

But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message.

Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others-all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel.

Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr.
