Origins & Development of the Word of Faith Movement

On this page, you will find the origins and development of the Word of Faith Movement.

Origins

Early Influences & Foundations

The Word of Faith movement, also known as the "prosperity gospel," "positive confession," or "health and wealth gospel," emerged from a unique convergence of late 19th and early 20th-century American religious trends. Its theological roots are most closely associated with Essek William Kenyon (1867–1948), who synthesized elements from several streams:

Evangelical Faith-Cure and Pentecostalism: Kenyon was influenced by the Holiness and Pentecostal movements, which emphasized divine healing and the power of faith in everyday life.
New Thought and Mind Science: Living in Boston in the 1890s, Kenyon was exposed to New Thought philosophy, which taught that right thinking and positive confession could shape reality. While Kenyon himself rejected the metaphysical cults as heretical, he incorporated some of their language and concepts, especially the idea that spoken words have creative power.

Kenyon’s teachings on the power of words, faith, and healing would become the doctrinal backbone of the later Word of Faith movement. However, as Robert M. Bowman, Jr. notes, Kenyon should be seen as the "grandfather" rather than the sole founder, since later leaders expanded and modified his ideas in significant ways.

Institutionalization

Kenneth Hagin & the Rise of the Movement

Kenneth E. Hagin (1917–2003) is widely regarded as the "father" of the Word of Faith movement. Hagin began as a Pentecostal pastor and evangelist, but after reading Kenyon's works in the late 1940s, he adopted and popularized many of Kenyon’s teachings—sometimes directly plagiarizing them. Key developments in this period include:

Founding of Kenneth Hagin Ministries (1963): Hagin established his ministry and, in 1966, moved it to Tulsa, Oklahoma, which became the movement’s epicenter.
RHEMA Bible Training Center: Hagin’s school trained a new generation of Word of Faith ministers, spreading the movement’s distinctive teachings nationwide and globally.
Media Expansion: The movement gained massive visibility through television, especially with the rise of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in the 1970s, and through the ministries of figures like Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn.

Core Teachings

The Word of Faith movement is marked by several distinctive doctrines:

Positive Confession: The belief that spoken words ("confessions") have spiritual power to bring about health, wealth, and victory.
Prosperity as Divine Right: Adherents are taught that God wills for believers to be financially prosperous and physically healthy, and that faith is the key to unlocking these blessings.
Faith as a Force: Faith is understood not merely as trust in God, but as a tangible force that, when properly applied, compels God to act.
Authority of the Believer: Believers are taught that they have authority over sickness, poverty, and even spiritual beings, often described using the phrase "little gods" theology—though not all within the movement accept this.

Expansion and Globalization

As Kate Bowler documents in Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, the movement’s optimism and promise of empowerment resonated with millions, especially in the context of American consumer culture and later in the Global South. Major figures like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and T.D. Jakes have brought prosperity theology to mainstream audiences, often softening its more controversial edges while retaining its core message of blessing and success.

Critiques and Internal Reflections

The movement has faced significant criticism from both within and outside evangelicalism:

Exploitation and Disillusionment: Critics argue that the prosperity gospel exploits the poor and vulnerable, offering false hope and blaming individuals for their suffering if they fail to achieve health or wealth.
Theological Concerns: Detractors highlight the movement’s departure from historic Christian teachings on suffering, the sovereignty of God, and the nature of faith.
Insider Testimonies: Costi W. Hinn’s God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel provides a rare insider critique, detailing his journey out of his family’s prosperity ministry (led by his uncle, Benny Hinn), and calling for a return to biblical orthodoxy and responsible stewardship. Hinn’s account underscores the movement’s internal contradictions and the personal and spiritual costs of its excesses.

Contemporary State

Today, the Word of Faith movement is a multi-billion dollar global industry, with adherents and critics across denominational lines. While its most radical teachings are sometimes downplayed by newer leaders, the core message—that faith, spoken aloud, can secure God’s material and physical blessings—remains central to its identity and appeal.

Articles Cited:

http://midwestapologetics.org/reviews/wordfaithcontroversy.htm

https://www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/wordfaithprofile.pdf

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2019/08/24/god-greed-and-the-prosperity-gospel-by-costi-hinn/

https://blogs.efca.org/posts/an-insiders-look-at-the-prosperity-gospel

https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2019/07/god-greed-and-the-prosperity-gospel-an-interview-with-costi-w-hinn/

http://pneumareview.com/robert-bowman-the-word-faith-controversy/

https://arcapologetics.org/from-boston-to-tulsa-the-origins-of-the-word-faith-movement/

https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/blessed/

https://www.9marks.org/review/blessed-history-american-prosperity-gospel/

https://ffbosworth.mystrikingly.com/blog/f-f-bosworth-mentioned-in-history-of-the-word-faith-movement-in-america

https://www.piratechristian.com/messedupchurch/2018/4/podcast-interview-with-robert-bowman-jr-the-word-faith-controversy-a-fair-critique