Subj: Delusion Apostasy Watch News 12-20-99
Date: 12/20/1999 9:00:52 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: LLMouser
QUOTE WITHOUT COMMENT
"I can only express the hope, and indeed the confidence,
that those that regard me as the heretic will hardly blame me
for expressing my own conviction." (G.K. Chesterton)
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TRAFFICKING WITH DEMONS
by David Liben
Recent questions on two e-mail discussion forums requested information
on the teachings of Neil Anderson. Respondents referred to part
one of a multipart series available for reading on Neil Anderson
at the Christian Research Institute website (http://www.equip.org),
an article on Dr. Anderson at Personal Freedom Outreach (http://www.pfo.org/wdemons.htm),
and a "polemic paper" by the late Miles Stanford (http://www.ezlink.com/~trbranch/neil_anderson.htm).
Some of Dr. Anderson's teachings can be found on his own website
(http://www.freedominchrist.com).
In addition to the CRI, PFO, and Miles J. Stanford material on
Dr. Neil T. Anderson available online, Stanford also wrote another
polemic paper on what he called "Charismatic demonism"
(last revised April 1995), which I've reproduced below (it's not
available online). Miles and I did not see eye-to-eye on Pentecostal-Charismatics,
all of whom he tended to put in one very leaky boat. But he is
no longer here to defend his position, which I believe he came
to with a sincere heart, so let's lay that particular point aside.
In fact, Pentecostals are clearly divided on this issue. The best
material I've seen so far on understanding scriptural spiritual
warfare (as opposed to that taught by Anderson and others) is
an excerpt from Dr. Opal Reddin of the Assemblies of God, included
in her book, "Power Encounter: A Pentecostal Perspective"
(Opal L. Reddin, editor, revised edition, © 1999), available
online at Jewel van der Merwe's website (http://www.discernment-ministries.com).
Spiritual Warfare issues are important to consider, because they
serve as the basis for much of the activity that has been "successfully"
transforming most of the visible Church. They will also be the
topic of a "consultation" scheduled by the Lausanne
Theology Strategy Working Group and Intercessory Working Group
for August 16-22, 2000, in Nairobi, Kenya, entitled "Deliver
us from Evil." The Consultation Introduction states, in part:
"There has been a greatly heightened interest in this subject
[spiritual warfare] in Evangelical circles in the last decade
or so. This, however, was preceded by trends that built up this
interest... The West has been invaded by occult ideas and practices
from the East since the 1960's. This is seen in the high interest
in New Age ideas... Pentecostal and Charismatic churches have
grown greatly with their openness to new spiritual experiences
and the practice of exorcism... There are fuzzy borders and a
variety of interpretations and practices on issues like prayer
in spiritual warfare, possession, demonization, territorial spirits
etc. What is the Biblical, extra Biblical and non Biblical/Christian?...
We will endeavor to have represented in the Consultation a broad
spread of the different views currently held on the subject in
the hope that any new understandings gained may be communicated
to people of different strands of spirituality through their own
networks. The speakers will include both academics and practitioners"
(http://www.lausanne.org/dufe/introduc.htm).
"Demongelicalism"
Miles J. Stanford
840 Vindicator Drive, #111
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
Doctrinally sound, non-Charismatic churches have been greatly
harmed during the past quarter century by the Charismatic tongues
and healing movement. And, sad to say, the devastation continues
to accelerate. The inevitable and most dangerous aspect of Charismatic
influence, _demonism_, is now asserting itself throughout the
non-charismatic realm. Dr. Neil T. Anderson and Dr. C. Peter Wagner
are presently the most conspicuous and vocal leaders in this demon
orientation. Infiltration and subversion are the primary tactics
by which individuals and churches are brought under this Charismatic
control. Today the flash-in-the-pan Promise Keepers extravaganza
is luring many non-charismatic individuals and churches into its
vortex, and thereby causing disruption and division in churches
across the country.
This paper concerns Charismatic demonism and its present relationship
to evangelical schools -- the primary source of leadership in
the churches. The astounding thing is that this situation is not
a matter of subversive infiltration, but of official academic
_acceptance_! The following _partial_ listing of evangelical schools
shows Charismatic demon-oriented faculty members in good standing,
teaching fully accredited classes on full-fledged Charismatic
"demonism."
_All_ of these "deliverance" professors teach that while
the Christian cannot be "possessed" (owned) by demons,
they can be "demonized" (indwelt) by demons. _All_ of
these Charismatic leaders teach the _same_ demonism line, cooperate
and are in full sympathy with such Charismatic ministries as The
Third Wave; Signs, Wonders and Church Growth; Power Encounter;
Power Evangelism; The Manifest Sons of God; Shepherding-Discipling;
The Kansas City Connection; and Grace Ministries. _All_ of these
men teach the same concerning demonism as do Jimmy Swaggart, Oral
Roberts, James Robison, Robert Tilton, Pat Robertson, Kenneth
Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and others. It was Kenneth Hagin who
spoke for all of these men when he wrote: "Doctrine doesn't
unify. It divides. It doesn't matter what your doctrine is. We'll
be unified by the Spirit of God, when we drop our silly list of
doctrinal demands and come together in the unity of faith ("Believer's
Voice of Victory," Dec. 1988).
[1] Biola University/Talbot School of Theology
Several phases of Power Encounter are taught at Biola/Talbot by
Dr. Lloyd E. Kwast, Dr. John Louwerers (adjunct), and until recently,
Dr. Neil T. Anderson. Dr. Anderson is now Director of Freedom
in Christ Ministries, through which he holds extensive seminars
and conferences on Spiritual Conflicts and Counseling, which are
mainly designed to free Christians from demonization. Two of the
many books he has written are "The Bondage Breaker"
(Harvest House, 1990) and "Victor Over the Darkness"
(Regal Books, 1990). Concerning the Christian life, these books
are practically identical to David Needham's "Birthright,"
Charles Solomon's "Handbook to Happiness," Bill Gillham's
"Lifetime Guarantee," and Bob George's "Classic
Christianity."
For Dr. Anderson's more recent book, "Setting Your Church
Free" (Gospel Light, 1994), Dr. Charles "Chuck"
Swindoll, president of Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote his
recommendation on the dust-jacket as follows: "Neil Anderson
is one of the most experienced and dependable authorities in America
today when it comes to knowing what the Bible says about: the
methods, goals and destiny of our adversary, the devil; what our
super defense system is; how to make the correct diagnosis in
order to find deliverance from demons; and how to implement a
calm, practical, workable plan from Scripture that results in
freedom and victory for the child of God."
Dr. Anderson's ministry is disqualified not only because of his
"demonism" and one-naturism, but by the fact that he
has substituted Satan and demons for the scriptural source of
all sins -- the fleshly, Adamic old man; self himself! He has
bypassed the heart of the Christian's freedom from the reign of
sin, self, the law, Satan, and the world by omitting the _Cross_
of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20)! In his "Victory Over
the Darkness," Dr. Anderson teaches, similarly to those above,
that the Adamic "old man" is gone (eradicated) (pp.
76-81, 84, 199). The residuary is the "flesh": "During
the years you spent separated from God, your worldly experiences
thoroughly programmed your brain with thought patterns, memory
traces, responses and habits which are alien to God. So even though
your old skipper is gone, your flesh remains in opposition to
God as a preprogrammed propensity to sin (p. 80).
[2] Seattle Pacific University
Seattle Pacific is Charismatic Arminian, similar to Taylor University,
Asbury Bible College, and Houghton Bible College. We include it
here because of the director of the school's Intercultural Institute
of Missions, Dr. F. Douglas Pennoyer. He also conducts seminars
far and wide on Spiritual Warfare, and is co-editor, with Dr.
C. Peter Wagner, of "Wrestling With Dark Angels" (regal
Books, 1990).
[3] Moody Bible Institute
We have stated elsewhere the involvement of MBI and Moody Press
in the teaching and promotion of Charismatic "demonism."
[See, for example, "C. Fred Dickason: Demon Possession the
Christian" by Miles J. Stanford, April 1988.]
[4] Multnomah School of the Bible
Dr. Joseph C. Aldrich, president of Multnomah, is a leader in
the Greater Portland Summit prayer groups, consisting mainly of
Charismatic pastors, who carry on Spiritual Warfare in an attempt
to dislodge the supposed territorial spirits, the hierarchy of
dark angels stationed above Portland to hold the city in bondage
to Satan. Dr. Aldrich has at least one professor on his Multnomah
faculty who teaches Spiritual Warfare to the students and instructs
them in casting demons out of Christians. Dr. John W. Lawrence
stated his methods to the Multnomah faculty in a "Spiritual
Warfare" paper. Prepare yourself:
"The cardinal doctrine of this deliverance work is that you
only work with _believers_. What good would it do to a cast a
demon from an unbeliever? If we did, seven more would come who
would be more wicked than the first one and inhabit this person.
Therefore you would not be doing him a favor. I ask the Lord [actually,
he instructs Him] to build a box [Dr. Ed Murphy utilizes the stomach]
so that the demons I am dealing with must be in the box and isolated
from all other demons. Moreover, he must be a naked demon so that
he cannot bring anything into the box -- no robes, armor, weapons,
etc. If someone would ask, "Where in Scripture do you find
a box?" my answer is, nowhere. But the Lord also said if
we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And it is not
the Lord's will that these demons continue to harass the child
of God. We are to fight against them and clear the ground."
[5] Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity has two faculty members, Dr. Wayne Grudem and Dr. Timothy
Warner, who teach Power Encounter, including the belief that Christians
can be indwelt by demons. Dr. Warner's course, "Power Encounter
in Missionary Ministry," is the most popular elective course
at Trinity. In 1988, Dr. Warner delivered the annual Church Growth
Lectures, sponsored by the School of World Missions of Fuller
Seminary. At one point in his theme, "the Power Encounter
and World Evangelization," he stated, "I have come to
believe that Satan does indeed assign a demon or corps of demons
to every geopolitical unit in the world." This has to do
with the latest Power Encounter fad, that of Satan delegating
high-ranking members of his hierarchy of demons to control nations,
regions, cities, tribes, people groups, neighborhoods, and other
significant social networks of human beings throughout the world.
Shades of Frank Peretti. Since these Charismatic "Encounter"
and "deliverance" people do not have doctrine to work
with, they must resort to testimonies and stories. Think of Dr.
Timothy Warner sharing this lying wonder:
"A Christian man was experiencing a deep spiritual depression
from which he could not find relief. A counselor asked him if
anything else significant happened in his life about the time
of the onset of his depression. The man replied that, in fact,
it was about the time someone prayed for him, and his congenitally
shortened leg was made whole for the first time in his life. The
counselor then suggested that it was possible that the healing
was by demonic power and that the price of the healing was depression.
The man immediately said that if the healing was not from God
he renounced it. Whereupon his leg shriveled up again, but he
lost his spiritual depression ("Wrestling With Dark Angels,"
p. 111).
[6] Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Dr. Robert Cooley, president of the seminary, is Pentecostal (Assembly
of God). Dr. Jeffrey J. Neuhaus, of the faculty, teaches power
Encounter to Gordon-Conwell students, and others.
[7] San Jose Bible College
Dr. Ed Murphy teaches an annual course at San Jose on Spiritual
Warfare. This course is an outgrowth of his personal _experience_
with "demons" who affected his family, and a series
of encounters with "demonized" students while he was
teaching at Biola University. These "deliverers" may
not see "demons" in every bush or doorknob, but when
it comes to people... Dr. Murphy is also vice president and director
of the International Ministry Team of Overseas Crusades. He travels
throughout the world, teaching Power Encounter spiritual warfare.
[8] Columbia International University
Until recently, the school was named Columbia Biblical Seminary
and Graduate School of Missions. Dr. Robertson McQuilkin has been
president for many years, and now Dr. Johnny Miller heads the
school. Dr. Ralph W. Neighbor, Jr., president of Touch Outreach
Ministries, is Director of Church Planting at the University.
He teaches the Charismatic cell church concept, patterned after
Yonggi Cho's gargantuan cell church in Korea. Dr. Neighbor's primary
textbook is his "Where Do We Go From Here? -- A Guidebook
for the Cell Group Church" (Touch Publications, Inc., Houston,
1990, 462 pages). The contents are typical Charismatic:
"When your original cell group experiences the power of God
in their midst, healing of bodies and minds will take place, along
with the discernment of demonic strongholds" (p. 420).
"Reports from the foreign cell churches include stories of
many miracles which are taking place, including a well-documented
statement about the raising of a cell group member from death
while the members circled the coffin, earnestly praying for his
recovery. The small village was so stunned by the miracle that
nearly every person made a commitment to follow Christ" (p.
30).
[9] Fuller Seminary School of Missions
Fuller literally swarms with Charismatic students and faculty
members. Dr. David Hubbard, until recently president, has a Pentecostal
background. Dr. Russell Spittler, dean of the Seminary, is Pentecostal.
Some of the faculty members of the Fuller School of Missions who
advocate Power Encounter are Drs. Edgar J. Elliston, Paul E. Pierson,
R. Daniel Shaw, Eddie Gibbs, Dean S. Gililand, Charles Van Engen,
J. Dudley Woodberry, and Charles H. Kraft. [See addendum below.]
Think of the spiritual condition of evangelical school leadership
that would subject students, future pastors and missionaries,
to this unbiblical Charismatic demonization. Consider the condition
of a theological college or seminary that would offer courses
on a dangerous subject that has no doctrinal (or even sane) ground
whatsoever.
There is not a word in the Word that so much as indicates that
a member of the Body of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ can be
indwelt by demons. Nor is there a single word of instruction as
to casting demons out of Christians. Instruction is clearly given,
however, for dealing with _sin and its source_ -- the indwelling
Adamic life and nature, the _positionally_ crucified "old
man." These instructions are given to the believer, without
demons so much as being mentioned. Dear friend, avoid these people
like the plague that they carry. "Mark them who cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and
avoid them" (Rom. 16:17).
[Note: Miles wrote at least three other polemic papers on the
subject of Charismatic demonism/spiritual warfare. One of them,
"The Day of the Demon" (March 1994), "concerns
the present-day craze of so-called spiritual warfare in the Church
in general, and Foreign Missions in particular." In this
paper, Miles had more to say about Fuller Seminary, which I've
reproduced below. In addition, I would point out that Dr. Ralph
D. Winter was on the faculty of their School of World Mission,
under the headship of its founder, C. Peter Wagner, before starting
the parachurch agency that became the multi-billion dollar U.S.
Center for World Mission, the organization which created the AD2000
Beyond Movement, which created Mission America, which created
the Lighthouse Movement. This is also where the late John Wimber
taught his infamous "Signs and Wonders" course, MC510,
from 1982 to 1986.]
Fuller Seminary School of World Mission is probably the most insidious
influence of all upon missions, with its "group salvation,"
and its overriding demon warfare teaching. The school held an
Academic Symposium on Power Evangelism, with some 40 representatives
of Christian schools in attendance. These "were desirous
of seeing substantially expanded offerings related to power ministries
in future curriculum designs in their schools -- both for local
church ministries, and for world evangelism" (Wagner and
Pennoyer, "Wrestling With Dark Angels," p. 7). Principal
speakers were: Wagner, Wimber, Anderson, Warner, and Murphy.
Dr. C. Peter Wagner is Professor of Church growth at Fuller. One
of his present specialties is teaching (not only at Fuller) concerning
"Territorial Strongholds." Gary Kinnaman explains: "These
strongholds represent the hierarchy of dark beings who are strategically
arranged by Satan himself to influence and control nations, communities,
and even families. Certain demonic forces mass to different regions
to fortify particular kinds of evil. Certain cities will be strongholds
of idolatry, sensual sins or certain types of religious spirits
("Overcoming the Dominion of Darkness," p. 54).
It would seem that Colorado Springs is fast becoming a "Charismatic
Stronghold!" [Well, in any case it has become a gathering
place for New Apostolic Reformation and World Christian Movement
parachurch agencies. Despite (or because of?) the presence of
so many "spiritual warriors" the location remains (they
say) a hotspot of demonic activity.] The late Jamie Buckingham
told Dr. Wagner that "former Secretary of the Interior, (charismatic)
James Watt, through sensitives acquired in his past association
with the occult, perceives dark spirits over Washington, D.C.,
assigned to the White House" ("Wrestling With Dark Angels,"
p. 80). Dr. Wagner is well-known for his account of the twelve-foot
demon (did he have 12 feet?) with the glowing green eyes that
invaded his wife's bedroom; also of the "smelly" (sulphuric,
of course) demons that occupied his garage. [End of Stanford material.]
Now, Dr. Wagner is openly referring to himself as an Apostle,
serving, in fact, as the head Apostle over a global "network
of networks" of apostles -- and prophets, evangelists, pastors,
teachers, and servants of all stripes. This network more and more
comes to resemble, with each passing day, the Roman Catholic hierarchy,
which it cannot long remain separated from. Please see the Wagner
memo on the "Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders"
(at http://www.wpccs.org/update001.cfm).
Even now, many Christian we correspond with are merely amused
by Dr. Wagner, and although this a natural reaction, he is nonetheless
a very powerful, very dangerous man, who, by his own admission,
was indwelt by a demon for ten years, during which time he developed
his church growth strategies. A man to be taken very seriously.
One researcher, who has been on his trail for years, recently
wrote in response to the ACPE memo:
"The 'Apostle' Peter has spoken -- not from prophetic insight
but from the advantageous viewpoint of one who has helped to spearhead
a global social movement that has been successfully implemented
using sophisticated mind control techniques, the dialectic process,
and general systems theory coupled with ELF technology. This movement
is a military action the likes of which the world has never seen.
The strategies are diabolical, the tactics as subtle as the serpent
used to beguile Eve. The end result will be tyranny."
Dr. Wagner began his descent into demonism with his close association
with the late John Wimber. I believe that the most significant
influence John Wimber had on Dr. Wagner was in this area. It was
Wimber who convinced Wagner that the good doctor was himself demon-possessed.
Wagner describes his headache-demon on page 59 of "Confronting
the Powers" (Regal Books, 1996), as quoted in "The Worst
of Dr. C. Peter Wagner & Company," another polemic paper
by the late Miles J. Stanford (available without cost from http://www.ezlink.com/~trbranch/milesj.htm):
"Beginning in the early 70s I suffered severe headaches for
10 consecutive years. It was so bad that at one point I had no
relief from pain at all for 70 days and 70 nights. No available
pain killer could stop the headaches. Then in 1983, John Wimber
received a rhema word from God that the root cause of my headaches
had been a demon and that I was to drive it out myself rather
than ask someone else to do it for me. I obeyed. I cast out the
demon in the name of Jesus, and I have not suffered any such headaches
since that day."
Those interested in Wimber and his trafficking with demons (I
don't know a better way to describe it) really need to read Nancy
Flint's eyewitness narrative of her time under the pastorship
of John Wimber (March 1977 to December 1978), available online
(at http://www.geocities.com/~contenders/flint.htm).
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David and Linda Liben
Delusion Apostasy Watch News
"Let no man deceive you by any means:
for that day will not come, except there
come a falling away first..." 2 Thes. 2:3