In the article, Mr. Hinn appears sincere enough. However, his sincerity becomes questionable after listening to several taped recordings (made prior to the CT article) of Mr. Hinn's sermons at his Orlando based church.
For example, on tape #TV283, entitled "A New Spirit," which aired on TBN on October 13, 1990, Mr. Hinn states:
"God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person, and He is a triune being by Himself, separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost."Yet, when asked about the "nine of them" reference to the Trinity in the CT article, written by Randy Frame (dated Sept. 21, 1991), Hinn states:"See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person, but each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you, and maybe I should, there's nine of them."
"God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, and God the son, and God the Holy Ghost -- man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here -- I want you to lift your hands, something new is gonna happen here today, I felt it just as I walked down here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus (clap). Say Amen."
"This is all in the word, God the Father is a person separate from the Holy Ghost -- totally separate. When we say the Holy Spirit, we do not mean the personal spirit-being of the Father. He's a separate personality. Do you know that the Holy Spirit has a soul and a body, separate from that of Jesus and the Father?"
"That was a very dumb statement. I had read somewhere that God the Father had his own personal spirit, soul, and body. I told my church the very next week that the statement was wrong."Upon review of tape #TV284, no retraction was noted. Although Mr. Hinn may have made this retraction publicly, it was not recorded, and therefore, the obligation to his television viewers and other audiences has not been fulfilled.
Mr. Hinn states in the CT article that he received this information through reading (probably the Dakes Bible). In his earlier sermon, he states the information was obtained through "revelation knowledge" from the Holy Spirit, as well as through the "word" itself.
On October 3, 1991, only twelve days after the CT interview, Mr. Hinn appeared on TBN in an interview with Paul and Jan Crouch, and made the following statements:
Paul:
"You didn't get in on our little talk with Ed Plowman here, but we got into, you know, the secular as well as the Christian media. And I know the media has been beating up on you pretty bad lately too because of that wonderful book you wrote, Good Morning Holy Spirit."Benny:
"Which is helping so many people."Jan:
"And, it's in every bookstore that I go into."Benny:
"It really is -- even secular bookstores now."Paul:
"And you told me something Benny, and we're not gonna labor long on this dear friends, we're going to get into healing, okay? So please don't give me no ugly phone calls telling me I need to change the order of the service."Jan:
I'm gonna write one right now. Please change the order of the service (laughs)."Paul:
"Anyhow, you told me that some of the heresy hunters -- I love to call them heresy hunters -- are coming down on you because you, did you say in your book that the Holy Spirit perhaps has a form, or is, or has, like, a body, or has a, uh, what did you actually say?"Benny:
"WELL, I SAID HE DOES HAVE A SPIRIT-BODY. I don't believe that the Holy Spirit is shapeless. I mean, God said, 'Let us make man in our image,' so he must have an image. And it's the 'our' and He said 'our image,' which means Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."Paul: "Yes."
One could argue that Mr. Hinn is referring to the Holy Spirit exclusively. However, by stating "our image," he is referring to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, encompassing all persons of the Godhead.
Additionally, Mr. Hinn agreed with Paul's exegesis of Genesis 18, stating that the three angels were, in fact, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, insinuating the separation of beings.
The CT interview states that last year Hinn said publicly that three theologians had read and approved Good Morning, Holy Spirit. However, Mr. Hinn told CT that he had based this statement on information given to him by Thomas Nelson and that he did not know who the theologians were.
Yet, on tape #TV283, Mr. Hinn states:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this thing is in my book (Good Morning, Holy Spirit), and was tested by three theologians, cause they fought me on that point and they said, 'Where you get all this stuff?' I said, 'From the Bible.'" (parenthesis added)How could Mr. Hinn have "fought" with these theologians if he "did not know who the theologians were?"
It is apparent that Mr. Hinn is not being completely honest. The fact that he has admitted his errors is admirable, but means nothing if his words cannot be trusted.
In conclusion, it must be stated that this tract is not intended to deface Mr. Hinn, as we are all aware of how easily it is to be led astray when involved with this type of ministry. The purpose of this tract is to call accountability to Mr. Hinn's words and bring recognition to the contradictions of his past so they will not be repeated in his future. Benny Hinn has a responsibility to God and the Church to be accurate and consistent in his teachings and words.
For more information, call or write to: Perry Pellegrini at:
Foundation for Christian Apologetics
8281 Garfield Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714)962-5460 (Voice)
