Is this teaching biblical?
Todd Bentley claims God personally instructed him to kick a woman in the face with his biker boot during a healing service. He recounts this proudly as evidence of the 'gift of faith.' The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — not violence against vulnerable people seeking prayer. Paul explicitly states that God is not the author of confusion but of peace. James teaches that wisdom from above is 'first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield.' A spirit that commands kicking elderly women in the face is not the Holy Spirit.
What did Todd Bentley say?
"I told God, 'Why is the power not moving?' He said, 'Because you haven't kicked that woman in the face.' The gift of faith came on me. He said, 'Kick her in the face — with your biker boot!' I inched closer and BAM! Just as my boot made contact with her nose, she fell under the power of God."
Speaker: Todd Bentley
Source: Sermon recounting, documented by Christian Research Institute
What does Scripture actually teach?
1 Corinthians 14:33, 40
"For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints... Let all things be done decently and in order."
— NKJV
Paul declares that God produces peace, not chaos and violence. Kicking a woman in the face is neither 'decent' nor 'in order.' If a spirit commands violence against those seeking healing, it is not the Spirit of the God who 'is not the author of confusion but of peace.'
Galatians 5:22-23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
— NKJV
The fruit of the Holy Spirit includes gentleness and self-control — the exact opposite of kicking someone in the face. If the spirit speaking to Bentley produces violence rather than gentleness, it identifies itself by its fruit. Jesus said: 'By their fruits you will know them.'
James 3:17
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."
— NKJV
Heavenly wisdom is peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy. Bentley's violent methods display none of these qualities. The spirit commanding him to kick, choke, and assault people is not producing 'wisdom from above' — it is producing the opposite.
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