Benny Hinn - the name of this charismatic and very specific preacher evokes polar emotions. For some, this man is a healer and a man of God, while others accuse him of quackery and the desire to profit at someone else's expense. Such mixed reviews are often caused by a lack of information or a reluctance to sort out this issue on their own.
The birth of a great manipulator
Benny Hinn was born in 1952 in Israel and accepted traditional Christian baptism, as his parents were from among Palestinian Christians. Due to the Israeli-Arab war, the family was forced to immigrate to Canada in 1967. The family took refuge in Toronto, where little Benny Hinn began high school. He could not finish the school of Georges Wannier.
Sharing memories of his childhood, Hinn claims that in childhood he was a very timid and shy child and was very complex because of the severe form of stuttering. He also claims that his father was the mayor of Jaffa when Benny was born. There is no reliable information that his father really held such a position.
As a teenager, the future preacher left Greek Orthodoxy and fully accepted the Pentecostal faith. In those years, parents were excited about the changes taking place with their son. He finally dissolved in his religiosity, and it was Benny Hinn who became the mentor in the Toronto temple. The biography of the young man is quite contradictory, and some facts are not confirmed by anything, but are based only on his words.
Ministry start
The first service Benny Hinn attended was singing in a youth church choir in Toronto. It was then that a young ambitious man plunged into the atmosphere, where worship and purification reign. But if for an ordinary member of the church, ministry is primarily a personal experience of communicating with God, then for Hinn this moment became a turning point in his career and taught how to make a name for yourself on the trust of parishioners.
The young priest married in 1979, and a girl named Susan became his wife. In this marriage, they had four children: three girls and one boy. Hinn did not limit himself to church service and made his way to television, where he runs a daily program, which is broadcast in more than 200 countries around the world.
Christian Center
In 1983, Benny Hinn organized a Christian center in Orlando and became its sovereign leader. The maintenance of such a center, of course, requires large financial injections, and just then the so-called material service begins.
It should be noted that the preacher’s popularity only grew every year, and this was a consequence of the fact that he skillfully combined the preaching of the gospel and material assistance. Financial donations for orphanages and support for the homeless and destitute are what Benny Hinn relied on. He always confirmed sermons with financial support and therefore became an idol of many thousands of people.
Conquering thousands of people
But Benny was not going to stop there. Immediately after the opening of the Christian center, he begins to travel the world, gathering huge stadiums in his healing services. According to Benny Hinn, prayer, which he uttered at these services, had a special power and helped thousands of people get rid of diseases. People traveled in wheelchairs, had difficulty moving on crutches, they were simply brought to these services on bedspreads. Each of them hoped for a miracle and wanted to become healthy.
Several times, professional doctors suggested that the healer fix the fact of healing, but he did not give consent. What is the reason remains a mystery. Perhaps everything was not quite the way Hinn said, and behind the mass healings was some kind of trick invisible to an ordinary person.
How does he heal people?
As Benny Hinn himself says, the Holy Spirit works through him and brings the long-awaited healing to many who attended the service. But if you carefully analyze the entire course of these mass meetings, you will notice one fact that contradicts the Bible.
Not everyone who works miracles is in fact anointed of God. If you recall the examples from the Bible, then the Egyptian magi could easily repeat all the miracles and signs of Moses. But people who carefully analyze the Holy Scriptures will not have a shadow of doubt about the power by which such miracles were performed. The fact of a miracle still does not mean anything.
Strange enough is the fact that during such events people fall on their backs, although before God they worship on their knees. It is enough to recall domestic "miracle workers", such as Kashpirovsky and Chumak, who also completely turned off human consciousness. But by whose power did they do it?
It is worth recalling the warning that Jesus left on the pages of the gospel. It turns out that He denied such followers and said that he never knew them.
What is the secret of Benny Hinn's popularity?
It was healings that became a hallmark of this minister. The most interesting thing is that no one saw that one of the people with spinal injuries or complex fractures at the end of the service really got out of the stroller. As a rule, at such events, people were healed of diseases of internal organs or infectious viruses. That is, those that are really impossible to verify right on the spot.
Another comparison is not in favor of the healer. When Christ healed people, it was such diseases that were visible to everyone. Blindness, paralysis were cured in one word. And according to Benny Hinn, the healing was successful, and you have to take his word for it.
Dark spot in the biography
It is hard to imagine, but in 2010, after 30 years of married life, Benny Hinn's wife filed for divorce. This fact greatly stirred up the public, because, as you know, Christ forbade divorce. What really was the reason for this decision Susan, we can only guess. There were rumors about her dependence on drugs, and about the betrayal of Benny himself, but the flock did not wait for true information.
According to the famous "healer," the reason for the divorce lies in the fact that he paid too much attention to his ministry and too little to his own family. As a very clever manipulator of human consciousness, Benny Hinn gave only the information about his family that he considered necessary, and carefully concealed everything that could ruin his reputation. But the case of a divorce in the Hinn family could no longer be hidden from the public, and this fact deprived the preacher of many of his admirers. An ordinary believer could not understand how a teacher can not do what others teach. This dark spot in the biography of Benny Hinn sobered many people for a while.
Literary activity
One other activity that the preacher has excelled in is books. Benny Hinn wrote 63 of them. Books that came out from the pen of the preacher instantly diverged in huge editions, which also brought considerable income. The most famous of these were: Good Morning, Holy Spirit, Complete Restoration, and the Biblical Way of Blessings. These books brought great popularity to their author and also became very popular among his followers. They looked forward to the new best sellers of their idol.
But not everything went as smoothly as Benny Hinn wanted. People who were able to reason sensibly clearly saw how different what was happening in healing services was different from what is written in the Bible. Jesus never staged a show of healings, but Hinn’s team has dozens of modern PR specialists who are well versed in all the intricacies of the advertising promotion of the “product”.
If Jesus performed miracles in silence, then Benny Hinn uses loud, beating on the ears music to warm up the crowd during her tours. At the end of the ministry, when the people are simply exhausted by the many hours of activity, it is difficult to notice, let alone prove the fact of the healing itself.
Together again
So in 2013, Benny and Susan announced that they were about to get married again. Such news did not pass by the attention of his fans, and in their eyes he managed to rehabilitate himself. At the second wedding with her first husband, Susan again appeared before the guests in a chic dress and, as if nothing had happened, talked about the future joint service.
Indeed, shortly after the wedding ceremony, Benny and Susan Hinn set off on their next trip. The so-called healing services have gained a second wind.
But who actually is Benny Hinn - a servant of God or an ordinary charlatan playing on human feelings, each person must determine for himself.