Christian Research Institute/CRI/Hank Hanegraaff

Analyst Comments [ Back to top ]

MinistryWatch.com’s Take
February 2004
By Andy Preslar, Rodney Pitzer and Michael Barrick



Defending the Faith
The Christian Research Institute (CRI) is a Christian apologetics ministry which exists in order to equip believers to defend orthodox, biblical Christianity through understanding the essentials of the faith and by identifying and answering false teaching. CRI carries out this mission via a daily radio program (“The Bible Answer Man”), book and magazine publications, and its website (www.equip.org). Dr. Walter Martin founded CRI in 1960. Since Dr. Martin’s death in 1989, Hank Hanegraaff has served as CRI president and host of the ministry’s “Bible Answer Man” radio program.

CRI is among the world’s largest Christian apologetics ministries. The term “apologetics” derives from the Greek word apologia, which means “verbal defense.” The word was often used in a legal sense to describe the act of making a defense in court. Christian apologetics is the discipline of defending the Christian faith (or some aspect of the faith) from whatever charges are levied against it. This can involve a variety of activities, including giving reasons for faith, pointing out the error of those who depart from the essentials of the faith, and rebutting objections to the faith.

The Essentials:
All of this presupposes, of course, that there are certain doctrines, which comprise the so-called “essentials of the faith.” An essential can be understood as any property, which is a necessary component of something, a property without which that thing would lose its identity (e.g., the property of “having three sides” is essential to being a triangle, anything that lacks this property is not a triangle). According to CRI, the essentials of the Christian faith include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following doctrines: (a) The absolute authority of Scripture (i.e., the Bible is inspired, infallible, and inerrant) (b) the triunity of the Godhead (one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), (c) the two natures of Christ (Jesus is fully God and fully man), (d) man is a physical and a spiritual being (comprised of body and soul, and corrupted by sin in his whole being), (e) Jesus died to save man from sin, rose from the dead, and will return again (a substitutionary death, a bodily resurrection, and a visible return), and (f) the church is God’s ordained instrument for accomplishing his purposes in the world (headed by Christ and forming one body composed of all true believers). The denial of any of these doctrines constitutes a departure from orthodox Christianity. If Christianity, as a body of truth about God, man, and creation proposed for our belief, is to maintain its identity, the essentials cannot be compromised.

Accessible Arguments:
CRI exists to defend these and other essential doctrines. CRI maintains that the biblical basis for the discipline of apologetics is found in passages such as 2 Corinthians 10:5, 1 Peter 3:15, and Jude 3. Obedience to the commands found in these verses (“be ready to give a defense,” “contend earnestly for the faith”) is mandatory for the believer. CRI recognizes that apologetics can be a challenging (for some even daunting) enterprise. Thus, the organization “is committed to taking complex issues and making them understandable and accessible to the lay Christian.” Hanegraaff is an expert at memorization, and often uses mnemonic devices to help his readers and listeners grasp fundamental arguments for the faith (e.g., Hanegraaff’s book, The FACE that Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution, where the word “FACE” in an anagram which stands for Fossil record, Ape-men, Chance, and Empirical Science. Hanegraaff uses each of these categories to argue that macroevolution is implausible). Hanegraaff frequently communicates arguments and Christian evidences to his audience by using formulaic expressions. Some people say that this causes his answers to sound “canned.” It seems clear, however, that Hanegraaff’s purpose in communicating the way he does is, in part, to equip his audience with memorable and effective apologetic arguments. CRI is a researched-based ministry and avails itself and its audience of the best in evangelical scholarship. But it is also a ministry, which seeks to take the fruit of such scholarship from the lofty branches of academia and bring it within the reach of non-specialists.

A New Emphasis:
CRI has always been an apologetics ministry. The ministry’s primary objective over the first quarter-century of its existence (with Dr. Martin at the helm) was to combat the eroding influence of major cults (such as the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christian Science). CRI is continuing in that work, but under the leadership of Hanegraaff the organization has become conspicuous for its criticisms of “Word Faith” theology (propagated by the likes of Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn) and the so-called “revival” occurring in places like Brownsville and Toronto (which is purportedly accompanied by phenomena such as uncontrollable “Holy Spirit laughter” and magically appearing gold fillings). Hanegraaff is the author of the award-winning books Christianity in Crisis (a stringent critique of the Word-Faith movement) and Counterfeit Revival. In these works (and frequently on the Bible Answer Man program) he argues that each of these movements presents grave dangers to individual Christians and to the historic Christian faith. Although a significant amount of time and resources have been devoted to these aberrations within Christendom (broadly speaking), it would be far from accurate to say that CRI has become a one-trick pony. The ministry continues to address all sorts of other issues relevant to apologetics, including the intelligent design/ naturalism debate, neo-theism, relativism, cults, and other religions.

CRI Resources:
CRI is best known for its Bible Answer Man (BAM) radio program. BAM is a daily, 60-minute call-in show hosted by Hanegraaff, who fields questions from both Christians and unbelievers on a wide variety of doctrinal and faith-related topics. Leading evangelical scholars are frequent guests on the program. BAM can be heard on radio stations across the country and online around the world each day. CRI’s other online resources include BAM archives, numerous articles, and an e-store, which features books, tapes, and videos on apologetic and theological issues. Finally, CRI publishes a high-quality quarterly journal, the Christian Research Journal, which features apologetics articles by top Christian scholars such as Francis Beckwith, Norman Geisler, Douglas Groothius, Gary Habermas, J. P. Moreland, Gene Edward Veith (and many others).

CRI Controversies:
Unfortunately, CRI has seen more than its share of controversies over the past decade or so. The transition of leadership responsibilities from Walter Martin to Hanegraaff was anything but smooth, being marked by infighting among staff members and a significant number of layoffs. CRI has continued to experience a high degree of staff turnover during Hanegraaff’s tenure as president. Additionally, CRI and Hanegraaff have drawn the ire of many people in the Christian community for their highly public criticisms of popular Word of Faith television evangelists and the Brownsville and Toronto revivalists (conversely, a great number of evangelicals have praised Hanegraaff for his doctrinal fortitude and personal courage in this matter).

The most recent controversy to trouble CRI is the finding of the ECFA. Recent questions about spending habits at the Christian Research Institute (CRI) by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) came about as a result of several employees of the California-based ministry contacting the ECFA in late 2002 and news stories that followed.

Ultimately, by mid-2003, the ECFA announced that it had discovered that CRI had “breached” three of ECFA’s Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship – #2 (Board Governance), #4 (Use of Resources) and #6 (Conflicts of Interest).

And, in an article in Christianity Today magazine (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/008/6.19.html) published in July, 2003, correspondent Marshall Allen reported the particular concerns of the individual who instigated the investigation included the following: (1) $66,000 of CRI money went to the purchase of a blue Lexus for Hanegraaff’s use; (2) receipts showing that thousands of dollars of CRI money went towards Hanegraaff’s and his wife Kathy’s personal expenses; (3) Hanegraaff’s rapidly escalating salary ($250,000+ in 2001 at an increase of 26.5% over the previous year). The ECFA report does not address the issue of Hanegraaff’s salary, but it does state that CRI has provided “significant reimbursement” for the suspect expenditures.

Though the ECFA claims that CRI has made needed changes, the ECFA refuses to reveal what steps CRI has taken. Instead, ECFA President Paul Nelson insisted, “Our credentials on what we do, and we’ve been doing it a long time, precluded the need to reveal details to the public.” Apparently, CRI shares this view, because it has refused repeated requests from Wall Watchers for an interview, and has ignored repeated phone calls and questions sent to it via email and registered U.S. Mail.