A Review of the Christian
Missionary Alliance "Statement of Faith":
The Christian Missionary Alliance is a denomination unique
to Canada for the most part. It is very similar to Baptist
with Wesleyan mix. They are classed among the "conservative
Protestant" churches. Our examination reveals that only
6 of the 11 articles in the statement of Faith are true
from the Bible, the other 5 are false doctrine.
Article #1: correctly states the nature of
God where Jesus is not a creature and the Holy Spirit
is a person. They are Trinitarians.
Article #2: correctly states the nature of
Christ being both uncreated God and man and the virgin
birth and the second coming.
Article #3: teaches false doctrine about the
work of the Holy Spirit. It says, "The
Holy Spirit is a divine person, sent to indwell, guide,
teach and empower the believer, and to convince the
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment"
(Christian Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith,
Article 3). The error is in applying these functions
to believers today, when the original context of the
functions was a supernatural empowering to the apostles
and other first century Christians who were empowered
through the laying on of the apostles hands, with
supernatural power. When the Christian Missionary
Alliance church applies this to believers today, it
is equal to claiming direct inspiration. It also destructive
to truth, because individuals in the Christian Missionary
Alliance church conclude that their faith and doctrine
must be without error, because the Holy Spirit directly
taught it to them. This is also known as the error
of "irresistible grace", one of the tenets of Calvinism.
It is false doctrine.
Article #4: The Christian Missionary Alliance
church is one of the few remaining churches that actually
believe in the word for word inspiration of the Bible
and that it is error free and as they say in article
#4: is "the divine and only
rule of Christian faith and practice" (Christian
Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith, Article 4).
We applaud this rare quality of believing in error
free inspiration of the Bible. However the big problem
is that what they say and what they do are two different
things. Their members, ministers churches and seminaries
are required to "pledge allegiance" to the Alliance
Creed (Statement of Faith). This means that the creed
has precedence over the Bible itself and actually
competes with the Bible as a sole standard of authority.
As you will plainly see, the Bible is NOT the sole
standard of faith, but a human origin creed is. Although
the Christian Missionary Alliance church would argue
that the creed merely teaches the Bible, in fact all
church creeds make the same claim, yet they contain
contradictory doctrines both between themselves and
the Bible.
All doctrine determined from central point like
Roman Catholic faith:
"The General Assembly,"
[world headquarters] "is the ultimate authority under
God of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada."
(The Manual, Ordination of ministers section, Christian
Missionary Alliance church)
Members required to adhere to creed:
"Qualifications for
Local Church Membership: (1) A credible testimony
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (2) A commitment
to the principles expressed in the Statement of Faith
of The Christian and Missionary Alliance."
(The Manual, Christian Missionary Alliance church)
Ministers required to adhere to creed even where
it contradicts the Bible:
Ordination of ministers: "Only
a person who is in genuine agreement with the doctrines
and teachings of The Christian and Missionary Alliance,
may be approved by The Christian and Missionary Alliance
as a minister of the Gospel." (The Manual,
Christian Missionary Alliance church)
"A candidate shall
state on the provided forms, knowledge of Bible doctrine
and acceptance of doctrinal distinctives of The Christian
and Missionary Alliance. Willingness to accept the
constituted authority of The Christian and Missionary
Alliance must also be expressed." (The Manual,
Ordination of ministers section, Christian Missionary
Alliance church)
Ministers fired if they deviate from church creed
even if they learn it teaches things that contradict
the Bible:
"Expulsion: Where
the accused minister has been found guilty of teaching
doctrines contrary to the Statement of Faith."
(The Manual, Ordination of ministers section, Christian
Missionary Alliance church)
Seminaries that ordain ministers are controlled
by Headquarters who demand the creed be followed even
if it teaches false doctrine:
"The doctrinal statement
of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada,
as found in the General Constitution, will be binding
on the colleges and/or seminaries." (The Manual,
Ordination of ministers section, Christian Missionary
Alliance church)
Local church assets will be seized if they don…t
follow the creed:
"This church operates in accordance
with its Statement of Faith. Should this church cease
to be subject to the doctrines and teachings of The
Christian and Missionary Alliance, all of its property
shall become the property of the district corporation."
(The Manual, Ordination of ministers section, Christian
Missionary Alliance church)
Article #5: They correctly teach eternal conscious
torment in hell as the punishment of the wicked, but
teach the false doctrine of total
inherited depravity, the first of 5 tenants of
the system of doctrine known as Calvinism. "All
men are born with a sinful nature" (Christian
Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith, Article 5)
Article #6: Their creed on how a sinner should
be saved is both incomplete and false. "those
who repent and believe in Him are born again"
(Christian Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith,
Article 6) They teach the modern false doctrine of
salvation by faith only even though it contradicts
James 2:24. They reject that baptism is for the remission
of sins and falsely teach that a sinner attains remission
of sins before and without water baptism by immersion
as per Mk 16:16, Acts 2:38; 22:16 and 1 Peter 3:21.
A sinner must believe, repent, confess, be baptized
in order to get the initial forgiveness of sins. Thereafter
forgiveness is granted to the child of God, by repentance
and prayer.
Article #7: They teach the false doctrine
known in some theological circles as "entire sanctification".
This is where the Christian, after being saved, is
worked on directly by the Holy Spirit to be both purify
and make sinless in walk of life. "each
believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and
be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin"
(Christian Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith,
Article 7) The unusual thing about this doctrine is
that it is distinct from the sinners initial sanctification
and saving and the Alliance describes it as a "progressive
experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent
to conversion" (Christian Missionary Alliance
Statement of Faith, Article 7) This strange and modern
doctrine is peculiar to a small number of denominations.
Article #8 is taught in the Bible. It correctly
teaches that we can engage in "Prayer
for the sick" ... "for
the healing of the mortal body" (Christian
Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith, Article 8).
This of course emphasizes the Alliance Churches correct
opposition to the modern Pentecostal faith healing
movement. The Alliance church correctly teaches that
tongues ceased in the first century and are a phenomenon
of isolated to the apostolic age.
Article #9: correctly speaks of the relationship
of the local church with one another and Christ. "The
local church is a body of believers in Christ who
are joined together for the worship of God".
(Christian Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith,
Article 9)
Article #10: correctly teaches about the resurrection,
"bodily resurrection of the
just and of the unjust" (Christian Missionary
Alliance Statement of Faith, Article 10) and the duration
of heaven and hell. However, given that the teach
the false doctrine "premillennialism" (see article
#11) they reject Jesus own works that the resurrection
of the wicked and the righteous happens at precisely
the same time when Christ next appears. They teach
that there will be a period of at least 1000 years
separating the resurrection of the righteous and the
wicked.
Article #11: The Alliance church is caught
up in the modern doctrine known as premillennialism.
"The Second Coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ is imminent and will be personal, visible
and premillennial" (Christian Missionary Alliance
Statement of Faith, Article 11). The scriptures do
not teach that divine Jesus Christ will ever set foot
on the earth again, but that at His second coming,
the dead will be raised imperishable, the physical
universe that came into being at Gen 1:1 will be destroyed,
we will stand before God in judgement, the wicked
will be cast into hell, God will create new, Christians
will enter into their reward in the presence of God.
The name "Christian Missionary
Alliance" is a trademark of the Christian Missionary
Alliance church.
The "Articles of Faith"
quoted are copyright of the Christian Missionary Alliance
church and based upon the General Councils 1965, 1966,
1974, 1995.
The "Manual", Christian
Missionary Alliance church is copyright of the Christian
Missionary Alliance church.
These portions are used in keeping with the "fair use"
provision of the copyright laws for the purpose of critical
review.