"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies..." —2nd Peter 2:1
You may never have heard of Bishop Bill Hamon, but you should know who
he is. This man (pictured here with his wife, Evelyn) is one of the most
influential “prophets” in the apostolic-prophetic movement, which has
entered many charismatic churches — the fastest-growing churches in the
world according to church growth researchers.
Hamon’s also one of the most influential Charismatics in general — attending the invitation-only “Charismatic Leaders Council,” sponsored by Strang Communications (publisher of Charisma magazine), Jan. 15-16, in Lake Mary, Florida. Yet, Hamon’s teachings are some of the most unorthodox teachings in the church today.
Hamon’s Teachings
Hamon teaches that Christ can’t return to earth until Christians form a
“militant” army — under the leadership of modern apostles and prophets —
that will physically subdue the earth and start to establish God’s
kingdom in the earth’s governments. Hamon compares this army to the
Crusaders, who he describes as the church’s only bright lights during
the Dark Ages.
God’s
end-times army will achieve victory, in part, by striking God’s enemies
with blindness and calling down natural disasters on them — causing
entire nations to convert to Christ, according to Hamon. The apostles
and prophets will be so powerful that Christians who come into their
presence with sin in their lives will be struck dead. All members of the
army will become sinless and extremely powerful — as they become more
and more enlightened through new doctrines given by the apostles and
prophets — finally attaining their own immortality (this is Hamon’s
unorthodox take on the rapture). See these teachings in Hamon’s book Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God (pictured here).
Hamon’s Influence in the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement
The apostolic-prophetic movement’s most prominent leader may be C. Peter
Wagner (pictured here). Yet, Wagner admits that he got many of his views
from Hamon, calling Hamon one of his “closest prophetic colleagues” and
confessing his great admiration for Hamon (see page 11 of Wagner’s book
Changing Church and the foreword Wagner wrote to Hamon’s book
Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God).
Many in the apostolic-prophetic movement regard Hamon as one of the
most influential “prophets” today, and those who’ve endorsed his books
include Oral Roberts, Tommy Tenney, Cindy Jacobs, Emanuele Cannistraci,
David Cannistraci, Earl Paulk and Ed Silvoso.
Background on Bill Hamon
As the founder and bishop of
Christian International Ministries Network based in Santa Rosa
Beach, Florida, Hamon oversees over 600 churches in 19 countries (see
the list here), and he’s authored several books that have been
influential in the apostolic-prophetic movement, including Prophets
and Personal Prophecy (pictured here). He conducts popular seminars
that teach people how to prophesy. (I attended one at the Azusa Street
Centennial in Los Angeles last April, and the line of people went out
the door. His questionable methods for “activating” people into
prophetic gifting are topics for another post.) He also founded
Christian International School of Theology, from where he earned his
own two degrees: a bachelor of theology and a master of theology.
According to his Web site, he also was awarded an honorary doctor of
divinity degree in 1973 from an unnamed “national university,” which was
when he assumed the title “Dr. Hamon.”
Hamon also serves on the faculty of the
Wagner Leadership Institute, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Prophet-Apostle Hamon
In addition to the titles “Bishop” and “Doctor,” Hamon calls himself
“Prophet-Apostle.” In fact, he believes God has chosen him to restore
doctrines that the church lost through the ages and to reveal new
doctrines and final assignments.
Many of Hamon’s doctrines can’t be found in the Bible — but this doesn’t concern Hamon, who teaches that modern “apostles” and “prophets” give the church new doctrines that supplement those given by the original apostles and prophets. In Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God, Hamon says:
“He [Paul] also reveals that this anointing for divine revelation was not just given to the prophets of old but has now been equally given to Christ’s Holy Apostles and Prophets in His Church” (page 140).
This teaching — that new doctrines are needed to supplement Scripture
— is a mark of the cults of Christianity, like Mormonism. In contrast,
Protestants believe that Christians get their teachings from the Bible
alone, which God revealed through the original prophets and apostles.
Hamon’s New Doctrines vs. the Bible
While Hamon claims that his new doctrines supplement Scripture, they
also contradict it. The revelations given by the apostle John in the
biblical book of Revelation, for example, teach that the judgments
against the wicked will be brought by God, not Christians, and that the
rapture will be God’s means of sparing Christians from the effects of
those judgments, not a means of attaining their own immortality.
‘Manifest Sons of God’ Doctrine
Hamon’s teachings are consistent with the heretical “manifest sons of
God doctrine,” which teaches that a breed of super-Christians will arise
and subdue the earth. Another common strain of this doctrine is that
Christians are gods, whose divinity will be revealed — or using King
James Language — be manifested.
Read more about this doctrine here.
Supporters of this doctrine misapply the biblical teaching about the church being Christ’s body, using it to argue that the church actually becomes part of God. (See pages 266-267 of Hamon’s book Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God, where he seems to be misusing this teaching this way.) Also, in his books, Hamon capitalizes the words “Church” and “Bride” to show the church’s “union with Deity through Jesus Christ,” according to an explanatory note. Statements like these, which appear throughout Hamon’s materials, make it appear he is teaching that the church actually becomes part of God.
Of course, 2 Peter 1:4 does teach that we “participate in the divine nature,” but this refers to the Holy Spirit who indwells us, enabling us — as the passage goes on to state — to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” It does not teach that our nature actually becomes divine. The teaching that human beings can become divine is the same lie that Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden. SOURCE
