MAJOR DOCTRINAL BELIEFS
- Signs and Wonders are for today and are the normative in the operation of the church.
- God gives continuing revelation.
- God speaks directly to people, audibly and that is a normal occurrence.
- God works through the emotions more effectively than through the mind and intellect.
- The Holy Spirit manifests itself in many different ways.
- The presence of the Holy Spirit can be known.
MAJOR DOCTRINAL ISSUES
- GOD GIVES CONTINUING REVELATION
The belief in continuing revelation from God is the single greatest error in the belief system of
John Wimber. The doctrine of continuing revelation results in an uncontrollable system of ever-
changing doctrines based on alleged revelations received from God. Acceptance of continuing
revelation assumes that any claimed revelation is from God that cannot be denied, no matter how
aberrant or outlandish, because continuing revelation is defined as that which was previously
unknown. In that case, Scripture cannot be used to judge new revelations, because they go
beyond and transcend that which has already been revealed. That which has been revealed
cannot
be used to judged that which has not yet been revealed or that which is in the process of being
revealed, simply because the current revelation is newer, more fully developed and is the judge
of
all past revelations. As a result, any person can claim a revelation and it must be accepted,
whether that person be a pastor or a lay person.
The doctrine of continuing revelation is the open door by which magnetic religious personalities
establish their authority and unusual doctrines. In the case of the Vineyard Fellowship, the
adherents followed:
first, John Wimber the man,
second, John Wimber's teachings
third, the creeds and doctrines that were the natural outgrowth of John
Wimber's
teachings
fourth, the Bible as it was subject to the teaching of John Wimber.
This type of belief system, with John Wimber as the central authority, allowed the Vineyard
Fellowship to become personality and leadership oriented rather than Biblically and doctrinally
oriented toward the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles. Rather than obtaining doctrinal
truth from the Bible, the organization looked to John Wimber, who defined, expressed and
demonstrated what he claimed to be truth as determined by his mind and seen with his
eyes.
This leadership oriented belief system, coupled with John Wimber's emphasis on the oriental
approach to theology, which emphasized the emotional rather than the rational, brought about
the
circumstances in which personal and emotional experiences become the validating criteria
instead
of the application of Biblical principles and doctrine. As a result, it was inevitable that the
Vineyard Fellowship would fall into line with the charismatic outlook. It is claimed that John
Wimber was surprised when the charismatic elements entered his ministry, however, he was
oriented toward the charismatic from the point of his conversion, since it occurred in a very
emotional period of his life. In addition, his pastoring of a Quaker church, is of itself an
indication
of his orientation toward the charismatic. Quakers embrace a theology regarding an "Inner Light"
by which religious truth is confirmed within themselves and also adopt a theology that Jesus
Christ teaches the adherent directly. This type of theology fit well with John Wimber's emphasis
on the experiential aspect of religious experience and also with his belief in direct and
continuing revelation. What Wimber must have found, was, that he could not pursue the path
that
his beliefs were taking him within the structural confines of Quaker belief, even though it is
quite
varied. John Wimber needed a forum in which he could control the content, use, operation
and application of his theological teachings.
- GOD OPERATES MORE FULLY THROUGH THE EMOTIONS
THAN THE INTELLECT
The inevitable conclusion of John Wimber's theology is the acceptance of an emotional and
experiential approach to spiritual truth in which experience in itself becomes the self-validating
criteria confirming the nature of a religious experience. This self-validation process takes two
main forms:
1. I had an experience, therefore it is from God.
2. My experience was from God because I feel that it was.
The emotional reaction to an experience then becomes the verification of the presumed true
spiritual nature of that experience, and becomes the criteria for judgment rather that Biblical
teaching or the application of doctrinal principles. With that theological foundation in place, the
Vineyard Fellowship became the perfect object for the introduction of emotional and
experiential
manifestations such as the Toronto Blessing which was introduced into the Toronto
Airport Vineyard Fellowship (Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship). Leadership, under men
like John Arnott, could then tell their congregation to receive the manifestation first and analyze
it
later; an approach that allows false teaching and heresy to enter the church prior to any person
analyzing its content and, at the same time, allows leadership to increase its control and position
of
power. Although he initially rejected the Toronto Blessing, John Wimber then embraced
and supported it.
-
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A CONTROLLABLE ENTITY
This belief is no more apparent than in the performances surrounding the Toronto
Blessing
phenomenon, in which the Holy Spirit is commanded, directed and given permission by the
leadership in charge, to make an appearance and manifestation, which results in the excesses of
that experience.
Since the Holy Spirit is part of the trinitarian nature of the Godhead, it is presumptuous at best
and heretical at the worst to assume that a person, even a pastoral leader, has the authority or
ability to call or command an appearance by the Holy Spirit. If, or when, the Holy Spirit makes
an
appearance, it is based on the sovereign and consummate will of God, not the desire of leadership
to
express their self-proclaimed power and authority based on the times during which a church
fellowship meets. In Charismatic practice, the Holy Spirit becomes a genie, appearing on
command and conforming to a scripted performance.
ARTICLES
THE ROOTS: JOHN WIMBER
AND THE VINEYARD - Bill Randles, 1997
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
ACCORDING TO JOHN WIMBER - Carl Widrig, Jr., 1995 [OFF SITE ARTICLE]
HEALING AND THE
KINGDOM - Paul G. Hiebert, 1989 [OFF SITE
ARTICLE]
MY VISIT TO THE ANAHEIM VINEYARD -
Philip R. Johnson, 1995 [OFF SITE
ARTICLE]
END OF ARTICLE
by Gary A. Hand
On Doctrine
 COPYRIGHT © 2001 by ON
DOCTRINE & ONDOCTRINE.COM, All Rights Reserved
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