The Greatest Threat to Christianity - Neil T. Anderson

What of another popular Christian author and minister, Neil T. Anderson? His influential ministry, Freedom in Christ, focuses on spiritual warfare and “bondage breaking”.

According to Christian Research Institute:

“Controversial components in Anderson’s message include not only his teaching that Christians can have demons but also his belief that Christians should speak to the devil, that they must specifically identify and renounce past sins in order to be free of them, that they do not possess a sin nature, that correct self-perception is the key to sanctified living, and that satanic ritual abuse and multiple personality disorder are common problems caused by a vast satanic conspiracy.”

Anderson mixes a comfortable dose of historically sound theology with the speculative. He says a lot of the right things but his theology is based on assumptions that are flawed. He overstates both Satan’s role and authority and the believer’s role in our warfare with Satan, with dubious and often erroneous scriptural foundations.

His sensationalistic nature is most apparent in his writings on demons. Among his other teachings on demons, he promotes his belief that Satanists meet from midnight to 3:00 A.M. He says, “…part of their ritual is to summon and send demons. Three in the morning is prime time for demon activity ...” Although I guess this could be true; this seems very subjective and leads to generating much fear and superstition among Christians.

Once again from the Christian Research Institute:

“Anderson’s paradigm incorporates widely disputed theories of dissociative disorders, repression and recovery of memories (e.g., of childhood abuse), and satanic ritual abuse (SRA)… there has been no corroborative documentation that there is any widespread, multigenerational, multifamily, organized, nearly undetectable, almost invincible satanic conspiracy propagating murder, mutilation, cannibalism, and other criminal activities. Investigation by law enforcement agencies, mental health professionals, journalists, academic researchers, and historians here and abroad has conclusively shown that the satanic alarm of the 1980s and 1990s was a hysterical myth, a genuine witch hunt.”

His teachings are often difficult to discern the right from the wrong, the subtleness is amazing. With a shallow understanding of scripture many of these distinctions seem clearly unimportant. Most have neither the inclination nor the discernment to differentiate between this mixture of truth and error.

Next week: A high view of man.

Previous posts: Part 1, Part 2