Who are Bethel Church?

To most people in Northern Ireland the name of Bethel Church, Redding would have meant very little up until a couple of weeks ago. However since then anyone who has kept abreast of religious news in the province may have heard of them in connection with the split which has developed at St Matthias' Parish Church at Knocknamuckey near Lurgan. Many issues have been raised in relation to this split, but one of the main reasons cited for it has been the hosting of a service involving representatives from Bethel Church, based in northern California. Such has been the difference of opinion that the congregation has now split in two, with the minister at the centre of the controversy, Rev Alan Kilpatrick, holding his services in the Goodyear Sports and Social Club, whilst the remainder of the congregation have continued to worship at Knocknamuckley.

Whatever other issues there might be within the parish of Knocknamuckley, and within the Church of Ireland at large, those who have expressed concern at the teachings of Bethel Church, and the association of their congregation with it are absolutely right in being concerned. The doctrines of Bethel church are both unscriptural and dangerous, and as this ministry has been recently highlighted in our media, it is perhaps beneficial that we expose some of their error, lest anyone be drawn to them. This would be particularly important for any young believers who follow the band 'Jesus Culture', as this band (who recently played in the province) was formed in Bethel Church in 1999 and continues to have a strong association with the church.

In truth the errors associated with Bethel Church are so numerous and far reaching that we cannot possibly deal with them all within the scope of this blog post, nor go into detail on any point. What we will simply seek to do is highlight some of the more serious, dangerous, and indeed bizarre teachings which has emanated from Bethel Church.

The Charismatic Reversal of the Reformation: 6 A Return to Mysticism

Previous posts in this series:

1 Background

2 A Rejection of Sola Scriptura

3 Counterfeit Miracles

4 Unquestionable Authority

5 Demons, demons and more demons

What is mysticism? In his Dictionary of Theological Terms Dr Alan Cairns describes mysticism as ‘The search for a higher initiation into spiritual mysteries, or a higher consecration to spiritual realities, or a union with deity, by a withdrawal from the external world and by means of contemplation. In this way mystics profess to apprehend truths which are beyond the understanding’^a. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes it as ‘a constellation of distinctive practices, discourses, texts, institutions, traditions, and experiences aimed at human transformation, variously defined in different tradition’^b. Mysticism has existed within the broad sweep of Christianity for centuries, as well as being found in many other religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Taosim. Within Christianity mysticism finds its greatest prominence during the period of the Middle Ages, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church, and also in the Orthodox Church, in both cases often being closely linked to Gnosticism. People such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena and Ignatius Loyala, all active in the Church of Rome during this period were mystics, and promoted mystical practices. Mysticism in the Roman Catholic Church has continued through to the modern era with men such as Padre Pio. The ideas of trances, visions, meditation, ecstatic experiences, contemplative prayer and the professed miraculous ability to survive without food for long periods of time can all be found within the realm of ‘christian' mysticism. The reformers of the 16th century by and large turned away from such ideas and were sceptical of the claims of the Roman Catholic mystics. Yet mysticism has remained prominent within Roman Catholicism, and its practices and teachings are also increasingly found within the Charismatic Movement. One area where this has come to light in recent years is in the practice of a form of contemplative prayer known as Lectio Divina.