I have written and spoken often about the perils of the "Word of Faith" movement.  This misguided and misguiding group not only teaches what has been called the "prosperity gospel," it also distorts the biblical idea of the curse of sin (and Satanic curses).  According to these exegetically-challenged teachers (who are profiting greatly from their faulty exegesis), a person can be cursed by his words and can invite Satanic or demonic torment and bondage into his life.

Yesterday (January 14) provided another example of the incredible extremes to which the advocates of this brand of theology can go.  Pat Robertson (700 Club founder) tried to explain the reason for the disaster in Haiti in the following way:

“People might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French…you know Napoleon the 3rd…and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.’  And then says Pat Robertson, ‘True story. And so the Devil said, 'Okay, it's a deal’…But ever since they have been cursed by…one thing after another, desperately poor.”

Hank Hanegraaff wrote about Robertson’s idiotic remarks:

“Of course, that’s the Word of Faith mantra that if you suffer poverty, you’re under a curse. And Pat Robertson then goes on to talk about the Dominican Republic, which is prosperous. He contrasts between the part of the island of Hispaniola that is the Dominican Republic, which is the prosperous side, and Haiti, which is in desperate poverty, and reiterates it is the ‘same island.’ The conclusion being that because the Dominican Republic didn’t make this pact with the Devil and Haiti did - allegedly at least according to legend - you have Haiti today suffering for the sins of their forefathers, who made a pact with the devil. Again this is a self-inflicted black eye on Christianity, because here is a prominent Christian leader communicating legendary information, and I might add, this is the same guy who said Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine retribution for dividing God’s land, and Yitzhak Rabin’s murder was God’s retribution for signing the Oslo Peace Accords.”

Friends, there is not a word in the New Testament about people or nations coming under curses because someone in their past committed himself or the nation to the Devil.  The Bible clearly talks about the curse of sin and the curse of the law--but that's a curse that affects every human born into this world.  No one escapes it except by the blood of Christ, who became a curse for us that we might be freed from the curse of the law--which is Divine judgment and hell. All the talk about generational curses and national curses and pacts with the Devil are more the product of fertile minds and fiction than of the careful study of Scripture.

Believing that Haiti is under a curse may make us feel better.  It will also help us exonerate ourselves for our failure to care, to pray, and to give to relieve their suffering.  If they are under a curse because a leader made a pact with the Devil generations ago, then they are getting what they deserve.  

But if they are simply sinners - like you and me - who live in a fallen world where there is inexplicable suffering and unpredictable natural catastrophes , then our response must be redemptive, merciful, and compassionate.

Read Luke 13:1-5.  Our Lord already provided a rebuttal to this idiotic theology.

Alan Day, Senior Pastor