This paper is adapted from the concluding chapter of my dissertation on New Thought’s founding author, Warren Felt Evans.
In the paper, I introduce the well-known Word-Faith/prosperity gospel movement with Kenneth Copeland as its most prominent American pastor-entrepreneur. The thesis of this paper is that traces of New Thought paganism can be found throughout the doctrines of Copeland.
To support the claim, I will first summarize the 40 year discussion of the origins of the prosperity gospel, which provide the explanation for comparing Word-Faith to New Thought; I will then summarize the core theological tenets of New Thought, as depicted by the movement’s first author, Warren Felt Evans; and finally, I will demonstrate the doctrines in which Copeland has followed in the same direction as Evans, though not to the same extreme.
Regarding practical matters for the church, I will answer the title question, “is it heresy?”, by concluding that Copeland is himself a heretic. That does not, however, mean that Christians can or should label the word-faith “movement” itself as heretical, nor all word-faith Christians as heretics. Scholars on this subject recognize that the “movement” is not formal, and as of today, no authoritative statement of faith has been produced. This means Christians must continue to do the investigative work themselves to discern if their friends or relatives are attending religious institutions that promote heresy.