More Heresy in the Hinn House
Was Adam All Man and All God At the Same Time?
Ephesians 4:11-12 informs us that the Lord appointed some as apostles, prophets, and evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:15 is a Scriptural command for every Christian to study God's word and Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
Thus, for pastors and teachers to properly equip the saints, build up the body of Christ, and be approved of God, they must handle God's word accurately, and study the Scriptures to gain the ability to discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
With that in mind, Benny Hinn's brother, Dr. William Hinn, was the guest on Benny's January 29, 2007 This Is Your Day telecast. Although not as popular as Benny, William joined the Hinn house of heresy when he, during the telecast, carelessly and subtly revived an age-old Word-Faith heresy with his belief that Adam--prior to his fall from the Garden of Eden--was "all man and all God."
William Hinn is the founder and pastor of Resurrection Life Center International in Tustin, California ( http://www.williamhinn.org/pastor.html ). According to his website, William "travels throughout the United States and overseas where the Lord is using him mightily in unveiling the truth of God's Word, prophecy, and healing for the edification of the body of Christ" (Ibid.).
"Churches have been revolutionized by his teachings on Church Government and Kingdom Order. His teachings on Fathers and Sons have brought great healing to many pastors and their congregations. He has abandoned his life to the Lord to serve God's people, and is considered as a father/pastor to many pastors" (Ibid.).
Unveiling the truth of God's word is a tremendous responsibility, and teachers of the word are held to a higher degree of accountability and judgement:
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment (James 3:1).
And William Hinn is no exception to the rule.
Benny or Jesus?
At the beginning of the telecast, Benny introduced William as a "very deep and anointed person," and as one who has remarkable knowledge of the Scriptures. Benny's description of what he saw during William's born again experience is an attention getter, and another example of the many alleged encounters Benny claims to have had with Jesus Christ:
"I saw the Lord's face when Willie was born again," said Benny. "I saw the face of, of the Lord when you were praying."
While a detailed analysis of Benny's alleged encounters with Jesus is another story in and of itself, despite Jesus' own words in Matthew chapter 24, Benny maintained the following in his book, Good Morning, Holy Spirit:
"I can remember the vision as if it happened yesterday. I saw Jesus walk into my bedroom. He was wearing a robe that was whiter than white and a deep red mantle was draped over the robe. I saw his hair. I looked into His eyes. I saw the nailprints in His hands. I saw everything" (original version--1990, p. 22).
Yet, in Matthew 24:23-27, Jesus, Himself, said:
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Although Benny claims to have had numerous visitations from Jesus, the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ ascended to the Father in heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father:
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:9-11).
So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).
In light of 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 and Galatians 1:6-9, and since the Bible warns that Satan appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), the question to Benny Hinn is, Which Jesus? Certainly not the Jesus of the Bible.
Benny claims to have seen Jesus. Jesus said don't believe it. Take your pick: Benny or Jesus?
William Hinn and Genesis 1:27
Continuing with the telecast, Benny recognized his brother as "a man of God," and how Miles Munroe's teachings on the "kingdom" are so powerful. With that, Benny asked William, "What is God's kingdom?"
After a brief discussion, during which William placed emphasis on "God's rule" and "God's power," at 12 minutes-10 seconds into the telecast, William cites a portion of Genesis 1:27 and suggests that the angels of heaven thought they would see God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously:
"Let us create man in our image," said William. "And I use this just as an illustration: the angelic hosts must have leaned over and said, 'For the first time, we're gonna see Him, whose never been seen.'"
At this point, Benny asked William, "Even by the angels?" William replied with, "cause God is spirit. And so God leaned, if you will, and took this clay and breathed into this clay the winds of heaven. So the, the knowledge of God, the power of God, the, the breath of God, who God is was breathed--being spirit-- breathed into this man."
Thus, according to William Hinn, when God created Adam, God breathed His "knowledge," "power" and "who God is" into Adam. Is this what the Bible really teaches? More on this later.
Adam/God: Biblical or hyper-heresy?
At 12min-45sec into the telecast, William stated: "And when this man came out of the clay, this man was earth and heaven all at the same time. He was all man and all God at the same time. In this man, he was able to have the limitless of knowledge to do with that which is natural, and to do that which is spirit. So, heaven and earth were in him."
Benny chimes in and says, "Adam," to which William states, "Adam. This is before the fall, of course. And therefore there was, there was..."
Benny interrupts and asks, "Now, what do you mean by--go back--he [Adam] was heaven and earth in one? He was man, and then you said he was God in one. Now; you; what you're meaning, God, is you mean that the breath of God was in him?"
Referring to Adam, William states that, "He was the image and likeness of God. What God is in heaven, and I realize this may be, uh, a, a heavy statement, but to really understand Scripture and what God did; this amazing grace, is that God, what God is in heaven, man became to the earth. And God gave that man dominion. This is what we have in Christ Jesus."
William Hinn is correct on one thing. His teaching that Adam was "all man and all God at the same time" is a heavy statement--heavy with hyper-heresy, that is. Making man into God or a god is not only classic Word-Faith heresy, it calls God a liar and downplays the unique deity of the Triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:27 teaches that: God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. But does this mean that God created Adam all man and all God? No! Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason Ministries explains:
"To be created in the image of God does not mean we have any of His unlimited attributes such as omnipotence, omnipresence or omniscience; human beings were not made to be little gods. Man is a creature who has limited abilities like His maker's unlimited abilities. God cannot duplicate himself by creating another like him. A creature can never be equal to the eternal creator.
"What are the features that man was created in, that reflect his creator since we are made in His image and likeness? God is Spirit (Jn.4:24) He is invisible. When it states we were created in His image it means man was given a spirit. It does not mean that God is a physical being or that we are like him in every manner. In the Hebrew language Image tselem-is related to nature, the immaterial part of man. It means we have a spiritual nature like God, in a finite way. Likeness- Heb. Demuth does not mean in a physical sense. This means we have a spiritual nature like God, God is Spirit. Man has moral likeness and quality within him like His maker" (see "Can we interpret Genesis 1:27 as meaning our divinity?" http://www.letusreason.org/Biblexp36.htm for the complete article).
God's word is crystal clear on His unique deity in both the Old and New Testament:
Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39).
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 (Isaiah 43:10-11).
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Isaiah 44:6).
That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other (Isaiah 45:6).
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).
From the mouths of wolves: the Adam/God hyper-heresy
There is nothing unique or revelatory about William Hinn's hyper-heretical teachings that Adam was all man and all God. Cults such as Mormonism taught it well before he came along:
Brigham Young (2nd President/Prophet of the Mormon Church): "Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and spoken—He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later (Journal of Discourses, Volume 1, pp. 50-51, emp. theirs).
And, let us never forget Kenneth Copeland's own cultic teaching on the deity of Adam:
Kenneth Copeland: "God's reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself. I mean a reproduction of Himself. And in the Garden of Eden He did that. He was not a little like God; he was not almost like God; he was not, um, subordinate to God even. And Adam was as much like God as you could get; just the same as Jesus when He came into the earth. He said 'If you've seen Me you've seen the Father.' He wasn't a lot like God. He's God manifested in the flesh! And I want you to know something: Adam in the Garden of Eden was God manifested in the flesh!" (Following the Faith of Abraham, audio tape #01-3001, side 1. Listen to Copeland at http://biblefacts.org/cult/mp3/copland-god-man.mp3 ).
Gloria Copeland: On page 10 of the June 1986 Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, Gloria Copeland echoed the Adam/God hyper-heresy by stating that "when God breathed the breath of life into Adam, He transmitted His very self into him. God imparted the same spiritual substance of which He is made into Adam's being."
Earl Paulk: On pages 96-97 of his 1984 book, Satan Unmasked, Paulk stated that, "Adam and Eve were placed in the world as the seed and expression of God. Just as dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, so God has little gods. Seed remains true to its nature, bearing its own kind. When God said, 'Let us make man in our image,' He created us as little gods, but we have trouble comprehending this truth. We see ourselves as 'little people' with very little power and dominion. Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the Kingdom of God."
Kenneth E. Hagin: "Originally, God made the earth and the fullness thereof, giving Adam dominion over all the works of His hands. In other words, Adam was the god of this world." (The Believer's Authority, 2d ed., 1991, p. 19).
And last but certainly not least, William's brother, Benny, has his own warped teachings on Adam (and some of Benny's followers actually believe it!):
"Adam was a super-being when God created him. I don't know whether people know this, but he was the first superman that really ever lived. First of all, the Scriptures declare clearly that he had dominion over the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea--which means he used to fly. Of course, how can he have dominion over the birds and not be able to do what they do? The word 'dominion' in the Hebrew clearly declares that if you have dominion over a subject, that you do everything that subject does. In other words, that subject, if it does something you cannot do, you don't have dominion over it. I'll prove it further. Adam not only flew, he flew to space. He was--with one thought--he would be on the moon" (Praise the Lord, Trinity Broadcasting Network, December 26, 1991).
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you (Galatians 2:4-5).
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds (2 John 1:9-10).
Anytime anyone places man on the same level as God--in any shape, form, or fashion--Christian red flags of discernment should fly like the checkered flag at the end of a NASCAR race.
And during the telecast, Benny never corrected William, nor did Benny look into the camera and say, William's teaching that Adam was all man and all God is wrong...
For further research, please refer to the following articles:
All In The Family: The Visions and Vanities of Sam Hinn by G. Richard Fisher
The Confusing World of Benny Hinn (this book is produced by Personal Freedom Outreach, and is an excellent resource for researching and exposing Benny Hinn--the most prolific heretic of our day).
Sincerely in Christ,
Bud Press, Director
Christian Research Service
February 17, 2007
Jude 3
© Christian Research Service 2007