After channel surfing on my T.V set. I came across a sermon by Creflo Dollar. I had heard of him, but had never listened to one of his sermons. Well, not to show contempt prior to investigation I listened on. I was shocked when he spoke of Christians as “little gods”. I would like to share this article with you.
An increasing number of Word of Faith Ministers are propagating the teaching that believers are "little gods" Kenneth Hagin wrote that God "made us in the same class of being that he is himself," and that the believer is "called Christ" because "that's who we are, we're Christ!" According to Hagin, by being "born again", the believer becomes "as much an incarnation asJesus of Nazareth". Kenneth Copeland says Adam was "not a little like God ... not almost likeGod ... not subordinate to God even", and has told believers that "You don't have a God in you.You are one." Based primarily on the book of Psalms 82:6, which says "I have said, Ye are godsand all of you, children of the Most High"; this was also corroborated by Jesus making reference to this scripture in John 10:34. A common theme in Word-Faith preaching is that God created man as "an exact duplication of God's kind." (Hebrews 1:3, John 14:12, etc)
Suffer the Children, a documentary highlighting some of the teachings of the Word of Faith movement, has a video clip of Creflo Dollar teaching the "little gods" doctrine to his congregation based on the notion that "everything reproduces after its own kind":
Dollar: "If horses get together, they produce what?"
Congregation: "Horses!"
Dollar: "If dogs get together, they produce what?"
Congregation: "Dogs!"
Dollar: "If cats get together, they produce what?"
Congregation: "Cats!"
Dollar: "So if the Godhead says 'Let us make man in our image', and everything produces after its own kind, then they produce what?"
Congregation: "Gods!"
Dollar: "Gods. Little "g" gods. You're not human. Only human part of you is this flesh you're wearing."
Justin Peters, whose first encounter with Word of Faith doctrine came at the age of 16 when a faith healer "slayed [him] in the spirit" in an attempt to cure his cerebral palsy, states in "A Call for Discernment" that the reason the Word of Faith movement holds so tenaciously to "health and wealth" tenets is because of the "little gods" teaching: "A god should never be sick, and a god should never be poor." In response, Faith defenders have claimed the teaching is simply underscoring the biblical view of the believer's "true identity in Christ", and is no more heretical than similar-sounding claims by C. S. Lewis and the Eastern Orthodox Church.. However, the Orthodox dogma of "Theosis" does not teach that man becomes, or can become, one in essence with God: being "born again" in baptism does not create another incarnation, it establishes a participation in the one incarnation, Jesus Christ. Other than Christ, Christians believe that man partakes of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), his grace and power working in creation, never in his essence. Furthermore, C. S. Lewis underscores that Christians are to "act like little Christs". This is not to be confused with "being little Christs".
Critics, such as Christian Apologist and CARM founder Matt Slick and bible critique author W. Gary Phillips, believe referencing scriptures Psalms 82:6 and John 10:34, where it is said that men are gods, is taking and using these Scriptures out of context. The biblical application of these verses is addressed to the Judges of Israel where they were called gods, not because they were divine, but because they represented the true and only God when they judged the people. The Hebrew and Greek words used in both Scriptures for "gods" can also be applied to magistrates and used to describe someone as "mighty". Nearly all Word of Faith teachers who quote Psalms 82:6 and John 10:34 in defense of the "little gods" doctrine do not add the verses that follow the "Ye are gods" declaration in Psalms 82:6 which make clear the ultimate fate of the Judges of Israel[34] to both the reader and the Pharisees to whom Jesus addressed the reference in John 10:34:
Psalms 82:7: But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Psalms 82:8: Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
No, we are not gods, not even little ones. But... we do have a hope that includes being very like Him.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." I John 3:2
Paul tells where we are... and where we are going to be.
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." I Cor 13:12
