Pulse
2 January 2023
In December 2019, the leadership of Bethel Church in Redding, California, prayed that God would bring two-year old Olive Alayne Heiligenthal, who had died suddenly, back to life. Her mother, Kalley, a well-known worship leader at Bethel, had posted this request on Instagram:
We’re asking for prayer. We believe in a Jesus who died and conclusively defeated the grave, holding the keys to resurrection power … We need it for little Olive Alayne, who stopped breathing yesterday and has been pronounced dead by doctors.
According to one report, 151,000 people liked the post and about 16,000 left comments, mostly encouraging Kalley to continue to hope for her child’s resurrection. But others expressed their concern that the expectations of Kalley, her husband and the church leaders were unrealistic.
Bethel is a charismatic megachurch with about 11,000 members. Bill Johnson, the lead pastor of Bethel, teaches that it is always God’s will to heal the sick. Bethel therefore not only has an extensive healing ministry. It also runs a School of Supernatural Ministries, which trains students how to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead. Bethel even started a specialised ministry which calls itself ‘The Dead Raising Team’ (The DRT).
Given the theology and ethos of Bethel, it is not at all surprising that Kalley and the leaders of the church – including Johnson – expected God to perform a miracle and bring Olive back to life.
Kalley’s social media posts echo the teachings and expectations of the church. Here is an example:
Day 4 is a really good day for resurrection. All hail, make way for King Jesus! Thank you so much for joining your faith with ours, we feel your strength and radical belief. Keep declaring life over Olive Alayne with us. ‘It is finished’ were his last words before bursting back in resurrection life, so we’re not done. It is finished, so we’re not done. This is awakening. Come alive, Olive!
They prayed for six days, believing that God will perform the miracle. But when it did not happen, they decided to conduct a memorial service for Olive to celebrate her life.
BETHEL’S STATEMENT
On December 20, Bethel issued a statement to explain why its leadership had prayed for Olive to be raised from the dead. ‘Since learning the news of two-year old Olive Heiligenthal’s sudden death,’ it began, ‘we have sought a miracle from God to raise her from the dead.’ ‘We realise this is out of the norm, but that’s what a miracle is – it’s outside the box of nature and our power.’
The church goes on to explain that in seeking this miracle, it is simply ‘asking God to fulfil our hearts[sic] desire to see His kingdom manifested in great power.’ When you know that God is your heavenly Father, it states, ‘you trust Him and ask for big, outlandish miracles.’
‘As a church, we have been contending for, singing about, and witnessing God’s power to save and heal for over fifty years. It is normal for us to ask, trust Him, and then glorify His name regardless the outcome.’
But when the miracle they had earnestly sought after did not occur, they stopped praying for Olive to be restored to life, and proceeded to conduct a memorial service instead.
Here is where we are: Olive hasn’t been raised. The breakthrough we have sought hasn’t come. With the same heart of utter confidence in God’s goodness, we receive the comfort of the Good Shepherd as Andrew, Kalley, and Olive’s big sister Elsie, their family, and our church walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). And so, we are moving towards a memorial service and celebration of her life.
The statement ended with the assurance that although the miracle did not occur and Olive was not raised, she is with the Lord and her parents will one day be reunited with her.
The joy of our faith is that, though we haven’t seen the miracle of Olive being raised, she is alive in the presence of God. Her mom and dad will see her again, and we too will join her in resurrection one day.
Bill Johnson also posted a video message on the church’s website. He began by describing the death of Olive and the request by her parents for the church to join them to pray for her ‘resurrection.’ Johnson said that the church leaders agreed because ‘we have biblical precedence: Jesus raised the dead.’
In addition, says Johnson, Jesus commanded his disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons. Johnson believes that the reason why Jesus raised the dead is not because God is not sovereign, but rather because not everyone dies in God’s timing.
He says that although we have a precedence and we are commanded to pray, there is no ‘manual’ to instruct Christians how it should be done or how long they should persevere in prayer. However, he says that even if we did not get the results we expect when we pray, we should continue to give thanks to God and glorify his name.
Finally, Johnson thanked those who have supported the church, even those who raised difficult but important questions.
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
This tragic and heart-wrenching incident at Bethel Church has indeed raised many questions that Christians of every theological persuasion must confront. These questions have to do with hermeneutics, theology and pastoral practice.
Space does not allow a detailed treatment of the theological issues brought out by this incident. I will discuss some of them here, but only very briefly.
Resurrection or Resuscitation?
Firstly, I would like to clarify the language that the leaders at Bethel used to describe the miracle they were praying for. In various places, they said they were praying for Olive’s resurrection. Even Johnson uses this term in his video message.
The term that should be used here is resuscitation or re-animation, not resurrection. This is because in the Christian tradition, resurrection is a technical and theologically loaded term that is used to refer to an eschatological reality – the raising of the dead at the close of the age.
In the Gospels and Acts, there are a number of accounts of people who have died, and were brought back to life by God, such as Lazarus (John 11) and Tabitha or Dorcas (Acts 9:36-42). But these are strictly speaking resuscitations, not resurrections. These people who were miraculously raised from the dead by God will eventually die again.
The term resurrection should only be applied to Jesus Christ when he was raised from the dead according to Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). His resurrection is unique, but it also made possible for those who believe in him to be similarly raised at the consummation of the kingdom of God (1 Thessalonians 4:13-16). ‘In Jesus’ Resurrection’, writes Pope Benedict XVI, ‘a new possibility of human existence is attained that affects everyone and that opens up a future, a new kind of future, for mankind.’
To some, this may seem like nit-picking semantics. But the distinction between resuscitation and resurrection greatly diminishes the theological significance of the latter.
Over-realised eschatology
Secondly, we have to evaluate Bethel’s theology of healing. While many churches – both charismatic and non-charismatic alike – believe that God can and does heal the sick, very few would stress that God must heal all the time.
Bethel is one of the few churches.
This understanding that God will always heal is in line with Bill Johnson’s ‘Jesus is perfect theology.’ Johnson puts across the main thrust of this theology of healing quite clearly when he writes: ‘How can God choose not to heal someone when he already purchased his healing? Was his blood enough for all sin or just certain sins? Were the stripes he bore only for certain illnesses or certain seasons of time?’ He adds: ‘When he bore stripes in his body, he made a payment for our miracle. He already decided to heal. You can’t decide not to buy something after you’ve already bought it.’
This theology is clearly established on an erroneous interpretation of Scripture. It makes the mistake, so common among health and wealth preachers, of espousing an over-realised eschatology. According to this view, the promises found in Scripture concerning healing, health and wholeness can be appropriated by believers here and now.
Like so many health and wealth preachers, Johnson fails to see that life between the two advents of Christ – his first and second comings – is characterised by the ‘already and not yet.’
The kingdom of God has already been inaugurated by the incarnation of the Son of God, but that kingdom still awaits full consummation which will only take place when the risen and ascended Christ returns. God’s kingdom has already broken into human history, and those who put their faith in Christ have in a profound sense already experienced reconciliation and peace with God. But until the divine kingdom is fully consummated at the parousia, the world remains plagued by unbelief, evil and suffering.
Healing and miracles are signs that the kingdom of God has already been inaugurated. Healing and miracles therefore point to the future consummation of the kingdom where sickness and suffering will be no more. They point to the ultimate defeat of death, the last enemy, when believers are resurrected from the dead like Jesus, their Lord.
As NT scholar Craig Keener explains: ‘Miracles are a foretaste of a perfect future, but they remain a foretaste. They offer present signs of the kingdom, not its completion.’
In the meantime, Christians will continue to suffer. They will become ill and die. Christians are enjoined to minister to one another and to pray for healing (James 5:14). Some will be healed, by God’s grace. Others will not. But their failure to obtain healing is not because of some deficiencies in their faith or the faith of the people who prayed for them.
Did Jesus command Christians to raise the dead?
Thirdly, we have to ask if Jesus really commanded all Christians to raise the dead, as Johnson claims. In explaining its vision, The DRT states that:
Dead raising is for every believer, not just a select few … God desires that every Christian have the faith to raise the dead. Therefore, we are believing God to raise up people from across the globe with a desire to obey the commandment to raise the dead in Matthew 10:8.
Matthew 10:8, which is the only passage in the Gospels which has this command, reads:
These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is al hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay (10:5-8).
It is impossible for me to go into a lengthy discussion about how this passage should be properly exegeted. But I think the context clearly shows that Jesus gave this instruction only to the twelve disciples, and not to every Christian.
In 10:1 we are told that Jesus ‘called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, and to heal every disease and affliction’. 10:2-4 supplies the exact names of the twelve. 10:5 reiterates that this commission is meant for the twelve disciples (‘These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them …’), as does 11:1 (‘When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples …’).
The detailed instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples also show that this commission, read in its proper context, is given only to the twelve, not to all Christians: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles’. ‘Enter no town of the Samaritans’. ‘Go to the lost sheep of Israel’. ‘Take no money for your journey’. ‘Stay in one house in any given town.’
This passage has been misread and therefore misapplied by the leaders of Bethel – with serious consequences.
Avoiding extremes
Finally, I must point out that just as Christians can espouse an over-realised eschatology, they can also adopt an under-realised eschatology. Thus, while Johnson may have over-emphasised the ‘already’ of the equation, some Christians may put their entire weight on the ‘not yet’. These Christians would be sceptical of any account of miracles.
Christians on both ends of the spectrum err in that they have failed to maintain the biblical balance.
CONCLUSION
The death of two-year old Olive is a tragedy. The grief of her parents, Kalley and Andrew, is surely beyond estimation and understanding. In writing this article, I do not in any way intend to trivialise their pain and sorrow.
But, the incident at Bethel does raise some important questions that Christians must address. What took place there demonstrates the profound relationship between theological reasoning and pastoral or ministerial practice. Much as we wish to give hope in desperate situations or desire to see God’s power magnified, sound theology is ultimately paramount.
Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor at Trinity Theological College (Singapore) and Theological and Research Advisor of the Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.