E. W.

Kenyon
Essek William Kenyon (1867–1948) was a pastor [1] of the New Covenant Baptist Church [2] and founder and president of Bethel
Bible Institute [2] in Spencer, Massachusetts.

Contents
Biography
"Positive confession" and New Thought Controversy
Works
References
External links

Biography
Kenyon was born on April 25, 1867, inHadley, New York. At age 17, he was converted in a Methodist prayer meeting.[3] He became
a church member in his early twenties and gave his first sermon at a Methodist Church in Amsterdam, New York. Kenyon had a
crisis of faith and left the faith for 2 1/2 years prior returning to faith in 1893.[4] Although desiring to be an actor, Kenyon earned a
living as a piano and organ salesperson. In an attempt to hone his acting skills, Kenyon attended the Emerson School of Oratory in
Boston for one year in 1892 studying acting.

Kenyon first married Evva Spurling. The two were married on May 8, 1893. Shortly afterward, Kenyon attended the services of
Clarendon Street Baptist Church led by pastor Adoniram Judson (A.J.) Gordon.[2] At this service, Kenyon and his wife rededicated
their lives to the Lord.

Later that year, Kenyon joined the Free Will Baptists and became a pastor at a small church in Elmira, New York. In 1898, Kenyon
opened Bethel Bible Institute in Spencer, Massachusetts, which remained in operation until 1923. H
e was its president for twenty-five
years. The school later moved to Providence, Rhode Island and became Providence Bible Institute. It later became Barrington
College and merged with Gordon College, which was named after one of Kenyon's many mentors, A.J. Gordon.

Evva Kenyon died in 1914. Subsequently, Kenyon married Alice M. Whitney and had a son and a daughter with her. In 1948, E. W.
Kenyon died.

"Positive confession" and New Thought Controversy

It has been suggested by some that Kenyon was the originator of the modern "positive confession" theology which is prevalent in
Word of Faith Pentecostalism. Proponents of this view suggest that Kenyon's religious views were heavily influenced by the New
Thought Movement during his time at the Emerson School, and that he developed the teaching of positive confession from that
influence.[5]

According to Kenyon biographer Joe McIntyre, the actual influence Kenyon's time at Emerson had on his religious views is
debatable.[6] Instead, McIntyre suggests that Kenyon developed his positive confession teaching primarily from the teachings of
Holiness Movement, Faith Cure and Higher Life movementministers of the late 19th Century.

Evidence that the teaching of positive confession was already developing in Christianity before Kenyon is present in time period
literature. In the 1884 book The Atonement for Sin and Sickness, Russell Kelso Carter demonstrates an early version of what Kenyon
later taught: "I only prayed, O, Lord, make me sure of the truth, and I will confess it; I have nothing to do with consequences; that is
 [7]
Thy part," and again, "Jesus has the keeping part, I have the believing and confessing."

Works
The Father and His Family: The Story of Man’ s Redemption (1916)
The Wonderful Name of Jesus(1927)
Kenyon’s Living Poems (1935)
Signposts on the Road to Success(1938)
The Two Kinds of Knowledge(1938)
Jesus the Healer (1940)
Identification: A Romance in Redemption(1941)
New Kind of Love (1942)
The Two Kinds of Faith (1942)
The Two Kinds of Righteousness(1942)
The Two Kinds of Life (1943)
In His Presence: The Secret of Prayer(1944)
New Creation Realities(1945)
What Happened: From the Cross to the Throne(1945)
The Blood Covenant (1949)
The Hidden Man: The New Self: An Unveiling of the Unconscious Mind(1951)
Basic Bible Course: The Bible in the Light of our Redemption(1969)
Advanced Bible Course: Studies in the Deeper Life(1970)
Personal Evangelism Course(2012)
What We are in Christ (2013) Compiled and Edited by Joe McIntyre
Reprints:

A New Type of Christianity (CrossReach Publications, 2016)

Claiming Our Rights (CrossReach Publications, 2015)

References
1. Wade, Peter. "E.W. Kenyon: A Tribute" (http://www.peterwade.com/articles/kenyon/index.shtml). Retrieved
2007-04-05.
2. AtCross. "Who Was EW Kenyon" (https://web.archive.org/web/20061225011715/http://www .atcross.com.sg/author.ht
ml). Archived from the original (http://www.atcross.com.sg/author.html) on 2006-12-25. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
3. "Who was Kenyon?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110807080932/http://www .kenyons.org/who.php). Kenyon's
Gospel Publishing Society. Archived from the original (http://www.kenyons.org/who.php)on 7 August 2011.
Retrieved 5 September 2011.
4. "Who was E. W. Kenyon?" (http://www.kenyons.org/who-was-ew-kenyon.html). Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society.
Retrieved 6 January 2016.
5. Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Mass, eds.,The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Movements, Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003), Kindle edition, "Positive Confession
Theology".
6. McIntyre, Joe, E. W. Kenyon and His Message of Faith: TheTrue Story. Creation House, 1997, pp. 15-22.
7. Carter, Russell Kelso. The Atonement for Sin and Sickness. Willard Tract Repository, 1884, pp. 3-4.

External links
Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society

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._Kenyon&oldid=818323893"
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