Criticizing the teachings of popular author
Neil Anderson might seem a risky task. After all, his books are
advertised in Charisma and The Marketplace
(formerly The Bookstore Journal) and endorsed by the likes
of Bill Bright, Chuck Swindoll, Kay Arthur and Trinity
Broadcasting Network favorite, Jack Hayford.
His teachings focus on liberation from
bondage—bondage from sin and the power of the devil,
subjects any Christian ought to be familiar with. But a closer
look reveals teachings that have far more in common with
extremist Charismatic movements than with the Bible.
The bondage that Anderson promises deliverance
from is not simply from the power of sin but from
demons—some of them originating with long-dead
ancestors—who indwell believers. Anderson says 85 percent of
all Christians are struggling with various levels and depths of
this demonic bondage.1
Anderson would have us pray the following
prayer:
“I cancel out all demonic working that may have been passed on to me from my ancestors. ... I renounce all satanic assignments that are directed toward me and my ministry, and I cancel every curse that Satan and his workers have put on me. ... I reject all other blood sacrifices whereby Satan may claim ownership of me.”2
These prayers are not intended to be said by
someone seeking salvation, but by Christians who already have
been “delivered from the power of darkness and translated
into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.”3
The Assemblies of God denomination issued a
15-page position booklet refuting the idea that Christians can
have indwelling demons. It concludes that such teaching is
unbiblical and erodes the biblical concept of salvation and
peace.4
The Christian Research Institute has issued a
position paper warning the Christian public about Anderson’s
teachings. It states:
“While Anderson promotes ‘freedom in Christ’ vociferously, his emphasis on the occult from which we are to become free is more noticeable, and is described in more vivid terms in the material he presents in seminars and publications than our freedom. His seven steps to freedom, the core of most of his materials, includes a lengthy recitation of renunciation/announcement statements that focus on blood oaths, marriage to Satan, generational curses, and so on. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a precedent for such a focus.”5
The Calvary Contender for Aug. 15, 1995,
also issued a “Neil Anderson Warning”:
“Much of what he says is soundly biblical, but his message and methods are tainted by (his) version of demonic deliverance, inner healing, psychotherapy, false memory syndrome, ... ritualism and generational curses.”
Anderson, Mark Bubeck, and C. Peter Wagner all
parrot these false ideas, often using one another as the source
authorities.6
A fellow traveler of Anderson’s, Bubeck
has gone into even wilder extremes and now has a prayer to get
demons off all parts of the body: Continue at G. Richard Fisher
