At What Price Awakening? Examining the Theology and Practice of the Bethel Movement - Stephen Tan

Found here. My comments in bold.

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In our examination of this author's criticisms of Bethel church, we first must consider his biases. From his church's doctrinal statement:

WE BELIEVE.... that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher Who fills and empowers all believers for Christian life and service, and Who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. Some gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary gifts, and never the necessary signs of the filling of the Holy Spirit.

So this doctrinal statement explicitly excludes at least two of the so-called supernatural gifts of the Spirit. Armed with this information, we are able to dismiss a good portion of the author's presentation as only relevant to those who agree with this doctrinal position.

For a detailed critique of the cessationist position, you may read our cessationism series.

In addition, it is not our intention to defend Bethel church or Bill Johnson, but rather examine the statements of the author.

The last thing to note before we begin is that we don't know if the author's summaries of the quotes he footnotes are accurate. So we shall take those summaries with a grain of salt.

A final observation: The author doesn't quote a single Scripture.
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“Australia for Jesus” is the motto of Awakening Australia, an event that seeks to unite every denomination under one mission: to bring revival to Australia. They believe that God clearly told them 100,000 Australians would come to God in 2018. They are “raising up a nationwide prayer mandate for the salvation of our families, friends and our country”. While revival, unity and nationwide prayer are good goals for Christians to have, I am unable to support Awakening Australia. My aim in writing this article is to share concerns about this movement.

As a pastor of an Australian church, I too am passionate to see revival happen in Australia. There is, however, a huge difference between revival and revivalism, as Iain Murray famously put it. One comes from God, the other is of human origin. My main contention with Awakening Australia is that it is part of a hyper-charismatic ‘Signs and Wonders’ movement with its epicentre at Bethel Church in Redding, California. In fact, the leader of Bethel Church, Bill Johnson, is the main speaker at Awakening Australia.

The Mission of Bethel: Revival

If you log onto Bethel’s website (bethelredding.com), their mission is clear: to bring revival to Redding and to the whole world. They see themselves as having “a global impact” as “a revival resource and equipping centre”. They run “revival” conferences and rallies all over the world. Kingdom Invasion in Singapore draws thousands, as will Awakening Australia later this year. Bethel also runs their own “Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM)” which teaches people to perform miracles and bring revival. BSSM spawns hundreds of similar schools around the world, including in Melbourne and in other cities in Australia. But what exactly does Bethel mean by revival?

What does Bethel mean by revival? Signs and Wonders

According to Bill Johnson, “Revival is the atmosphere in which Christ’s power is most likely to be manifested”.[1] He argues for the necessity of signs and wonders for God’s glory and his nature to be revealed. He goes on to say that “it is impossible to give an adequate witness of God without demonstrating his supernatural power”.[2] “When miracles are absent, so is the glory of God”.[3] According to Johnson, the church has failed the world because we have not given them adequate signs and wonders. Christians owe a debt to the world and by that he means an encounter with God through signs and wonders.[4] For Johnson, salvation was not God’s “ultimate goal” but merely his “immediate goal”.[5]God’s ultimate goal on earth is “the fullness of the Spirit in the believer” as “getting us to heaven is not near as great a challenge as it is to get heaven into us”.[6] (We are continuationists, and therefore find ourselves to be largely in agreement with what is offered in this paragraph. Though inelegantly presented, the author seems to characterize the situation accurately.)

A Deadly Elevation of Experience over Scripture

Johnson’s pursuit of signs and wonders has led to a deadly elevation of experience over Scripture. (Undocumented assertion.)

He argues that God “wants to take us farther and we can only get there by following signs. Our present understanding of Scripture can only take us so far”.[7] Johnson encourages Christians to stop focussing (sic) on “our need to protect ourselves from deception” and instead “our hunger for Him must be seen in our lustful pursuit of spiritual gifts”.[8] He criticises the church for “living according to an intellectual approach to the Scriptures void of the Holy Spirit’s influence” which leads to “a false sense of security”.[9] Instead we are told “to follow Him, we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know”.[10] (Nothing here documents the author's assertion that experience is to be valued over Scripture. Rather, it appears that Bill Johnson wants to elevate the supernatural to a higher position, or even, to restore it to its proper place in the Church.)

Jesus is Perfect Theology: A Misguided Attempt at a Christ Centred Hermeneutic

Bill Johnson’s conviction that God always intends to heal everyone immediately has led to a hermeneutic which he summarises pithily as “Jesus is Perfect Theology”.[11] According to Johnson, “Jesus healed everyone who came to him. To accept any other standard is to bring the Bible down to our level of experience and deny the nature of the One who changes not.[12] Johnson teaches that Jesus is the perfect revelation of God’s character. What that looks like in practice is to treat the four gospels as a canon within the canon. The historical account of Jesus’ life and ministry becomes a hermeneutical grid for interpreting the rest of the Bible. Truths about God that are found in other parts of the Bible are secondary to what we see Jesus model in the gospels. (We are finding it difficult to discern what the author's problem is regarding this. It is a nearly universal doctrinal understanding that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law [Romans 3:21-22], the ultimate revelation of God [Romans 16:25-26], and the reality of the promise which the prophets of old longed to see [1 Peter 1:10-12] 

Everything about the Gospel revolves around Jesus, and everything written in the Bible finds its ultimate understanding and meaning from Jesus' life and ministry). 

Johnson’s response to the question of Job is instructive:

People ask, “What about Job?” I tell them, “I’m not a disciple of Job; I’m a disciple of Jesus.” Job was the question; Jesus is the answer. If I read Job and it doesn’t lead me to Jesus, then I never understood the question. All the law and the prophets were to create an awareness of need. That awareness prepared Israel for a saviour. To return to the standards of the law and the prophets at the expense of ignoring the perfect revelation of the Father given to us in the person of Jesus Christ is to fall to the ultimate expression of arrogance. It puts us back in the place of control where we do what is humanly possible—and call it ministry.[13]

Elsewhere, however, Johnson uses the examples of Old Testament characters who “fell into sin and deception”[14] as a template for the disgraced leaders of the 1950s healing revival:

If you’re afraid of reading about those who later fell into sin and deception (some of these people ended in disaster), stay away from Gideon, Samson, Solomon’s Proverbs, and Song of Solomon. The author of those books also ended in tragedy. We must learn to eat the meat and throw out the bones.[15]

We might note, of course, that Sampson didn’t fall into sin later in life—he kept at it the whole way through. If we look to him as our example, we’ll find that we can justify anything. Johnson has confused Old Testament description with New Testament prescription. (I've read these four paragraphs several times now and still cannot discern what the author's complaint is. I don't see where Bill Johnson has advised us to follow the example of OT characters like Sampson. I don't see why it's bad to look at the book of Job for how it points to Jesus. I don't see where description has been confused with prescription.)

The Passion Translation—A Bethel Bible to Propagate Bethel Theology

It is never a good sign when a particular movement decides that the words of Scripture need to be improved. (Is this really the case? We have dozens of other translations, are each one of those translated by more noble people who didn't have a doctrinal perspective?

Keep in mind we have no intent to defend this translation or any other. We are simply calling into question the author's tendency to impute motives and make generalizations.)

But this is exactly what Bethel has sought to do with the Passion Translation. Brian Simmons, the sole translator on the project claims to have uncovered “the love language of God that has been missing from other translations”.[16] Simmons states: “What we’re trying to do with this project is to bring words that go right through the human soul, and past the defences of our mind, and goes right to our spirit”.[17] Andrew Shead, the Head of Old Testament and Hebrew at Moore Theological College and member of the NIV Committee on Bible Translation has written an in-depth review of the Passion Translation for Themelios.[18] Shead argues that, in Simmons’ attempts to reintroduce the passion and fire of the Bible to the English reader, he “abandons all interest in textual accuracy, playing fast and loose with the original languages, and inserts so much new material into the text that it is at least 50% longer than the original”.[19] Shead concludes that “the result is a strongly sectarian translation that no longer counts as Scripture; by masquerading as a Bible it threatens to bind entire churches in thrall to a false god.”[20]

A Less Than Divine Jesus: The Kenosis Heresy

(It is interesting that the author describes kenosis categorically as a heresy. Got Questions doesn't seem to think so. Pulpit and Pen does. What seems interesting here is that Christ's incarnation represents a divine mystery as to his nature. He was fully God and fully man in 

hypostatic union, yet He emptied Himself.

Ph. 2:7-8 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!

It seems that the problem is a matter of degree. How far did this emptying of His divine nature go? How far can we go in acknowledging that Jesus did not know certain things [Matthew 24:36], that He became tired, that He ate food and slept and grew up and breathed before we cross the line into heresy?

Suffice to say, since there is clearly a bit of wiggle room in the realm of doctrinal orthodoxy, we shall not be so quick to claim heresy.)

When Johnson sees the miracles of Jesus in the gospels, he doesn’t see a unique manifestation of divine power; he sees an example for every Christian to aspire to. According to Johnson, Jesus “performed miracles, wonders and signs, as a man in right relationship to God, not as God. If He performed miracles because He was God, then they would be unattainable for us. But if he did them as a man, I am responsible to pursue His lifestyle”.[21] Johnson also teaches the common Word of Faith belief that Jesus was born again.[22] (In our experience, it seems clear that pastors use flowery language and hyperbolic rhetoric at times to illustrate their points. I think this is one of those times, where the shock value eventually gives way to the understanding of the point being made.

Bill Johnson's actual quote: So [Jesus] was born through Mary, the Virgin, and then he was born again in the resurrection. Now clearly this is not talking about the new birth or the new creation Christians experience when they are saved. And it seems clear that Bill Johnson isn't suggesting that. 

The risen Christ is victorious over death and the grave, and He who once was dead is now alive and seated at the right hand of the Majesty. This is the same place we have been elevated to by the blood of Jesus. With a rhetorical flourish Bill Johnson draws a parallel between Jesus' Resurrection and our new life.

Ro. 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

But perhaps the most offensive thing he teaches is that Jesus “laid aside his divinity as he sought to fulfil the assignment given to Him by the Father”.[23] This teaching, based on Philippians 2:5-7, is strikingly similar to the Kenosis Heresy that emerged in Germany and England at the end of the 19th Century. Kenotic theologians argue that Christ “emptied himself” of some of his divine attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence while on earth as a man.[24] While it appears that Bethel worship Jesus as God in their songs, their understanding of the incarnate Christ is that he was less than divine while he walked the earth.

(See update on this in the postscript below)

Another Gospel: The Gospel of “Triune Salvation”

An important question for us to consider is whether Bill Johnson is in fact teaching another gospel. As he was preaching from Galatians 1, Johnson says “Some people interpret Paul’s thorn in the flesh is a disease allowed or brought on by God. That’s a different gospel. Jesus didn’t model it. He didn’t teach it”.[25] According to Johnson, anyone who teaches that God sends sickness teaches a different gospel. (None of this seems outside the boundaries of orthodoxy. Bible scholars have debated the thorn in the flesh for centuries. The same for whether or not God would cause someone to be sick. These are legitimate divergent opinions.)

In that same sermon, Johnson argues blatantly that if a gospel proclamation is not accompanied by signs and wonders, it is “a different gospel”. By doing so, Johnson distances himself from the historic understanding of God and the gospel which Christians have held for over 2000 years. (Undocumented assertion, and an Appeal to History. What the Church did or did not do has noting to do with biblical orthodoxy. If the author has a biblical argument about this, we would like to see it.)

Johnson credits his understanding of the gospel to John G Lake who argued that the gospel touches the whole man—spirit, soul and body and called it a “Triune Salvation”.[26] (This doesn't seem controversial at all. The nature of salvation is that the whole man is saved. 

He. 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

1Th. 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Johnson contends that “Jesus destroyed the power of sin, sickness and poverty through His redemptive work on the cross. In Adam and Eve’s commission to subdue the earth, they were without sickness, poverty and sin. Now that we are restored to his original purpose, should we expect anything less? After all, this is called the better covenant”.[27] It is fair to conclude that Johnson teaches a gospel that requires the accompaniment of signs and wonders as well as miraculous physical healing to authenticate it. (We note the use of the word "requires." This seems like an editorial comment.)

Anything less than that is “a different gospel”. Ironically, I doubt that the majority of his followers would be able to live up to the definition of the gospel that Johnson has concocted. In fact, I doubt even he can live up to the standard he has set for himself. (The contemporary practices of Christians does not come to bear on the biblical case. What does the Bible say about the supernatural purpose of the Church?)

From the Bizarre to the Blasphemous—The Spiritual Practices of Bethel

The pursuit of signs and wonders has led to a litany of bizarre and sometimes blasphemous spiritual practices at Bethel. (As if many other churches didn't make mistakes...)

Perhaps the most infamous example of this is their claim that the “glory cloud” of God’s shekinah presence often manifests in their worship services. You can find videos on YouTube of the “glory cloud”, which is made up of gold dust that looks suspiciously like the glitter you can purchase at your local arts and craft store. (This is the author's refutation, that it looks like glitter? How about a review of eyewitness testimony? How about an examination of similar incidents in the Bible? The author's summary dismissal is unseemly.)

They also report feathers appearing in their worship services, which they claim belong to angels. Beni Johnson (Bill’s wife) and other Bethel leaders practice what is called “grave sucking” or “grave soaking” where they lay atop the graves of famous dead Christians to suck the anointing that they believe is contained in their bones. Beni posted a picture on social media of herself “soaking” at CS Lewis’ grave among others.[28]

At Bethel, a myriad of practices is encouraged under the banner of “prophetic”. This includes “prophetic cards”, which are similar to tarot cards and are practised by an associated ministry in Melbourne.[29] It also includes prophetic dancing, painting, drumming and even “Destiny Pants” that will purportedly “enhance your awareness of God’s presence and help you be a walking encounter of Heaven’s message to those around you”.[30] Prophecy is also used in outreach in what are called “Treasure Hunts”.[31] (We offer no defense of unbilical or misguided activities. Some of these have been repudiated by Bethel. Others require a bit of explanation. Still others, like treasure hunting, are perfectly uncontroversial for those of us who belief in the supernatural church.

We examine treasure hunting here.)

Beni Johnson teaches that there are a variety of angels (messenger angels, healing angels, fiery angels) but that they are laying dormant until someone wakes them up.[32] How does one wake up angels? You blow the shofar and you cry out “WAKEY WAKEY”.[33] (Again we note the use of flowery language. We know that angels do the bidding of God [Ps. 103:20]. We know angels can be delayed because of the warfare they engage in [Da. 10:13] There are "elect" angels who seem to occupy a special place of honor [1Ti. 5:21]. We also know that angels are all around incognito [He. 13:2]. There are guardian angels [[Matt. 18:10]. 

We would be remiss if our angelology excluded the possibility that there are some angels that are yet to be pressed into service. Are they asleep? Well, no. But are they waiting to do God's bidding? That seems entirely possible. The use of words like "asleep" can be exaggerations or illustrative language to drive home a point. Here the point seems to be that angels are waiting to move in the places to facilitate revival. Is this biblical? I would say yes, despite the hyperbolic language of the person who described this event.)

People in the Bethel movement believe that raising the dead should be something we aspire to. As a result, some Bethel students formed a Dead Raising Team.[34] They go to the morgue to practice raising the dead. They also listen to the radio and try to beat ambulances to accidents to raise the dead or heal the injured before the ambulance arrives.[35] From all accounts, they have yet to raise their first corpse. (An appeal to contemporary expressions, which is not a biblical argument. What does or does not happen today has no bearing on what the Bible actually teaches.)

Christianity Today reports that in 2008, two Bethel students were involved in an accident that left a man stricken at the base of a 200-foot cliff.[36] The students believed that the man had died and so they tried to resurrect him by prayer.[37] They waited until the next morning to call emergency services.[38] Thankfully, the man survived but unfortunately, he remains paralysed.[39] (Sad, but stuff happens. Sometimes people move out in faith, but the desired result doesn't happen. This, as mentioned before, does not come to bear on the biblical case for the raising of the dead.)

Bethel leaders Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton teach “the Physics of Heaven”, which is a way to “explore the mysteries of God hidden in sound, light, vibrations, frequencies, energy, and quantum physics”.[40] They allege that “God uses these different expressions of his creation to usher us into the fullness of Pentecost”.[41] (If God doesn't use creation to effect His purposes, the author must provide us with the biblical case that this does not happen.)

Jesus Culture, Bethel Music & Awakening Australia—Gateway Drugs

What makes the Bethel movement dangerous is that their reach is extended through their music ministry. Jesus Culture and Bethel Music have created a brand of worship music that can genuinely compete with Hillsong. Christianity Today reports that one of their live albums was the No.1 album on iTunes above Adele, Justin Bieber and Coldplay.[42] I fear Jesus Culture serves as a gateway drug that draws young and inexperienced Christians into a world of false teaching, unbiblical practices and spiritual disaster. (As if there aren't a plethora of activities in various churches that "endanger" people. However, it seems strange to claim that worship music contains some sort of danger that would suck people in. The music stands on its own. If it honors God, facilitates worship, and leads people into changed lives and fruit, well, we have no problem.

That being said, we have observed several times in our blog that there are sub-par worship songs out there, and Jesus Culture is not without its offenses in this regard. Discerning Christians are able to deal with these situations, however, and if the church is doing its job, it's raising up mature, discerning believers who rightly divide the word.)

I am concerned that the upcoming “Awakening Australia” (which is hosting Bill Johnson, and which was itself founded by a Bethel Missionary & Former Pastor) has the potential to cause much confusion and spiritual damage to thousands of unsuspecting Australians. To those who are supporting this event in the name of revival, may I ask this question: “At what price, awakening?” Is it worth pursuing awakening if it means that the gospel is compromised and that false teaching is promoted? (Awakening is always worth it. Every awakening of history has contained fleshly elements and misguided people doing unholy things. The enemy is attracted to revival for the havoc that can be caused. If it isn't real revival, it won't have that dimension. It isn't possible to have awakening, or even regular old church, without the flesh rising up or the work of spiritual forces of darkness coming in to discredit and disrupt.)

I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:6:

If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Postscript October 8, 2018

Following the publication of this post, Stephen Tan and a number of other pastors met with Ben Fitzgerald (Bethel missionary and chief organiser of ‘Awakening Australia’) to discuss their concerns. Among other points, Pastor Fitzgerald wished to stress that ‘Awakening Australia’ is not Bethel event and that neither he nor Bethel endorse the practice known as ‘grave sucking’.

We welcome these statements, but questions remain. According to the ‘Awakening Australia’ Facebook page Bethel plans to send 150-200 members to serve at the Melbourne event—this seems to represent a significant level of involvement. Meanwhile, Joe Carter of TGC US points to strange statements from Bill Johnson regarding the possibility of claiming ‘untended’ spiritual anointings from past generations.

With regard to the kenosis issue. Ben Fitzgerald showed Stephen Tan texts from Bill Johnson affirming that he believes ‘Jesus never stop [sic] being God. He is eternally God.’ Once again, we welcome this clarification, but find it hard to understand how he reconciles this to his other public comments. More importantly, we remain concerned about the way his argument erodes the distinctiveness of Christ. The miraculous signs of Jesus are not, in the first place, examples for us to follow—they are testimonies to his unique relationship to God the Father (e.g. John 2:11 c.f. 1:14). When Jesus raises the dead, our response shouldn’t be “I can do that!” but to honour him as we honour the Father (John 5:23). Legitimate questions about how he did his miracles must not distract us from what they reveal about his personal identity as the eternal Son of God.

For more detailed information see this link.

[1] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, (Shippensburg: Treasure House, 2003), 119.

[2] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 119.

[3] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 124.

[4] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 137.

[5] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 137.

[6] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 137.

[7] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 142.

[8] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 112.

[9] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 76.

[10] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 76.

[11] http://bjm.org/qa/does-god-ever-cause-sickness/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[12] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 115.

[13] http://bjm.org/qa/does-god-ever-cause-sickness/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[14] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 103.

[15] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 103.

[16] https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[17] https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[18] http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/burning-scripture-with-passion-a-review-of-the-psalms-passion-translation, accessed 7 September 2018. Other critical reflections on The Passion Translation, can be found at http://readingthepassionbible.com/

[19] http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/burning-scripture-with-passion-a-review-of-the-psalms-passion-translation, accessed 7 September 2018.

[20] http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/burning-scripture-with-passion-a-review-of-the-psalms-passion-translation, accessed 7 September 2018.

[21] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 29.

[22] https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/on_throwing_the_baby_out_with_the_bethelwater, accessed 7 September 2018.

[23] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 79.

[24] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 550.

[25] Bill Johnson, The Requirement of Miracles, 11 Dec 2011, ibetheltv.com, accessed 7 September 2018.

[26] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 33.

[27] Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth, 33.

[28] https://pulpitandpen.org/2018/04/19/bethel-pastor-contradicts-bill-johnsons-narrative-infamous-grave-sucking/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[29] https://www.bethel.com/about/christalignment/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[30]https://web.archive.org/web/20171228104713/https://store.theresadedmon.com/collections/clothing/products/designer-leggings_isnt-she-lovely, accessed 7 September 2018.

[31] https://www.bethel.com/testimonies/gods-treasure-hunt/, accessed 7 September 2018.

[32] http://www.benij.org/blog.php?id=1, accessed 7 September 2018.

[33] http://www.benij.org/blog.php?id=1, accessed 7 September 2018.

[34] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.

[35] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.

[36] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.

[37] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.

[38] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.

[39] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.

[40] https://www.destinyimage.com/products/physics-of-heaven, accessed 7 September 2018.

[41] https://www.destinyimage.com/products/physics-of-heaven, accessed 7 September 2018.

[42] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html, accessed 7 September 2018.