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Shall We Write Off Kenneth E Hagin? Dave Hunt? How About E W Kenyon?, Part 10
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Here in Part 10 we continue where we stopped at the end of Part 9, under section 14, "E. W. Kenyon and His Message on Faith: the True Story" by Joe McIntyre (Charisma House, 1997, 362 pages).
((I had a footnote: See his (Joe McIntyre's) chapter 20, "The Metaphysical Cults," for one place. On page 231, McIntyre quotes from A. J. Gordon (a solid evangelical Christian), who was contrasting Christian, Biblical healing with Christian Science healing. For one thing, he said that Christian, Biblical healings "are the result of God's direct and supernatural action upon the body of the sufferer." One point that I have emphasized in this paper is that God must be the One moving the mountain and doing the healing and getting all the glory (not our faith, etc.). McIntyre (on page 234) mentioned that many Christians back in those days were making the point that the lack of Biblical teaching on divine healing among Christians had opened the door for Christian Science, etc., and he went on to quote from R. A. Torrey. McIntyre's book is loaded with important and interesting information about those solid evangelical Christians who lived in the latter half of the 1800's and early part of the 1900s. I already knew quite a bit about many of those brothers and sisters.)) And he [Kenyon] clearly learned the basics of Christianity, with a strong emphasis on faith and victory over sin, from solid evangelical Christians. For one important thing, Kenyon always insisted that the Word of God must be given top priority, not experiences. That doesn't mean, of course, that Kenyon always rightly interpreted the Scriptures. I have tried to demonstrate in this paper that he made some serious mistakes, including his interpretation of many key passages of Scripture. But I have no doubt that he was highly motivated to be faithful to God, to His Word, and to the Body of Christ. Some, or most, of those who criticize Kenyon will admit that.
I'll quote a little from what McIntyre says on pages 89, 90 and comment on this very important topic. For one thing, it will help us understand Kenyon. "R. A. Torrey was a close associate of D. L. Moody. [[The fact that Kenyon was substantially influenced by solid evangelical teachers like Torrey, A. J. Gordon, and A. T. Pierson (McIntyre discusses all three of them in this book), and many other solid evangelical teachers, is significant. Kenyon rededicated his backsliden life to the Lord in A. J. Gordon's church in 1893, about a month after he had finished his year of study at Emerson College of Oratory (from September 1892 to May 1893).]] Torrey pointed Kenyon away from the second-work-of grace teaching and helped Kenyon see the finished work of Christ. [[The second-work-of-grace viewpoint of the early Methodists and most holiness churches teaches that the sinful nature is eradicated in a definite crisis experience that typically takes places at a time after becoming a (born-again) Christian. The finished work of Christ is taught by the Keswick movement, for example, and Charles Finney's teaching on holiness and victory over sin (which I appreciate) fits here; so too the teaching of William Durham, who strongly influenced many Pentecostals in that direction.
I don't believe the New Testament teaches a second work of grace, where the sinful nature is eradicated, but (based on what I have observed) those who teach a second-work-of-grace often put a higher priority on living a life of holiness with the victory over all sin than many of those from the finished work of Christ viewpoint, and I very often appreciate their interpretation of the Scriptures. See my book, "Holiness and Victory Over Sin: Full Salvation Through the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ" and my paper "Twenty-Eight Articles on Holiness and Victory Over Sin," which serves as a good introduction for the book.]] The Keswick teachers held that the believer continued to have a sin nature as well as the new nature received in regeneration. The sin nature was subdued rather than eradicated as the second work of grace advocates avowed. [[The New Testament puts all the emphasis on the need for us to be united with Christ through faith in His death, burial, and resurrection; walking in the Holy Spirit on a continuous basis (thereby keeping the flesh/old man from manifesting itself in sinful attitudes, motives, or works), by grace through faith; appropriating the imputed and imparted righteousness of God; all in accordance with the gospel spelled out in the New Testament.
THERE IS NO NEW NATURE, OR NEW CREATION, FOR CHRISTIANS THAT MANIFESTS ITSELF APART FROM OUR CONTINUALLY ABIDING IN CHRIST BY THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH. WE ARE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON THE GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS! We were created to be dependent on God (not independent beings)! That is a good dependency! And it solves the serious pride problem!]]
Kenyon eventually parted ways with the Keswick teachers' view of sanctification as well. He came to believe that the scriptures taught man's sin nature was removed in the new birth. Unconditional surrender to the Lordship of Christ, and renewing of the mind were the missing ingredients for living a victorious life. ...." I don't doubt Kenyon's desire to base his view on the Bible, but I believe he missed it here in a rather serious way. This error goes along with his serious misinterpretation of key verses like Gal. 5:16, and of his way overstated view of the status of the recreated spirit of born-again Christians, who are able to dwell in the presence of God on terms of equality, etc.
I'll mention several important points that I picked up while reading this book (with some input from other writings): Kenyon put a strong emphasis on the Word of God (including the Word over experiences); he put a strong emphasis on fellowship with God and on doing His will in every area; he put a strong emphasis on soul winning and on trying to ground young believers in the faith; he put a strong emphasis on walking and living by faith, including for finances (which he also applied to schools he started, and churches; sometimes this made life more difficult for him, for his family, and for others, and some reacted against this); he put a strong emphasis on walking in love ((some testified of his gentleness, compassion, being generous [for one thing, he opened his home to others in need, who sometimes abused the privilege; I'm confident that this caused big problems for his first wife, who died young, and for his second wife], encouraging; he learned the names of people; and he didn't speak critically of others)); he was intelligent in some ways (but apparently he wasn't a systematic thinker, and it is shocking to me how often he was inconsistent in what he taught) and a voracious reader; he was a hard worker (including getting up at 4 or 5 in the morning and working into the evening).
McIntyre's chapter 16 is titled "The Sufferings of Christ
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