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/

 

On the Birthday of Ana Katharina Müller Moore: Is Down syndrome Healable?

Our daughter Ana Katharina Müller Moore was born to us 13 years ago today. Apart from my salvation, and my wife she has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. She was born with Down syndrome. I knew it right away. As soon as I saw her after she was born, I knew or at least suspected that she had Down syndrome. See, I had been around Down syndrome my whole life. My awesome cousin has Down syndrome, I volunteered at camps and the special Olympics in High school, and was in youth ministries that had teenagers with Down syndrome, and other handicaps. 

My suspicions were confirmed a few hours later. our doctor came into our room and confirmed that she had all the signs of Downs. Down syndrome is a Chromosomal abnormality in which each cell of a person’s body have three chromosomes on the 21st strand. The effects of Down syndrome are wide ranging. Most people with Trisomy 21 have smaller heads, flattened nose, larger tongue, slanted or walnut eyes, grow slower, and are mentally challenged, usually altogether smaller, have an average shorter lifespan, higher chance of heart problems, slow muscle growth, heart defects, higher chance of diabetes, and early onset Alzheimer’s. In Ana’s case she has beautiful speckled eyes that are also a sign of Downs. Ana was born and had immediate complications. She was in the hospital for eight days. She then was released to us and we took her home. She was an immediate joy to us, although we had to grieve the loss of the child we though that we were going to have (a typical baby). I spoke with my cousins often and they could sympathize with me, but they said very clearly that they could not be sad for us because their sister has been such a Joy and blessing to them. 

We also were able to meet with my Uncle and my Aunt and talked with tears about life and Joy in living with Downs. We are more incredibly blessed than we could have ever imagined at being so abruptly thrust into the world of disability and particularly Down syndrome. Ten months into Ana’s life we noticed a strange movement she was making. It looked like she was losing the ability to control her head. Our pediatrician immediately sent us to a neurologist. He thought she might be having seizures. Sure enough, she was having seizures. We immediately had an EEG (electroencephalogram) which measures the electrical impulses in the brain. They discovered that she was having seizures and actually had a seizure disorder called infantile spasms. We immediately began taking very heavy medication. We had to give her shots in her legs every day for six weeks. We then changed to another type of medication for a longer period of time. She has been seizure free, Praise the Lord, Since she was about two years old.

Despite being seizure free she has experienced serious delays in speech, development, and learning. We have since then, been very active in helping her development through therapies, surgeries, and all sorts of other medical treatments. We have it easy. We hear people’s stories in the disability community and think, “WOW! we have it so easy.” We received a diagnosis several years ago of Autism also. It was very interesting experience for me. I thought, “Oh wow, that explains a lot.” It was not devastating…It was more of a relief. “Oh, wow that’s what it is, that makes a lot of sense, and God will help us as he always has.” I cannot tell you how often the Lord walked with us through the “valley of the shadow of death.” In fact, I have learned only faith deepening, Jesus reliance, life lessons in the valley of the shadow of death. I have never learned anything of true faith significance in the “green pastures.” I am very thankful for the green pastures, but I cannot tell you how often I have felt Jesus’ rod and staff guide me through those dark nights of the soul through deep and dark valleys.

Early on in our lives with Ana I was asked often by well-meaning Christians if I had faith enough that Ana would be healed from Down syndrome. I even had a person offer me drugs that were developed by a faith healer. He claimed that the drugs helped people with Down syndrome and their appearance to look less and less like they had Down syndrome. Thankfully, God gave me the grace to answer those people without blowing up in a ball of rage like "anger" from the movie Inside out. I often felt like it. Then someone approached Simone after giving her testimony about Ana and gave her a CD of Bill Johnson’s teaching. I remember it very distinctly. He claimed that cancer and other diseases were directly from Satan. I dealt with that theme in a previous post here.

At that time nearly 12 years ago, I became aware of Bill Johnson and his teaching. I actually threw that teaching CD in the garbage at that time. It was where I believed such teaching belonged. Not only was it personally offensive, but biblically offensive. I put it in the only place that I had for such things in my office at the time, the garbage. As we continued in our life with our lovely, caring, beautiful Down syndrome, Autistic, blond hair, blue speckled eyed, precious bundle of action of a daughter, we have come to love and cherish the Down syndrome that God has so beautifully and wonderfully woven in her while she was in her mother’s womb.  As a result of writing my book Divergent Theology I have become more and more aware of the “Healing Theology” of Bill Johnson and Bethel Church in Redding CA. 

One recent video that has surfaced from Bill Johnson wherein he claims that Down syndrome will be healed in mother’s wombs. In the following video Johnson says the following about Down syndrome. Beginning at the 12-minute mark and continuing to the 13-minute mark. Johnson says,

“I can no longer be satisfied with things that are humanly possible. We do them we feed the poor, We collect the money for missions, we build the buildings. We do all the stuff that’s humanly possible, but they are not the high point of our celebration. The high point of our celebration is the child in the womb that’s pronounced Down syndrome that Jesus heals before it is born. The resurrection that takes place from the dead those are our high points. The cancer that disappears, the deaf ears that pop open, the bipolar that is suddenly gone, the schizophrenic that is no longer that is now in their right mind, these are the things. This that we carry, that I carry, that we carry, I am in debt. I owe God fruit.”

Does my Ana need to be healed? Is Down syndrome even healable? As explained before Down syndrome is a genetic anomaly whereupon every cell in the whole body has three chromosomes as the very building blocks of the whole person from conception on. For Down syndrome not to be Down syndrome anymore every cell would have to have two Chromosomes again on the 21st strand. This would be beyond medically miraculous. That's some kind of X-Men genetic altering or something. The person would not be the same person anymore. I have several thoughts here on this. After I get over how personally insulting Johnson’s statements are, I have to look at what the Bible says about life in the womb, disability, and suffering.

1. God is completely sovereign over life in the womb, and forms it. Thus He forms those with Down syndrome in the womb for his glory and pleasure!

• Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11 ESV)
• "As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (ESV) John 9:1-3 
• “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalms 139:13-16 ESV)

2. God displays his glory in and through the difficulty and beauty of Disability and Down syndrome

• Matthew Henry, writing his commentary on John 9:3 says “God has a sovereignty over all his creatures and an exclusive right in them, and may make them serviceable to his glory in such a way as he thinks fit, in doing or suffering; and if God be glorified, either by us or in us, we were not made in vain. This man was born blind, and it was worthwhile for him to be so, and to continue thus long dark, that the works of God might be manifest in him.” 
• -Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible, John 9-
• “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 ESV

3. God is infinitely good, kind, and righteous, we also rejoice that He intentionally creates some to live with disabilities for His glory and for our good.

• "The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:21-31 ESV)

4. Jesus took on the minimizing "disability" of human form and was “found in appearance of a man” and let himself be disabled. In that He enabled us to know God and respond to Him by faith.

• “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8 ESV

5. He has called us to share in His sufferings. For us it includes Down syndrome which was ordained by His good hand.

• “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” Philippians 3:10 ESV

6. His grace is enough for anything that He has in His sovereign plan allowed.

• “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

7. God is good, and we trust His goodness in the midst of a full and joyful life with Down syndrome!

• “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalms 34:8 ESV

8. Down syndrome is a light and momentary affliction that is producing for us a weight of glory beyond all comparison.

• “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” 2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV

Our story is the joyful realization of all of these biblical principles mentioned. All of these things have happened for us as a result of disability and Down syndrome, illness, difficulty, and hardship. Not just the challenges, but the joys and exultation of this precious child that God has charged to our care. There are more joys, and awesome stuff than hardship actually. Furthermore, why would I want to trade a light and momentary affliction and the weight of glory to come for light and momentary relief in this world? That would be stupid, and unspiritual. I don’t want Ana to be healed! I want her with Down syndrome, and everything else that God in his wisdom has ordained. That is the only way I can even imagine her. Just like I want my other kids with all their awesome and quirky attributes, that God has given them. I have no deeper joy than to know my kids exactly the way He has created them! 

Lest you believe that this Down syndrome comment from Bill Johnson was a slip or just something that he was thinking, and it just came out clumsily. See the clip below where Prophet Brian Carn prophesied over Johnson that God was giving Johnson anointing over Down syndrome, and mental illness. Johnson seems to be receiving this “word” without reservation or objection. Brian Carn prophecies over Bill Johnson (starting at the 1:08 mark). He says...

“This may sound crazy to you, but a special anointing shall come upon you for the mentally disturbed. For the Spirit of God says, “You will see people with Down syndrome, with mental issues, I will set them free from the anointing on your life.” For I saw in the realm of the Spirit, wherever you reside, wherever you are from, around that region is a powerful spirit of oppression a powerful spirit of witchcraft. In the city outside of the city you are. And the Spirit of the Lord says, “I shall use you to spare that northern region (Does he mean Northern California?). For I prophecy, that the southern region shall fall in the water (does he mean Southern California?). But I will spare the northern region because of your heart for me.”  

Further on in the video Carn says “This is what the Lord is saying to me...You are my red in that region, you are my blood in that region.” This is so blasphemous to say that someone will be the blood of Christ in a place. Bill Johnson will not be the intermediary for Christ! “For there is one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus” and NO ONE ELSE!

“You (Bill Johnson) will teach them how to soak in my glory” 

Brian Carn says God is making a new covenant with Bill Johnson. However, there is only one covenant in the blood of Christ. God doesn’t make new covenants between individuals. He has made one covenant with man. This is blasphemy of the most egregious nature!

Carn also says, “I will give you (Johnson) an anointing to translate to different places” (teleportation is not a Christian practice rather an occult practice. It is however taught practiced and sought after at Bethel)

Prophet Brian Carn repeats Johnson’s wish to be someone who can deliver people form Down syndrome, but there is not one case of a child being “delivered,” “set free,” or otherwise not having Down Syndrome after being born with it. Like I said before it would be the very first time it has happened in history. This is quite a delusional claim. not to mention all the other bogus and spurious claims in this prophecy from Carn. 

One could deduce from these videos that Johnson and Carn and others in the Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation do not want people with Downs and that they might even be not worthy of life in the way that God has, in his wisdom, created them. Here is a wonderful video of a man with Downs asking the world to “Let us live.” This is what I would like to say to Johnson and the Word of Faith New and Apostolic Reformation. 

watch the "Let us live Down Syndrome campaign"

Before you think that these two instances are isolated instances in the Word of Faith/New Apostolic Reformation movements and their views on Down syndrome and disability, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland also tried to heal a girl with Down syndrome. The video below shows the tasteless and inappropriate outworking of the Word of Faith theology. They believe and teach that the Cross of Christ has purchased our health, wealth, and prosperity. If you can stomach it, watch the whole video where the Copelands try to heal several people with varied disabilities. At the 3:50 mark they begin to pray for a girl “suffering” from Down syndrome and not surprisingly she is not “healed.” This video displays for me the dark underbelly of the Word of Faith and New Apostolic reformation. The girl they pray for is a 28-year-old girl with Down syndrome. Kenneth Copeland begins to pray and says

“I speak in dominion over chromosomes, and I demand the proper count right now. Proper order, proper count, and I agree with Gloria for the redeeming of her time, that has been stolen from her, and she will live out the rest of her days in good health with a strong spirit, and a sound mind in Jesus name, Amen.” 

Copeland here speaks as if God got it wrong when he created her and did not give her the "proper count and order of Chromosomes," but this stands in direct contradiction to the several verses listed above that says God creates and forms people with disabilities for His glory. He also prays that her time would be redeemed. Kind of like the life she had lived up to that point was a waste, and God now has to correct the 28 years of lost time. Notice after praying in dominion over the girl’s chromosomes she is the same beautiful girl that God created all those 28 years ago. 

As we have seen before from the few points I have made previously these prayers for people to be healed from Down syndrome go against scripture in so many ways. 

(1) God is completely sovereign over life in the womb, and forms it and thus He forms those with Down syndrome in the womb for His glory and pleasure! 
(2.) God displays His glory in and through the difficulty and beauty of disability and Down syndrome 
(3.) God is infinitely good, kind, and righteous, we also rejoice that He intentionally creates some to live with disabilities for His glory and for our good. 
(4.) Jesus took on the minimizing disability of human form and was “found in appearance of a man” and let himself be disabled. In that He enabled us to know God and respond to Him by faith. 
(5.) He has called us to share in His sufferings. For us it includes Down syndrome which was ordained by His good hand. 
(6.) His grace is enough for anything that He has in His sovereign plan allowed. 
(7.) God is good and we trust His goodness in the midst of a full and joyful life with Down syndrome! 
(8.) Down syndrome is a light and momentary affliction that is producing for us a weight of glory beyond all comparison. 

These few reasons can show just how absurd and pastorally abusive this movement is, when they pray for people with Downs or want it to be healed. The reason it is absurd and abusive is the root of unbiblical and improper beliefs about the atonement of Christ. A Theological absurdity and abuse will always work itself out in absurd and abusive practices. For further study on the Word of Faith and New Apostolic view of the Atonement check out my book Divergent Theology.

Finally, I would like to close with very wise words from John Piper and how we are meant to respond to disability. SEE DISABILITY DON’T LOOK AWAY! SEE IT AND BE CHANGED! WE ARE CHRISTIANS!

As I celebrate the life and birth of our daughter who is fearfully and wonderfully made by a good and sovereign God, my eyes have been opened to see Down syndrome, and disability as a precious gift from God to cherish, and to hold on to with my feeble fingers for as long as God has given her to us.