| Reckless Christianity: The Destructive New Teachings and Practices of Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, and the Global Movement of Apostles and Prophetsby Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett |
| Bethel Church in Redding, California, is one of the most popular and polarizing churches in America. Home to the award-winning Bethel Music label, its songs are among the most used in churches. Thousands of people visit the church each year, drawn by reports of miraculous healings, the manifestation of a glittering Glory Cloud, and other miracles. They’re convinced that the church is at the forefront of an end-time movement that is restoring miraculous power to the church-at-large and “bringing heaven to earth.”Yet others are concerned that Bethel has left the boundaries of Scripture and brought its followers into a dangerously speculative and experience-driven faith. They say that, in the name of training miracle workers, Bethel has introduced hazardous, perhaps even occultic, practices into the church. This has resulted in chaos, confusion, and damaged lives.In this book we examine the controversial teachings of the “Bethel Church Movement,” as it is called, which has transformed modern Christian practice, culture, and worship. We show its place in the broader New Apostolic Reformation, a worldwide movement of “apostles” and “prophets” intent on reconstructing the mission and the message of the Christian church. |
| Editorial Reviews |
| “Reckless Christianity exposes the dangerous and heretical teachings and practices of the Global Movement of Apostles and Prophets. I was struck by the parallels with the so-called Toronto Blessing, or ‘Laughing Gospel, ‘ that was all the rage thirty years ago. It seems every generation has to cook up something new that allegedly takes us back to the miracles and prophecies of the first-generation church. Pivec and Geivett rightly warn their readers to steer clear of this new heresy.” –Craig A. Evans, author of From Jesus to the Church “Pivec and Geivett have produced an impressive, even-handed, and meticulously researched and documented critique of the burgeoning Bethel movement. This book is written in an easy, readable style undergirded by scholarly rigor in support of all of its claims. Beyond its value as a clarion warning against one of the most rapidly spreading toxic movements within evangelical Christendom, I recommend this book as a model for how to exercise spiritual discernment, evaluate evidence, and sort through competing truth claims.” –Alan W. Gomes, author of Unmasking the Cults |
| How does Reckless Christianity differ from our earlier books? |
| People have been asking how this book differs from Counterfeit Kingdom and our two earlier books about the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement. I’ll answer that here.Counterfeit Kingdom focuses especially on the *practices* of NAR (the concrete ways it is showing up in churches, ministries, and music). It is written to be a quick, easy, and solid read for a broad audience. In addition to paperback and Kindle editions, it is also available on Audible, since audiobooks are well-suited for this kind of book.Reckless Christianity focuses especially on the *theology* of Bill Johnson and Bethel Church in Redding, California–the most influential NAR church. Though highly readable, it is more academically rigorous than Counterfeit Kingdom. In that regard, it is similar to our first book, A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement (which addresses NAR more broadly than Reckless Christianity does and does not address Bethel Church much at all). God’s Super-Apostles is a condensed, easier-to-read, popular-level version of A New Apostolic Reformation?Thus, Reckless Christianity is intended for those who want to take a deep dive into Bethel’s teachings. It is heavily documented and contains a detailed index to help readers easily locate specific topics of interest to them. Because Reckless Christianity is published by an academic publisher, who has higher costs, its paperback and hardcover books are necessarily higher priced than those from other non-academic publishers. But they are in line with similar academic-level books. But it’s Kindle version is more affordable. Reckless Christianity can be ordered from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your other favorite retailers.We have intentionally written books aimed at different groups of readers to educate and warn as many people as possible about the dangers of NAR–including a broad audience of parents and churchgoers, and a more academic audience of church leaders, professors, and theologically astute lay people. We want our work to reach both wide and deep. We hope that Reckless Christianity will be adopted as a textbook in seminaries the way A New Apostolic Reformation? has been. |
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