Phil Pringle and the C3 Movement has it’s roots in the Word of Faith Movement and teachings. Justin Peters presents his findings of the origins of the Word of Faith Movement. This article is broken up into two sections. The first half will examine who Justin Peters is and what he teaches in regards to the Word of Faith movement. We will examine what the connections of the WoF movement are to the C3 Movement of Phil Pringle. The second half will consist of the video link itself and a quote of Peters from the movie.
ABOUT JUSTIN PETERS
Justin Peters has a
- Bachelor of Arts: Economics, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi – 1995
- Master of Divinity: (Biblical Languages) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas – May 2000
- Master of Theology: (New Testament Major / Theology Minor) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas – December 2002
1. IS THE C3 MOVEMENT CONNECTED TO THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT?
Justin Peters states,
“I cannot tell you how many hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve spoken too just in the last few years of doing these seminars in churches arounf the United States and around the world. Hundreds of people who have told me their lives have been devastated by this movement. Their lives or one of their loved ones who’ve been wrecked by this prosperity gospel.” – Justin Peters, A Call To Discernment, http://www.justinpeters.org/SWBTS_chapel_092010.wmv, 41:41, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 30/09/2010.
You can see that Phil Pringle preaches the prosperity gospel, (see quote of Pringle in the C3 Banner at the top of page). Pringle believes Jesus died on the cross so Christians can get rich from his death. Read a later paraphrase of this quote on page 57-58 on a later edition of his book ‘Dead For Nothing’:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2qWhZyGuCMIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=regarding&f=false
Yes. People from C3 Church Watch have heard stories of the C3 Movement destroying peoples lives. We are still collecting testimonies. This is one of the mine reasons why this blog started. Justin is right to say “Hundreds of people” have “been devastated by this movement.” The C3 Movement produces the same devastation. Pringle alludes to it in his book ‘You The Leader’. It didn’t sound like his church was dealing with a few but many.
“. . . One of those initiatives is contacting people who were previously members of our church and have slipped away. I so admire the people involved in this because they hear all the worst criticisms about the Pastor, about the church and about what we do, yet they keep reaching out to these people and eventually win them back to the Lord. . . They can’t be involved in the conversation, listening to all the disaffections of these people, (which often sound very plausible), and get swung over to the negative. There is a war with perceptions that are deposited in these people’s minds by the devil…” – Phil Pringle, You The Leader, pg 317.
What were these people saying about Phil Pringle, his church and what they were doing?
Peters states that Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis are leaders of the Word of Faith Movement. However, the mentioned ministers are people that Pringle endorses and embraces as legitimate teachers and ministers. Is this what previous members of Pringle’s church had issues with? His endorsement of heretics? The C3 Word of Faith heresy? The C3 Colleges endorsed Joyce Meyer and Jesse Duplantis as ‘God’s Generals’.
Pringle considers Kenneth Copeland to be a ‘Brother’ and also a prophet of God, and also endorses Kenneth Hagin (who Justin Peters also claims is a plagiarist and the father of the Word of Faith movement).
Phil Pringle And Kenneth Copeland
Phil Pringle On Facebook
Phil Pringle looks up to and endorses Joel Osteen and his ministry (Pringle mimicking Osteen’s motto ‘Your Best Life Now’ with his ‘Your Best Life’). He says, “And sadly for the millions of people around this world that believe Joel Osteen is one of Gods greatest spokesman, he is tickling their ears all the way to hell. And I know that sounds harsh . . . And I can honestly tell you, all the years I’ve been watching Joel Osteen, I’ve never once- not once, heard him clearly present the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not once.” (29:10, 29:28.) So why does Pringle endorse Osteen and his ministry?
Finally, Justin Peters quotes Pringle’s friends Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland and says,
“… This movement does a great deal of harm to people. If you begin with the premise that it is always Gods will to be physically healed, and a person prays for that healing for days, weeks, months, years, sometimes for decades, but the healing does not come, then the question must be asked, “Who’s fault is it?” By definition, it can not be Gods fault because He’s perfect. The only other one then whom to look is the one who is sick. It’s his fault or her fault because they don’t have enough faith; had some secret, unconfessed sin in his or her life and hasn’t given enough money to the ministry or maybe, you’re not even saved.” – Justin Peters, A Call To Discernment, http://www.justinpeters.org/SWBTS_chapel_092010.wmv, 39:45, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 30/09/2010.
Does this destructive blame game happen at C3? Yes it does. We’ve managed to record this happening on stage with faith healer Andrew Kubala.
The full transcript can be read here:
C3 “Healing” Service (Andrew Kubalah Style)
Andrew Kubala said to his victim, “Here comes- here comes the power of God! It went wsssh! all over you! That’s the anointing of God. . . Tonight’s your night. As soon as you lifted up your hand, that’s where the miracle was. . . Here he comes!”
When the unhealed woman said she could still feel pain “Everywhere,” Kubala politely and strategically placed the blame on her, using the audience to soften the blow by saying, “Yes. See what- [80:00] this is the truth [faces church]. Our mind finds it hard to think that years of pain can shift in a thirty second moment.” Andrew Kubala gives her “some homework, cos your words locate you. I just want you to for twenty four- Just give me twenty four hours- every time you think about it, say, ‘God thank you for healing me’. Okay?”. Clearly it was the woman’s fault because God could not bring her healing because of her fault mind. As Peters says later, “But the fault always lies squarely at the foot of the sick believer. There is no other conclusion which one can draw.” (41:32.)
Finally, criticisms against him are very similar to what we receive on a regular basis.
“Some have made the charge against me, “Oh Justin! You’re just doing these seminars because you’re bitter… Friends, let me tell you nothing can be further from the truth.” – Justin Peters, A Call To Discernment, http://www.justinpeters.org/SWBTS_chapel_092010.wmv, 39:45, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 30/09/2010.
People think that we are motivated by bitterness and evil. Well from us “nothing can be further from the truth” as well. The Word of Faith movement and the C3 Movement cannot be separated. While not as extreme as those preachers presented, we are already seeing Pringle walk his logical steps to his Word of Faith beliefs.
2. THE PRESENTATION OF JUSTIN PETERS
Watch this thoughtful and well documented recorded presentation of Justin Peters here:
A Call To Discernment – Justin Peters
Justin explains:
“Over the next several years, the Lord showed me that this prosperity gospel certainly was not biblical in that it made promises that the bible really does not make. It took the bible a little bit too far. But I still thought that it was essentially Christian; it just made promises that the bible really does not make. However, after the Lord called me into ministry and I enrolled into South Western, I began to study this movement at a more academic level. And what I came to realise was that the whole origins of the prosperity gospel are not Christian at all.
The origins of the Word of Faith movement can be traced back directly to the metaphysical cults, such as Christian science, New Age, New Thought, Gnosticism – even some Kabbalah elements are in the Word of Faith movement. So much of what you see on Christian television today, is not really Christian. It’s cultic doctrine that’s been wrapped in Christian terminology to make it more palatable to people like you and me . . .
The Word of Faith movement is lead by people such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis and Joyce Meyer. This movement is a different animal. It does compromise and in times outright deny some of the fundamental tennants of historical Christianity.” – Justin Peters, A Call To Discernment, http://www.justinpeters.org/SWBTS_chapel_092010.wmv, 4:13… 5:42, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 30/09/2010.
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