E.W.KENYON AND HIS MESSAGE OF FAITH

Partly because of the prominence of so called ‘word of faith’ ministers such as Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland ( and there are many others) a number of books analyzing the ministry of these men were written over the last twenty years.  In the research done into the origins of the ministry of these men the name of E.W. Kenyon came to the fore.  He ministered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was an early pioneer of Christian radio ministry.  It was suggested that Kenyon mixed metaphysics- specifically New Thought ideas with Christianity and the result was heretical.  This book by Joe McIntyre seeks to look at Kenyon’s life in the light of these criticisms.  Are they unfounded and did he gain his unusual teaching emphasis from such sources?  The conclusion the author arrives at is that the criticisms are un-founded, instead, Kenyon was a great man of faith who had a deep and real personal relationship with God from which he ministered to many.  This biography is well written and examines Kenyon’s life carefully.  Obviously the author is totally sympathetic to the doctrinal position which Kenyon developed, and this does not help him to be as objective as possibly he should be.  There are certain points in Kenyon’s doctrines which are open to serious question, and these areas are not handled fully.  True McIntyre does not set out to critique Kenyon’s position so much as to compare it with other prominent ministers of his day who seemed to hold similar views.  McIntyre does this in order to scotch the idea that Kenyon’s sources were questionable and instead, were those influences coming from mentors and ministries who were regarded as thoroughly orthodox by the evangelical community at that time.  Some of us read Kenyon in earlier years and found some profit thereby, but also experienced reserves in certain areas into which he traveled in his doctrines.  This book makes us look again at this man, his ministry and the direction he took in his doctrinal thinking.  Overall it does give some balance to the many negative things written concerning him.