Was it a Christian investigation, atheistic investigation, or governmental investigation?
I'm not going to believe until one of you tell me. If it's Christian or governmental, fine then. If it's atheistic, I have my doubts.
If I recall correctly, the government didn't find anything wrong with his ministry concerning finance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Hinn#Senate_investigation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Hinn#Senate_investigation[/quote]from from the same site you linked to...
Criticism and controversy
By far the most controversial aspect of Hinn's ministry is his claim to have the "
anointing", the special power given to him by God to heal the sick. At Hinn's Miracle Crusades, he has allegedly healed attendees of
blindness,
deafness,
cancer,
AIDS,[
citation needed] and severe physical injuries. Since 1993, however, investigative news reports by programs such as
Inside Edition,
Dateline NBC, the
Australian edition of
60 Minutes, and several network affiliates in the
United States have called these claims into question.
Hinn made a number of
unfulfilled (religious) prophecies for the 90s, such as
God destroying America's
homosexual community in 1995, the death of
Fidel Castro,
[9] the election of the first female president of the USA,
[10] the
East Coast of the United States being devastated by
earthquakes,
[9] etc., all before the
third millennium. Hinn also appeared on the
Trinity Broadcasting Network in October 1999 to claim that God had given him a vision that thousands of dead people would be
resurrected after watching the networklaying out a scenario of people placing their dead loved ones' hands on TV screens tuned into the stationand that TBN would be "an extension of
Heaven to
Earth."
In April 2001
HBO aired a documentary called "A Question of Miracles" on Hinn and fellow faith healer
Reinhard Bonnke.
[11] The director
Antony Thomas told
CNN's
Kyra Phillips that they did not find cases where people were healed by Hinn.
[12] Thomas told the
New York Times about Hinn's claims, "If I had seen miracles, I would have been happy to trumpet it . . . but in retrospect, I think they do more damage to Christianity than the most committed atheist."
[13]
In March 2005,
Ministry Watch, an independent evangelical organization which reviews Christian ministries for financial transparency and efficiency and advises potential donors accordingly, issued a Donor Alert stating that "the reported exorbitant spending of the Hinn family reveals that BHM has far more money than it needs to carry out its ministry" and advising Christians to "prayerfully consider withholding contributions to Benny Hinn" while praying for his restoration and repentance.
[14] Benny Hinn Ministries is not a member of the
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
[15]
In December 2006, BHM sent out a mailing asking for donations towards a new
Gulfstream G4SP jet valued at an estimated
US$36 million and costing over
US$600,000/year to maintain and operate.
[16]
In November 2006 the
CBC Television show
the fifth estate did a special titled "Do You Believe in Miracles" on the apparent transgressions committed by Benny Hinn's ministry.
[17] With the aid of hidden cameras and crusade witnesses, the producers of the show attempted to demonstrate Benny's misappropriation of funds, his fabrication of the truth, and the way in which his staff chose crusade audience members to come on stage for televised healings.
[17]
According to the show the seriously disabled who attend his healings are interviewed and then weeded out from ever getting the chance to come on stage. There is a wheelchair section situated at the back of the audience, away from the stage. Instead, those who have minor injuries, or injuries not immediately visible are brought up in their place.
[17]
Benny Hinn claims proof from the faithful's doctors that healings have been successful.
[17] However according to the show none of these doctor notes have ever been produced as evidence to his claims. All the 'healed' that the show was able to track down and talk to were not healed and had never heard from the Ministry again. Benny promised on stage to set up a fund for the college education of a blind child, who he said was now healed. When contacted, the child was still blind and had not heard back from the Ministry after two years.
[17]
The show approximates that Benny Hinn Ministries takes in about $200 million yearly.
