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Kenneth Hagin Sr.)
Kenneth E. Hagin (August 20, 1917 - September 13, 2003) was a Pentecostal minister for about seventy years. He is often referred to as the "father of the modern Word of faith movement".
Hagin began his ministry after, he claimed, God miraculously healed him of a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease at the age of 17. He also claimed that he was raised from a deathbed in 1934 by "the revelation of faith in God's Word". There is no evidence known to exist regarding the original diagnosis.
Hagin was considered by his followers to be a dynamic preacher, teacher, and prophet known for preaching healing and prosperity through asking God for financial gifts, then claiming them by faith. Critics of the "Prosperity Gospel" movement consider his teachings to be controversial, even heretical.
Since its inception, his organization, Kenneth Hagin Ministries, grew to include numerous media outreaches and ministries. These include Faith Library Publications, with 65 million book copies in print; "RHEMA Praise", a weekly television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network; "Faith Seminar of the Air", a radio program heard on many stations nationwide and on the Internet; "The Word of Faith", a free monthly magazine with roughly 250,000 subscribers; crusades conducted throughout the nation; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; and the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center.
In 1974, Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA, which now has training centers in fourteen countries and has 23,000 alumni. In 1979, he founded the Prayer and Healing Center there to provide a place for the sick to come to "have the opportunity to build their faith". Its Healing School continues to be held free of charge twice daily on the RHEMA campus.
In 1983, two students at Oral Roberts University, Daniel Ray McConnell and Dale H. Simmons, accused Hagin of plagiarizing the works of several other preachers, including E.W. Kenyon , John A. MacMillan , and Finis Jennings Dake . Their charges were backed by other researchers, including W.R. Scott, William DeArteaga, and Derek Vreeland. However, in an article on the website of the Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society (the organization founded to preserve Kenyon's work), this accusation is refuted. KGPS states that because Hagin's books are transcribed from his sermons, there was no way to cite every source used in his books.
See also
Rhema Bible Church
External Links
Last updated: 05-23-2005 01:17:03
