Kenneth E. Hagin

Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEN : Kenneth E. Hagin

Kenneth E. Hagin (August 20, 1917 - September 19, 2003) was a Pentecostal minister for about seventy years. He is often referred to as the "father of the modern Word of faith movement". Many of his followers often refer to him lovingly as “Dad Hagin” or "Papa Hagin".

Biography

Kenneth Erwin Hagin was born in McKinney, Texas, a son of Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin. He has two children, a son named Kenneth Hagin Jr. who presently runs Rhema Bible Church, and a daughter named Patricia. He was married to Oretha Rooker.

He was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life. He also claimed that he was raised from a deathbed in 1934 by "the revelation of faith in God's Word". There is no evidence known to exist regarding the original diagnosis.

Two years later he preached his first sermon as the pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas (9 miles from McKinney, Texas).

His favorite scripture was Mark 11:23 "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith". Dr. Hagin often said "I have quoted this scripture so many times that some people may have thought I wrote it, but I didn't, it is God's holy word and promise."

During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.

In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio — on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr., is also heard on the program.

Hagin never received any formal theological training of any kind. His doctorate was honorarily given by Oral Roberts University in the 1970s.

Hagin was considered by his followers to be a dynamic preacher, teacher, and prophet known for preaching healing and prosperity through searching God's word and believing God in faith for financial gifts, then claiming and receiving them by faith. He taught on every subject in the Bible from "cover to cover", focusing mainly on faith and what it is. Critics of the prosperity gospel movement consider his teachings to be controversial. However, walking in love was a priority message throughout his ministry.

Since its inception, his organization, Kenneth Hagin Ministries, grew to include numerous media outreaches and ministries. These include Faith Library Publications, with 65 million book copies in print; "RHEMA Praise", a weekly television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network; "Faith Seminar of the Air", a radio program heard on many stations nationwide and on the Internet; "The Word of Faith", a free monthly magazine with roughly 250,000 subscribers; crusades conducted throughout the nation; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; and the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center.

In 1974, Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA, which now has training centers in fourteen countries and has 23,000 alumni. In 1979, he founded the Prayer and Healing Center there to provide a place for the sick to come to "have the opportunity to build their faith", where untold thousands have received healing from Jesus Christ. Its Healing School continues to be held free of charge twice daily on the RHEMA campus. There are many other outreaches and RBTC graduates throughout the world.

External links

[Official Website of Rhema Bible Church]
[Documentation of Hagin's plagiarism]
[link] Charismatic Acknowleding Hagin's Plagiarism
[Citation Of Hagin Misusing Greek]
{http://www.apts.edu/ajps/00-1/00-1-KWarrington.pdf Citation of Hagin Changing Greek in Mark 6:5]
[A Former Hagin Disciple Discusses His Mentor]
[A New Site Featuring Hagin's Articles]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.