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Heresy Hunters: Character Assassination in the Church

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This is an excellent book that exposes many of the lies out there today bout certain Word-Faith teachers. While not excusing some of the bad things a few of them have done, Spencer approaches the subject with an honest and open heart. He shows how they've been misrepresented by people such as Hank Hanegraaf and John MacArthur who aren't concerned with Christian unity, but instead are concerned with ripping fellow Christian brethren apart. He exposes their lies when using peoples' quotes of of context and their blatant and ruthless attacks to misrepresent and do nothing more.

One is left with the feeling that whilst in principle it is right to judge doctrine, even publicly, in practice there are not many ways of doing this without offending someone of James' sensibility. He feels that certain teachers have been unfairly criticised for their 'little gods' doctrine, yet the only evidence he offers for this is a very shallow comparison with the patristic doctrine of divinisation. He fails to reasonably demonstrate, with evidence, exactly what is wrong with the critiques that have been levelled at this teaching. One cannot help but feel that the author's run-in with the Tanners (ch. 6) is a bit of a sore spot which, because of the personal and sensitive issues involved, Spencer would have been wiser to have left alone. Having said that, there are helpful points which need to be heard by the 'heresy hunters', and they are very serious points to do with integrity and honesty. It is just unfortunate that the tone of the book seems to pander to those whose teachings raise the most concerns (hence the book's popularity at TBN) and comes across as a defence of Word-Faith etc. an approach which will only alienate those who need to hear some of its warnings.

Amazing the lies that can be spread via the internet when someone exposes those who are attacking the ministers of the church. I believed the reports about this book until I actually read it for myself. Mr. Spencer exposes the tactics many so called apoligists use to destroy legitmate ministries such as the Word of Faith preachers.

Mr. Spencer does not defend the sins of Warnke, Tilton or Larson. He simply addresses the ungodly tactics used by so called Christians to destroy these ministers rather than restoring them in a spirit of meekness as the Bible calls for (Gal. 6:1). I for one am glad he wrote the book.

Heresy Hunters are crying "injustice" when they are the ones doing the injustice by attacking the brethren with no real research, denominational prejudice, and out of context quotes. Expose them for their tactics and many of them will come after you as they did to this man. It's a shame how low we have stooped in the Body of Christ. These things should not be.

I recommend buying this book as well his other book "Bleeding Heart and Propaganda: The Fall Of Reason In The Church. Also buy "E.W. Kenyon: The True Story" by Joe McIntyre and see how the things Kenyon has been accused of are untrue. Finally, also purchase "Christianity In Power" by Michael Bruno

The title of the book was not at all what I thought it would be. I thought this would be dealing more with gossip in the church and how to stop it. Instead, it was an attempt to cover up guilt and wrongdoings done by scandalous snake oil salesmen. Mr. Spencer is an ex-Mormon who doesn't seem to understand the importance of being able to ask questions and criticize religious leaders when needed. But instead, Spencer thinks no one should question any leaders in mainstream fundamentalism...even people like Pat Robertson or Peter Popoff. Even Mike Warnke is portrayed as a victim of slander, even though he finally admitted he lied about leading a Satanic cult of 1500 people. Oddly enough, Warnke seems to be innocent of the charge of character assassination, although he wrote the introduction to The Todd Pehomenon...a book which exposed rival (fake) ex-Satanist, John Todd/Lance Collins. Todd/Collins isn't mentioned in the book as a victim, that's because Todd/Collins was so unstable he started naming people like Jerry Falwell, Melodyland, and all Charismatic churches as being part of a world-wide Satanic conspiracy. Spencer describes Cornerstone Magazine as an "Avante Garde" (huh?) Christian magazine, and sees them as villains since they exposed so many of his peers as fakes and frauds. Bob Larson is yet another "victim", even though he admitted he sometimes ran past shows and claimed they were live. I also imagine many of the calls were staged as well, because they certainly sounded like it. I wish I had 1/10 the budget these "victims" have to run my ministry. All we have to do is look back at history to see what happens when religious leaders go unchallenged and unquestioned...just imagine the Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. People should always question religious leaders, especially TV Evangelists. One person who wasn't mentioned in the book, even though he fought a David and Goliath battle with the FCC, was the late Dr. Gene Scott. Scott, who had a PhD from Stanford University and was a controversial figure who sneered at the hypocrisy of other TV preachers, even though he was no Boy Scout himself...and freely admitted it. So by omitting less than perfect people like Gene Scott and taking up for fakes like Mike Warnke but not Todd/Collins, the message is clear; Make sure you're one of us. Spencer is doing character assassination of his own by omission. I paid 25 cents for this book in a used bookstore, so at least I'm not out much.

To say the least, I was pleased to find this book. I for one am grieved daily to hear the bashing of ligitimate ministries by the heresy hunters over the airwaves. Only eternity will tell how many unbelivers they send running from Christianity with misinformation and outright lies. Not understanding the workings of the Holy Spirit, they arrogantly cricize and codemn anything which they have not experienced themselves. Mr. Spencer reveals their error in a balanced, factual and loving manner. In his dealings with the Tanners, it is obvious he showed restraint and self-control. His purpose is clearly not to condone the errors of any minister or ministry but to call for correction to be done truthfully and within the Body of Christ.

I read this book when it first came out and it opened my eyes and broke my heart. Opened my eyes to the bitter betrayal of brother against brother, and broke my heart for the sake of our Savior, who died for us all and asked -- no, commanded -- only one thing from us: "Love one another, as I have loved you." Instead of hunting heresy, we should be bonding in unity on that which we can agree .. GENTLY REBUKING one another on those things on which we believe that cannot be Scripturally defended. Just as we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin, in the same way we are to love the brethren without wrath or dissention (1 Tim 2:8). Who is the accuser of the brethren? Satan. Who does the work of Satan on this earth? The brethren who accuse other brethren. Does Jesus need our help to "root out and pluck up" the tares? No; He has expressly forbidden it, lest the tares be plucked up with the wheat. Our Lord is AMPLY ABLE to judge His own house and His own servants -- He does not need us to do so. Indeed, we are warned against "judging another's servants" are we not? I encourage anyone who has been hurt by believing accusations leveled by the "heresy hunters" against the brethren to read this book, then to put it behind them and then go forward in their Christian walk by observing the Eleventh Commandment as our Lord has bid us to do -- "Love one another."

In this often-tiresome made-for-TBN tome, Spencer denounced so-called Christian "heresy hunters" for publicly criticizing other Christians without ever bothering to talk with them ... and then proceeded to publicly criticize them without ever bothering to talk with them. Go figure.

Spencer attempts the impossible -- or at least the impossibly stupid -- in defending pseudo-Christian con-men like Robert Tilton, Bob Larson, and Mike Warnke. And the specifics of his defense are in many respects comical. God forbid that anyone in the secular community should, for example, see the incriminating details of Larson's 1991 divorce.

Like Warnke and Larson, Spencer has been caught in an attempt to overstate his personal credentials, fraudulently palming himself off as a "former AP journalist" when his only experience there was a three-month internship writing copy.

James Spencer is an ex-Mormon who ought to understand a thing or two about heresy and the importance of TRUE Christian doctrine. If Mormonism is NOT a heresy, Spencer had no reason to convert from his former position.

It is this fact that saddens me in his counter-attack upon anybody and everybody who is not a Word of Faith Christian. Spencer's experiential Christianity is every bit as bad as his previous experience with Mormonism.

I want to keep it clean, but Spencer's book is typically spineless. He has NO problem lambasting the ministry of John MacArthur (whose cessationism Spencer despises; Spencer devoted an entire chapter to MacArthur), but he doesn't want teachers who are DEMONSTRABLY lying (like Paul Crouch, Mike Warnke, and Benny Hinn) to be called to account for their lies.

Heresy hunting is a new inflammatory term that was invented to dismiss any honest inquiry. Spencer defends this position immaculately, but his entire book misses the point. Paul Crouch, who wrote the foreward, states that "one theologian's heresy is another theologian's orthodoxy." He further claims that contending for the faith (mentioned in Jude 3) refers to Christ, the virgin birth, crucifixion, resurrection, forgiveness by cleansing blood, and future judgment are the only "essentials." Crouch concludes by writing, "beyond these absolute essentials...there is infinite room for honest men and women to disagree..." Thus, according to Paul Crouch - who, again, wrote the foreward - the authority and infallibility of Scripture, the Trinity, salvation by grace ALONE are NOT essential to saving faith. It is for this reason that both Crouch and his hired defender, Spencer, completely miss the mark.

I will agree that critics of some Faith teachers have overstated their case (Hanegraaff in particular). However, Spencer uses the overstatement as a carte blanche for those who are teaching heresy to demonize people like Hanegraaff and Mac Arthur. He excuses retaliatory remarks made by Crouch and Hinn while condemning "heresy hunters."

If only James Spencer was as concerned about doctrinal purity and truth - i.e. "the faith" of Jude 3 - as he is about a straw man called heresy hunting, he might have written an interesting book. Sadly, his only means of defense is to demonize the demonizers. You would be much better off saving money or buying a fair and balanced book, "The Word-Faith Controversy" by now fired Hanegraaff employee, Dr. Robert Bowman.