What are Andrew Wommack's most foundational truths?

Upvote:2

I've watched the guy many times over the years, and drawing from that, it's safe to say this:

His most foundational beliefs are pretty the same as those of a typical, Bible-believing, traditional Protestant. These include things like:

  • The Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
  • There is only one God, consisting of a Trinity: Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit.
  • Salvation is by faith alone and not by works.
  • Jesus is the only way to be saved. One must come to saving faith in Jesus to be saved. (This applies at least once they're of the Age of Accountability. I'm not sure exactly where he stands on deaths of young children and so on, but from other experience, I think he believes they do go to heaven).
  • There is a heaven, and there is a hell. All of us deserve eternal punishment in hell for our sin. This is justice. However God gave up His only begotten Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for our sins on the cross, to rise from dead, and to unlock the way for eternal salvation.
  • Etc.

Notice that these are not necessarily the beliefs of all Christians or even of all Protestants. Some are more standard and are closer to the common denominator for all Christians; however not all Christians fully believe the Bible, for instance. But for a standard, traditional, cookie-cutter, Bible-believing Protestant (if someone has a better of wording what I'm trying to say here, feel free to edit), consistent with a denomination such as Presbyterian Church of America or the Southern Baptist Convention, all of these foundational beliefs are fully consistent.

Where he diverges is with other high-tier, but still non-foundational beliefs. Take, for instance, the belief that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Out of the set of people that believe that, you have a larger group that believes things like supernatural healing are not something you can just rely on these days (whether it still happens at all or not). On the other hand, you also have a group, consisting of fewer members, that believes supernatural healing is guaranteed through faith, even today. Andrew Wommack is a member of the second group.

Notice that this is now on a different tier than the foundational belief. Again, you have 1) those who believe the Bible is completely correct and so on, but out of that group, you also have 2) two sub-groups who interpret the Bible differently. What distinguishes Andrew Wommack here is on point #2, not point #1. Point #1 is foundational. Point #2 is still pretty high-tiered, but not first-order foundational.

There are similar points like this, and more generally, he is a Charismatic Christian who believes in things like speaking in tongues, supernatural healing, etc. Some who disagree with him will then try to portray the differences as being more drastic and foundational than they really are. They will try to portray his beliefs or teachings as being different from the initial list above. However this is not the case, and it is only - still high-tiered - but nonetheless secondary beliefs that he diverges on, compared to something like a standard, cookie-cutter Southern Baptist church.

One thing to note about the Prosperity Gospel: There are at least a couple of different versions of this. There is the more extreme version that kind of focuses almost strictly on material wealth in this life and that says you can pretty much have whatever you want, almost for free. There is a less extreme version, which is still eternity-focused, and which does not preach that riches are guaranteed in this life. This less extreme version instead preaches that you simply have the ability to have your needs met. Andrew Wommack distinguishes himself from many people by dealing with either version of this at all; however the version he goes with is the less extreme one.

In fact, compared to a lot of other Charismatic TV preachers, you'll notice that he spends a lot less of his time preaching on how to constantly get, get, get, get, get. While some of his teachings do focus on receiving Christ's blessings and are non-traditional, other teachings of his will be more traditional and focus on things like morals, for instance. In either case, he often still ties things like your work ethic in with things like whether God's going to bless you with a promotion, for instance. He'll make a much bigger point of this than some cookie-cutter Charismatic televangelists.

One last thing to mention is that he isn't always the best communicator. If you watch his material enough, you'll start to notice that he'll occasionally word a few things, just kind of here and there, very poorly. Most of the time, he stays on track, but this does show up just a little bit on occasion. In these cases, you kind of have to take what he's saying in context.

Andrew mentions in lesson 1 at around the 02:20 mark that the 'You've Already Got it!' revelation is ranked 2nd or 3rd in terms of the most foundational truths that Andrew draws from on a constant basis.

In this case he kind of just means this is one of the big things he likes to talk about and preach on. It's still building on top of a foundation.

Upvote:3

Having never heard of Andrew Wommack, I had to do some research. He is an American conservative charismatic TV evangelist and faith healer. One foundational belief is that the Bible is inspired and empowered by God, is infallible and is authoritative. It has to be the foundation of everything a Christian believes. He says:

God's Word has to be the foundation of everything a Christian believes. Most problems that Christians have come from an ignorance of God's Word or wrong teachings from His Word. https://www.awmi.net/audio/audio-teachings/?teaching=a-sure-foundation

He believes in the virgin birth, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ has accomplished all that is necessary for man’s salvation. He also believes in the need to repent of sin and to confess Jesus as Lord. This will result in regeneration by the Holy Spirit. On the subject of the Holy Spirit, it is important to understand he believes in the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of healing. Womack teaches, “It’s never God’s will for us to be sick; He wants every person healed every time” and “Jesus told us to heal the sick, not pray for the sick.” Again, this is not the biblical understanding of orthodox Christians.

Be aware that the teachings of this man incorporate “Word of Faith” theology and promotes a form of “Prosperity Gospel” which goes against biblical orthodox Christianity.

In order to discover the “rankings” of Andrew Womack’s “foundational truths” you will need to spend over six hours listening to his lessons. Frankly, I would rather spend six hours just reading the Bible, a much more productive exercise.

Finally, a word with regard to the penultimate fundamental beliefs of Andrew Wommack:

We believe the true Church is composed of all born-again believers in Christ, regardless of denominational affiliation. https://www.awmi.net/about-us/our-beliefs/

Jesus warned of false teachers during the last days. You need to pick up your Bible and put your faith in the words of Jesus, not in the words of men who claim "special revelation".

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