A.B. SIMPSON'S ABERRANT VIEW OF DIVINE HEALING

ALBERT BENJAMIN SIMPSON (1843-1919)

A.B. Simpson (1843-1919) was the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance and by many accounts one of the most important figures in the history of Christian World Missions. I do not mean to critique Simpson on his contribution to evangelicalism and the modern mission’s movement. However his view of divine healing displays many gaps and I believe has led us to the modern aberrations, excesses, and extremes we see propagated in modern Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation leaders and teaching that have crept into mainstream evangelical thought. Simpson held the view that divine healing is bound up in the atoning work of Christ. Simpson taught a “Fourfold Gospel” and wrote a short booklet by the same name.[1] I would like to take an in-depth look at his views on divine healing. I studied the booklet and there are many tenuous teachings in his so-called “Fourfold Gospel,” namely that Satan is the source of sickness and illness. Simpson said, “sickness is his work.”[2] He even misquotes the scripture found in Matthew 24:24 saying “that in the last days the spirits of devils shall be upon the earth working miracles, so that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”[3] Matthew 24:24 does not read “spirits of devils” it reads “false christs” and “false prophets” and that they will perform great signs and wonders. Those false christs and false prophets may very well be possessed by devils, but they will not be possessing people to make them sick. The meaning of that passage is that Jesus is saying that these false christs and false apostles will be performing wonderful and great miracles that are seemingly authentic and godly miracles if possible to pull the very elect into their deception. Simpson badly misinterprets this passage to mean that devils can and will give sickness. He actually puts words into Jesus’ mouth. Jesus does not mean that devils can cause sickness which is Simpson’s meaning. Only Job and the woman with the withered hand could possibly be given as justifications for this view. However, God allowed Job’s suffering and even made Satan aware of Job. And the woman with the withered hand was probably that way only through her many years of being possessed, not that the demon caused some palsy in her hand. There is not one other instance of Satan in the Scriptures being the cause of sickness or illness. Rather, God is sovereign in sickness, illness, and disability throughout the Scriptures. Any other view ignores every time that God struck someone with an illness, sickness, or was sovereign in the giving of disability (e.g. Ex. 4:11; Jn 9; Acts 9:1–9; 13:9–12; 2 Kgs 6:16-22; 2 Cor 12:6-7; Gal 4:13-15; 2 Chr. 13:20; 2 Chr. 21:18- 19; 2 Chr. 26:20–21; Rev 8, 9, 15, 16).

 

According to Simpson, sickness could be a judgment from God, and one must make themselves right before God before healing can take place. Simpson writes

 

you cannot be healed till that difficulty is made right. You may be in some wrong and crooked attitude. He probably will not restore you till that is adjusted. He may have called you to some service and you are holding back. There will not be healing for the body till you have yielded at this point. There are hundreds of meanings in the sicknesses that are allowed to come upon God’s dear children, and He will show you what His voice is for you (emphasis mine).[4]

 

Either healing is bound up in the work of Christ in the atonement as he explains throughout this chapter on “Christ our Healer” and is only to be received by faith or it’s not. Nothing man could do by way of works could earn Christ’s atoning work. Simpson even says himself that Divine healing comes by grace, not by works[5] which contradicts his claim that we can receive it only when we make ourselves right with God. These two elements of his teaching contradict each other, are misleading, and contradict the gospel that is to be received by grace through faith. Simpson’s Fourfold Gospel inextricably links divine healing to the gospel. The gospel is not received by works it is received by faith alone. Simpson’s view of getting right before healing can occur makes his gospel a gospel of works.

 

Simpson taught in the Fourfold Gospel that Christ’s redemption covers all the “liability” of our bodies.[6] This view is not played out in the life of the everyday Christian. Who has lived one full year of their Christian lives without any kind of sickness or illness? Who has lived without a cold, flu, or the coronavirus? Christ’s redemption does not cover “all the liability of our mortal bodies” because every Christian will get ill at some point or another. It is an eventuality of the fall and death is the final illness. Christ’s atoning sacrifice did not cover the liability of our mortal bodies in this life, but rather he has purchased for us through his resurrection the promise of an incorruptible and imperishable body beyond the touch of decay only in the life to come (1 Cor 15:35-58).

 

Simpson likewise taught that Christ’s resurrection infuses healing into our mortal bodies and that this infusing is a “touch of Divine omnipotence.”[7] He wrote that the “very life of His veins is transfused into yours. That is Divine healing.”[8] This is an associative jump that cannot be substantiated. We certainly receive an incorruptible body at the resurrection of the righteous (1 Cor 15). However, that day has not yet come. We cannot infer that we presently receive Christ’s resurrection body infusing healing into our mortal bodies. His resurrection secures the resurrection of our mortal bodies, not the healing of our present mortal bodies.

 

Simpson additionally taught that Christ did not heal by his deity but by the Holy Ghost (i.e. by his anointing the anointing being a force or power). This is taught by nearly every Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation leader. They teach this to knock Jesus down an peg to make him just like us. Many teach that we all have the Holy Spirit, and Jesus had the Holy Spirit, and healed only through the Holy Spirit, so we can too. Anything Jesus can do I can do too—is the mantra of the Word of Faith and the New Apostolic Reformation! Simpson wrote

 

“When Christ healed the sick while He “was upon earth, it was not by the Deity that dwelt in His humanity. He said, “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you.” Jesus healed by the Holy Ghost. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearts.” The Holy Ghost is the agent, then, by which this great power is wrought. Especially should we expect to see His working in these days, because they are the days of His own Dispensation, the days in which it has been prophesied that there shall be signs and wonders. How did Samson receive his strength? When the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Then he was able to hurl the temple into ruins and their god Dagon with it. The Spirit of God was in his flesh. So when this electric fire is running through our frame, it brings healing and strength to every fibre (emphasis mine).”[9]

 

Firstly, Simpson describes the Holy Spirit as an electric fire, although no Scripture describes Him or his work in that way. Furthermore, Simpson’s claim that Christ did not heal by his Deity cannot be substantiated by the gospel accounts. Jesus absolutely did heal by the power of his divinity. John 20:30-31 claims that Jesus did many more miracles but these are recorded so that you may “know that Jesus is the Son of God (i.e. divine).” Likewise, Jesus forgave sins and healed simultaneously which is a clear display of his divinity. Christ said while healing the paralytic “that you know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Matt 9:6).” In healing the paralytic and forgiving his sins he displays his divinity—for only God can forgive sins. Christ used his divinity to heal and forgive sins simultaneously. He certainly healed and forgave the paralytic by his divinity. For Christ’s miracles to be evidence of his divine sonship, they must have been performed out of his divinity or from his divinity, not merely from his humanity. The Council of Chalcedon says that Jesus is, “acknowledged in two natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably.”[10] Jesus cannot turn off one nature for the other. His divine and human natures are joined indivisibly and inseparably. Jesus is fully God and fully man in one glorious union. Jesus did everything on this earth as God and man in one resplendent indivisible union. In other words, he did and continues to do everything as God and man simultaneously.

 

      Another biblical story in which Jesus' divinity is linked to his healing ministry is when he healed the man born blind and John 9. After Jesus had healed the man born blind later he showed himself to the man. Jesus then asked him “do you believe in the son of man (Jn 9:35).” And in verse 38 the man born blind worshiped Jesus for his healing power and he said “Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him (Jn 9:38).” Here the man born blind worshiped Jesus for his sovereign act of healing in his life and then worshiped him as God. Jesus received worship, and that as God. Only God can be worshiped and thus the man born blind worshiped Jesus as God for healing him as God.  

 

According to Simpson, Faith is the force that enacts Healing, and healing is part of the redemption of Christ as long as you receive it and abide in it.[11] This is the mistake of the modern faith teachers that faith is some kind of force that enacts healing. Modern Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation teachers teach faith is the thing that “makes withdrawals” from our heavenly account. Principally, we can see that most of the thoughts of the modern faith movement and the more recent NAR find their roots in the teaching of Simpson on divine healing, particularly that you must somehow abide in or keep your healing. It is somehow up to you to keep, maintain, or abide in that healing. It seems almost like Simpson is teaching that you could lose your salvation if you do not abide in Him. This teaching is certainly communicating that you can lose your healing if you do not abide. Could one likewise lose their salvation if they were not to abide, as Simpson teaches here, that we are to abide in our healing?

 

Simpson furthermore believed that a positive mental outlook contributed to healing and answered prayer. This adds to the contradictory nature of divine healing being part of the atonement. Either we receive divine healing as we receive the gospel, and we should never get sick again, or it’s not. His belief that a positive mental outlook contributes to your healing shows that it cannot be included in the benefits of the atonement. We don’t receive the forgiveness of sins and the other benefits of the atonement through a positive mental outlook, so why would we receive another benefit of the atonement also through a positive mental outlook?

 

Simson’s inclusion of physical healing as one of the four major aspects of the gospel message cannot be worked out in any practicality. If people aren’t healed then have they even received the full Fourfold Gospel? If someone even becomes ill at all in any way in this life, which is a necessary destiny for every man, then that person has essentially not embraced all the truths of the gospel. Moreover, they may have actually rejected one of the four cornerstones of Simpson’s gospel. Correspondingly, their lives might actually be in eternal jeopardy. If Simpson’s inclusion of divine healing in the gospel is accurate, then did all the people in the New Testament who got ill—did they not embrace the full gospel? What about Paul’s thorn, Timothy’s stomach, Trophimas was left ill by Paul, Epaphroditus was near death but God had mercy, the man born blind in John 9 so that the “works of God might be displayed in him.” In exodus 4:11 God says to Moses “who made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I the Lord?” How could God provide for healing in the atonement when he credited himself with making men mute, deaf, and blind? It would be contradictory for God to credit himself with being sovereign over men to being born blind like John 9 and likewise mute or deaf and then also provide for the eradication of those things in the atonement. Were the 12 apostles, outside of John, who died by persecution and the sword also outside the scope of divine healing and the benefits of healing in the atonement? Jesus has promised, “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33).”

 

Furthermore, if someone is relatively healthy and does not require healing of some type, then have they received the gospel? If healing is part of the four main aspects of the gospel, and a person does not necessarily require the benefits of that aspect of the gospel, then have they or can they receive the Fourfold Gospel? The gospel must be fully received by the whole person to receive eternal life and not individual elements by certain people who “need” certain aspects. I would posit this is a pseudo-gospel because it adds elements to the gospel that before Simpson had not been proposed in Christian history. Simpson added the element of health into the atonement that had never before been hypothesized, and in so doing, he expanded the atonement to unbiblical boundaries.

 

If healing is part of the benefits of what Christ has done for us on the cross then why is it necessary for others to pray for a Christian’s healing (James 5:13-16) if it is an inclusion in the gospel? Individuals pray on their own to receive the gospel on their own. We receive the gospel ourselves by faith, not through proxy prayers. We receive the gospel ourselves. We have no human mediators that help us receive the benefits of the gospel. We receive it personally. Why would you need someone else to pray for your healing if that is a part of your reception of the gospel (i.e. your divine healing)?  

 

One stunning scripture that most opposes Simpson’s view is where Paul, writing to the Galatians, said that it was because of his ailment that he preached the gospel to them. Notice it was not in spite of his ailment, but rather it was because of his ailment that he preached the gospel to the Galatian believers. How can a pillar of the gospel be divine healing, but Paul preached the gospel to them because of his ailment? This would be contradictory at best, and at worst Paul preached an incomplete gospel. Moreover, according to Simpson, one of the main remedies of the gospel was the reason Paul preached the gospel to the Galatians. How could Christ’s redemptive work include physical healing when Paul did not experience that physical healing and was a cornerstone of why he preached to the Galatians? Paul’s ailment was the reason that the gospel was preached to the Galatians. Not only that, but the Galatians did not despise him or scorn him for his ailment, but received him as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. If physical healing is part of the atoning work of Jesus Christ, then the Galatian believers should’ve rejected Paul and scorned him and despised him, but rather they receive him as an angel of God. Although divine healing does happen by the sovereign will of God, the true gospel that Paul and the Apostles preached does not necessarily include divine healing in Christ’s redemption. Paul wrote, “You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus (Gal 4:13-14 ESV).” It would seem that Paul’s ailment was necessarily part and parcel to his message that the “word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18).”

Moreover, how many people throughout Christian history have had the opportunity, like Paul, to preach because of a disability, ailment, or sickness that they would not otherwise have had had they not been disabled, sick, or had some other infirmity? I think of more recent examples such as Joni Eareckson Tada (paralysis), Nabeel Qureshi (cancer), and Nick Vujicic (born without limbs). I also think of Krista Horning’s Book Just the Way I Am: God's good design in disability, which highlights families and individuals with disabilities and how they glorify God in and through their disabilities. This book is magnificent! Every page is beautiful pictures of people affected by disabilities and their scripture and messages that they would share of Christ and his glorious gospel.

"Just the Way I Am" by: Krista Horning

[12] All these people have had extraordinary opportunities to preach the saving message of Jesus Christ because of their illnesses, and disabilities that they would not have had had they not been disabled or sick. Have these people preached an incomplete gospel? No! They have gained a greater audience because of their trying circumstances. I would suggest that their trials strengthen their message because these three high-profile people have embraced the message of the gospel despite their trying circumstances. These three people are not preaching an incomplete gospel or only three aspects of Simpson’s gospel. They are presenting the entire council of God while their suffering and hardship are not lifted. Simpson adds the element of healing to the gospel whereas Tada, Qureshi, Vujicic, and Paul have preached the gospel and found bigger platforms for the spread of the gospel than they would have had had they not had their ailments.

 

I have observed that the view that healing is bound up in the atoning redemptive work of Christ is a convenient theology for those who are not chronically ill, disabled, handicapped, or face some other debilitating malady. If we look at the global number of people affected by disability put out by the World Health Organization they estimate that up to 18% of the world’s population experience some degree of disability.[13] They record, “around 720 million people have difficulties in functioning with around 100 million experiencing very significant difficulties.”[14]

This means that up to 720 million people have some physical difficulty in functioning and 100 million people have very significant difficulty in functioning. What has Simpson’s Fourfold Gospel done for them? It is not a stretch to conclude that several million people out of that 720 million figure of the global population are Christians. Have those people not received the true gospel of divine healing that live with a permanent disability? Moreover, Simpson’s teaching places a harsh burden on those Christians who struggle under such devastating challenges. This theology places an extra burden on people compounding their suffering unnecessarily. This theological perspective communicates that something is profoundly wrong with people who are handicapped, disabled, chronically ill, or face some other form of physical challenges. This theological view is pastorally cruel.

Furthermore, Simpson seems to reflect the views of his times and was deeply affected by Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science), Ellen G. White (founder of Seventh Day Adventism), and Bibelheim in the small Swiss town of Männedorf, and then later one of his extremely controversial contemporaries John Alexander Dowie.[15] One thing that we can certainly attribute Simson and his perspective to is the beginnings of divine healing, its modern application, and the excesses that we see in the New Apostolic Reformation. Apart from his contribution, we might not be where we are—having to deal with the aberrations and extremes that are so prevalent in the modern Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation and further spreading its leaven (Gal 5:9) broadly throughout evangelicalism. I have only seen this teaching hurt people and shipwreck Christian’s faith (1 Tim 1:19). The organization that Simpson founded, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, still summarizes its Christological DNA on Simpson’s Fourfold Gospel. Even their mission branding incorporates “Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King.” I would beg the Christian & Missionary Alliance to likewise reconsider it as one of the staples (DNAs) of its global ministry and gospel proclamation.

Christian & Missionary Alliance Mission DNA

[16] The Christian and Missionary Alliance may forfeit the opportunity to minister to the global disability community as a result of their belief that the atonement of Christ includes physical healing. For these multiple reasons, we must abandon this perspective and leave it behind as the deviation from biblical Christianity that it is.

 

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[1] Access Fourfold Gospel here https://cdn.cmalliance.org/wordpress/cmalliance/the-fourfold-gospel.pdf

[2] Simpson, A. B. (1890). The Four-Fold Gospel. The Christian Alliance Publishing Co. 73

[3] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 74

[4] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 82-83

[5] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 89

[6] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 86

[7] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 79

[8] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 87

[9] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 87-89

[10] Bindley, T. Herbert, and F. W. Green, (1950) The Oecumenical Documents of the Faith; the Creed of Nicaea, Three Epistles of Cyril, The Tome of Leo, The Chalcedonian Definition (London: Methuen), 91-92

[11] Simpson, The Four-Fold Gospel. 92-93

[12] Horning, K. (2001). Just the Way I Am: God’s Good Design in Disability. Christian Focua Pubn.

[13] World Health Organization & World Bank. (2011). World report on disability 2011. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/44575. 27

[14] World Health Organization & World Bank. World report on disability 2011. 27

[15] John Alexander Dowie. (2022). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Alexander_Dowie&oldid=1120446947

[16] What We Believe. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2022, from https://cmalliance.org/who-we-are/what-we-believe/

 

The Physics of Heaven Book Review

Front Cover of "The Physics of Heaven"

The book "The Physics of Heaven" By Judy Franklin and Ellyn Davis (with chapters written by many New Apostolic Reformation leaders) reads like a manifesto for a sort of New Age-Christian mixture. It acts like a syncretistic think-tank (Syncretism is mixing of occult and religious systems with Christianity). It's so bizarre that it's hard to know where to start. It honestly feels like the authors are just floating their craziest ideas of how they imagine Christianity should mingle with all sorts of New Age and Occult practices. Because it is a well known and well reviewed book, I would like to take a shot at reviewing and analyzing it. My questions arise virtually on page one. Are there vibrations in the supernatural that we need to tap into? No! Does God play games with people? No! does He hide himself in sound and light? No! Does God speak to people through “hints” of other things like sound? No! Does God speak through sound, light, energy, frequencies, vibrations, and quantum physics? No! Unfortunately this book espouses all of these ideas, and takes all of the scriptures it uses out of context and applies meanings to them that the original scriptural authors did not intend. If you want a smorgasbord of New Apostolic Reformation teaching and “seers” as they are called, then this is your book. Chapters in this book are written by Ellyn Davis, Judy Franklin, Bill Johnson (Apostolic leader of Bethel Church, Redding, CA), Jonathan Welton (founder of the Welton Academy Supernatural Bible School), Ray Hughs (author of Sound of Heaven Symphony of Earth), Dan McCollum (Co-founder of the Bethel School of the Prophets and Founder of the activate school of prophecy), Cal Pierce (director of Healing Room Ministries Spokane, WA), Larry Randolph (author of the books User Friendly Prophecy, Spirit Talk and The Coming Shift), David Van Koevering (Quantum Physicist & Inventor), and Beni Johnson (Wife of Bill Johnson and author of Experiencing the Heavenly Realm: Keys to Accessing Supernatural Experiences) The forward for “The Physics of Heaven” is written by Kris Vallatton (Prophet and senior leader at Bethel Church in Redding, CA). There is also a chapter by the late Bob Jones (who was a self admitted sexual abuser).

The authors say in the preface that this is not a theological book, but then go on to state their clear purpose to “share what we have discovered so you can go on your journey of discovery with God into the realms of sound, light, energy, vibrations, and quantum physics.” That is clearly a theological goal. Their poor eschatology is also on display in that they teach that the world will get better and better until the reign of Christ is inaugurated by our dominion of it. The Bible is clear that the end times will become worse as in the days of Noah, not better (according to Jesus). 

This book also teaches that “the veil between the earthly realm and the heavenly realm is thinner than ever (kindle location 190).” They describe how they believe that Jesus is about to release a sound from heaven that will allow us to exceed the works that Jesus did. Furthermore, this book teaches that “bringing heaven to earth is our mandate (kindle location 228).” It is often written “the Lord told me” or “I feel like the Lord has told me.” These types of statements detract greatly from the sufficiency of scripture, and make their personal revelations from God greater or at least tantamount to God's all-sufficient revealed word as found in the canon of scripture. 

One of the writers explains a vision they had in which they observed God the father at the beginning of time and witnesses him creating. In the vision they heard him say, “let there be light.” I don’t think it is necessary to explain how preposterous this vision is. The vision that is explained is that she saw God the Father before the universe was created! There is not one biblical vision even remotely close to this one...this is a whopper! 

There are furthermore incredible Dominionism and Kingdom Now theological perspectives clearly espoused. Dominionism is the aberrant theological view that God has relinquished dominion of this world to the devil, and we as his church should take back dominion from him. Is the Logos, the word that holds all things together, Christ himself, available that we could have his nature? Absolutely Not! But this book espouses this very idea. The Apostle Peter is described in this book as carrying the “Let there be light” Spirit of God within him. This book is a prime example that not just anyone should be allowed to exegete and explain scripture (James 3:1). “The Physics of Heaven” claims quite clearly that the New Age has “uncovered truths” that the church has somehow missed or lost and should seek to retrieve them. 

Another astounding quote from the book is “whenever you see a counterfeit, it means a real exists...a lie just proves the existence of a truth...I decided to examine the New Age thought and practice for anything “precious” that might be “extracted” from the worthless (kindle location 366).” She wrote this to justify her syncretism with New Age teaching and truths. The author here admits her own syncretism. Moreover this book is produced and endorsed by Bethel. Chapters were written by Bethel leaders and approved as a Bethel resource. Bethel cannot claim anymore that they are not dabbling in the New Age, since their leadership is promoting and engaging in it themselves. There are a large amount of passages that indicate that God is giving a new revelation which also detracts from the sufficiency of scripture. God’s revelation is closed. Nothing can be added to or taken away from divine revelation. 

Bob Jones describes in his chapter that God is preparing us for a “Second Pentecost” that will bring us into harmony with God, but Jesus has already brought us into harmony with God through his vicarious atoning death on the cross! He explains that God is also giving people the power of “blank checks” and “holy confiscation” for a great transfer of wealth. He says that we have not received the fullness of Pentecost. Jones ridiculously says that when God breathes on you it smell like apples. Really, I’m not joking that is in the book! He further espouses that there are positive vibrations in us and when we vibrate that we are opening a portal to heaven. Bob Jones further says that we are being prepared to receive the “priesthood of Melchizedek.” Sorry Bob, but that priesthood only belongs to one person, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 5, 6:20, 7)! He explains further that these vibrations can change DNA to have a genetic structure in harmony with God. 

Back Cover of "The Physics of Heaven"

Bill Johnson’s chapter says that “no revival has even made it a priority to leave a spiritual inheritance to the next generation (kindle location 540).” However, he is only looking at so called charismatic revivals whereas all the real revivals of history have carried on a missions flame for generations. Furthermore Johnson teaches that there are “unclaimed mantles” when he says, there are anointings, mantles, revelations, and mysteries that have lain unclaimed, literally where they were left, because the generation that walked in them never passed them on (kindle location 545).” What Johnson is saying here is that there are secrets and mysteries that we have missed in our faith which sounds an awful lot like Gnosticism. Gnosticism was an early Christian heresy that was an overemphasis on secret knowledge in respect to faith. And furthermore, this is why we have the Bible, so that we do not miss anything. We have everything we need in the scriptures. They are sufficient and in them God has communicated everything necessary for faith and life, worship and service. Johnson later on in this chapter describes that Christians must “unlock” mysteries of God. This chapter describes a dangerous precedent that God would give us “extra-biblical revelations” and that we should be searching for them. Johnson also intimates that God would never “make people sick” I guess he ignores the passages of scripture where God does send pestilence, sickness, disease, death, and the like. I guess he must have a hard time with the book of 1st and 2nd Kings where God smote many of the wicked kings of Israel, or for that matter the whole Old Testament and many parts of the New Testament (e.g. Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:1-11 Blindness to Saul Acts 9:1-9 Elymas the Magician Acts 13:9-12).

In other passages the authors connect healing power with the emission of “powerful pulsing magnetic fields” and that this in some way indicates that we must tune in to those frequencies. In that same section they talk about how shamans, psychics, faith healers, and Hawaiian kahunas, etc. during times when they heal people become one with the earth’s geoelectric micropulsations. These healing practitioners are Animistic in origin and clearly demonic. Those types of healers clearly use the power of the devil and we should avoid such practices not dabble in them. 

Jonathan Welton’s chapter again denotes the importance of proper exegesis, because he doesn't do any. He begins his chapter with a scripture from 1st John 2:27 in which he claims it teaches that we should not ignore counterfeit gods. According to Welton, we should not be afraid of counterfeits because “whenever there is real, there is sure to be a counterfeit (kindle location 662).” What he is missing is that this passage in 1st John is actually warning people about false teaching and anti-christs. The Apostle John is warning them to “abide in Christ” as Jesus himself exhorted and prayed for us in John 17. In other words do NOT seek after other gods or counterfeits, but abide or stay in Christ. This passage of scripture actually teaches against what he is proposing. This is not about looking at counterfeits so you can know how to recognize the real! Even his own analogy breaks down. How do bank tellers spot a counterfeit? By handling the real thing enough that when a counterfeit is handled they can spot it immediately. Further on in the chapter he says that “if there is a counterfeit, there is an authentic that we need to find and reclaim (kindle location 679).” This is so dangerous. Basically, he is saying go search in all religions for the truth because if there is falsehood then there must be truth somewhere hidden in there. He claims the “counterfeit miracles prove that there are real miracles available to the church (kindle location 679).”

Further on in that same chapter Welton says something so blasphemous I need to highlight it in this review. ““Are psychics and New Agee’s operating in real power?” The answer is yes, but they have climbed in as trespassers. They have not accessed the spirit realm through Jesus (kindle location 726).” The Bible thoroughly forbids New Age, Occult, Mystic, Animistic, and Sprit World engagement! And to say that we could access the spirit world through New Age practice and just do it in Jesus name is a serious deviation from Christian Orthodoxy and practice. To take it one step further Welton writes that, “New Age has Counterfeited, such as having a spirit guide, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and more. These actually belong to the church, but they have been stolen and cleverly repackaged (kindle location 759).” This is so far out of bounds. Furthermore, it is impossible to claim that spirit guides, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance, and clairaudience practices ever belonged at anytime to Christianity! This claim is completely afield. Not just afield, but Welton is not playing in the same stadium. I would dare say, we are not even playing the same game. This is undeniably an un-Christian message (Lev. 19:26; 31, Lev. 20:6, Deut. 18:10-13, 1 Chron. 10:13, Gal. 5:19-20, Acts 19:18-19, 1 Jn. 4:1).

Ellyn Davis in the next chapter asks, “could it be that God has given us other ways to sense the unseen and unheard (kindle location 886)?” My answer to her is if we needed it God would have told us. But rather He has not explained to us how to tap into the unseen and unheard in his word, but rather quite clearly forbidden such practices. She makes a case for crystals and essential oils usage when she describes that they have vibrations. Crystals have for a long time been associated with  the Occult and New Age practice. I would say the usage of crystals for such New Age purposes are off limits for those who claim Jesus as Lord! She further described how she believes that the Holy Spirit has given her pieces of the puzzle to the sounds of heaven. Again these are incredible fabrications that arrogantly seek to prop her up as some sort of “super-Christian.” But are these claims legitimate? Moreover is this subterfuge even a necessarily a Christian claim? Where is this in Christian tradition or the scriptures that we should seek the “sounds of heaven?” Nowhere. I feel the need here now to make a short list of things that should be considered off limits for Christians. Off limits Occult activities include fortunetelling, crystal ball gazing, numerology, or seeing psychics, tarot cards, Ouija boards, automatic writing, seances, mediums, spiritism, Astrology, horoscopes, I Ching, hypnotism, Transcendental Meditation, or Far Eastern Meditation, crystals, Witchcraft, Satanism, Voodoo, channeling, reincarnation, astral projection, ESP, New Age Movement, and any form of necromancy. 

Ray Hughes continues the atrocious handling of theology when he says that “we have been given the creative ability to release the sound of God (Kindle Location 955).” This is so off base it is hard to know even where he is getting this beside his own imagination. I can think of no biblical basis for this theological statement. And it is a theological statement because it makes a claim about God that He is a God who has given us the creative ability to release His sounds. Any statement about the nature or activity of God is a theological statement. So their claim that this is not a theological book is false. The whole book presumes to explain God’s nature and ways. Hughes further says, “with every revival, there has been a release of new music or new sound. Whether the music releases revival, or whether the revival releases the music varies from generation to generation. However, the sound changes as God’s people respond to what God is doing and saying (kindle location 982).” The preposterous claim that sound or music “releases” revival is especially appalling. Revival, or true historical biblical revival is a sovereign act and impetus of God, not of any music or sound that releases it. There is not one biblical precedence for this view. (See Blog There’s Gonna Be a Revival in This Land). The Christology of Hughs, and subsequently Bethel, is seen in his words, “we bring to life the full meaning of Emmanuel—Christ with us, Christ revealed in us (kindle location 1037).” Do we bring life to the full meaning of Immanuel Christ with us? No, Jesus is Immanuel “God with us.” We add nothing to his nature, or work. We are only witnesses to and recipients of his salvation, vicarious death, and victorious resurrection! We only take part by receiving Him in faith. This goes in the direction of the “little gods” or “little christs” theology. Which is taught in the New Apostolic Reformation. Christ is truly revealed in us, but we dot NOT bring to life the full meaning of Emmanuel! He himself is the eternal incarnate word of God, and we give no meaning to his incarnation. 

Dan McCollum talks about the “God Vibration” and makes his erroneous claim, “God’s voice and the sound of angels can also be heard and experienced by man. A whole new realm of encounter awaits those who possess three simple qualities: expectancy, intentionality, and intimacy (kindle location 1162).” Is there a secret realm that awaits man where we can hear the audible voice of God and sound of Angels? No, that is never promised to us as Christians. God never promises that we will hear his audible voice. If we want to hear God’s voice then we should read his word. If we want to hear it audibly then we should read it out loud. Likewise, God never promises Angel encounters as a result of our expectancy, intentionality, or intimacy. This is extra-Biblical teaching, and is perilous for us as Christians. He closes his chapter by saying, “Intimacy is the incubator of increased encounters from the supernatural realm (kindle location 1175).” This sounds wonderful that God would bless intimacy like this, but can he link that to any biblical precedence? This I am afraid could lead to a works salvation. Paul wrote, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him (Colossians 2:6).” How have we received Jesus? By grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), that is how we must continue to walk in Him. This type of teaching is a slippery slope. One where we slide back into a works gospel like the Galatians had. They were again trying to “do” something to keep their salvation and to attain their own sanctification. Jesus through the Holy Spirit is the justifier and sanctifier of the brethren. This teaching is perilous because it could lead people into a gospel of works.

Cal Pierce in his chapter describes angelic encounters. He first describes an angelic encounter he had with the “energy angel” who prophesied to him about the current “energy crisis.” He described how the angel went back to his hotel room with him. The angel spoke about how if we continue to draw resources from the planet they will run out, but if we draw resources from “above" they will never pollute the planet and never run out. Pierce said that the angel told him about a “water car” and then disappeared. The angel soon returned with a scroll in his hand and on it were the blueprints for a car powered by water. The angel said he was an engineer and said he could show Pierce how it worked through the power of water and light. The angel then said that he had been “walking with” Pierce for thirty years.  Pierce told the angel that he was amazed by seeing an angel. The angel replied that he was amazed too, because he had been trying to get Pierce’s attention for thirty years. This is so outlandish it is hard for me to believe that I have to write a real serious and circumspect critique. It was hard not to laugh as I read these absurd claims. The reason that I feel like I need to write this critique is because “The Physics of Heaven” has received an enormous amount of praise on internet platforms where books are sold, and only very few negative reviews. Pierce goes on to described an encounter with a man who “God had taken to heaven and shown how to produce four dimensional objects with sound (kindle location 1224).” This man claimed that he had used sound to project a miniature house into existence. Pierce went on to elaborate on what the “energy angel” revealed to him, “He said that because God spoke His creative will, man can also speak words that create (kindle location 1231).” Is this true in any sense? No! Our words do not create! Only the sovereign creator God has the power to create anything “ex-nihilo” (out of nothing). This is an outworking of the “little gods” theology that describes that everything that God is, we are too, and have the same capabilities within us. Pierce further argues that angels obey the command of the word of the Lord and in the same way they obey and enact our word and bring them to fruition. He closes his chapter with the idea that, “Angels are around you to activate the revelation of the truth that you speak out into its creative form (kindle location 1245).” All in all, Pierce claims that he encountered the “energy angel” who gave him plans to build a water powered car, encountered a man who went to heaven and God showed him how to create little houses with sound, and as a result teaches that angels help “activate” our words when we speak the truths that we speak! Again this is so far off the mark that I believe that Pierce is not in the same ballpark. Moreover, I believe he is not even playing on the same team. As stated before these authors are not playing the same game as the Christian church of antiquity. 

Larry Randolph in his chapter says that the, “spiritual discoveries of the New Age movement could be likened to the time in the Old Testament when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant from Israel. In both cases, then and now, that which belongs to the church fell into the hands of unbelievers. So, in order to posture ourselves for the next move of God, like King David, we must take back what is ours. Certain dynamics such as synesthesia, quantum physics, and “vibrations” are God-stuff, and we must not be afraid to seize what belongs to the Creator of all things (kindle location 1358).” This is apostasy! Here Randolph takes a historical narrative passage of Scripture, that is not meant to be prescriptive but rather descriptive of historical events, and makes them have spiritual meanings that they do not have. Randolph here does some pretty creative exegetical calisthenics. There is no way that the Philistines stealing the Ark of the covenant has a parallel to the New Age “stealing” practices from Christianity that we must steal back. This is absolute hermeneutical rubbish! 

This book continues in this vein until it mercifully comes to an end. This is just a small sampling of the preposterous and erroneous teaching found in this book. I highly discourage you from reading “The Physics of Heaven.” I wanted to bring your attention again to two points. This book is obviously false teaching of the most flagrant manner, and second it is inextricably linked to Bethel Church, Bill Johnson, and the New Apostolic Reformation. It has chapters written by all the senior leaders of Bethel, and approved by and sold in the Bethel internet store. People cannot say anymore that there is no false teaching at Bethel. This book is hard evidence that the teaching and beliefs of the main senior leadership at Bethel are aberrant. If you must read “The Physics of Heaven” please know that there is egregious biblical, theological, and even scientific errors on almost every single page. Keep your heresy radar on full alert as you read! Our hope is not found in any mysteries of sound, light, energy, vibrations, Quantum Physics, angelic experiences, or other New Age chicanery, but rather in Christ and Christ alone is our great and everlasting hope.