Is Benny Hinn Biblical?

[Silver Bullet]

A close relative of mine believes she was healed by Mr. Hinn. Nevermind that the condition she suffered from is well recognized to rapidly and spontaneously remit in a large proportion of cases.

I should qualify my initial statement: my relative says that it was actually God who healed her rather than Mr. Hinn. That is, she would have been healed even if she hadn't seen Mr. Hinn because that proved to be God's will. This naturally raises the question if Mr. Hinn is doing anything special at all.

So here's the crux: if you really want to know if he can heal, you must subject him to the same test that any therapy ought to be subject to, namely, a randomized controlled trial.

Because some people get better on their own, and sometimes a placebo effect is powerfully active, you must do an experiment that involves many people (single cases are not considered good evidence of a treatment effect) where half get the treatment in question and half don't. Ideally, the half that doesn't get the active treatment gets a similar but inactve treatment (for example, if the treatment is a pill, then the comparison is between the active pill and a "dummy" pill that looks and tastes the same but is inactive, a "placebo"). Countless randomized controlled trials, now the "gold standard" for determining the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of all modern medical treatments, are underway around the world.

Designing a trial of the healing effect of Benny Hinn would involve something like hundreds or thousands of patients with a specific condition being randomly assigned to receive a healing from Mr. Hinn versus a healing from me perhaps (since I am an atheist), where the study subjects are not aware which of us is the purported healer. Then the patients would be followed up to determine how many in each group actually recover or improve. Statistical analyses would help to determine the likelihood that any observed differences in the outcomes of the 2 groups are due to a treatment effect or chance alone. Any result would be strengthened if multiple such studies showed similar results (reproducibility).

There is every reason to believe that Mr. Hinn could afford to carry such a study out, though it would not be in his interest given how successful he is without the need of such evidence.

If Benny Hinn really has an impact upon in this world, it ought to be detectable and measurable. That is the only way to know.

 

[Silver Bullet]

While my previous post outlined the scientific method of approaching the question of Benny Hinn's healing power or lack thereof, I'd like to add that I have another, unscientific method, that at least makes good sense to me.

Ask yourself this: if you really had the power to heal, what would you do with it? I know what I would do: I would spend my every waking minute traveling from Children's Hospital Cancer Ward to Children's Hospital Cancer Ward healing children with cancer. The crux of my response is that I would spend my time where the sick people are: in hospitals.

Why do we never see Mr. Hinn in hospitals healing the sickest people, including children with cancer?

Do you think you'd ever have to ask anybody for money or gifts to support your cause? Of course you wouldn't. Grateful parents and families would pour their rewards over you without ever having to mention or request anything. Just imagine what one man would give you if you could cure his quadriplegia and restore him to his previous employment.

While I remain open to reasonable evidence, I remain of the firm belief that he is a complete fraud.

 

[JoJo]

I also try to remain open when forming opinions about people like Benny Hinn (which I do not watch because he simply gives me a bad feeling).

As someone who has spent a lot of time at our children's hospital cancer units, I agree wholeheartedly with you here:

Ask yourself this: if you really had the power to heal, what would you do with it? I know what I would do: I would spend my every waking minute traveling from Children's Hospital Cancer Ward to Children's Hospital Cancer Ward healing children with cancer. The crux of my response is that I would spend my time where the sick people are: in hospitals.

 

[Vic C.]

I also try to remain open when forming opinions about people like Benny Hinn (which I do not watch because he simply gives me a bad feeling).

As someone who has spent a lot of time at our children's hospital cancer units, I agree wholeheartedly with you here:

Ask yourself this: if you really had the power to heal, what would you do with it? I know what I would do: I would spend my every waking minute traveling from Children's Hospital Cancer Ward to Children's Hospital Cancer Ward healing children with cancer. The crux of my response is that I would spend my time where the sick people are: in hospitals.

... and not expect a reward, not even a single penny, in return. :amen to both of you.

 

[Lewis]

So how do they get all these people to stand up there and say that they have been healed. New people week after week, are these people being paid ? And if so how come none of the hundreds of thousands are talking or in other words snitching ? So what does the crew of Benny Hinn do every week, go out and recruit people ? And tell them to go up there and fall out on the stage ? So whats going on here ?

 

[kingdavid]

So how do they get all these people to stand up there and say that they have been healed. New people week after week, are these people being paid ? And if so how come none of the hundreds of thousands are talking or in other words snitching ? So what does the crew of Benny Hinn do every week, go out and recruit people ? And tell them to go up there and fall out on the stage ? So whats going on here ?

God heals people on the basis of their Faith. these ministers have a true annointing which raises the peoples faith to receive their healing. As i said earlier, the scripture says false christs(annointed ones) shall arise....

the annointing is genuine but it is the vessel that the annointing fell upon that is false.

the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the wheat and the tare.

the rain represents the holy spirit. the Lord said, He would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh but not all flesh will be saved as the parable of the wheat and the tare shows.

 

[Imagican]

Ok we have argued about Benny Hinn and others many times on this board. But let me ask you. Do you think all those people who fall out on the floor, or the ones who get healed are phony ? Or are they paid participants ?

It is a GENERAL FACT that 'excitement' can LEAD to a 'sense' of belief in that one becomes excited over. All one NEED do it read the horror stories of those that DID INDEED believe for a MOMENT that they were healed by this charlitan.

NOTHING that Beni does in his ministry conforms to The Truth. From the 'knocking people down' to the 'pretending to BE Jesus'. This man STARTED here in my 'home-town' of Orlando, Florida. After the heroin overdose of one of his 'right-hand men' and the 'tutor' of his children, to avoid the news scandal involved, he packed up and moved to, I believe, Houston, Tx.

Now, explain away that he is ABLE to heal those that he touches yet couldn't even prevent the DEATHS of two of his CLOSEST cohorts.

This man lives an EXTRAVIGANT life at the cost of his 'subjects'. He has USED them for the 'sake of filthy lucre' and the evidence of this is OBVIOUS by his 'life-style'. Study for yourself. It's REAL easy to google his name and there IS much information about this man availible.

Blessings,

MEC

 

[Photosmith]

There is definitely something to be said for things like the Catholic approach, which is to not pay priests anything but a basic allowance and provide basic living accommodations. I'm not Catholic either, but you're certainly a lot less likely to have a Benny Hinn if they have to take a vow of poverty to practice as a leader in the church. That story linked above showing he made $89 million in 2002 alone is crazy. That and the fact he won't be open about his financials. If you're going to be a leader, the bar is set higher for you, you need to be open about this stuff so people know where you're at.

 

[Rocksolid]

Because some people get better on their own, and sometimes a placebo effect is powerfully active

Yes, when you're emotionally pumped up, crippling pain tends to diminish.

 

[Silver Bullet]

God heals people on the basis of their Faith. these ministers have a true annointing which raises the peoples faith to receive their healing.

I don't think that there is any good evidence of this (ie, there's no good reason to believe it, so if you believe it, you haven't got good reasons for doing so).

Ask yourself what you would do if you were having a heart attack. Would you stay at home and pray that God would heal you 'on the basis of your faith', or would you get to the ER and hope for an immediate coronary angioplasty? (By the way, there is excellent evidence of the effectiveness of immediate coronary angioplasty in reducing heart attack size and the risk of death)

I don't think that there's any good evidence of God healing anybody ever.

 

[kingdavid]

God heals people on the basis of their Faith. these ministers have a true annointing which raises the peoples faith to receive their healing.

I don't think that there is any good evidence of this (ie, there's no good reason to believe it, so if you believe it, you haven't got good reasons for doing so).

Ask yourself what you would do if you were having a heart attack. Would you stay at home and pray that God would heal you 'on the basis of your faith', or would you get to the ER and hope for an immediate coronary angioplasty? (By the way, there is excellent evidence of the effectiveness of immediate coronary angioplasty in reducing heart attack size and the risk of death)

I don't think that there's any good evidence of God healing anybody ever.

jesus always said thy faith has made the whole. because they believed that he was their healer, they were able to be healed.


saying my faith was lifted to believe that i was going to receive His healing touch, then yes i would stand with my faith but if it wasn't then i would go to the doctor. the Lord never said anything bad about doctors but he did about lawyers. in fact, medicine uses the symbol of healing in moses day. they have a brass serpent lifted up upon a rod.



many received their healing in the ministries of william branham in our day, f.f. bosworth, jack coe, John wesley of the methodist movement had many sihns following and so did martin luther of the lutheran movement, and columba during the dark ages, and st. martin, and ireneaus, and polycarp all testified to the signs following their ministries

 

[precepts]

What's the difference/similarities between Benny and the false prophets of Baal? There's nothing new under the son.
Benny is a Shaman and his followers are all pagans, seers, seekers of familiar spirits, and that's a fact! Look for the subliminal messages, and hand and body signals.

 

[Silver Bullet]

jesus always said thy faith has made the whole. because they believed that he was their healer, they were able to be healed.

Very likely that a powerful 'placebo effect' is active in these situations.

saying my faith was lifted to believe that i was going to receive His healing touch, then yes i would stand with my faith but if it wasn't then i would go to the doctor.

So how would you know "if your faith was lifted to believe that you were going to receive His healing"? I mean, what does that really mean?

many received their healing in the ministries of william branham in our day, f.f. bosworth, jack coe, John wesley of the methodist movement had many sihns following and so did martin luther of the lutheran movement, and columba during the dark ages, and st. martin, and ireneaus, and polycarp all testified to the signs following their ministries

For all of which, I bet there is no good evidence (or if there is, I'd love to see it).

 

[Silver Bullet]

While we are on the topic of Jesus healing, I wonder if anyone can help me with some questions I have.

It is commonly believed that God determines the time of ones death. For instance, parents are often told that their child's death was somehow part of God's greater plan ("the Lord works in mysterious ways"). It is also commonly believed that Jesus and God can heal people.

1. How do we deal with the knowledge that infant mortality was once many fold greater than it is now in developed countries? Presumably God determined the times of all those deaths. So, is the improvement in infant mortality due to God's intervention or is it the result of human scientific progress?

2. How do we deal with the knowledge that life expectancy was once decades shorter than it is now in developed countries? Presumably God determined the times of all those deaths. So is the improvement in life expectancy due to God's intervention or the result of human scientific progress?

 

[kingdavid]

jesus always said thy faith has made the whole. because they believed that he was their healer, they were able to be healed.

Very likely that a powerful 'placebo effect' is active in these situations.

saying my faith was lifted to believe that i was going to receive His healing touch, then yes i would stand with my faith but if it wasn't then i would go to the doctor.

So how would you know "if your faith was lifted to believe that you were going to receive His healing"? I mean, what does that really mean?

many received their healing in the ministries of william branham in our day, f.f. bosworth, jack coe, John wesley of the methodist movement had many sihns following and so did martin luther of the lutheran movement, and columba during the dark ages, and st. martin, and ireneaus, and polycarp all testified to the signs following their ministries

For all of which, I bet there is no good evidence (or if there is, I'd love to see it).

how do I know that you love your mother or your father or your friends or i how do i show you that i love my mother and father and friends? I can't show you physical evidence of Love but all i can say is that it is just as real as anything you can see, touch, smell, hear, and taste.


faith is a revelation that is made known to you by the Lord Himself. IT IS NOT A GUESS WORK

 

[Silver Bullet]

how do I know that you love your mother or your father or your friends or i how do i show you that i love my mother and father and friends? I can't show you physical evidence of Love but all i can say is that it is just as real as anything you can see, touch, smell, hear, and taste.


faith is a revelation that is made known to you by the Lord Himself. IT IS NOT A GUESS WORK

You claim to know that I love my mother and father. You are actually guessing that I love my parents, and its a good bet based on the observation that the vast majority of people do. Some people hate their parents and there is no possible way for you to just know who loves their parents, who loves one and not the other, and who hates them both.

People show their love all the time in ways that we become adept at interpreting as children. You could easily show me that you love your parents by the things that you say about them and the things you do for them. If I could spend some time observing you with your parents (especially with the aid of a hidden camera or some other techniques where you wouldn't be aware of being observed), you'd readily disclose your feelings about them.

My contention is that neither as children, nor as adults, do we ever become adept at determining when God has "lifted our faith" to believe certain things, like the proposition that God is going to save us from a heart attack. If we do, please explain how we can know these things (ie. you haven't answered my question).

You talk about faith as a revelation from your Lord (Jesus presumably), but Muslims would say that it is a revelation from Allah, and Hindus might say it is a revelation from Vishnu, etc. There are countless ways that people can have similar revelation, and none of them is any more reasonable than any other. This should prompt you to question the validity of your purported source for revelation. Here is another question: how would you know that its your Lord (ie. presumably Jesus)revealing himself? How would you know that it wasn't Satan trying to trick you, or Zeus, or, more likely, your own mind playing tricks on you?

 

[desert693]

I believe Benny Hinn is a complete fraud.

Watch him closely...the only so-called "healings" are for conditions that CANNOT be verified visually. Those people in the wheelchairs, they arrived on their own two feet - the wheelchairs belong to Benny. So when they miraculously walk across the stage, it's nothing but deception.

Also, when was the last time you observed Benny "healing" physical deformities on stage? The answer is NEVER. People with those conditions aren't allowed on stage, for obvious reasons.

 

[MMarc]

jesus always said thy faith has made the whole. because they believed that he was their healer, they were able to be healed.

Very likely that a powerful 'placebo effect' is active in these situations.

saying my faith was lifted to believe that i was going to receive His healing touch, then yes i would stand with my faith but if it wasn't then i would go to the doctor.

So how would you know "if your faith was lifted to believe that you were going to receive His healing"? I mean, what does that really mean?

many received their healing in the ministries of william branham in our day, f.f. bosworth, jack coe, John wesley of the methodist movement had many sihns following and so did martin luther of the lutheran movement, and columba during the dark ages, and st. martin, and ireneaus, and polycarp all testified to the signs following their ministries

For all of which, I bet there is no good evidence (or if there is, I'd love to see it).

ou want evidence that Jesus heals today? Do you really want evidence? People with your attitude are given proof and they usually refute it.

Go on Youtube and do a search on resurrection Nigeria. There you will see a man resurrected from the dead after 10 minutes of trying to revive him the ''medical way'' a man called TB Joshua, prays over him and he rises before your eyes.

And google TB Joshua of Nigeria. I saw miracles done through him. But I know you will still not believe.

So ask God to give a sign, when He does He will bring back to memory your request...Only be sincere.

 

[Silver Bullet]

People with your attitude are given proof and they usually refute it.

Dear MMarc,

Could you kindly elaborate on what you mean by my "attitude"?

Best,
SB

 

[Imagican]

NO, Jesus did NOT ALWAYS say that one's FAITH healed them. This WAS offered, but NOT ALWAYS. And contradictory to what SOME would have others believe, it was NOT the faith of those HEALED, it was the FAITH of the HEALER.

Lazrus was DEAD. Now, HOW MUCH FAITH DID HE HAVE.

Just like the power to 'cast out' unclean spirits. It is NOT the ONE'S faith that has an unclean spirit that is the deciding factor as the 'casting out', it is the FAITH of the ONE casting out the 'unclean spirit'.

So, those churches that tell their followers that it is THEIR faith that is able to 'heal them' are LYING to those that NEED compasion MORE than they NEED the lie.

God HEALS those that HE chooses. And NO amount of prayer or touching or LYING is able to alter that. I have YET to hear of a case of someone being blind from birth and BEING healed by the likes of Beni Hindi. And I would be willing to BET that if you simply googled in his name, you will MOST LIKELY be able to find statements offered from those that PRETENDED to be healed or may have even FOOLED themselves at the time. Only LATER to realize what a 'sham' this is.

God places MOST Of us in the POSITION that we FIND ourselves and what's MORE important than HEALING is being CONTENT with WHAT you have been GIVEN. It's NOT about US, it's about OTHERS.

Blessings,

MEC