THE ERRORS IN KENNETH HAGIN’S BOOKS
THE ERRORS IN KENNETH HAGIN’S BOOKS
December 10, 2025
The late Dr Kenneth E. Hagin remains one of the most positive influences on my life and ministry and I will confidently identify with him and his impactful ministry any day, anywhere, and anytime. He remains one of the most misunderstood spiritual figures of the last one hundred years and my heart aches when I see people rob themselves of his rich ministry by not reading his books but jump into conclusions from a distance.
I am inspired today by a video teaching of a popular teacher of the Word in Nigeria castigating the Word of Faith teachings with lots of misconceptions. The video by THE REAL GOSPEL TV on YouTube is titled, ‘THE ERROR IN KENNETH HAGIN’S TEACHINGS’ and attributed to a highly respected minister of God in Nigeria. I must confess I did not hear him mention Kenneth Hagin’s name in the video I watched but if the video is credited to him and he has not dissociated himself from it, I would like to respectfully dissociate Kenneth Hagin from some of the errors he was rightfully correcting in his teaching.
While I have not met him personally, I hold the teacher in high esteem for his spiritual scholarship, his longevity and influence in ministry and certainly his age as a Yoruba man that I am. I have refrained from mentioning his name so this is not misunderstood as a personal attack on him or a disrespect to him. I also do not fault any of the errors he pointed out in the video I watched, except that the caption of the video credits the errors to Kenneth E. Hagin and the wrong may be with THE REAL GOSPEL TV and not with the man of God himself. I will be hypocritical to claim that everything imported or taught in the name of ‘Word of Faith’ in Nigeria has been helpful. There have been excesses and errors that Kenneth Hagin sought to correct in books like The Triumphant Church; Plans, Purposes and Pursuits; A fresh Anointing; The Midas Touch, Greater Glory; He gave Gifts Unto Men, and others.
However, the following identified errors in the video were never taught by Kenneth Hagin in his books.
1.CONFESSING THE WORD OF GOD INSTEAD OF PRAYING
The teacher mentioned the sad observation of a sister pasting some positive confessions that she claimed had replaced fervent prayer. If she alluded to having picked such nonsense from Brother Hagin, then she misrepresented him. My spiritual father, George Adegboye, and my late Uncle, Moji Adeyemi, both highly influenced by Kenneth Hagin’s teachings, taught me to pray for long hours and made me participate in prayer meetings where we prayed NON-STOP for as long as 8 hours on several occasions. In books like The Art of Prayer, Bible Prayer Study Course, Prevailing Prayer, and others, Brother Hagin advocates spending extended time in prayer. He teaches positive confessions of the Word of God as an integral part of the exercise of Faith according to Mark 11:23, Romans 10:9-10, 2 Corinthians 4:13, but never as a replacement for effective fervent prayer (James 5:16, Ephesians 6:18).
2. IRREVERENCE IN PRAYER
The man of God corrected the replacement of kneeling in prayer with strolling around, hands in pockets. Kenneth Hagin taught ‘Reverence’ as an important part of worship in books like ‘A Fresh Anointing’ and ‘Plans, Purposes and Pursuits’. From a few of the video recordings available to us, we see Him kneeling in prayer. Those familiar with Brother Hagin knew kneeling was one of his favourite prayer postures. He encouraged people to gather around old-fashioned altars at the end of some of his teachings and to kneel in prayer. He knelt to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Reference: The Holy Spirit and His gifts), He was caught up into the Spirit and received revelations about demon spirits and deliverance while kneeling by a kitchen chair in his book ‘I believe in visions’ and ‘The Triumphant Church’. Such irreverent prayer postures as described in the video did not emanate from Kenneth Hagin.
3. THEOLOGY OF SEED FAITH AGAINST HARD WORK
As popular as SEED FAITH is in the body of Christ today, Kenneth Hagin NEVER taught it. Instead, he corrected it as a false teaching along with first-fruits and several others in his book, THE MIDAS TOUCH, which he wrote to correct doctrinal errors about prosperity. It amazes me how little of Kenneth Hagin is known by many who just stand aloof and make conclusions on him without reading his materials. I have read resources by critics of the Word of Faith and of the likes of Smith Wigglesworth and E.W. Kenyon of blessed memories. Some of their conclusions are nothing but filled with religious bias and legalism. Brother Hagin never advocated laziness nor did he advocate materialism. Prosperity, in his opinion, was not all about money, neither did he believe God intended for all of us to be billionaires. He lived modestly and shunned materialism. Brother Hagin taught voluntary giving and would not take an offering when emotions were high. He taught hard work, believed in it, and never taught giving as the only key to prosperity. He never advocated that people should borrow to invest in God. He always advocated that tithes should go to the local churches people belonged to and never to him.
4. PREACHING AGAINST REPENTANCE AND BEING BORN AGAIN
Thank God this was credited to another preacher and not Brother Hagin because not only did Brother Hagin talk about his salvation experience on his sick bed in 1934, he tells the exact time he repented and gave his life to Christ. He emphasized the preaching of the gospel and the first chronicled vision of Jesus he had in his book, ‘I Believe in Visions,’ was that of being taken to hell and asked to warn people of the place. He was shown the soul winner’s crown by the Lord Jesus as a reward reserved for the faithful in evangelism. Brother Hagin also wrote a mini-book, ‘I Went to Hell,’ to warn people of the dangers of eternal destruction. He taught that every minister in the fivefold ministry gifts according to Ephesians 4:11 are first called to preach the gospel before anything else.To my beloved brothers behind THE GOSPEL TV (if you get to read my article), I perceive your noble intentions to save the body of Christ from erroneous teachings. However, taking on such responsibility requires diligent Bible study, thorough investigative journalism, and meticulous fact-checking to avoid misrepresentations, baseless claims, and irresponsible journalism. I will even advise a couple of your team members to attend RHEMA BIBLE TRAINING CENTER, NIGERIA by correspondence to expose yourselves to details of the teachings and practices of Kenneth Hagin Ministries for more professional critique of his teachings. I must, however warn, that you may end up with richer prayer lives, greater love for God’s Word and God’s people, multiplied faith, deeper insights into the Word of God, and more heightened sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
Victor Adeyemi
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21 Responses
Thank you for this beautiful piece Dad.
Thank you for the effort put into correcting this error and to present the truth, citing Bro Hagin’s books.
Thank you very much sir, for this article, I have listened to Baba Gbile message. I think the TV people put the title in order to attract crowd to their site, which I think is very wrong. Bro Gbile gave many examples in that message, but for the TV guys to single out Kenneth Higgins is very unprofessional. I believe like you rightly said, Bro Gbile was trying to correct some erroneous teachings in the body of Christ.
Some preachers actually overdo some messages. I remember sometimes around 1994/95, I was invited to a birthday party, the man that preached that day nearly made me to dislike Bro Haggins, because he was just quoting him in his message, he hardly referred to any bible passage in his message. I was thinking if Bro Haggins writtings has replaced the bible on that day. I actually left the birthday because I was disturbed by what I was hearing.
But one thing I did later was to go and start reading Kenneth Haggins books and I was really blessed by those books, but I was able to separate what the bible says and the opinion of Bro Haggins in some of his writings that I don’t agree with. It’s like whenever Apostle Paul is writing what is his opinion, he always point the attention of his readers to what is his opinion and what the Lord told him. I think we should have an open mind and allow the Holy spirit to guide us when reading books written by men, especially when the opinion they expressed is not properly sitting well.
Thank you sir, once again.
Thank you very much Sir for this article. The first time I saw that video, I had to debate many in the comments section and educate them on the teachings of Kenneth Hagin. Most of them including the MOG in question spoke based on assumptions. One couldn’t read Hagin’s books and say things like that.
Thank you Sir for this article. It’s a blessing.
Thank you for this Sir, more grace in Jesus’ name.
Thank you very much dear Sir. It is very heart warming reading your response to the erroneous conclusions made in that video directly and indirectly about Kenneth E Hagin, a man God used to shape so many of us all around the world. He is arguably one of the apostle God used to further His work on the earth. I attest to all your conclusions about him and corrections of the errors in the said video I have also personally watched. Your advice to the critics to is spot on. They will never remain the same upon genuine contact with Kenneth Hagin and his ministry. They will be turned to be people of the Word and the Spirit.
This is awesome,respectful ‘rejoinner’ devoid of personal attacks. Any attempt by anyone to correct ‘errors’ of notable preachers should involve sound and balanced biblical scholarship.
Let me quickly add that some of these ‘old folks of faith’ might have made sincere errors (based on the light available to them) but the approach to correct should be done the proper way as i earlier mentioned. Thank you Pastor Victor for your submission.
Thank you sir
Dear Sir, thank you for the response. It is informational and enlightening. The Lord will help us in the present generation to get it right without doing away with the rich legacy of faith that our fathers who travelled the way ahead of us left for us to follow.
I am personally blessed by reading your response.
Thank you Sir.
Well, it is good we do all these in the defense of the gospel, after all, we are to fight the good fight of faith. However, what I find more important is, to get believer rooted in sound doctrine, so that, when the waves of false teachings and enemies of the Gospel rage, they will always know whom they have believed.
Thanks and God bless you for putting these in perspective, sir!
Thank you for bringing this perspective sir. A lot of these channels simply generate titles that will attract viewership. It’s sad if the intention is to create controversy rather than truly blessing the lives of viewers. I’m glad I read this blog. Kenneth Hagin’s books have so blessed me and I won’t change my opinion because of a social media stunt by mischievous creators. Blessings to you sir @ Victor Adeyemi
Dear Rev. Victor Adeyemi
With deep admiration, I salute you for his Christlike wisdom, humility, and grace in defending the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).
In a time when misinformation spreads faster than revelation, your balanced and Spirit-led articulation has reminded us that “we are set for the defence and confirmation of the gospel” (Philippians 1:17).
The late Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin remains one of the most profound influences of our time and ministry. I will boldly and joyfully identify with him any day, anywhere, and anytime.
He was not perfect — none of us are — but he was faithful, fruitful, and focused on pointing the believer to the living Christ through faith, prayer, and the Word.
Sadly, many who criticise his message have never read his writings or fellowshipped with his books. Books that have remained timeless treasures of balanced truth, prayer discipline, and spiritual order.
Thank you, Rev. Victor, for standing for truth without contention, for teaching without pride, and for reminding us that defending sound doctrine is not rebellion, it is responsibility.
Like Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16) — and I remain grateful for men who still “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
More grace sir.
Thank you Reverend. I owe my foundations under God to you from the days of Teachers house in Ibadan in 1990 and to Papa Hagins indirectly and directly through his books. Even though I came to disagree with a few things he believed, I have never found him as a minister handling the word of truth with insincerity or greed.
Excellent. God bless you Sir. You treated the matter with utmost respect for the Man of God. My life wouldn’t have been as I am if I didn’t come in contact with those two great men of God.
Fantastic sir!
Thank you for sharing this Sir ♥️♥️♥️
i respect your analyiys. i pray that God will change the eyes of the prominent yoruba Pastor as i googled him and read his message and iam shocked at what he said. i pray that God will open his eyes and correct him and change him. Kenneth Hagin preached a balanced message. after i got born again, the books that built my faith in the 1980s were Hagin, Price T. L Osborn. Hagin said any topic taken to the extreme will cause error. be it holiness, faith, believers authority.
Stay blessed . Pastor Victor
Thank you sir, for this rich rebuttal. It’s some work to have to correct these misrepresentations. Thank you for all you do to preserve the whole body of Jesus Christ, locally and globally.
Regards and God bless 🙏🏻
Thank you so much sir for addressing this issue.
I watched the video too about a week ago and knew that many of the “errors” pointed out was a misconception and not what Kenneth Hagin taught and stood for.
Beautiful. Thank you, Sir. May God bless you.