Born in 1913 in Holland, Anthony Hoekema (1913-1988) believed that humans are polluted, resulting in pervasive depravity and spiritual inability.

The Depravity of Mankind before the Flood after Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem Mauritshuis

We are morally polluted

Nguyen Thanh, Art exhibition shines pollution effects on human

Another aspect of original sin is pollution.  Pollution, in distinction from guilt, is a moral concept; it has to do with our moral condition rather than with our status before the law.  We can define original pollution (the pollution involved in original sin) as the corruption of our nature that is the result of sin and produces sin.  As a necessary implication of our involvement in Adam's guilt, all human beings are born in a state of corruption.  We should distinguish between two aspects of original pollution: pervasive depravity and spiritual inability.

The Little Saint From Copsa Mica Art Print by Ion vincent D'Anu

Pervasive Depravity

Noah's Ark Cycle: 3. The Flood by Kaspar Memberger (1555–1618)

What I prefer to call pervasive depravity has been traditionally known in Reformed theology as "total depravity" -- a term that has often been misunderstood.  Negatively, the concept does not mean: (1) that every human being is as thoroughly depraved as he or she can possibly become; (2) that unregenerate people do not have a conscience by means of which they can distinguish between good and evil; (3) that unregenerate people will invariably indulge in every conceivable form of sin; or (4) that unregenerate people are unable to perform certain actions that are good and helpful in the sight of others.  Since to many people "total depravity" suggests these misunderstandings, I prefer "pervasive depravity."

William Blake's color printing of God Judging Adam original composed in 1795. In the Biblical story, God's judgement results from the fall of man.

Pervasive depravity affects every aspect of human nature

Pervasive depravity, then, means that (1) the corruption of original sin extends to every aspect of human nature: to one's reason and will as well as to one's appetites and impulses; and (2) there is not present in man by nature love to God as the motivating principle of his life.

You must be born again

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–86).

What is the scriptural proof for the doctrine of pervasive depravity? Actually, this doctrine underlies all of the New Testament teaching.  Jesus' insistence unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) implies that human beings are unable, in their natural, unregenerate state, even to see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it.  The entire New Testament message is addressed to sinners who do not love God by nature, who do not love one another, and who need to be radically changed by the Holy Spirit before they will be able to do what is pleasing in God's sight.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it

Sacred Heart, painted in c. 1770 by José de Páez

But let us look at some specific passages.  An Old Testament text that comes to mind in this connection is Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart [the innermost aspect of man] is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? (RSV).  Two passages from the Gospels are relevant to this issue.  Jesus, in a dispute with the Pharisees about the necessity of washing one's hands before eating, explains that it is not what goes into a man but what comes out of a man that defiles him: "For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'" (Mark 7:21-23).  In a disputation with the Jews in connection with the healing of a man on the Sabbath day, Jesus said, "I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts" (John 5:42).

I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh

Flesh and the Devil (1926) is a romantic drama silent film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and stars Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson, and Barbara Kent, directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the novel The Undying Past by Hermann Sudermann.

A number of passages in the Pauline epistles teach the doctrine of pervasive depravity.  One is Romans 7:18, "For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.  I can will what is right, but I cannot do it" (RSV).  We should note here that although Paul does not always use the word flesh in a bad sense, it is characteristic of his writing that he often uses it to denote the willing instrument of sin.  In this passage and the one next quoted, therefore, flesh does not refer to man's physical body, but rather designates his total nature when it is under the domination or enslavement of sin.  This concept of flesh, in other words, is precisely the biblical way of describing what I have called pervasive depravity.

The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, by Guido Reni 1630

The other passage that speaks of the flesh is Romans 8:7a, "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God" (RSV).  Note that this text confirms the second point made under the definition of pervasive depravity, namely, that man by nature does not love God but is hostile toward him.

Do not live thinking in a futile manner

Danaides by John William Waterhouse

label QS:Len,"Danaides"

label QS:Lpl,"Danaidy"

Another vivid description of pervasive depravity is found in Ephesians 4:17-19:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as the indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Don't deny God by your actions

The Denial of Saint Peter by Caravaggio (1610)

To the same effect are Paul's words in Titus 1:15-16:

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.  In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.  They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.  They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good.

We all once lived in the passions of our flesh

Saint Jerome in the Wilderness by Pinturicchio.  The saint spent four years in the Syrian desert as a hermit, mortifying his flesh and elevating his spirit through study.

In another epistle, however, Paul tells us that even those who are now believers were at one time in the same state of depravity as these wicked Gentiles:

And you [the believers in Ephesus, or possibly, throughout Asia Minor] he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.  Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph 2:1-3, RSV).

We are objects of God's wrath

The Great Day of His Wrath, by John Martin (1789–1854).

"Children of wrath," as was observed earlier, means the objects of God's wrath.  In other words, Paul is saying, even believers are by nature, apart from God's renewing grace, so evil and depraved that they are rightly the objects of the wrath of God.

The human being is by nature unregenerate man

The Christian painting Saint Vincent Ferrer preaching to the Infidels by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse (1820) hanging in St. Peter's Cathedral, Vannes, the place of burial for Saint Vincent Ferrer

It is important to remember that the passages just quoted describe not the believer who through the working of God's Holy Spirit is now in Christ but the human being as he is by nature, unregenerate man.  The doctrine of pervasive depravity, in other words, is not a description of the regenerate person or of the Christian believer, but of the natural man.

Every person is born in a state of spiritual inability

"Mater Divinae Providentiae," by Scipione Pulzone (note: Jesus Christ, who is depicted in this painting, is excluded from being born in a state of spiritual inability)

The second aspect of original pollution is spiritual inability, traditionally called "total inability."  That every person is born in a state of spiritual inability is another result of Adam's sin.  This inability does not mean that the unregenerate person by nature is unable to do good in any sense of the word.  Because of God's common grace, as we shall see later, the development of sin in history and society is restrained.  The unregenerate person can still do certain kinds of good and can exercise certain kinds of virtue.  Yet even such good deeds are neither prompted by love to God, nor done in voluntary obedience to the will of God.

The human will is spiritually impotent

Healing of the Blind Man (1871) by Carl Bloch

When we speak about man's spiritual inability, we mean two things: (1) the unregenerate person cannot do, say or think that which totally meets with God's approval, and therefore totally fulfills God's law; and (2) the unregenerate person is unable apart from the special working of the Holy Spirit to change the basic direction of his or her life from sinful self-love to love for God.  "Spiritual inability" is really only another way of describing the doctrine of "pervasive depravity," this time with an emphasis on the spiritual impotence of the will.  Needles to say, these two concepts overlap in meaning.

Man is unable by nature to turn to God in repentance and faith

Close up of a 17th-century depiction of one of the 28 articles of the Augsburg Confession by Wenceslas Hollar, with repentance depicted as being a combination of contrition and faith

What is the scriptural proof for the doctrine of spiritual inability?  This doctrine, too, underlies all of New Testament teaching.  The New Testament's insistence on man's need for rebirth, spiritual renewal, and sanctification underscores man's inability by nature to turn to God in repentance and faith and to live a life that totally pleases God.  But let us again look at some specific passages.

Humans are unable to turn to Christ in their own strength

Nicodemus (left) talking to Jesus, by Henry Ossawa Tanner

We turn first to the Gospels, specifically the Gospel of John.  Here Jesus said to Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born againt, he cannot see the kingdom of God ... Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (3:3, 5).  Nicodemus needed to be told that a person can neither see nor enter the kingdom of God that Jesus founded unless a radical change should have taken place in him, a change here called a new birth.  In John 6:44 Jesus said to some Jews who were arguing with him, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him," thus expressing in vivid terms the inability of human beings to turn to Christ in their own strength.  In the allegory of the vine and the branches Jesus further described the inability of man to bear spiritual fruit apart from him:

Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (15:4-5) 

Even if man wishes to do what is good and right,
he is unable to do it

02/14 of Simeon Solomon's “Art Pictures from the Old Testament” : Abraham's sacrifice

We find more evidence for the doctrine of spiritual inability in Paul's writings.  In Romans 7:18-19 Paul highlights in graphic terms the impotence of men and women by nature, telling us that even if such persons wish to do what is good and right, they are still not able to do it:

For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.  I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (RSV)

Romans 8:7-8 sets forth man's spiritual inability in bold relief: "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh [that is, under the enslavement of the flesh] cannot please God" (RSV).

We are by nature spiritually dead

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, before and after restoration.

Other Pauline passages stress the same thought.  Just as Jesus said that apart from spiritual rebirth man cannot even see the kingdom of God, Paul says that the natural man can neither understand nor accept what God's Spirit teaches: "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor 2:14).  In a passage in which he speaks about the ministry of the apostles and other Christian workers, Paul further describes the inability of man apart from God's strength to fulfill his calling as a Christian worker: "We dare to say such things because of the confidence we have in God through Christ.  Not that we are in any way confident of doing anything by our own resources --- our ability comes from God" (2 Cor. 3:4-5, Phillips).  No more striking way of expressing our spiritual impotence could be found than to say that we are by nature spiritually dead; this is precisely what Paul says about the former state of believers in Ephesians 2:4-5: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions."

Like a deadly poison, sin has penetrated and infected the very center of man's being

Depiction of the sin of Adam and Eve by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Pieter Paul Rubens.

As we have seen, Scripture has a lot to say about original sin.  Yet, even as believers, we often fail to emphasize this teaching.  We need to recognize the necessity of a thorough understanding of the doctrine of original sin.  As Philip Hughes says,

Original sin, however mysterious its nature may be, tells us that the reality of sin is something far deeper than the mere outward commission of sinful deeds ... It tells us that there is an inner root of sinfulness which corrupts man's true nature and from which his sinful deeds spring.  Like a deadly poison, sin has penetrated to and infected the very center of man's being; hence his need for the total experience of rebirth by which, through the grace of God in Christ Jesus, the restoration of his true manhood is effected.

 

Source: Hoekema, Anthony. Created In God’s Image. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986, pages 149-154.

Is unbelief logical? Is atheism logical? Are they rational?

THE LOGIC OF UNBELIEF

The Unbelief of St. Thomas by Andrei Mironov

Having surveyed the similarities and differences between believing and unbelieving knowledge of God, we shall now examine the general structure of unbelieving thought.  What does the unbeliever believe?  Well, obviously unbelievers differ among themselves about many things.  But is there anything they have in common?  Yes, they all disbelieve!  So we ask:  What are the implications for knowledge of unbelief in the God of Scripture?  Does that unbelief in and of itself impose any structure on a person's thoughts?

If the biblical God does not exist

Roll The Dice Painting by Jan Paulus-maly

If the biblical God does not exist, there are two alternatives: either there is no god at all, or something other than the biblical God is god.  On the one hand, if there is no god at all, then all is chance, all thinking is futile, and all ethical judgments are null and void.  I shall therefore call that the irrationalist alternative.  Irrationalism results not only when the existence of any god is denied but also when a god is affirmed and yet thought to be so distant or mysterious (or both) that he can have no practical involvement with the world.  Irrationalism, parasitically, lives off of certain truths: that man is mall, that the mind is limited, that God is far above us and incomprehensible.  Thus irrationalism often enters theology masquerading as a respect for God's transcendence.  We therefore described this position earlier as a "non-Christian view of transcendence."

The idolatry of man's mind

Moses Indignant at the Golden Calf by William Blake, 1799–1800

On the other hand, if the unbeliever chooses to deify something in the world, something finite, then a kind of rationalism results.  Man's mind either is the new god or is considered competent to discover it autonomously, which is the same thing.  This is what we earlier described as a "non-Christian view of immanence," and it too masquerades as biblical truth, trading on biblical language about the covenant nearness of God, about His solidarity with the world.

The result of this is that the mind turns out to know only its thinking

The Thinker in The Gates of Hell at the Musée Rodin

Both rationalism and irrationalism are futile and self-defeating, as sin must always be.  If irrationalism is true, then it is false.  If all thinking is the produce of chance, then how can it be trusted even to formulate an irrationalism?  Rationalism flounders on the truth that is obvious to everyone: the human mind is not autonomous, not suited to be the final criterion of all truth.  We are limited.  The rationalist can defend his position, then, only by limiting his rationalism to certain truths of which he thinks there is no question -- that we exist, that we think, and so forth.  Then he seeks to deduce all other truth from those statements and to deny the truthfulness of anything that cannot be so deduced.  But the result of this is that the mind turns out to know only itself, or more precisely, to know only its thinking.  Thought is thought of thinking.  Only that can be known for certain.  Once some more specific content is specified, certainty disappears.  Thus the consistent rationalist will deny that there is anything, ultimately, except "pure thought," "pure being," and so forth.  All else is illusion (but how is that illusion) to be explained!?).  But what is a "pure thought" that is not a thought of something?  Does that idea have any meaning at all?  It is a pure blank.  The knowledge of which rationalism boasts turns out to be a knowledge of ... nothing!

Rationalism gives us a perfect knowledge -- of nothing.  Irrationalism leaves us ignorant -- over everything

Edvard_Munch, Ashes (1895)

Thus in the end, rationalism and irrationalism, so contrary to one another in mood and style, turn out to be identical.  Rationalism gives us a perfect knowledge --- of nothing.  Irrationalism leaves us ignorant -- over everything.  Both are self-refuting for neither can give an intelligent account of itself.  The irrationalism cannot consistently affirm his irrationalism.  The rationalist, similarly, cannot affirm his rationalism; he can affirm only "pure thought," without specifying any content to it.


An so it is not surprising that rationalists and irrationalists borrow ideas from one another to avoid the destructive consequences of their own positions.  The rationalist, when he seeks to get some content into his "pure being," resorts to irrationalism.  The irrationalist can assert his irrationalism only on a rationalist basis -- the basis of his own autonomy.

Unless this destructiveness is replaced by the truth, our witness will be no help

The Fall of the Damned, alternately known as The Fall of the Rebel Angels is a monumental religious painting by Peter Paul Rubens.

Thus these positions destroy themselves and one another, and yet they also need one another.  They provide many tools for the Christian apologist, and it is quite proper for the Christian apologist to confront the rationalist with his dependence on irrationalism, and vice versa and to show how each position is self-destructive.  But of course, unless this destructiveness is replaced by the truth, our witness will be no help.

Source: Frame, John.  The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God.  New Jersey: P&R Publishing.  Pages 60-61.  1987.

While struggling to be let of our prison on parole, Jim Bakker says, "I WAS WRONG" in preaching the prosperity gospel. #iwaswrong

THE LOVE OF MONEY

The Federal Medical Center, Rochester (FMC Rochester) is a United States federal prison in Minnesota for male inmates requiring specialized or long-term medical or mental health care.

During my time at F.M.C. Rochester, I observed something that it seemed to me had gotten nearly every inmate into trouble.  It was something insidious, pervasive, something that I too had tried to cover and push aside in my own life -- the love of money.  The underlying reason why some of the bankers, Wall Street businessmen, doctors, and others are in prison is because of something they did to get more money.  I realized that of the 60 percent of inmates who are in prison because of drug-related crimes, most are not there because of an addiction to drugs; they are there because of an addiction to the drug of money.  It was their insatiable desire for more money that led them to selling drugs in the first place, not a desire to ruin someone else's life by getting him or her hooked.  Unimpeded, that lust for money carries the potential to destroy both the buyer and the seller.

Most of Jesus' statements about riches, wealth, and material gain are in a negative context

About the time of my parole hearing, I completed my study of all the words of Jesus in the New Testament.  To my surprise, after months of studying Jesus, I concluded that He did not have one good thing to say about money.  Most of Jesus' statements about riches, wealth, and material gain were in a negative context.

"Give me!  Give me my part of the inheritance"



The Return of the Prodigal Son is an oil painting by Rembrandt.

Even "The Prodigal Son," one of my favorite stories told by Jesus, took on new meaning as I read it for the first time with an overview of Scripture in mind.  I quickly noticed that the story began with the younger brother saying to the father, "Give me!  Give me my part of the inheritance" (Luke 15:12).  He didn't even say, "Please give me."  He simply demanded.  Before long that young man landed in the pigpen.  I began to see that the fastest route to the pigpen begins with "Give me" ... and the fastest route to the "big pen," the federal penitentiary, often begins with the same phrase, "Give me!"

I was wrong.  I was wrong!

I was amazed at this "new" revelation, but beyond that, I was deeply concerned.  As the true impact of Jesus' words regarding money impacted my heart and mind, I became physically nauseated.  I was wrong.  I was wrong!  Wrong in my lifestyle, certainly, but even more fundamentally, wrong in my understanding of the Bible's true message.  Not only was I wrong, but I was teaching the opposite of what Jesus had said.  That is what broke my heart; when I came to the awareness that I had actually been contradicting Christ, I was horrified.

The Prosperity Gospel

Solomon at his throne, painting by Andreas Brugger, 1777

For years I had embraced and espoused a gospel that some skeptics had branded as a "prosperity gospel."  I didn't mind the label; on the contrary, I was proud of it.  "You're absolutely right!" I'd say to critics and friends alike.  "I preach it and live it!  I believe in a God who wants to bless His people.  Look at all the rich saints in the Old Testament."  And the New Testament clearly says that above all, God wants us to proper even as our souls prosper.  If your soul is prospering, you should be prospering materially as well!"

Instead of praying 'Thy will be done' when you want a new car, just claim it

Philip Hermogenes Calderon - "Lord, Thy Will Be Done"

I even got to the point where I was teaching people at PTL, "Don't pray, "God, Your will be done," when you're praying for health or wealth.  You already know it is God's will for you to have those things!  To ask God to confirm His will when He has already told you what His will is in a matter is an insult to God.  It is as though you don't really trust Him or believe that He is as good as His Word.  Instead of praying 'Thy will be done' when you want a new car, just claim it.  Pray specifically and tell God what kind you want.  Be sure to specify what options and what color you want too."

Such foolishness!

An Allegory of Folly (early 16th century) by Quentin Matsys

Such arrogance!  Such foolishness!  Such sin!  The Bible says we are not to presume upon God, but we should say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that" (James 4:15).

I may not always have been so blatant about it, but I often preached a prosperity message at Heritage USA and on our PTL television programs.  But when I began to study the Scriptures in prison, something I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that I rarely took time to do during the hectic years of constant building and ministering at PTL, I was very distressed at what I discovered.

Shouldn't the King's kids have the best this world has to offer?

I realized that for years I helped propagate an impostor, not a true gospel, but another gospel -- a gospel that stated "God wants you to be rich!"  Christians should have the best because we are children of God.  "King's kids," as I often put it.  And shouldn't the King's kids have the best this world has to offer?

The Disobedient Prophet by Benjamin West, 1793

The more I studied the Bible, however, I had to admit that the prosperity message did not line up with the tenor of Scripture.  My heart was crushed to think that I led so many people astray.  I was appalled that I could have been so wrong, and I was deeply grateful that God had not struck me dead as a false prophet!

I had fallen into the snare of the Deceitfulness of Riches

How could I have taught and even written books on the subject of "how to get rich" when Jesus spoke so clearly about the dangers of earthly riches?  One of the statements of Jesus that kept echoing in my head and heart was in the parable of the sower, where Jesus said that "the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:19).  The deceitfulness of riches.  The more I thought about it, the more I had to admit that I had fallen into that snare.  I had allowed the quest for material possessions and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts for other things to choke the Word of God in my own life and in the lives of my family members and coworkers.  As PTL grew larger and our ministry more widespread, I had a financial tiger by the tail, and just coming up with enough money to meet the daily budgets dominated my thoughts and my time.

In prison, I decided to dig into the Scriptures

In prison, I decided to dig into the Scriptures further to see what else Jesus had to say about money.  I noticed that He said,

Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in an d steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19-21 NIV)

You cannot serve both God and Money 

1909 painting The Worship of Mammon by Evelyn De Morgan.

Another Scripture that seared into my heart was Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money" (NIV).  IN that same passage, I discovered that God's priorities were much different from what mine had been.

Jesus said,

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ... So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?"  For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and  his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "Matt. 6:25, 31-33 NIV)

Other teachings of Jesus scored direct hits upon my heart, as well: "But woe to you who are rich, / for you have already received your comfort" (Luke 6:24 NIV).

The stark contrast between what Jesus taught and what I had been teaching

The parable of the Rich man and Lazarus depicting the rich man in hell asking for help to Abraham and Lazarus in heaven by James Tissot

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Matt. 16:24 NIV).  This verse dramatically illustrated the stark contrast between what Jesus taught and what I had been teaching.  I had taught that Christians could have the best of both worlds, the best that this world had to offer and heaven too.  Jesus said, "Deny yourself."

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

A church portal relief in Dortmund referencing Jesus's use of "camel through the eye of a needle" aphorism

Jesus taught, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:24 NIV).  Unwittingly, I had tried to explain this verse away with the help of modern scholarship.  I had taught people that the "eye of the needle" of which Jesus spoke was a low arch in the Holy Land.  Supposedly, a camel carrying a heavy load had to get down on its knees to slip through the "eye of the needle."  This was the explanation that I had heard from other prosperity teachers whom I admired and respected, so I simply passed on their explanation as facts without really examining the verse carefully, especially in the original Greek.  Nor had I consulted any Bible dictionaries or encyclopedias.  If I had done so, I might have found that not a shred of reputable archeological or historical evidence supports the camel-through-the-arch theory.

It may not be impossible for rich man to enter heaven, but apart from a miracle of God, he doesn't stand a chance

A dromedary camel passing through the eye of a needle, as a symbol of the improbable Peace of Westphalia. Engraving, Johann Vogel: Meditationes emblematicae de restaurata pace Germaniae, 1649

In prison, however, when I took time to study the meaning of Jesus' words in the original Greek language, I discovered that Jesus was not talking about camels walking on their knees at all.  The word He used was one commonly used to describe a sewing needle, not an archway.  IN other words, the verse meant exactly what it said: It may not be impossible for rich man to enter heaven, but apart from a miracle of God, he doesn't stand a chance!

I had been preaching false doctrine for years and hadn't even known it

The Devil whispers to the Antichrist; detail from Deeds and Sermons of the Antichrist, Luca Signorelli, 1501, Orvieto Cathedral

In my cell, I studied the Bible long hours into the night.  Often as the sun rose in the eastern sky, I was still poring over the Scriptures.  The more I studied, the more I had to face the awful truth: I had been preaching false doctrine for years and hadn't even known it!

At PTL I had been doing just the opposite of Jesus' words

Bakker and then-wife Tammy Faye during a PTL broadcast, circa 1986.

Tragically, too late, I recognized that at PTL I had been doing just the opposite of Jesus' words by teaching people to fall in love with money.  Jesus never equated His blessings with material things, but I had done just that.  I had laid so much emphasis upon material things, I was subtly encouraging people to put their hears into things, rather than into Jesus.

Source: Bakker, Jim with Ken Abraham.  I Was Wrong.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Pages 531-535.  1996.