The Similarity Between Today's Prosperity Message and the Catholic Indulgences of Old
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The Word of Faith Movement and the Cultic Renewal of Indulgences

By J. Danny Hone




Perhaps there is no greater perversion within the modern Charismatic movement than the perversions surrounding money and its doctrine of seed faith and the hundred fold return.  In this article I do not want to discuss the flaws of the prosperity gospel but rather a greater evil.  An evil similar to the one that existed within the church 500 years ago.  An evil that prompted Martin Luther to nail his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany on October 31st, 1517.  An evil that led to a reformation, from which grew the Protestant church.

At the time there were serious abuses within the church.  The large administrative structure of the church required a great deal of money to finance it.  To obtain this money, the church used many devices that hurt its spiritual nature.  During this same time of great need within the church some clergy lived like secular princes, building lavish palaces and indulging in corrupt financial practices.  In order to do just that Pope Leo X sent out indulgence peddlers who had been granted by papal power to grant remission of sins according to the amount of money given.  Among these peddlers was a man named Johann Tetzel.  He began selling "indulgences" in Germany in 1517.  Tetzel declared that anyone who bought an indulgence could choose a soul to be freed from purgatory, or shorten his own term in purgatory.  He told buyers:  "When the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs."

While Luther had other concerns about papal abuse it was the selling of indulgences that prompted him to hold a public debate on the matter.  In those days on holidays, such as All Saints Day, it was customary to hold public debates.  The subject of the debates were announced by nailing them to the church door.  So on October 31st, 1517 Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door little knowing that the can of worms he opened would split the church down the middle and usher in the reformation and with it Protestantism.

The indulgences of old promised that God would pardon people's sins in exchange for a gift to the church.  The indulgences sold today promise a return by God of up to one hundred fold with every gift.  At the heart of the matter of the selling of indulgences is the question as to whether God's favor can be bought or sold.  Luther held to the belief that God's benefits were not for sale.

"Every true Christian, be he still alive or already dead, partaketh in all benefits of Christ and of the Church given him by God, even without letters of indulgence." (1)

God's love, favor and blessings to us is based solely on God's attributes of kindness and grace towards us and not on the works we perform.  God's blessings can not be bought or sold.  Those who pretend to do so are involved in a great heresy.  They, like Pope Leo X, do so to maintain their "luxurious life of worldliness, and pay for the remodeling of the great Cathedral."  Today our churches build magnificent buildings which stand not for the glory of God but for the praise of men.  Many ministers live luxurious lives at the expense of the people.  The seed faith teaching is nothing more than heresy against God preached solely as a means to appeal to the greed within others so that ministries can build greater buildings and so it's founders can live in greater wealth.

In perhaps his boldest Theses, Luther asked:

"Again, why does not the Pope build St. Peter's Minster with his own money since his riches are now more ample than those of Crassus, rather than with the money of poor Christians?" (2)

Consider these words from the Apostle Paul:

"Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you.  After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.  So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well." (3)

"Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you." (4)

Luther asked the question:  "If you, being the man of God, claim to have the heart of God, then why are you taking from the resources of the people for your own unjust gain, instead of, as the Apostle Paul, working night and day so as not to be a burden to the people?"

Luther's question rings loud today.  Perhaps the marking of a true man of God is a person's beholding to this same attitude as Paul.  True ministers of the church are the parents of the church.  They do not bleed from the meager resources of the children to fulfill their own lustful desires.  True ministers are not in it for themselves.  They are moved to win the lost at any cost.  Selfishness and greed have become the cornerstone of the modern Charismatic and Word of Faith (WOF) movement.  This must cease if we are to be about our Father's business.

In time Luther's actions brought him before the diet in Worms, Germany where he was ordered to recant what he had said and written.  Luther responded:

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.  I cannot do otherwise." (5)

Shortly after this famous speech the emperor signed the Edict of Worms, which declared Luther an outlaw and pardoned from punishment anyone who would kill him.

Luther took a stand on a biblical principle he held to be true.  God's favor can not be bought or sold.  Like Tetzel of old many modern preachers, mostly within the Charismatic movement and the WOF movement, in their greed and lust to build bigger buildings and bigger ministries have been selling God's favor using catchy phrases and twisted scriptures.

Most of the perversions fall under the terms of "seed faith" or "hundred fold return" teachings.  The seed faith doctrine was made popular by Oral Roberts.  Oral uses the phrase:  "Have a need?  Plant a seed!".  According to Oral:  "God himself has established the law of sowing and reaping, of giving and receiving.  Under the New Covenant you can make every act of giving a seed planted which brings you into the SEED-FAITH lifestyle of sowing and reaping which I have been led to call 'A Blessing-Pact Covenant with God.'" (6)

What is SEED-FAITH and why is it a renewed selling of indulgences?  Oral teaches:  "The seed of giving is the seed of faith!  And the seed has to be planted BEFORE we can speak to our mountain of need to be removed!" (7)

The doctrine of seed faith is giving to a need and expecting from God a return on that gift.  Many even teach that you should name your seed before you plant it.  They encourage you to put an amount of money into their offering and claim something in return, like your uncle's salvation or a miracle debt reduction.  If you need a healing, plant a seed.  If you need more money, plant a seed.  How strangely similar to the selling of indulgences.

In many WOF services the "man of God" claims a special word from God that goes something like this:  "Before coming to this meeting tonight I was praying in the Holy Ghost in my room and the Spirit of the Lord came on me strongly and revealed to me that there are many people here tonight that are in debt to the point that creditors are calling you up.  Some of you have been paying late charges that should be going to advance the kingdom of God.  God has told me today that if you obey him this night and plant a seed in faith of $100.00 God is going to get involved and your debt situation will be miraculously turned around!  God will rebuke the devourer, and the cankerworm that has eaten holes in your pockets is being destroyed tonight as you give!  In Jesus name!"

With promises like that how can one afford not to give!  The WOF movement may not be guilty of claiming salvation in exchange for money but it sure does promise everything else in exchange for your giving.

As I was beginning to question the teachings of the WOF movement God brought a book across my path titled "From Ashes to Gold" by Patti Roberts.  Knowing that Patti was the first wife of Richard Roberts and that they had a very public ministry before their very public divorce I thought I would read it.  She gives the following reflections on the seed money teachings they preached:

"The seed-faith theology that Oral had developed bothered me a great deal because I saw that, when taken to its natural extremes, it reduced God to a sugar daddy.  If you wanted His blessings and His love, you paid Him off.  Over and over again we heard Oral say, 'Give out of your need.'  I began to question the motivation that kind of giving implied.  Were we giving to God out of our love and gratitude to Him or were we bartering with Him?" (8)

Patti goes on to write:

"The distinction may appear to be too subtle and I know Oral thought I was splitting hairs, but it seemed supremely important to me.  If we give to God because we think that by giving we have somehow placed Him in our debt and He is now required to come through for us and meet our needs, we have, I believe, perverted the heart of the gospel.  Our only motive for giving should be love.  When we encourage people to give in order to have their needs met or so that they will receive "a hundred fold return" I believe we are appealing to their sense of greed or desperation, neither of which seemed admirable to me.  It was a wonderful fund-raising tool, but I believe it gave people a very unbalanced view of a very important biblical principle.  At the time I was taking a humanities course from the university and my professor was discussing Martin Luther and the Reformation.  When we started looking at the abuses in the Catholic church that Luther had wanted to reform, I began to see parallels in our situation.  Luther was incensed by the church's practice of selling indulgences - offering forgiveness of sin and a shorter period of time in purgatory in return for gifts to the church.  I had a very difficult time distinguishing between the selling of indulgences and the concept of Seed Faith inflated to the degree to which we had inflated it.  Of course, Oral was more subtle.  He never promised salvation in exchange for gifts to his ministry, but there were still many people who believed that God was going to look at them in a kindlier way and perhaps that son would get off drugs or they would get their drunken husband into heaven if they gave money to Oral Roberts." (9)

How close is Seed-Faith to the selling of indulgences?  Oral writes:  "You know, I sometimes think we have put more faith in a coke machine than we do in God.  When you put your coin in the machine you have a contract or covenant with the coke company and the maker of the dispensing machine.  Therefore, the moment you put your coin in, you reach down expecting the can to come into your hand.  Well, you have a contract or covenant with One greater than a coke machine.  When you put in your SEED-FAITH you are to reach out your faith not to men, but to Jesus, expecting to receive more surely from Him than you do from the coke machine." (10)

Consider also this appeal for money:  "If you're broke, if you're at your wit's end, if you're out of a job, out of work, let me tell ya.  Not only are we gonna bless the world and preach Christ to millions and multitudes around the world, but you can be saved, yourself, by planting seed in this fertile soil called TBN." (11)

Any appeal for money that promises you something from God in return is not true biblical giving and is a perversion of the Gospel.  It is a heresy liken unto the selling of indulgences and as Luther drew the line, we too, must draw the line.  Salvation, God, and His benefits are not for sale.

Perhaps the greatest dangers of the seed faith theology is not in its similarities to Tetzel's selling of indulgences but its similarities to the metaphysical cults, specifically the Unity School of Christianity.  At least one of Oral Roberts' devotionals from his "Guide to Seed-Faith Living" came from the Unity School of Christianity. (12)

The Unity School of Christianity was founded by Charles Fillmore in 1889 in Kansas City, Missouri.  So the teachings of seed money were not invented by WOF founders but adopted from the cults.

I picked up a book at a rummage sale titled "Seed Money In Action" by Jon P. Speller.  It was included in a box full of Charismatic books from the 70's.  At the time I was still involved in a WOF church and had on occasion planted seed money.  I briefly thumbed through the book and put it on the shelf next to my John Avanzini and other seed faith books.  When I began to question the seed money theology I went to my seed faith books to examine them closer.  I picked up this book and began to read those first pages we always skip where the credits are listed.  I was shocked to discover in the preface the following credits:

"The Rev. Dr. Henry M. Ellis, who unlocked the secrets of the Scriptures in his 'BIBLE SCIENCE: THE TRUTH AND THE WAY'"

"Dr. Henry A. Carns, President of The College of Divine Metaphysics, who had added dimensions to the Study of Life and the Word"

"Mrs. Claire Waters, Teacher at the Unity Center of Practical Christianity in New York, a perfect teacher of Truth"

"The Rev. Dr. David N. Moore, a Minister and Practitioner who daily demonstrates his inspiringly high Consciousness" (13)

I had been indoctrinated and influenced by the kingdom of the cults!  How could popular Metaphysical cultic teachings have penetrated the WOF movement?  The answer I soon discovered is that it didn't.  The WOF was deeply rooted and birthed in the cults because of the Kenyon connection.  (For deeper insight into E.W. Kenyon and his cultic origins I recommend "A Different Gospel" by D.R. McConnell.)  Kenyon's teachings have been referred to as "nothing more than as Pentecostal Christian Science" by people who knew him intimately and at one time considered him a mentor.

The practice of seed money is simple.  If you plant a kernel of corn you reap two ears full of kernels.  So it is said to be with money.  If you sow money into good ground (ministries ordained of God) you will receive a return on your giving.  So the more you give the more you get.  This brings us to the hundred fold teachings made popular by Copeland's ministry:  "You give $1 for the Gospel's sake and $100 belongs to you.  Give $10 and receive $1000.  Give $1000 and receive $100,000.  I know that you can multipy, but I want you to see it in black and white and see how tremendous the hundred fold return is.  Give one house and receive one hundred houses or one house worth one hundred times as much.  Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane.  Give one car and the return would furnish you a lifetime of cars.  In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal." (14)

One can only wonder why Gloria omits the biggest part of the hundred fold return ("brothers, sisters, mothers and children").  To carry out her interpretation of the hundred fold return we can receive a hundred brothers, sisters, mothers and children for each one we give away.

One need only to stop and think about the implications of the hundred fold theology to realize the true falsehoods of such claims.  If the law of hundred fold return were true all these ministries would have to do is give away a few thousand dollars and all their financial needs should be met.  Instead of them receiving our money they would be knocking down doors to give so that God would bless them one hundred fold.  Think of it!  Every believer would live in mansions, all poverty would be wiped out and the church would never have lack again.

The danger of the hundredfold return theology is that it appeals to the greed within all of us and paints the wrong picture of God.  Instead of God being a loving and giving God towards us He is reduced to a being who must be bribed or otherwise motivated to act kindly on our behalf.

In the book, "The Agony of Deceit", Joel Nederhood writes that "whenever a religious leader or a church comes up with a scheme that confuses salvation with some kind of monetary payment, you have the worst kind of dishonesty.  That is like trying to sell something that is not yours to sell.  It is like trying to sell something again that has already been sold and paid for.  It is a scam.  It's trickery.  It's self-serving thievery." (15)

Paul warns us concerning the quest for wealth in the church when he writes:  "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (16)

Consider these words from Christ:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? . . . And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, o you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?  For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (17)

Did you notice any difference between Christ's preaching and that commonly heard in WOF circles today?  Christ is very clear that if we seek first God's kingdom God will take care of us.  Notice his comments on sowing and reaping.  One could only wonder if Christ was looking 2,000 years into the future and speaking against the theology of sowing and reaping today.  Hey, the birds don't sow or reap and yet God takes care of them.  Are you not worth more to God than a bird?  I think so.  God's faithfulness does not rest on our works but rather on His grace.  His provisions toward us have more to do with His faithfulness than with our works.  Otherwise, God is just a powerforce, and we are the vessels of power.  It would not be God's faithfulness that benefits us but rather our works.  Contrary to the teachings of the WOF movement our lack of faith does not nullify God's faithfulness!  (See Romans 3:3)  This is the fundamental truth for which Luther took a stand.  God's mercy, God's provision and God's faithfulness toward us can not be bought or sold.  When Simeon tried to buy a gift from God, Peter responded:  "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!  You have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right with God." (18)

As shocking as it may seem, there are just some things money can't buy.  God is one of them.  He is not for sale.  Sadly, today it appears that many ministers have more of the character of Simeon than they do of Peter.

When we give to get in return the heart of giving is changed.  That which the Bible teaches should be done in selflessness is done in selfishness.  Thus the heart of our giving is changed and with it the purpose.  When we give to others solely out of a need to better ourselves we have missed the purpose God established in our giving.  Giving to the poor or to the church is not about planting a seed and reaping a hundred fold in this life, it is about helping our brother in need.  It is about love.  True biblical love.  An unselfish love that gives and expects nothing in return.

When the church budget becomes so big that you have to drain the resources of the people to keep the building afloat you have missed the heart of God.  Better that you sell the building and meet in a tent than that you bleed your congregation of their resources.  Contrary to popular opinion, he who dies with the biggest church does not win.  When the church building and its maintenance become a bigger priority than the well-being of the people you have missed the heart of God.  When you preach more to gain an offering than you do to win a soul you have missed the heart of God.  When the extent of your ministry centers around the extent of your gain you have missed the heart of God.  When you rejoice more in a large offering than you do in a changed person you have missed the heart of God.  True Christianity is not about what others can do for you but about what you can do for others.

In his Theses Luther brings out some excellent points regarding the importance of charity.  Consider these Theses of Luther:

"Christians should be taught, he who gives to the poor, or lends to a needy man, does better than buying indulgences." (19)

"Christians should be taught, he who sees his neighbor in distress, and, nevertheless, buys indulgences, is not partaking in the Pope's pardons, but in the anger of God." (20)

"Christians should be taught, unless they are rich enough, it is their duty to keep what is necessary for the use of their households, and by no means throw it away on indulgences." (21)

"Wrong is done to the word of God if one in the same sermon spends as much or more time on indulgences as on the word of the Gospel." (22)

"Therefore, the treasures of the Gospel are nets, with which, in times of yore, one fished for the men of Mammon.  But the treasures of indulgence are nets, with which now-a-days one fishes for the Mammon of men." (23)

It is unquestionable that a type of selling of indulgences has penetrated the church once again.  During a recent TBN telethon a prophecy went out that if viewers would sow a seed of $2,000 into TBN God would get them out of debt, most within 90 days.  At one point they were bold enough to say that this telethon wasn't even for TBN's needs.  It was for God's people, so that as they give they could be set free of their debts.  The most shocking statement made came on Sunday morning (4-5-98) at 9:05 EST.  The guest minister pointed at his televison audience and said:  "Some of you have been reaping from this ministry without a single thought of sowing back into it.  When you sow into this ministry you are sowing into the Spirit of Galations that says that when you sow into the Spirit you will reap eternal life."

My friends, this is heresy.  It is the selling of indulgences.  It is an insult to all that Jesus came to do.  It is a different gospel.  Many, in the name of Christ, are seeking once again after the Mammon of men instead of the men of Mammon.  Greed and selfishness exist from the least to the greatest.  The grace of giving has been recreated into an art of investing.  In the pursuit for money the gospel of salvation has been exchanged for a gospel of finances.  As a result the moral structure of our church and community is slowly decaying away as the church focuses more on wealth than it does on righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  The cries to win the lost have faded as the pleas for offerings are sounded from the roof tops.

It was Christ who sternly warned us to . . . "Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed:  A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (24)

Paul also warned that among us there must not even be a hint of greed. (25)  Peter warned us too when he wrote:  "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have invented.  Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." (26)

Truly God's people need to be a giving people.  But let us return to giving from a pure heart and not from a motivation of greed.  The heresy that has been accepted in the church needs to be repented of and not tolerated.  Just as Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door nearly 500 years ago we too must take a stand for righteousness.  The selling of indulgences can not be tolerated in the name of Christianity, for neither God, salvation, nor His benefits are for sale.  "Every true Christian, be he still alive or already dead, partaketh in all the benefits of Christ and of the Church given him by God, even without letters of indulgence." (27)




Footnotes


  1. Martin Luther's Theses #37
  2. Martin Luther's Theses #86
  3. 2 Corinthians 12:14-15 (NIV)
  4. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 (NIV)
  5. The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 12, Pg. 460
  6. Holy Bible, Oral Roberts Edition, "My Personal Commentary", Pg. 9
  7. Oral Roberts, "Daily Guide to Miracles", Pg. 63
  8. Patti Roberts, "From Ashes to Gold", Pg. 63
  9. Ibid, Pg. 120-121
  10. Holy Bible, Oral Roberts Edition, "My Personal Commentary", Pg. 16
  11. Paul Crouch, "Praise the Lord" program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), 21 July 1992
  12. See "Christianity in Crisis", Hank Hanegraaff, Pg. 198
  13. Jon P. Speller, "Seed Money in Action - Working the Law of Tenfold Return", Preface Pg. 2
  14. Gloria Copeland, "God's Will is Prosperity", Pg. 54
  15. Joel Nederhood, "The Agony of Deceit", Pg. 233-234
  16. 1 Timothy 3:9-11 (NIV)
  17. Matthew 6:24-33 (NIV)
  18. Acts 8:20-21 (NIV)
  19. Martin Luther's Theses #43
  20. Ibid #45
  21. Ibid #46
  22. Ibid #54
  23. Ibid #65 & 66
  24. Luke 12:15 (NIV)
  25. Ephesians 5:2-3 (NIV)
  26. 2 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV)
  27. Martin Luther's Theses #37


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Updated Sat Aug 5, 2006 1:22pm MDT