Just a quick perusal of my 500+ book reviews will tell you my denominational ilk, but let me start anyways by saying that if there was ever a “Celebrity Death Match” between Benny Hinn and John MacArthur, I’d put all my money on MacArthur—even if Benny Hinn were allowed to use his “Holy Ghost machine gun.”

Don’t ask me why I had this book on me, but two nights ago, when at 4am I couldn’t sleep, I picked it up and figured this was as good a time as any to get a sense of the man’s background from the horse’s own mouth. After all, isn’t it only at those insomniac moments when we’re tempted to see what looneys might be doing over on TBN?

Summary of Hinn’s Experiences

I only gave myself 24 hours to read this book—life’s too short to waste on drivel—but I was happy to have been able to finish the book entirely. What I hoped to find in the text was the beginnings of Hinn’s “experiences in the Spirit” and how these beginnings might explain the unique ministry he’s had for so long. What I came to find are these highlights:

• At age 11, Jesus came to him in a vision
• At age 19, an angel of the Lord came to him in a vision, showing him the very spot where he would meet Jesus
• The next day, he was invited to a prayer meeting at that very location, begrudgingly went, and met Christians who prayed aloud in tongues (likely not decently and in order). Benny found himself shaking and lifting his arms to do the same, which is when he cried “Jesus, come back!” in reference to his earliest dream. It’s at this point, apparently, that he was saved.
• At age 21, he went to Kathryn Kuhlman’s church and started shaking from within while standing with the crowds outside the locked doors. The shaking only intensified, but once inside, he was covered in a blanket of warmth. Then during the service, he saw a woman who had the Holy Spirit as her best friend, and he wanted that too.
• At home that night, the shaking and warmth came simultaneously, the Spirit finally came to him, and he’s had this best friend ever since.
• Eventually he realized that this anointing of the Spirit could actually overflow from him onto others, so his ministry of anointing, healing, and even slaying people in the Spirit spread. He eventually admits that he’s not the healer, the Holy Spirit is.

There’s so much material here, a person could write a thesis on it (or perhaps, a seminary like Masters could create a conference like Shepherd’s about this very topic, like Strange Fire…I wonder why they haven’t ;-). But since I only gave myself 24 hours to read the book, I’ll only give myself a short time to respond. These are my thoughts.

My Wonderings and Thoughts

Throughout the book, I wondered how a man who considers himself saved after experiencing a movement of the Spirit never actually met the presence of the Spirit until two years later. I realize there’s a disagreement between the charismatics and us about how the Spirit fills and indwells (the so-called “second blessing”), yet Hinn’s description is that he never even had the presence of the Spirit until then. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the opposite of “present”, well, “not present”? If he hadn’t the Spirit, then according the Word of God (I mean the written Word of God, not the chatty-word of god), he wasn’t saved. Getting the Spirit because he asks for Him (without any discussion of Jesus or His sacrifice on the cross) while shaking in his bedroom under some ethereal warm blanket isn’t salvation either. So I simply have to wonder: What was it?

For 152 pages, I also wondered where the blood of Christ was in all this theology of his. He could say, “Thank you, Jesus! Praise you, Jesus! You’re the Healer, Jesus!” all he wants, but where was the cross? Then on page 153, I finally read “the sinners prayer” as he relayed it to his Arab audience: “Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. Forgive my sin. Come into my heart. I give you my life. I surrender all. Wash me in your blood. Make me clean, dear Jesus. Fill me with your Spirit. Come and touch my life right now. Amen.” (153) This prayer apparently “ticks many of the boxes” of what saving faith in Christ means—confession, surrender, cleansing in the blood, filling with the Spirit—but unless he explained the atonement and the Work of Jesus on the cross in the message, these are just words.

All this chatter about “God the Healer” is only part of the Gospel and therefore not enough. It’s like saying to the taxi driver as you exit his car, “Jesus loves you!” and thinking you’ve just shared the Gospel. You haven’t shared the Gospel with these words any more than you would by telling another driver, “You’re a sinner going to Hell!” Sharing mere snippets of the truth isn’t enough. Pieces of the Gospel can’t save. Paul made that clear in 1Cor 15, for example, when he wrote that if Christ be not raised, we are still dead in our sins. So I have to wonder why this emphasis on God’s healing power can be so misconstrued as an evangelistic ministry. It’s simply not that.

In this vein, I also wondered why there were so many unbelievers healed in this book, some who begrudgingly listened and were miraculously healed. Even Jesus couldn’t heal a person who had no faith, so is this the fulfillment of “and you shall do greater things than these” or is it something else entirely?

Finally, forgetting for a moment that the nonsense of being slain in the Spirit is completely extra-biblical, I can’t help but cringe every time I read about (or see online) something so terribly nonsensical occurring. I’ll stop short of calling it “demonic” and use softer words like “pagan”, “disgusting”, and “unbelievably dangerous.” It’s a mockery of our Holy God, making His Spirit a pixie dust tossed hither and yon to the sensual delights of an audience.

What kind of father can seriously say what Benny Hinn writes about an experience he had one night when he invited his own kids to the stage.

“The moment they approached me in the center of the stage, the anointing became so strong that when I turned toward them, all four of my children fell to the floor. There were Jessica, Natasha, Joshua, and Eleasha, slain in the Spirit by the power of God. It was a beautiful sight, and I began to weep before the Lord. When something like that happens to your own children, it’s an incredible feeling.” (147)

An incredible feeling, or an incredible example of child abuse. Take your pick.

Conclusion

After twenty-four hours of fleeces and cheesecake with Benny Hinn, Magic Jesus, and the Holy Spirit on a Leash, I now feel like I need some healthy, moral cleansing. Praise God, I don’t need to ask for it, wait for it, dream it, or see it in my spirit’s eye. It’s sitting right in front of me, that ancient timeless Book. It’s written there on the tables of my heart, long since hidden away.

The true Holy Spirit of God—my indwelling Guarantee, Teacher and Friend—prods me, yes, and reminds me of the Father’s words and the Son’s work and the full love of the Triune God’s for me. I go to it now and recognize what a sacred trust I have, this knowledge of Truth, one to be cherished and shared in a responsible, Christ-exalting way.

Amen.

©2018 E.T.