Bill Johnson, IHOP, & Ancient Heresy Reborn
This discussion is based on an article tha that Bob Dewaay wrote for Critical Issues Commentary that he hasn’t yet published entitled “An Invasion of Error: A Review of Bill Johnson – When Heaven Invades Earth“. Johnson is closely associated with IHOP in Kansus City. Much of what Johnson teaches is also promoted by IHOP.
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An Outline of the Discussion
- Much of what was discussed revolves around a book by Bill Johnson, a pastor in Redding, California, called “When Heaven Invades Earth.” The book details formulas for performing miracles. Bob contends that once a miracle becomes the outcome of a prescribed formula, it is no longer a miracle, but a natural phenomenon.
- Jesus as portrayed as a person that could only do miracles in His Earthly ministry because He learned all of the proper formulas.
- A heretical view of Jesus is taught that says that He laid aside His divinity while on Earth. This is heretical because divinity, by definition, is not a quality that can be laid aside. If ever there was a time that Jesus was not divine, He never was divine to begin with, nor ever will be.
- Bill Johnson professes a teaching that is shared with IHOP (International House of Prayer) of an “Elijah Generation”, or an elite group of Christians that shows up at the end of the age, is greater than any other group of Christians in history, and do greater miracles than Jesus. Such teaching has its roots in the long-discredited Latter Rain movement that began in the 1940s.
- The ancient heresy of Kenosis is taught. Kenosis doctrine is based on a misinterpretation of Philippians 2, and teaches that Jesus “emptied Himself of diety”, and was merely a man during His Earthly ministry.
- Deity cannot be gained, lost, laid down, or set aside. It either is or it isn’t.
- Deity is defined as: non-contingent eternal existence.
- Johnson, et. al. operate under an anti-scholastic bias that downplays the importance of scripture in favor of spiritual experience. He states “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life”.
- The promotion of spiritual experience and special knowledge not found in scripture is a form of gnosticism, a heresy that dates back to the days of the Apostle Paul.
- The letter kills in that the letter is the law, and the law kills in that it points to Christ, but it is Christ that saves, not the law. The law is a schoolmaster as Paul says in Galatians 3:24
- Paul warned about gnosticism in his Corinthian letters, Colossians, and elsewhere.
- Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge, and gnosticism refers to a special knowledge, not found in scriptures, nor available to all Christians.
- Gnosticism leads to a strange form of panentheistic worldview.
- Bob likes to say that “There are no extraordinary Christians, but being an ordinary Christian is an extraordinary thing.”
- The teaching that there are “elite” Christians parallels the Catholic teaching of super-irrigation, or works that go above an beyond that which is required by ordinary Christians.
- “Those who feel safe because of their intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth. But to follow Him, we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know.” (Johnson: 76)
- Docetism is a heresy that says that Christ only seemed to have a body.
- People who follow false teaching, especially of the sort that Bill Johnson teaches, often decry the “cognitive” as antithetical to “walking in the spirit”. However, they don’t realize that they make their own decisions and form their own beliefs based on a “cognitive” understanding of the world that they like. They merely use a different “cognitive” standard than that of Bible-believing Christians. Gnosticism uses a subjective cognitive standard, as opposed to the objective standard of the Scriptures.
- Johnson claims that reaction to error often leads to more error. This stands in contrast to much of the New Testament in which Paul, and other New Testament writers, wrote epistles meant to correct error (Galatians, Colossians, Hebrews, etc.)
- We don’t question a false teacher’s motives or sincerity, we question their doctrine in light of Scripture.
- Elitism is a heretical view that some Christians are more spiritual than others, and somehow better Christians.
- Pietism is a reaction to “dead orthodoxy,” and has a heavy emphasis on experience.
- Fideism teaches faith for the sake of faith. It de-emphasizes the object of faith and replaces it with faith itself.
- Panentheism is often mistakenly adopted by Christians who misunderstand omnipresence. It teaches that God is in everything (as opposed to Pantheism that teaches that God is everything and everything is God.)
- The Emergent Church movement is largely panentheistic, and they don’t necessarily deny it.
- Bill Johnson’s similarities to IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Kansas City include:
- Common roots in Latter Rain theology
- Both target young people
- Elitism – The “Elijah Generation”
- Manifested Sons of God
- Bridal paradigm. A sensual relationship between Christ and believers.
- “Deeper Life.” A gnostic idea that there is a secret that will lead you to a deeper life with Christ.
- Bill Johnson’s connection to IHOP appears to be informal, though he has spoken at many conferences held by IHOP.
