Kenneth Hagin

Life

Hagin was born in 1917 in McKinney, Texas. According to his own testimony, he was born with a deformed heart and also suffered from a blood disorder considered incurable. Around the age of fifteen he became paralyzed and bedridden. He was converted in April 1933. He testified that during this time his heart stopped three times and that each time he saw hell and returned; in Korea this account was published as a booklet titled I Went to Hell. He later said that in August 1934 he rose from his sickbed through faith in the Word of God. In 1938 he married Oretha Rooker, and they had a son, Kenneth W. Hagin, and a daughter, Patricia. He died in Tulsa in 2003 at the age of eighty-six, and his son succeeded him in the ministry.

Ministry and Accomplishments

Hagin stated that in 1949, following a vision in which Jesus appeared to him, he became an itinerant Bible teacher and evangelist. He took part in the American healing revival of the 1940s and 1950s alongside figures such as Oral Roberts. In 1963 he founded the Kenneth E. Hagin Evangelistic Association (now Kenneth Hagin Ministries) in Garland, Texas, and in 1966 he moved its headquarters to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Beginning in 1967 he hosted a regular radio broadcast, and he published the monthly magazine The Word of Faith.

In 1974 he founded Rhema Bible Training Center (now Rhema Bible Training College) to train ministers. By the time of his death, the school had locations in fourteen countries, and more than 65 million copies of his books were reported to have been printed. In 1979 he opened the Rhema Prayer and Healing Center for the sick. He had no formal theological education.

He taught that believers can enjoy divine healing and prosperity through a faith that believes the Word of God and confesses it aloud. The passage he cited most frequently is reported to be Mark 11:22–24. His followers call him the "father" of the Word of Faith movement.

Influence on the Korean Church

In Korea, publishers such as Word of Faith Publishing and Bethany Publishing have translated many of his books, including The Wonderful Name of Jesus, What Faith Is, and a work on releasing the power of praying in tongues. A biography of Hagin has also been published in Korea. At the same time, Korean church writings that criticize prosperity theology frequently cite him as a leading representative.

Assessment

His supporters regard Hagin as a minister faithful to the Word and the Spirit and believe that he instilled confidence in faith and healing in many people.

He has also drawn criticism.

• Criticism of his teaching: Evangelical critics contend that his teaching treats faith as a force for obtaining what one desires. They also criticize it for leading people to regard health and wealth as the rightful portion of every believer. Articles voicing such criticism have also appeared in Korean Reformed publications.
• Controversy over plagiarism and the roots of his thought: In his 1988 book A Different Gospel, D. R. McConnell compared Hagin's writings side by side with those of E. W. Kenyon (1867–1948) and argued that Hagin had reproduced Kenyon's writings nearly verbatim without acknowledging the source. McConnell also maintained that Kenyon's thought was influenced by the nineteenth-century New Thought movement. Hagin denied plagiarism, stating that he had arrived at his teaching first and read Kenyon's books only afterward. Those associated with Kenyon and supporters of Hagin counter that McConnell exaggerated the connection between Kenyon and New Thought.
• Heresy disputes: No widely known resolution by the general assembly of any major Korean denomination has declared Hagin personally a heretic.