wimber Phenomenon.” John Wimber and a team of over one hundred people from his Vineyard Fellowship in California recently led a four-day conference entitled “Signs and Wonders and Church Growth.” It attracted over 2300 delegates, most of whom paid $150 (Canadian) for the opportunity to hear Wimber teach a popularized version [...]

The Vineyard is an association of some 120 or more churches linked to the Vineyard Christian fellowship in Anaheim, California, pastored by John Wimber. They are a charismatic group of churches which emphasize their conviction that God wants to perform “signs and wonders” through the church today. Because we have received numerous requests for information [...]

This article first appeared in the Volume 24 / Number 3 / 2002 issue of the Christian Research Journal. For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: www.equip.org SYNOPSIS Since the splitting of a church pulpit at Christian Tabernacle in Houston, Texas, in 1996, and the release of his best-selling [...]

In November, Dr. Michael Brown, president of the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, and I were invited to communicate our respective views on revival before a gathering of radio broadcasters in Dallas, Texas. As a result, a renewed dialogue developed between the Christian Research Institute and leaders of the “Brownsville Revival.” In December, I participated [...]

It has now been over two years since my book Counterfeit Revival documented the dangers of looking for God in all the wrong places.1 Sadly, leaders of the Counterfeit Revival have continued to employ sociopsychological manipulation tactics to trap new subjects into their dangerous web of subjectivism. No one is immune to the contagion of [...]

Summary What Counterfeit Revival leaders attribute to the anointing of God is far better explained by the old and pervasive principles of hypnotism. Whether referred to as hypnotists, Holy Ghost bartenders, or Hindu gurus, today’s “mesmerists” all employ similar methods and obtain similar results. Counterfeit Revival leaders work their subjects into altered states of consciousness, [...]

Summary While promoters of the Pensacola Outpouring allege nearly two million participants to date, an examination of the revival reveals its serious distortions of biblical Christianity, concluding the movement is simply the latest outbreak in a long history of Counterfeit Revival. Characterized by an overemphasis on subjective experience in opposition to objective tests for truth, [...]