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For someone who claims to be a prophet of God, anointed teacher, healing evangelist and witness to personal visits from angels and Jesus Christ, Benny Hinn missed a golden opportunity to correct a guest and defend the Bible recently in front of millions of faithful viewers.

Instead, Hinn compromised.

Gul Kripalani, seafood tycoon, chairman of the India Merchants Chamber and organizer for the highly anticipated and publicized “Festival of Blessings” in Bangalore, India, made a statement in response to a question from Hinn that left discerning Christians here in America both concerned and disturbed.

“Yesterday,” Hinn continues, “I ministered to members of Parliament, business and religious leaders here in New Delhi,” and stated a few moments later that, ”If someone had told me, my dear friend, Gul, that I would be here ministering to your members of Parliament, I would have said 'Impossible.'“

“Impossible”? Let's take a second look at this.

Again, Hinn told Gul Kripalani: “If someone had told me, my dear friend, Gul, that I would be here ministering to your members of Parliament, I would have said, 'Impossible.'“

After decades of alledged healings and miracles, visitations, visions, revelations, millions of followers and a lavish lifestyle--all of which is supposedly ordained of God--Benny Hinn says, “Impossible”?

That's certainly not what Hinn maintains on his website:

Nevertheless, Hinn thanks Kripalani, then asks him, “What are you expecting for Bangalore?”

“Pastor,” Kripalani said, “we are expecting, uh, anywhere between eight to ten million people in these three services. We are expecting mighty healings, uh, to be there; bondages to be removed. And, above all, Pastor, what I'm noticing in the last few weeks, unity amongst the various denominations of Christianity, and unity between Christians and others like Hindus' and Moslems', because we are all children of the one God.”

So there will be no doubt, whatsoever, as to what Gul Kripalani stated, here it is again in bold print: “And, above all, Pastor, what I'm noticing in the last few weeks, unity amongst the various denominations of Christianity, and unity between Christians and others like Hindus' and Moslems', because we are all children of the one God.”

Let there be no mistake. Gul Kripalani's statement that “...unity between Christians and others like Hindus' and Moslems'“--when used in conjunction with ”we are all children of the one God”--is not only foreign to the Bible, it smacks with New Age Movement terminology!

But more on that later.

Note that Hinn's immediate response to Kripalani's statement neither corrects Kripalani nor defends the Bible:

“I was amazed last night,” Hinn said. “Eighty-five percent [85%] of the audience were non-Christians, as I ministered the gospel, saints. I gave them the clear message of the gospel, and many of them sat there and received.”

“In summation,” states Flynn, “my opinion is that Benny Hinn was given an opportunity to share the real gospel. The gospel that will always be offensive but the one that can pierce a wayward heart if you simply share it as written. Unfortunately, he chose the politically correct Bible; the one that never condemns or rebukes. It is the gospel that many will follow but upon meeting Christ he will tell them that he does not know them. There is no victory for the lost in that” (ibid., emp. his).

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God (Romans 3:10-11).

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24).

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10).

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).

There is more, but the die is cast. One facet of the NAM is unity between religions. In fact, a person could literally worship a tree and fit in with the NAM. Another facet is acceptance and tolerance of religions and belief systems--Christian and non-Christian.

In other words, as long as a person doesn't make waves, rock the boat or share the real Jesus with New Agers, that person will be accepted and tolerated within the NAM superstructure. Indeed, acceptance and tolerance of all religions is a conditioning process that dates-back thousands of years.

And Christians are falling for the conditioning process at an alarming rate.

Yet, Jesus Christ, Himself, set the standard by which all religions are judged: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).

One of the best ways to define the New Age Movement is to go directly to its sources. In this case, the source is from an individual named G Kumar:

According to his website, Kumar has been a student of Astrology since childhood, a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation and Integral Yoga. In March 1988, he began a Vedic Astrology Centre and Zodiac Computers at Guruvayur, Kerala, India. Kumar also studied Transcendental Meditation under Maharshi Mahesh Yogi.

Kumar states that New Agers believe “...in the essential goodness of Man and the Divine Spark in Man” and that “the New Age movement is not a unified cult system of beliefs and practices, even though its roots derive from Vedic Philosophy” (ibid.).

Concerning the goals of the NAM, Kumar states that: “The major goal of the New Age Movement is to prepare Man for entering the Aquarian Age and to bring world peace in an already bruised world...establish an entirely New World Order in the fields of Economy & Government,” and that “The idea of a World Government was proposed by Bernard Shaw earlier and was implemented by Mahesh Yogi and occurs in the writings of the foundational apostle of the New Age Movement, Alice Bailey” (ibid.).

In short, “The New Age Movement is secular & universally diffused over the earth's surface & its basic underlying philosophy emphasises Gnosticism and Occultism” (ibid., italics his).

Bingo! The “basic underlying philosophy” of the NAM “emphasises Gnosticism and Occultism.” These two philosophies are the core of the NAM.

Kumar points out the six main characteristics of New Age thinking: “All is Unity; All is Divine; Humanity is divine; A change in Consciousness; All religions are One; Cosmic Evolutionary optimism” (ibid.).

For the time being, humanity is free to claim “I am God” and “you are God,” but God says they will ...die like men, and fall like one of the princes (Psalms 82:7).

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God (Isaiah 43:10-12).

“In the decade of the 1980's,” writes Ray Yungen, “the term New Age movement inspired a sense of dread in many conservative Christians. This fear stemmed from a conviction that something evil and sinister surrounded this movement and that ominous clouds were on the spiritual horizon. In the 1990's, this backlash largely subsided, and most Christians forgot about or ignored what seemed so threatening a few years earlier” (A Time of Departing, 2002, p.17, italics his).

To some, the NAM was not to be taken seriously. To others, the NAM was simply a passing fad. But to many, the NAM was serious business. Now, the subtle New Age cobra has once again reared its hooded-head, and is poised to strike down weak, gullible and undiscerning Christians.

This is why it is imperative for Christians to Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Yungen continues: “But this movement has not gone away. In fact, it is very much with us and in ways that may surprise many Christians. By the time the new millennium arrived, the New Age had so quietly soaked into our Western culture that many Christians today are literally acclimated and accepting of Gnostic and Eastern spirituality” (ibid., italics his).

While Gul Kripalani's application of “We are all children of the one God” is unbiblical, the term, “children of God” is Biblical, and can be summed up with just two verses of Scripture: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12). For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

Once we realize that God loves us (John 3:16); that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23); that we are dead in sin (Romans 6:23); that Jesus Christ died for us (Romans 5:6); that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ--not by works or our own good deeds (Ephesians 2:8), and confess our sins (Romans 10:10; 1 John 1:9), then God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Once this is done, it is then when we become children of the one God, and not until then.

As pointed out above, one of the basic and most blasphemous teachings of the NAM is realizing that “All is divine” and that “Humanity is divine.” Remember Shirley MacLaine, the famous movie star who once stood facing the Pacific Ocean and proclaimed, “I am God! I am God! I am God”? (Out On A Limb, TV mini-series, 1987). Some Christians laughed at her statement, thinking she wasn't serious. Others found no humor in it whatsoever and took it deadly serious.

FACT: if Shirley MacLaine doesn't repent of her sins and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, all the man-made “gods” and “goddesses” in the universe won't spare her from eternal damnation.

However, when world famous evangelists make the very same claim under divine revelation, absolute truth and divine truth, the blasphemous term, You are God, instantly becomes perfectly acceptable to many Christians:

“Now you ready for some real revelation knowledge? ...Kenneth Hagin has a teaching. Alot of people have problems with it. Yet it is absolute truth. Kenneth Copeland has a teaching. Many Christians have put holes in it, but it's divine truth. Hagin and Copeland say, 'You are God. Ye are God'“ (Benny Hinn, Our Position In Christ, March 11, 1990, Orlando Christian Center, audio-tape on file).

Needless to say, you cannot claim to be a Christian in one breath, then claim You are God in another breath. That position of divinity is reserved exclusively for the God of the Bible.

After years filled with false prophecies, blasphemous false teachings and controversy, Benny Hinn has finally reached the pinnacle of popularity, because at each step of the way, many Christians compromised, stood by and did nothing to expose his errors.

Yes, Benny Hinn failed miserably to correct Gul Kripalani and defend the faith. But what more should one expect from the most prolific false prophet and false teacher of our day?

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Is Benny Hinn a Christian? If he is, let him repent...

Bud Press, Director

Christian Research Service

10/24/04