*A Summary Critique*
*Good Morning, Holy Spirit*
Benny Hinn
(Thomas Nelson, 1990)
_Good Morning, Holy Spirit_ is a runaway best seller by Benny
Hinn, pastor of Orlando Christian Center in Florida, and a popular
televangelist on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Less than
six months after its release, there are already (as of February
1991) 350,000 copies in print.
I met with Benny Hinn on December 5, 1990, along with Hank
Hanegraaff and Bob Lyle of the Christian Research Institute (CRI),
to discuss CRI's concerns about this book. After that meeting, and
in consultation with Hinn, Thomas Nelson Publishers made several
changes in the eighth printing of the book (January 1991). (Thomas
Nelson is a generally reputable Christian publishing house carrying
a number of fine books which CRI continues to endorse and even
distribute to the public.) There is no acknowledgment in the book
that changes have been made. That is, there is no way of knowing,
other than carefully comparing select pages, whether one is holding
in one's hands the original or the revised version. Although
representatives of Thomas Nelson have stated publicly that changes
were made to clarify Hinn's intended meaning, I shall argue that
the changes constitute a revision and not merely a clarification.
This book is significant for two reasons. First, in it Hinn
recounts his life story, essentially the testimony on which he
bases his claim to be an anointed minister of God. If people accept
his story, they may be inclined to accept and even support his
ministry -- and whatever might be considered controversial in his
book is by all accounts mild compared with what goes on in his
public ministry.
Second, Hinn presents a controversial understanding of the
doctrine of the Trinity. If it is in any way erroneous, the public
needs to be informed. Moreover, although changes have been made in
the eighth printing, no copies of the original version were
recalled, and no public retraction of its errors was made. Thus, a
review of both the original book and the revision is imperative.
(In what follows, citations are the same in both versions unless
indicated otherwise.)...
Source File: crj0087a.txt
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