Has the evangelical theology called “Name It and Claim It” gone and lost it? Author Dan McConnell thinks so. The Modern Faith Movement has made extraordinary claims concerning health and wealth, but have they gone too far? McConnell, himself a Pentecostal and graduate of Oral Roberts University, aims to show that not only are the teachings of the Modern Faith Movement undeniably linked to the beliefs of New Thought Metaphysics, but they are also biblically inaccurate as well. A Different Gospel is an excellent critique of “Name It and Claim It” teaching and provides a biblical perspective on the controversy.

Of primary concern for the reader is the author’s claim that Faith theology is grounded in New Thought Metaphysics and not the Bible. This “cultic” connection began, according to McConnell, in the teachings of the late E.W. Kenyon. There is ample evidence provided that Kenyon used the principles of Metaphysics to create a “Christian Science” of his own. What was this science? It was a radical new way to view the world, a way in which you can harness the power of the spiritual “laws.” E.W. Kenyon and the Faith movement have, according to McConnell, accepted a worldview that is rooted in metaphysics and Gnosticism. This is not the first time these ideas have infiltrated the Church. Historically, the Church has pushed away from the harsh realities of the physical realm in a quest for freedom from it. However, freedom is not found by leaving this world or ignoring it, but by walking through it in the power of Christ.

McConnell dedicates a chapter to each of the Faith doctrines of knowledge, identification, faith, healing, and prosperity. In each case it seems that the Faith movement has strayed from healthy doctrine in order to support its ever-present “formulas.” Positive mental attitude, for example, may be the most distinctive faith formula. The idea is that our thinking forms our belief, and so we must begin to think and then confess what we want to believe. By so doing we tap into the supernatural “laws” through our belief, and that’s when the mountains move. Unfortunately, this is hardly the teaching of Scripture. The resounding problem for this teaching is that the Bible calls us to a relationship with God, and not to become a “Jedi” of some spiritual “force.” In Faith teaching, we are the ones who must make the supernatural happen, and we are the problem if it doesn’t. As McConnell says, in Faith teaching, “A man’s faith is placed in his own faith: the optimism of his thinking and the ‘positiveness’ of his confession” (p. 146).

In regards to healing, McConnell makes an excellent point by raising the question: Did Paul operate “Name It and Claim It”? For example, Paul wrote: “…I left Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Tim. 4:20). Further, how do you deal with Job? The Bible does not guarantee healing on either demand or command, and to teach that it does creates guilt and denial in a fallen world that needs no more of either. The Faith teachers have even gone so far as to teach that they no longer need medicine because they have faith. Faith teaching is very dangerous in this regard, because it has caused many people to deny the use of vital treatments.

Of equal concern is the effect on the Body of Christ in community. Imagine being sick, or even mentally disabled in a church with these teachings. How painful to be the problem, and to believe that because you have an ailment, your faith just isn’t good enough. In time of trouble, shouldn’t the Church nurture and care for the weak? McConnell writes: “Because of the belief that listening to a ‘negative confession’ can infect one’s faith, not many in the Faith Movement are willing even to be around, much less listen to, those who are seriously ill in their own churches” (p. 166).

Faith teachers apply the same “confessional” principles to wealth. The Faith Movement’s excesses in this area are vast and simply astounding. In a world in which half the population lives on less than two dollars a day, it is offensive to teach that there is a “law” of wealth that we all have rights to attain by our confession. God’s ever present concern for the poor and His biblical warnings about the dangers of wealth ought to serve as sharp rebuke to such “wealth teaching.” God promises He will supply our need. It is sad and discouraging that Faith teaching promises to meet our every desire. “As with its doctrine of healing, the Faith theology teaches that if a man is poor, he has only himself to blame” (p. 174).

If I could fault this book for one thing, it would be for not offering a fully satisfying alternative for our involvement in the spiritual world. I suspect the book comes short because of the author’s perspective that God is responsible for everything that happens. It is important for us to realize our role in the unfolding story of life, and the power of our relationship with God. In the end, the book A Different Gospel is an excellent biblical analysis of the Modern Faith Movement. I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the biblical problems with “Name It and Claim It,” and the philosophical influences that inspired it.

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