Christians
have listened for many years to the preaching of John Hagee, senior pastor of
Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Hagee attended Trinity University on
a football scholarship, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree before
earning his master's at North Texas State University. He also studied at
Southwestern Bible College and was granted an honorary doctorate from Oral
Roberts University.
Hagee's
ministerial activities began in 1958 as an evangelist. In 1966 he went to San
Antonio to become the founding pastor of what eventually became Trinity Church.
After resigning his pastorate of Trinity in May 1975, Hagee took the helm of
the 25-member Church of Castle Hill in San Antonio. That church — rebuilt to
seat 5,000 and dedicated in October 1987 as Cornerstone Church — now has an
active membership of over 13,000.
Through
his writings (books, booklets, and articles in his bimonthly John Hagee
Ministries magazine), taped messages, and daily appearances on his Global
Evangelism Television broadcasts (Cornerstone and John Hagee Today) aired by
the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and other media outlets, Hagee has
gained broad visibility and influence among evangelicals.
A
number of people consider Hagee's teachings to be thoroughly biblical. I would
disagree with Hagee, however, on the following points.
Preaching Prosperity
Preaching Prosperity
John Hagee believes that all Christians
should be financially prosperous so long as they continue to walk in obedience
to God's ordinances. Although he does not subscribe to every doctrine common to
the so-called Faith movement, he does agree with the movement's view that
"poverty is caused by sin and disobeying the Word of God."1 Hagee,
like most other prosperity preachers, believes that "poverty is a curse."2
Christians achieve prosperity through giving, asserts Hagee.
"When you give to God, He controls your income. There's no such thing as a
fixed income in the Kingdom of God. Your income is controlled by your
giving."3 According to Hagee, Christians grow prosperous through giving
because "God created a universe where it is impossible to receive without
giving. Everything that God controls, gives. . . . Givers gain. You do not
qualify for God's abundance until you give."4
Turning to the Bible, however, one
finds a number of passages that run contrary to Hagee's teachings concerning
prosperity. Jesus Himself said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the
kingdom of God. . . . But woe to you who are rich . . ." (Luke 6:20, 24
NASB). James underscores this point when he asked, ". . . did not God
choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
which He promised to those who love Him?" (James 2:5). James later follows
with stern words to the rich (5:1-6; cf. Mark 10:25).
This
is not to say that Christians should consider wealth as something inherently
evil. The Bible simply tells us that material wealth is not the measuring stick
for righteousness or God's blessing; its proper value lies in the purpose for
which it is used.
This
is precisely why Paul gave the following exhortation to Timothy: "Instruct
those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their
hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all
things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be
generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good
foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life
indeed" (1 Tim. 6:17-19).
The
power of wealth, however, is such that it can lead people into idolatry. Some,
for instance, may become so caught up in matters of finances and wealth that
they neglect or completely forget about their duties and responsibilities to
God. God, for some of these individuals, may begin to fade out of the picture
altogether, being replaced by crass materialism. Rather than grounding their
primary concerns on the eternal, they instead devote their lives to that which
perishes (John 6:27; Matt. 6:19-21).5
Promoting
Positive Confession
Along with the prosperity message,
Hagee accepts and promotes the doctrine of positive confession — a foundational
teaching of the Faith movement which maintains that Christians can speak (i.e.,
positively confess) physical realities into existence as long as the believer exercises
enough faith to accompany his or her verbal confession. "There is a
relationship between your soul and physical and financial prosperity,"
declares Hagee. "'This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth'
[quoting Josh. 1:8 KJV]. That's the spoken Word of God. 'And then thou shalt
prosper and have good success.' When? After you speak and act upon the Word of
God. And you've been hearing that tonight out of the mouth of [well-known Faith
teacher] John Avanzini."6 Like his teachings on prosperity, Hagee's reiteration of the Faith
movement's doctrine of positive confession runs contrary to the teachings of
Scripture. Nothing
confessed by believers in faith — verbally or otherwise — automatically comes
to pass. Only God has the power to create as He wills (Gen. 1:1).
Christians are certainly instructed to pray to God for their requests (Matt.
6:8-13; 21:22). Ultimately, however, all such requests are subject to God's
sovereign will; whichever ones come to pass only do so as a direct result of God's
will and not the will of the believer (1 John 5:14).7
Salvation
Without Conversion?
Hagee
is recognized as a fierce foe of anti-Semitism. An outspoken supporter of the
Jewish people, Judaism, and the nation Israel, he has been given the
"Humanitarian of the Year" award by the San Antonio B'nai B'rith
Council. Hagee has also been bestowed the "ZOA Israel Service Award"
by the Zionist Organization in Dallas and honored with the "Henrietta
Szold Award" by the Texas Southern Region of Hadassah.8 While his bold stance against
anti-Semitism is certainly praiseworthy, Hagee's zealousness for the Jewish
people and their cause has led him to commit a most serious doctrinal error —
salvation for the Jews without conversion to Christianity.
One newspaper account puts it this way:
Trying to convert Jews is a "waste
of time," he [Hagee] said. . . .
Everyone else, whether Buddhist or
Baha'i, needs to believe in Jesus, he says. But not Jews. Jews already have a
covenant with God that has never been replaced with Christianity, he says.
The comment below
is by David J. Stewart of webservant of Jesus-is-Savior.com...
John Hagee is a false prophet, working
for the New World Order gang. Hagee teaches a heresy known as "Zionism." Religious Zionism teaches that
God has a separate covenant with Israel and another for the Gentile Church.
This is unbiblical and is sometimes called a "Dual Covenant."
Hagee stated to the Houston Chronicle
that he believes Jews have a special covenant with God and do not need to come
to the cross for salvation. According to Hagee Jews don't need to be born-again.
Mr.
Hagee told the Texas newspaper:
"I
believe that every Jewish person who lives in the light of the Torah, which is
the word of God, has a relationship with God and will come to redemption"
(Houston Chronicle, April 30, 1988).
The Houston Chronicle newspaper then quoted Hagee's own
shocking words..."I'm not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian
faith... In fact, trying to convert Jews is a waste of time. Jews already have
a covenant with God and that has never been replaced by Christianity."
(Houston Chronicle, April 30, 1988, sec, 6, pg. 1).
I
love Jewish people, but they will burn in Hell as quick as any Gentile who
rejects Jesus as their Christ.
"The Jewish people have a
relationship to God through the law of God as given through Moses," Hagee
said. "I believe that every Gentile person can only come to God through
the cross of Christ. I believe that every Jewish person who lives in the light
of the Torah, which is the word of God, has a relationship with God and will
come to redemption.
"The
law of Moses is sufficient enough to bring a person into the knowledge of God
until God gives him a greater revelation. And God has not," said Hagee . .
.9
"There
are right now Jewish people on this earth who have a powerful and special
relationship with God," declares Hagee in one of his books. "They
have been chosen by the 'election of grace' in which God does what he does
without asking man to approve or understand it. Let us put an end to the Christian chatter that "all
the Jews are lost" and can't be in the will of God until they convert to
Christianity! . ….there are
a certain number of Jews in relationship with God right now through divine
election." 10
Hagee
also affirms: "If God blinded the Jewish people to the identity of Jesus
as Messiah, how could He send them to hell for not seeing what he had forbidden
them to see?" He continues, "All people will gain entrance into
heaven through Christ. The question is one of timing." Such rhetoric
raises some thorny questions. When
Hagee says "all people will gain entrance into heaven through
Christ," he is either advocating universalism (literally all people —
Jewish and Gentile — will be saved), or he believes that all Jews will be
saved. In either case, both positions are in serious error, but the latter is
more consistent with his other statements.
The
"timing" of the salvation of the entire Jewish nation is actually
irrelevant to Hagee's argument since he advocates that it is a waste of time
attempting to convert them. At best, then, Hagee implies that even if they are
not currently saved, God will save all Jewish
keepers of the Law — past, present, and future — at some future point.
The
Bible paints a different picture. The apostle Paul demonstrates that Israel had
a responsibility to respond to the Gospel, but rejected it. In Romans 10:19-21,
he asks, "Did they [the Jews] fail to hear?" The rhetorical answer is
"no." Paul relates that, as light and darkness are understood by all,
so the gospel has been made known to all the Jews (cf. Acts 17:6; 21:28). He
continues, "Did they fail to understand?" The answer once again is
"no." Since Israel has become disobedient through unbelief (Rom.
11:30), God has delivered the gospel to the Gentiles.
But
God has not entirely rejected Israel — Paul (himself a Jew) is living proof of
this (Rom. 11:1). God has preserved a
remnant, while the others were hardened as a consequence of their unbelief and
trusting in works instead of the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 11:5-7; cf.
9:31-32; 11:20-23). Elsewhere the apostle writes, ". . . by the works of the Law
no flesh will be justified in His [God's] sight; for through the Law comes the
knowledge of sin. . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus" (Rom. 3:20, 23-24, emphasis added).
To
drive the point home, Paul goes on to say, ". . . the promise to Abraham
or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the
Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law
are heirs, faith is made void and the promise nullified; . . . it is by faith,
that it might be in accordance with grace" (Rom. 4:13- 14, 16). Scripture draws no distinction between
Jews and Gentiles on the issue of salvation, which is attained by grace through
faith alone in Christ, "apart from works of the law" (3:28; cf. vv.
21-22).
Paul
recognized that the Jews of his day had a misguided zeal that caused them to
stumble on this very point (9:31-32; 10:2-4). Why would he suffer great anguish and wish he were
accursed for Israel's sake if none of them were truly lost? His anguish comes
from the realization that many Israelites are not saved (Rom. 9:3, 6, 27; 10:1,
9-15; cf. Acts 2:14, 21, 37-39; Rom. 11:14, 17-23).
The
Law, revealed through the Jews, was meant to be "our tutor to lead us to
Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we
are no longer under a tutor" (Gal. 3:24-25). As the Bible clearly states:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according
to promise" (vv. 28-29). To
be saved, a person — whether Jew or Gentile — must turn to Christ (5:4-6; cf.
John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 10:9-13) who is "the end of
the law for righteousness for everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4). In
writing that the "message of the gospel was from Israel, not to
Israel," Hagee discourages Christians from sharing the Gospel (Good News)
with unsaved Jews who, like everyone else, have need of the gospel if they are
to spend eternity with God in heaven.
The
Reluctant Messiah
In Hagee's theology, the Jews can
hardly be faulted for not flocking to Christianity since it was supposedly
Jesus who declined their request for Him to be their Messiah. "The
[Jewish] people wanted Him to be their Messiah, but He absolutely refused,"
writes Hagee. "The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah, it was Jesus
who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!"
Suffice
it to say, Jesus' explicit claim to
be the Messiah (or Christ) during His trial before the Sanhedrin, the supreme
Jewish tribunal (Matt. 26:64), flatly contradicts Hagee's assertion.
In that same passage, Jesus called Himself the "Son of Man," an
unmistakable reference to the Book of Daniel (7:13) which alludes to the
Messiah. Jesus also applied the same title to Himself in revealing His identity
to "a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling
council" (John 3:1, 14-15), as well as to the crowd who questioned His
authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10).
Furthermore,
in response to Jesus' question, "Who do you say I am?" (Matt. 16:15),
Peter answered, "You are the Christ [Messiah]" (v. 16). Surely, had
the Jewish apostle been wrong, Jesus would have corrected him at that moment;
instead, Peter received the Lord's blessing (v. 17).16 Jesus, however,
instructed Peter, along with several others, not to reveal His messianic
identity until due time (v. 20). He did so to avoid the prevalent
misconceptions about the title, which had by then become largely understood in
political terms — something wholly inappropriate for Jesus' mission at that
time — though Jesus did, on occasion, give public indications of His
messiahship (cf. Luke 4:17-21; 20:41-44).
Indeed, Hagee's view is made especially
ironic by the fact that Jesus Himself said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep
of Israel" (Matt. 15:24). Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus' own people rejected
Him, and not the other way around (John 1:11; Mark 12:1-12).
Judging
Alternative Viewpoints as Anti-Semitic
One
area that I do agree with Hagee is on the issue of Covenant Theology or what is
commonly called “Replacement Theology”. Hagee has criticized those who believe
the church is now the true Israel and in his opinion, guilty of spreading the
message of anti-Semitism. Hagee also rightly criticizes amillennialism —
"the view that when Christ returns, eternity begins with no prior
thousand-year (millennial) reign on earth" — it is condemned as
"ancient Godless heresy that is again raging through the Church
masquerading as truth." A
number of orthodox Christian denominations (especially in the Reformed and
Presbyterian traditions) espouse this false view he correctly condemns.
According
to Hagee, this purported "heresy" goes by various names, including "Kingdom Now, Kingdom Age, New
Wave and New Age. "He declares, however, that such "Replacement
theology" (so-called by Hagee because of its view that the church is the new
Israel or spiritual Israel — though Hagee did not originate the term) is in
reality an "old heresy" and "idolatry." He also claims that
so-called "Replacement theologians are now carrying Hitler's anointing and
his message."
Paul
states, ". . . they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel"
(Rom. 9:6). Going on, he clarifies that ". . . it is not the children of
the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded
as descendants" (v. 8). Paul explains that ". . . he is not a Jew who
is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the
heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from
God" (2:28-29; cf. Phil. 3:3).
Paul
puts it this way, "be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons
of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7; cf. vv. 26-29; 6:15-16).28 Conversely, Judaizers — those who
rejected justification by faith by their insistence that adherence to Jewish
laws and practices is, at least in part, necessary for salvation — are called
the "synagogue of Satan" (Rev. 2:9; 3:9).
"Is
it important to be right on the Israel question?" asks Hagee. "When
you consider that being wrong brings you under the curse of God and headed for
eternal, everlasting fire with the devil and his angels . . . it's important!
Israel is not a 'take it or leave it' subject. It is a life and death matter .
. . eternal life!"
It is indeed unfortunate that Hagee
would think one's personal view of Israel can radically affect an individual's
eternal destiny. Nowhere does Scripture state that salvation hinges upon a
person's perspective of the new Israel. Hagee has no biblical basis for his
denouncement. By making such unwarranted statements, Hagee winds up condemning
many erstwhile believers, theologians, and defenders of the faith — both past
and present.
Though
many may claim Hagee's preaching is helping to spread the Word of God and
building a bridge of unity between the Christian and Jewish communities, the
fact remains that his message contains elements which lie in direct and serious
opposition to biblical truth.
NOTES:
1John Hagee,
Praise-A-Thon broadcast, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), 16 April 1993.2John Hagee, Praise-A-Thon broadcast, TBN, 4 November 1992.
3Ibid.
4Hagee, Praise-A-Thon broadcast, 16 April 1993.
5For extended critiques of the so-called "prosperity gospel," see Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), 181-231; and D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988), 170-83.
6Hagee, Praise-A-Thon broadcast, 4 November 1992. Avanzini, a leading figure in the Faith movement, focuses much of his message around the theme of financial prosperity. He teaches, among other things, that Jesus was a wealthy individual who "wore designer clothes" and "had a nice house, a big house," while the apostle Paul "had the kind of money that people . . . would block up justice to try to get a bribe out of old Paul" (John Avanzini, Believer's Voice of Victory program, TBN, 20 January 1991).
7Detailed discussions can be found in Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis, 61-102, 285-90; and McConnell, A Different Gospel, 134-47.
8John Hagee, Should Christians Support Israel? (San Antonio, TX: Dominion Publishers, 1987), [174-75].
9Julia Duin, "San Antonio Fundamentalist Battles Anti-Semitism," The Houston Chronicle, 30 April 1988, 1.
10Hagee, Should Christians Support Israel?, 124-25, 127 (emphasis in original).
For further discussions on the messianic identity of Jesus, see Robert L. Reymond, Jesus, Divine Messiah (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1990); and Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976 [orig. 1886]).
See, for example, Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co./Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 427; R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1964), 632-33; and D. A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas, 12 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 8:374-75.
Robert Lightner, The Last Days Handbook (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), 22. Quoted in Lightner's book is amillennialist J. G. Voss, who defines the amillennial position as follows: "Amillennialism is that view of the last things which holds the Bible does not predict a 'millennium' or period of world-wide peace and righteousness on this earth before the end of the world. At the second coming of Christ, the resurrection and judgment will take place, followed by the eternal order of things — the absolute, perfect kingdom of God, in which there will be no sin, suffering, nor death" (72). For presentations and critiques of the various options regarding the millennium by theologians who take different sides on the issue, see Robert G. Clouse, ed. The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977).
For an exposition of this particular view, see Edmund P. Clowney, "The New Israel," A Guide to Biblical Prophecy (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1989), 207-20. Paul E. Leonard presents the opposite point of view in the article following Clowney's, titled "Two Peoples of God" (221-30), though he does not classify the former as anti-semitic. For a detailed treatment of Covenant theology, see O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980).
Hagee quotes Ignatius of Antioch (c. A.D. 30-107) as a teacher of this "old heresy." Ironically, Ignatius was one of the earliest defenders of orthodoxy noted for his forceful responses against false teachings. He supported apostolic authority and became the bishop of Antioch, one of the leading churches in the first century (cf. Acts 11:19-29; 13:1-3). His view that the church was the new Israel would thus have been a teaching passed on to him by the apostles. Ignatius's writings are reprinted and translated in J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harner, eds. The Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1984), 97-162; and Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds. The Ante- Nicene Fathers, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985), 1:45-131.
A reprint of the two-part Christian Research Journal article,"The Gospel According to Paulk: A Critique of 'Kingdom Theology,'" is available through CRI (order part #DK-150).
Commenting on Galatians 6:16, Bible scholar Alan Cole writes: "This would identify the new group, the 'third race of men' of whom the Church fathers delighted to talk — neither Jew nor Gentile, but Christian — with God's Israel. This is often put bluntly as 'the Church is the new Israel'" (The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians [Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965], 183). Cf. Herman N. Ridderbos, The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953), 227; and R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, to the Ephesians and to the Philippians (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 321.
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