The 'classic faith' roots of the modern 'word of faith' movement

Abstract

Some proponents of the ‘modern faith movement’ claim that their faith teachings are fresh revelation or newlyrevealed truths from God; others believe they are heretical or cultic because of apparent similarities of teaching to New Thought metaphysics. In this article: the evangelical roots of some of the faith teachings will be identified. Some criticisms of their opponents will be evaluated and the possibility of bringing the opposing viewpoints nearer to each other will be investigated. Not all principles taught by the faith teachers are found to be suspect. However, many of the controversies could have been prevented if the principles at stake had been communicated in a better way. A more discerning understanding of the evangelical faith heritage common to both polarities should be accentuated.