The Alpha Course is a widely used evangelistic tool designed to introduce people to the Christian faith in a relaxed setting over 11 weekly sessions, with a day or weekend away. I have followed the Alpha course several times many years ago, and recently attended it as a table leader, guiding discussions for a couple of years. The more I understood the scriptures, the more I found the Alpha course’s theology to be dangerously defective.

Alpha is not inherently bad; there is much in Alpha that is biblical and truthful. It is well-produced, and the quality of the resources is outstanding. However, it is stuffed with enough unbiblical and misleading teaching that will do more harm than good. Alpha does not seriously address the definition of sin, repentance, or the need for Jesus’s work on the cross. That’s the core issue with this program. These are the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Alpha is pretty much experience-oriented. The lack of focus on Jesus is clearly seen in the testimonies people give. I can not remember any mention of Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, which is the heart of the Gospel, in those testimonies. Alpha continues to carry the same serious errors, advertising a dangerously flawed presentation of God, sin, repentance, and the work of Christ.

There are certainly many flaws in the Alpha course that raise red flags for those of us who are concerned for the Christian faith.

It does not present the God of the Bible

The first disastrous issue is this : Alpha presents a one-sided view of God. The ‘god’ we hear about in Alpha is a ‘god’ that has been defanged, a ‘god’ that has been tamed, a ‘god’ who has become innocuous or harmless. It does not present the God revealed in the Bible. Alpha soft-paddles the biblical portrait of Holy God. It de-emphasizes God as judge and emphasizes God as love. In the Alpha video titled “Why did Jesus die?”, this is what Nicky Gumbel says: “The answer to the question why did Jesus die in a nutshell is that God loves you, he loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly, continually”.

That is not true. Scripture says, “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day” (Ps 7:11). God DOES NOT love everyone unconditionally, wholeheartedly, continually! By virtue, we are objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:3-5). Only through Christ do we get to enjoy his love. God’s love is conditional.  How does an unbeliever react if he hears that God loves unconditionally? What does that mean? It means that God is going to love you unconditionally, wholeheartedly, just as you are. You are perfectly acceptable to God, and you have nothing to fear God, certainly for His wrath, because He is not going to pour His wrath upon anyone, because He loves everyone unconditionally. Unconditional means there are no conditions. There are no strings, no commands. You don’t need to repent of your sins. You do not need to flee for your life to the cross. You can continually live in rebellion and disobedience for the rest of your lives. Whatever you do doesn’t matter; God loves you! And He loves you unconditionally! This is the Feel-good gospel. That is not the true character of God in the Bible.

It does not present Christ in the Bible

In episode 02 of the Alpha series, ‘Who is Jesus?’ Nicky talks a lot about Jesus – the historical evidence of the existence of Jesus on earth. He goes on to great lengths to explain the reliability of the sacred writings. Alpha presents Jesus as the Son of God who came to satisfy your spiritual hunger, to set you free from your addiction, to give you rest from all your worries, anxiety, guilt, and fear. And he goes on to say that forgiveness is the heart of Christianity, and Jesus came to forgive people. But it never explains the depravity of man, the justice of God, the penalty of sin, the righteousness of Christ, and the work of the cross.

Episode 04 talks about becoming a Christian. According to Alpha, it is up to you to open your heart to Jesus; it is up to you to invite Jesus into your heart. Scripture is clear that there is nothing we can do to accept Christ; We are pronounced ‘dead’. A dead man cannot do anything. If there is one thing that he can do, ‘stink’. That’s basically our contribution. Here is the corner’s report of the dead man: The sinner is spiritually dead (mind, heart, will), he cannot hear; he cannot see; he cannot believe; he cannot love; he is dead. Christ said, “You did not choose Me but I chose you” (John 15:16).

Christ is never presented as the Lord and Saviour. Alpha never explains how the sinner can be forgiven and find life in Jesus. Christ’s death upon the cross is presented as an act of love without any real connection with the reality of judgment and God’s wrath. According to Alpha, Jesus died, not just for one man, but for every single individual in the world (universal atonement). Clearly, that is not a biblically true statement. The penal substitutionary nature of Christ’s atonement is given very little weight. We are left with a hollow view of why Jesus had to die at all. Christ’s death ends up having to satisfy some abstract justice system that is detached from the holiness of God. The whole thing is pretty mysterious and confusing.

It does not present the Holy Spirit of the Bible

The person and the work of Christ on the cross is clearly not the centre of Alpha, and the largest part of the time is spent on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The gospel of grace through the work of Christ is left behind after week three. For Alpha, the decisive moment is not the preaching of Christ and Him crucified, but when the Holy Spirit is ‘invoked’. The Holy Spirit weekend is the highlight of Alpha. In episode 8, Nicky gives a beautiful introduction to the Holy Spirit. However, in subsequent videos, the experiences described of the Holy Spirit do not align with the description of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures.

Primarily, it emphasises personal spiritual experiences over biblical teaching and promotes a charismatic understanding of the Holy Spirit and physical manifestations such as laughing, crying, jumping, shaking, breathing deeply, and speaking in tongues etc.. The “Holy Spirit Weekend” is a way to induce an emotional or ecstatic state, which is not equivalent to a genuine spiritual experience in the Bible. It resembles the ecstatic gatherings of New Age enthusiasts or other religions like Hinduism. The phenomena described or experienced during the course, such as specific overwhelming feelings of love, ‘hot sensation,’ feeling of ‘glowing’ do not align with biblical portrayals of the Spirit’s work. Alpha’s ‘Holy Spirit’ is the agent for giving to people an ‘experience’ that is going to make God real to them. The teaching ‘Every Christian has the Holy Spirit, but not every Christian is filled with the Spirit’ is at odds with Biblical teaching. There is hardly any evidence in scripture to suggest anything other than that the believer receives all of the Holy Spirit when he or she repents, puts their trust in Jesus, and is justified. ‘Be being filled with the spirit..’ (Ephesians 4:17) is an ongoing command which acknowledges variation in filling among Christians, but not a requirement to seek a second filling.

It does not present the True Gospel

The presentation of the Christian message is perilously defective. Repentance and faith are treated very casually. Repentance is never explained scripturally or emphasized. Alpha course material never answers the question, “Why did Jesus die?” Biblically. Even though Alpha quotes from the Bible a lot and says a lot about Jesus, it is hard to find a clear presentation of the ‘Christian gospel’ message, except for many testimonies and accounts of wonderful things that happened to individuals. Our personal testimony is not the gospel; the message that God loves you and has a plan for you is not the gospel; having a relationship with Jesus or asking Jesus to come into our hearts is not the gospel. The Gospel in biblical terms is the Good News of the PERSON and the WORK of JESUS CHRIST. The Gospel is about WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus accomplished. There is good news, because there is bad news. That bad news is never presented in Alpha.

According to Alpha, you come exactly as you are; it doesn’t matter what you do, and you can receive total forgiveness as a gift because of what Christ did on the cross. It says we receive this gift through repentance and faith. Repentance is defined as turning away from the ‘bad stuff’ in our lives. And it further goes on to say, putting our trust in Jesus. It does not explain how he lived under the law and why he had to die on the cross bearing our sins. The Alpha Course is ’emotionally powerful but theologically pretty confused’. Alpha presents a very appealing and enjoyable experience of a judgment-less gospel, which is not the gospel at all.

It does not explain sin and human depravity

When you have a wrong view of God, then you have a wrong view of sin. Nicky goes on to explain what sin is: “The bad stuff, things that come from within, they kind of spoil our lives, they pollute our lives, they spoil our relationships, they spoil our relationships with one another, and they spoil our relationship with God…” Sin is defined as natural mistakes or wrong choices – a mess we make in our own lives that has inward consequences. Sin is presented as feelings of sadness and unhappiness. Sin is never presented as an offense to God. Sin is not ‘bad stuff’ in our lives; fundamentally, it is the suppression of the truth about God (Rom. 1: 19-21). The ultimate condemnation of man for not giving the glory to God is announced in Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.” There is no mention of punishment for the sin of rejection and the eternal consequences, or the mention of hell in Alpha teaching. There is no recognition of the need for repentance of their rejection of God, or the need to be rescued from hell. Biblical repentance, in relation to salvation, is changing your mind from rejection or ignorance of Christ to faith in Christ. Putting your faith in Christ means that you firmly renounce any other hope of being counted righteous before God.

It can lead to counterfeit salvation

I have seen and heard people give their lives to Christ after watching the Alpha videos. Can I be certain these conversions are real? More often, it is an emotional experience about the love of God, but without any understanding of the holiness of God or the judgment of the sins. Alpha fails to explain that sin is a personal offence to God, and that God is deeply angry with us and our sin. No mention of His wrath against sinners, no mention of hell.Alpha presents a distorted or incomplete Gospel that cannot save. It presents a wide and easy way to ‘accept’ Christ (not accepted by Christ), giving a false assurance and counterfeit salvation. It is a sad fact that thousands of Alpha participants have said the sinner’s prayer and are now convinced they are Christians, who haven’t come within a mile of understanding their real condition as depraved sinners before a holy God. Were their hearts broken because they’ve violated the holiness of God? Were they sincerely sorry for offending God? Did they realise that they needed mercy in order to escape from hell? (Only God knows.) To lead someone to believe that they are saved when they are not is a dreadful thing. Can God use the Alpha course to save souls for His kingdom? Of course! God is sovereign, and exceedingly gracious and merciful. He will save whomever He wishes. It is entirely possible that someone might be exposed to enough Scripture in an Alpha Course to be saved.

It sacrifices truth for unity

Episode 16, ‘What About The Church’, is very disturbing. Alpha is in favour of a one-world church and promotes religious pluralism. The new Alpha course material has also been carefully developed to be inclusive and not to offend anybody. It continues to endorse Catholicism all the way through, and there is no condemnation of their gross heresies and blasphemies. Nicky Gumbel has no issue inviting heretical false teachers like Joyce Meyer to Alpha leadership conferences as a speaker. The reason he was giving is the unity among churches. The unity he was referring to is the relational unity. There cannot be any unity among churches unless there is unity in essential doctrines. What partnership or fellowship does light have with darkness? While it is commendable to seek unity, we must make sure that we are getting the right kind of unity. Unity with other churches is not a worthy goal if it means sacrificing the truth.

It defines our relationship to God inaccurately

While continuing to expound on the unconditional love of God, Nicky says, “We are all children of God.” No, we are NOT all children of God! The Bible does not teach a universal fatherhood of God and a universal brotherhood of man. And, we are not all children of God. Indeed, we are called children of the Devil by nature (John 8:44; Eph. 2:1-3). The fatherhood of God is restricted in the Bible to believers in Christ and therefore, adopted into the family of God. We are all creatures of God, but He has not given the right to everyone to be His children – to be loved by Him. 1 John 3: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”

The Alpha program is a doctrinally weak and defective tool for evangelism. Fundamentally, Alpha teaches a God who has no wrath, a Jesus who simply dies to communicate how loved we are, and a Spirit who gives a feeling of being loved. We preach ‘Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’. Why would any church choose to use such a defective course for evangelism when there are better alternatives available?

Alternative options: Christianity Explored
This alternative course is centered around Mark’s Gospel and aims to provide a more faithful and comprehensive presentation of the biblical message, according to Banner of Truth. (https://www.christianityexplored.us/courses/christianity-explored/)