Chapter 01: Main Finis Dake Course and Why This Course Matters.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” – Jude 3

The Widespread Use of the Dake Bible in Pentecostal/AG Churches

Walk into many Pentecostal or Assemblies of God bookstores, and you’ll find the Dake Annotated Reference Bible prominently displayed, often alongside more recognized study Bibles like the NIV Study Bible or the Ryrie Study Bible. Visit countless church libraries within these denominations, and Dake’s works occupy honored shelf space, sometimes multiple copies suggesting frequent use. Sit in numerous Bible studies, particularly those focused on prophecy or spiritual warfare, and you’ll hear teachers quote Dake’s notes as authoritative commentary, often without any disclaimer about their controversial nature. This widespread acceptance makes addressing his errors not just important but urgent for the health of these church bodies.

The statistics are sobering. Publishers report that the Dake Bible has sold over one million copies since its initial publication in 1963. While this might seem modest compared to some study Bibles, consider that most Dake Bible users are concentrated within Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, which represent roughly 600 million believers worldwide. Within this subset of Christianity, Dake’s influence is proportionally massive. Informal surveys suggest that in some Pentecostal congregations, up to 30% of regular attenders own or have owned a Dake Bible.

The Assemblies of God, America’s largest Pentecostal denomination with over 3 million adherents in the United States and 69 million worldwide, has had a particularly complex relationship with Dake’s work. While the denomination has never officially endorsed his Bible, neither has it issued clear, comprehensive warnings about its problematic content until relatively recently. This institutional silence has allowed Dake’s influence to spread largely unchecked within AG churches. Pastors who might never dream of teaching that God has a physical body unknowingly distribute this teaching when they recommend the Dake Bible to their congregations without appropriate warnings.

Consider the testimony of Dr. Robert Mitchell, a professor at an Assemblies of God university: “When I survey incoming Bible students about their study resources, consistently 40-50% report having used the Dake Bible. Most received it as a gift from well-meaning relatives or pastors. When I ask what they know about Dake’s theology, fewer than 5% are aware of any controversial teachings. They simply assume that if it’s called a ‘Reference Bible’ and their pastor recommended it, it must be trustworthy.”

This pattern repeats across Pentecostal education institutions. Bible colleges stock their bookstores with Dake Bibles because students request them. Professors find themselves constantly correcting Dake-influenced theology in student papers. One seminary dean reported, “We spend the entire first semester of systematic theology essentially deprogramming Dake’s influence. Students arrive thinking God has a body, the Trinity is three separate Gods, and racial segregation is divinely ordained. It’s heartbreaking to see their confusion when they realize their trusted Bible contains heretical notes.”

The Publishing Phenomenon

Understanding how the Dake Bible became so widespread helps us grasp the magnitude of the problem. When first published in 1963 by Dake Bible Sales, Inc., it filled a specific niche. Pentecostals, often marginalized by mainstream evangelicalism, longed for scholarly resources that took their distinctive beliefs seriously. Dake’s Bible, with its extensive notes on supernatural topics, seemed to meet this need perfectly.

The marketing was brilliant. Advertisements in Pentecostal publications emphasized the Bible’s comprehensive nature: “35,000 notes! 500,000 cross-references! 9,000 topics and subtopics! The most complete study Bible ever published!” For believers who felt intellectually inferior to their Presbyterian or Baptist neighbors with their systematic theologies and scholarly commentaries, the Dake Bible offered equality—even superiority. Here was a Pentecostal resource that exceeded other study Bibles in sheer volume of content.

The physical production reinforced this premium positioning. Bound in genuine leather, printed on thin India paper, with gold-edged pages and ribbon markers, the Dake Bible looked and felt expensive. It became a graduation gift, an ordination present, a missionary’s essential tool. Owning one signaled serious commitment to Bible study. The price—often double or triple that of regular Bibles—actually enhanced its perceived value. Surely something this costly and comprehensive must be authoritative.

Geographic and Demographic Patterns

The Dake Bible’s influence follows distinct geographic and demographic patterns that reveal much about its appeal and spread. Strongest in the American South and Midwest—Dake’s own ministry territory—it found fertile soil in regions where Pentecostalism flourished and where, unfortunately, racial segregation had deep roots. Dake’s “30 reasons for segregation of races” resonated with believers seeking biblical justification for social patterns they’d inherited.

International missions expanded Dake’s reach exponentially. Well-meaning missionaries, equipped with Dake Bibles, established churches and Bible schools that perpetuated his teachings. Today, some of the strongest concentrations of Dake Bible users exist in Africa, Latin America, and Asia—regions where translated versions spread his errors to non-English speaking believers who have even less access to corrective theological resources.

Age demographics are particularly concerning. While older Pentecostals often inherited Dake Bibles from previous generations, younger believers increasingly encounter his teachings online. Websites offering free PDFs of the Dake Bible report hundreds of thousands of downloads annually. Social media groups dedicated to Dake Bible study attract young adults drawn to his confident assertions about prophecy and spiritual warfare. This digital proliferation ensures Dake’s influence will persist unless actively countered.

When Study Notes Become Dangerous

Study Bibles can be wonderful tools for understanding Scripture. Good study notes provide historical context, explain difficult passages, clarify translation issues, and help readers see connections between different parts of the Bible. The MacArthur Study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, the NIV Study Bible—these and others provide generally reliable guidance that enhances biblical understanding. But study notes become dangerous when they contradict the very Scriptures they claim to explain, when they impose foreign meanings on clear texts, and when they teach doctrine that the church has recognized as heretical. This is precisely what happens throughout the Dake Bible.

The danger is compounded by Dake’s writing style. He states his views with absolute confidence, rarely acknowledging that other interpretations exist or that his views contradict centuries of Christian teaching. For example, when commenting on the nature of God, Dake simply asserts: “God has a personal spirit body. The fact that God has a body is clearly taught in Scripture”¹ and declares that “the Bible declares that God has a body, shape, image, likeness, bodily parts, a personal soul and spirit, and all other things that constitute a being or a person with a body, soul, and spirit.”² He provides no acknowledgment that this view has been considered heretical throughout Christian history. The unsuspecting reader, seeing such confident assertions printed in a “Reference Bible,” naturally assumes they must be correct.

Dake’s entire theological system rests on his insistence that the Bible must be taken literally whenever possible. He writes with supreme confidence: “The chief fundamental principle is to gather from the Scriptures themselves the precise meaning the writers intended to convey… In doing this, one must take the Bible as literal when it is at all possible.”⁸ He further instructs readers to “TAKE EVERY STATEMENT IN THE BIBLE AS LITERAL WHEN IT IS AT ALL POSSIBLE AND WHERE IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS LITERAL, OTHERWISE, IT IS FIGURATIVE.”⁹ This hermeneutical approach, while seeming to honor Scripture, actually becomes the foundation for his most serious errors.

Let’s examine specific examples of how Dake’s notes contradict and override Scripture:

Example 1: John 4:24 – “God is spirit”
The biblical text clearly states: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Dake’s note claims: “This does not mean that God is not a person with a spirit body… It means that God is not a man, but a Spirit Being with a Spirit Body.”
Notice how Dake completely reverses the text’s meaning. Jesus is explaining that God is not physical, that true worship isn’t bound to physical locations. Dake inserts the very physicality that Jesus denies.

Example 2: Deuteronomy 6:4 – “The LORD our God is one LORD”
The biblical text affirms: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
Dake’s extensive note argues: “The Hebrew word ‘echad’ translated ‘one’ means a united one, not an absolute one… It is used of two becoming one flesh… The same word is used in Gen. 2:24 of two persons becoming one.”
While Hebrew scholars acknowledge ‘echad’ can mean composite unity, in this context—the Shema, Israel’s fundamental confession—it emphasizes God’s absolute uniqueness and singularity against polytheism. Dake uses linguistic gymnastics to transform monotheism into tritheism.

Example 3: Genesis 1:26 – “Let us make man in our image”
The biblical text records: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
Dake’s note insists: “This proves a plurality of persons in the Godhead, each having a personal body, soul, and spirit, for man was made in the image and likeness of God.”
Orthodox theology sees this as evidence of the Trinity—one God in three persons. Dake transforms it into evidence for three separate Gods with separate bodies. The leap from plurality of persons to separate physical beings is entirely Dake’s invention.

The Authority Transfer Phenomenon

A critical danger of study Bible notes is what scholars call “authority transfer”—the unconscious attribution of Scripture’s authority to the accompanying notes. When God’s Word and human commentary appear on the same page, in the same format, readers often fail to distinguish between them. Over time, Dake’s interpretations become “what the Bible says” in readers’ minds.

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced with the Dake Bible because of its format. The four-column layout means readers encounter more of Dake’s words than Scripture’s words on many pages. The small print of the notes suggests detailed, scholarly analysis. The confident tone implies authoritative teaching. The sheer volume of notes—often exceeding the biblical text—overwhelms readers with information, making critical evaluation difficult.

Consider how a typical reader uses the Dake Bible: They read a passage, immediately consult Dake’s notes for understanding, and move on. There’s no comparison with other commentaries, no checking against systematic theology, no awareness that they’re receiving one man’s interpretation rather than established Christian doctrine. The notes become a lens through which all Scripture is viewed, shaping not just understanding of individual passages but entire theological worldview.

The Multiplication of Error Through Teaching

When study notes contain error, that error multiplies exponentially through teaching. A pastor preparing a sermon consults the Dake Bible, incorporates its interpretation, and preaches to hundreds. Those hundreds share what they’ve learned in home groups, with family, on social media. Each transmission spreads the error further, and with each retelling, the error gains credibility through repetition.

A case study illustrates this multiplication. Pastor Johnson (name changed) preached a series on Genesis using the Dake Bible extensively. He taught about the Gap Theory, the pre-Adamite race, and Lucifer’s flood. Church members, trusting their pastor, accepted these teachings. Some became Sunday school teachers, passing these ideas to children. Others led Bible studies, spreading them to new believers. A few entered ministry themselves, carrying Dake’s errors to other churches. Twenty years later, thousands had been influenced by one pastor’s use of the Dake Bible.

This multiplication is particularly damaging with Dake’s racial teachings. His “30 reasons for segregation of races” provided religious justification for racism. Pastors who taught these ideas didn’t just spread theological error—they sanctified prejudice, damaged race relations, and contradicted the gospel’s message of unity in Christ. The social and spiritual damage extends far beyond doctrinal confusion to broken relationships and divided churches.

A Loving Warning to the Body of Christ

This book is written in love, not anger. We recognize that many sincere Christians have been helped by portions of Dake’s work. His emphasis on taking Scripture seriously, his attention to biblical detail, and his passion for God’s Word are commendable. We also recognize that many who use the Dake Bible are unaware of its problematic teachings. They are not heretics but victims of heresy—sincere believers who have been misled by trusted materials.

Our warning comes from the biblical mandate to “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). When core doctrines about the nature of God are at stake, love requires us to speak truth. To remain silent while error spreads through the body of Christ would be the opposite of love. As Proverbs 27:5 reminds us, “Open rebuke is better than secret love.”

The New Testament consistently warns about false teaching and commands church leaders to guard against it:

• Paul warned the Ephesian elders: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God… For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:28-29).
• He instructed Timothy: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).
• Peter warned: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies” (2 Peter 2:1).
• John commanded: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

These warnings aren’t suggestions but commands. The church has a responsibility to identify and correct false teaching, especially when it concerns fundamental doctrines about God’s nature. Our love for believers requires us to warn about dangers to their faith. Our love for God requires us to defend His truth against distortion.

Understanding the Victims of Deception

It’s crucial to distinguish between false teachers and those deceived by false teaching. Dake may have been sincere in his beliefs—only God knows his heart—but his teachings are objectively false and dangerous. However, the vast majority of those using his Bible are sincere believers who simply don’t know better. They deserve compassion, patience, and gentle correction, not condemnation.

Consider the typical Dake Bible user: They love God’s Word and study it diligently. They hunger for deeper understanding of Scripture. They’re often more committed to Bible study than average churchgoers. These are strengths to affirm even as we correct the errors they’ve absorbed. Our approach must honor their sincere faith while helping them see where they’ve been misled.

Many Dake Bible users have genuine testimonies of God’s work in their lives. They’ve experienced salvation, healing, and spiritual growth while using his Bible. These experiences are real and shouldn’t be dismissed. God, in His mercy, honors sincere faith even when it’s mixed with error. Our task is to help believers separate the true work of God in their lives from the false teaching that accompanied it.

How Good People Get Deceived by Bad Theology

It’s important to understand how sincere, intelligent Christians can be deceived by false teaching. Deception rarely comes in obvious packages labeled “heresy.” Instead, it typically comes mixed with truth, promoted by seemingly credible sources, and addressing felt needs in the church. Dake’s work exemplifies all three characteristics.

The Mixture of Truth and Error

First, Dake’s Bible contains much truth simply because it includes the biblical text itself. The Word of God remains powerful and effective even when accompanied by problematic notes. Additionally, many of Dake’s observations about Greek and Hebrew words are accurate. His cross-references often helpfully connect related passages. His outlines of biblical books can aid understanding. This mixture of truth and error makes the error harder to detect. Readers who find Dake helpful in understanding certain passages naturally trust him in other areas where his teaching is false.

The psychological principle of “confirmation bias” reinforces this trust. When readers find Dake’s notes helpful or accurate in areas they can verify, they assume his reliability in areas they can’t verify. If his definition of a Greek word proves correct, surely his interpretation of the passage must be correct. If his outline of Romans is helpful, surely his understanding of God’s nature is trustworthy. This transfer of credibility from accurate details to false doctrine is a key mechanism of deception.

Furthermore, Dake often starts with true premises but draws false conclusions. For example, he correctly observes that the Bible uses anthropomorphic language about God. True. He correctly notes that this language describes God in human terms. True. But then he concludes that this language must be literally describing God’s physical form. False. The true premises make the false conclusion seem reasonable to uncritical readers.

The Appearance of Credibility

Second, Dake came with credentials that seemed impressive to his target audience. He claimed to have read the Bible through multiple times, to have memorized vast portions of Scripture, and to have studied deeply for decades. His Bible contained over 35,000 notes and 500,000 references. The sheer volume of his work gave an impression of scholarly authority. Many readers assumed that anyone who had studied the Bible so extensively must be trustworthy.

The format of his work reinforced this credibility. The Dake Bible looks like a scholarly reference work. The four-column layout suggests careful organization. The extensive cross-references imply thorough research. The confident assertions suggest settled conclusions. For believers without theological education, these external markers of scholarship substituted for actual scholarly credibility.

Dake’s personal testimony added emotional credibility. His dramatic conversion story, his claims of divine calling, his decades of ministry—all these created a persona of spiritual authority. For Pentecostals who valued spiritual experience over academic credentials, Dake’s testimony mattered more than his lack of formal theological education. If God had so powerfully transformed and used him, surely his teachings must be reliable.

Addressing Felt Needs

Third, Dake addressed topics that many Christians wanted to understand better: prophecy, spiritual warfare, angels and demons, divine healing, and the supernatural dimensions of faith. In an era when many seminaries and denominations were influenced by theological liberalism that denied or downplayed the supernatural, Dake offered detailed teaching about spiritual realities. His errors about the nature of God were packaged with his emphasis on topics that genuinely interested Spirit-filled believers.

This meeting of felt needs created strong emotional attachment to Dake’s work. A believer struggling to understand spiritual warfare finds detailed teaching in Dake’s notes and experiences breakthrough. The emotional power of that experience creates loyalty that resists theological critique. To challenge Dake’s theology feels like challenging the spiritual experience itself.

The comprehensive nature of Dake’s work met the need for accessible biblical knowledge. Many believers lacked access to theological libraries or multiple commentaries. The Dake Bible provided everything in one volume—concordance, commentary, cross-references, topical studies, Greek and Hebrew definitions. For isolated believers, traveling evangelists, or missionaries in remote areas, this comprehensiveness was invaluable, even if the content was problematic.

What’s at Stake: The Very Nature of God

The errors we address in this book are not secondary issues about which Christians can legitimately disagree. At stake is nothing less than the Christian doctrine of God—who He is, what He is like, and how He relates to His creation. Get this wrong, and everything else in theology crumbles. The entire structure of Christian faith rests on the foundation of who God is. If that foundation is faulty, the whole building collapses.

The Domino Effect of Theological Error

Consider what happens when we accept Dake’s teaching that God has a physical body. Dake explicitly teaches that “there are three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead, each one having His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit in the same sense each human being, angel, or any other being has his own body, soul, and spirit.”³ He further explains that by “body,” he means “whether a spirit body or a flesh body, the house for the indwelling of the personal soul and spirit.”⁴

Dake’s views are even more explicit in his full explanation of God’s corporeality. He writes that “the vague way men think and speak of God as being a universal Spirit that fills all space and all solid matter, and that He is impersonal, intangible, unreal, and without a body, soul, and spirit, with parts, passions, feelings, appetites, desires, will, mind, or intellect, is the height of ignorance.”¹⁰ In his mind, orthodox theology’s affirmation of God’s spirituality is not just wrong—it is the height of ignorance.

Immediately, God becomes limited. A physical body exists in one location, not everywhere. It has boundaries and limitations. It can be in heaven or on earth but not both simultaneously. Dake himself teaches that God moves bodily from place to place, writing that “God also has many other means of travel and goes from one place to another bodily as all other beings in existence. He is omnipresent, but not omnibody.”⁵ Dake further clarifies his understanding of omnipresence: “Spirit beings, including God, Himself, cannot be omnipresent in body, for their bodies are of ordinary size and must be at one place at a time, in the same way that bodies of men are always localized, being in one place at a time.”¹¹

But Scripture declares God is omnipresent—present everywhere simultaneously. “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:24). David proclaimed, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Psalm 139:7-8). These passages become meaningless if God has a physical body confined to one location.

The limitations cascade through every area of theology:

• Prayer becomes problematic: How can a physically located God hear millions of prayers simultaneously from around the globe? Dake’s God would need to process prayers sequentially, creating an overwhelming backlog.
• Providence becomes impossible: How can a spatially limited God govern the entire universe? He could only directly oversee events in His immediate location.
• Salvation becomes uncertain: How can a God who isn’t omnipresent be personally involved in each believer’s salvation and sanctification?
• Worship becomes confused: Are we worshiping a super-powered being who differs from us only in degree, or the infinite Creator who differs from us in kind?

The Trinity Disaster

The stakes rise even higher with Dake’s teaching about the Trinity. Orthodox Christianity has always affirmed that God is one in essence, existing eternally in three persons. This is not tritheism (three Gods) but monotheism—one God in three persons. The distinction is absolutely crucial. As the Athanasian Creed states, “We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.”

But Dake explicitly taught three separate Gods. In explaining his view of the Trinity, Dake makes clear: “What we mean by Divine Trinity is that there are three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead, each one having His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit.”⁶ He goes on to argue that “there are three separate persons in divine individuality and divine plurality. The Father is called God (1 Cor. 8:6), the Son is called God (Isa. 9:6-7; Heb. 1:8; Jn. 1:1-2; 20:28), and the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3-4). As individual persons each can be called God and collectively they can be spoken of as one God because of their perfect unity.”⁷ In other words, when the Bible says God is one, Dake claims it means one in purpose only, not one in being.

Dake’s reasoning about this becomes even clearer when he writes: “If the fact is revealed that there are three separate distinct beings in the Deity or Godhead, this would be sufficient to warrant the conclusion that each of them have separate bodies, souls, and spirits, like all other separate and distinct beings.”¹² He asks rhetorically: “Could not God exist as three separate persons with three separate bodies, souls, and spirits, and still be one in unity?”¹³ For Dake, the answer is obviously yes—but this is tritheism, not orthodox Trinitarianism.

This is not Christianity but polytheism. It contradicts the most fundamental confession of biblical faith: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). It makes nonsense of Jesus’ statement, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). It undermines the entire biblical revelation of who God is.

The practical implications are staggering:

• Which God do we worship? If there are three separate Gods, do we worship all three equally? Do they compete for our allegiance?
• Which God saves us? If the Father, Son, and Spirit are separate Gods, which one is responsible for salvation? Can they disagree about who should be saved?
• How do we understand the incarnation? If the Son is a separate God with His own body, what happened in the incarnation? Did one God with a body take on another body?
• What about biblical monotheism? How do we reconcile three Gods with Scripture’s insistence that there is only one God?

The Corruption of Core Doctrines

Every major Christian doctrine depends on a proper understanding of God’s nature. Corrupt the doctrine of God, and you corrupt everything else:

Creation: If God has a body and exists within space and time, He cannot be the transcendent Creator of space and time. He becomes part of the creation rather than its source. Dake’s God is more like a Greek deity—powerful but not truly transcendent—than the biblical Creator.

Revelation: If God is three separate beings, which one reveals truth to humanity? Can they contradict each other? Dake’s system makes divine revelation uncertain because we can’t know if all three Gods agree on what they’re revealing.

Incarnation: The incarnation—God becoming man—makes no sense if God already has a body. What would it mean for a God with a body to take on human nature? Dake’s theology makes the central miracle of Christianity incomprehensible.

Atonement: If the Father and Son are separate Gods, the atonement becomes a transaction between two deities rather than God Himself bearing the penalty for sin. The profound truth that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19) becomes impossible.

Resurrection: If Christ is a separate God with His own body, what exactly was resurrected? Did one body replace another? Dake’s system confuses the clear biblical teaching about Christ’s bodily resurrection.

Sanctification: If the Holy Spirit is a separate God with a body located somewhere, how can He indwell believers? The entire New Testament teaching about the Spirit’s indwelling presence becomes impossible.

Glorification: If humans are already “in the God class” as Dake taught, what is the goal of salvation? Do we become Gods ourselves? This opens the door to the “little gods” heresy and destroys the Creator-creature distinction.

How to Use This Book in Your Church or Study Group

This book is designed to be a practical resource for pastors, teachers, and study groups who need to address Dake’s errors. Each chapter can stand alone, allowing you to focus on specific issues as needed. The extensive quotations from Dake’s own writings provide documentation you can verify yourself. The biblical responses offer clear teaching to replace error with truth.

For Pastors: A Strategic Approach

For pastors dealing with Dake’s influence in their congregations, we recommend a gentle but clear approach. Many who use the Dake Bible are sincere believers who simply don’t know about its problems. They need patient teaching, not harsh condemnation. Begin by affirming what is good—their love for God’s Word and desire to understand it better. Then carefully explain why certain notes in their Bible contradict both Scripture and historic Christian faith.

Consider this strategic approach:

Phase 1: Foundation Building (Months 1-3)
Before directly addressing Dake’s errors, strengthen your congregation’s understanding of core doctrines. Preach series on:

• The nature of God—His attributes, His spirituality, His unity
• The Trinity—one God in three persons, not three Gods
• The person of Christ—fully God and fully man
• The work of the Holy Spirit—His omnipresence and indwelling

During this phase, present positive biblical truth without mentioning Dake. Let Scripture itself contradict his errors. When people are grounded in truth, they’ll more readily recognize error.

Phase 2: Gentle Correction (Months 4-5)
After establishing biblical foundation, address the issue of study Bible reliability:

• Teach about the difference between Scripture and commentary
• Explain how to evaluate study notes critically
• Provide examples of how different study Bibles can contradict each other
• Mention (without singling out Dake) that some study Bibles contain serious errors

Phase 3: Direct Address (Month 6)
Only after thorough preparation, directly address the Dake Bible issue:

• Acknowledge its popularity and influence
• Affirm the sincere faith of those who use it
• Document specific errors with careful comparison to Scripture
• Provide alternative resources for continued study
• Offer pastoral support for those struggling with these revelations

For Sunday School and Small Group Leaders

Sunday school classes and small groups provide ideal settings for addressing these issues in depth. The interactive format allows for questions, discussion, and personal processing that sermon settings don’t permit. Consider using this book as curriculum for an adult education series.

Suggested 13-Week Study Plan:

Week 1: Introduction – Why Truth Matters
Week 2: Understanding Study Bibles – Help or Hindrance?
Week 3: The Nature of God – Biblical Teaching
Week 4: The Error of Divine Corporeality – God’s Body?
Week 5: The Trinity – One God or Three?
Week 6: God’s Omnipresence – Everywhere or Somewhere?
Week 7: God’s Omniscience – All-Knowing or Learning?
Week 8: The Problem of Hyperliteralism
Week 9: Racial Issues – Unity in Christ
Week 10: The Gap Theory – Speculation vs. Scripture
Week 11: Evaluating Teachers and Teaching
Week 12: Choosing Good Study Resources
Week 13: Moving Forward in Truth

Each session should include:

• Opening prayer for wisdom and unity
• Review of biblical passages relevant to the topic
• Examination of Dake’s teaching on the issue
• Group discussion about implications and applications
• Closing prayer for those affected by these errors

For Individual Study

For individual readers who have been influenced by Dake’s teaching, this book offers a path back to orthodox faith. Each chapter not only exposes error but presents biblical truth to replace it. The extensive Scripture citations allow you to verify everything for yourself. Don’t simply take our word—search the Scriptures to see whether these things are so (Acts 17:11).

Recommended approach for individual study:

1. Pray for illumination: Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth
2. Read with an open Bible: Verify every Scripture reference
3. Compare with other sources: Consult multiple commentaries and study Bibles
4. Journal your journey: Write down questions, insights, and struggles
5. Seek community: Discuss your findings with mature believers
6. Be patient with yourself: Changing theological views takes time
7. Focus on Christ: Remember that salvation is by grace through faith, not perfect theology

For Seminary and Bible College Professors

This book can serve as a supplementary text for courses in:

• Systematic Theology – illustrating the importance of orthodox doctrine
• Hermeneutics – demonstrating the dangers of poor interpretation
• Church History – showing how ancient heresies resurface
• Pastoral Theology – preparing students to address doctrinal issues
• Apologetics – equipping students to defend orthodox faith

The detailed documentation allows students to examine primary sources. The systematic refutation provides a model for theological critique. The pastoral approach demonstrates how to address error with grace.

The Ripple Effects: How Dake’s Errors Spread

Understanding how theological error spreads helps us address it more effectively. Dake’s influence didn’t remain confined to those who purchased his Bible. Like ripples from a stone thrown into a pond, his errors spread in ever-widening circles through the body of Christ.

First Circle: Direct Users

The first circle consists of those who directly use the Dake Bible. These individuals regularly consult his notes, accepting them as authoritative commentary. Over time, Dake’s theological framework shapes their entire understanding of Scripture. They begin to see everything through his interpretive lens. Biblical terms take on Dake’s definitions. Prophetic passages are understood through his charts. The nature of God conforms to his descriptions.

This direct influence is powerful but limited to those who actually own and use his Bible. Publishers report approximately one million copies sold over sixty years. Accounting for multiple owners of single copies and copies that are no longer in use, perhaps two to three million individuals have been direct users. Significant, but not overwhelming.

Second Circle: Secondary Teaching

The second circle—far larger—consists of those taught by Dake Bible users. When pastors preach from Dake’s notes, entire congregations absorb his theology without knowing the source. When Sunday school teachers use his interpretations, classes of students learn his errors as biblical truth. When parents teach children from his Bible, another generation inherits false doctrine.

This secondary influence multiplies exponentially. One pastor influenced by Dake might preach to hundreds weekly for decades. Those sermons, especially in our digital age, might be recorded, broadcast, and distributed globally. A single sermon incorporating Dake’s errors could influence thousands who have never heard of Dake himself.

Third Circle: Institutional Embedding

The third circle represents institutional adoption of Dake’s ideas. When Bible colleges include his Bible in their bookstores, they give institutional endorsement. When mission organizations distribute it, they spread his errors cross-culturally. When denominations fail to warn against it, they permit its influence by default. When publishers continue printing it without warning labels, they prioritize profit over truth.

This institutional embedding is particularly dangerous because it provides credibility. A new believer assumes that if their Bible college bookstore sells the Dake Bible, it must be theologically sound. A missionary assumes that if their sending organization approves it, it must be reliable. This institutional validation bypasses individual discernment.

Fourth Circle: Cultural Influence

The fourth circle—most diffuse but perhaps most dangerous—represents cultural influence. Dake’s ideas, divorced from their source, become part of the theological atmosphere in certain Christian communities. His redefinitions of terms, his interpretive methods, his theological assumptions become “what everyone knows” without anyone knowing where these ideas originated.

For example, in some Pentecostal circles, it’s commonly believed that God has some form of body, that the Trinity consists of three separate beings, that humans are “little gods.” These ideas, influenced by or reinforced by Dake, are held by people who have never opened his Bible. They’ve simply absorbed these concepts from the theological culture around them.

The Digital Age Challenge: Dake Online

The internet has transformed how Dake’s influence spreads. No longer limited to physical books, his teachings proliferate through digital channels that reach global audiences instantly and permanently.

Free Digital Distribution

Websites offer free PDF downloads of the entire Dake Bible. Copyright questions aside, this free distribution removes the financial barrier that once limited access. A believer in Nigeria, the Philippines, or Brazil can download Dake’s Bible instantly without cost. The economic advantage of “free” overwhelms theological concerns about accuracy.

These digital versions are searchable, making Dake’s notes even more influential. A user searching for information about angels instantly accesses all of Dake’s teaching on the subject. The convenience and comprehensiveness of digital search reinforces the authority of his interpretations.

Social Media Propagation

Social media platforms amplify Dake’s influence exponentially. Facebook groups devoted to Dake Bible study have thousands of members sharing interpretations, answering questions, and reinforcing each other’s commitment to his teaching. Twitter accounts quote his notes daily. Instagram posts feature visually appealing quotes from his commentary. YouTube channels explain his prophetic charts to new audiences.

This social media presence creates echo chambers where Dake’s views are constantly reinforced and never challenged. Algorithms ensure that those interested in his content see more of it. The “wisdom of crowds” makes his interpretations seem validated by popular acceptance.

YouTube and Video Teaching

Video platforms deserve special attention. Dozens of YouTube channels promote Dake’s teachings through detailed videos explaining his notes. These videos, often professionally produced with engaging graphics, make his complex theological system accessible to visual learners. A teenager who would never read the dense notes in his Bible might watch hours of video explanation.

The comment sections of these videos reveal the impact. Viewers express gratitude for “finally understanding” difficult passages. They share how Dake’s teaching has “revolutionized” their Bible study. They recommend the videos to friends and family. Each video becomes a multiplier, spreading Dake’s errors to audiences who would never purchase his Bible.

Online Bible Study Tools

Major Bible study software and websites include the Dake Bible as an available resource. Users of Logos, BibleGateway, Blue Letter Bible, and other platforms can access his notes alongside respected commentaries. This placement gives Dake’s work equivalent credibility with sound scholarly resources.

The convenience of integrated study tools means users often consult whatever commentaries are readily available. If Dake’s notes appear in their Bible software, they use them. The digital format obscures the source—users might not even realize they’re reading Dake rather than a more reliable commentary.

The Generational Transfer: Passing Down Error

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of Dake’s influence is how error passes from generation to generation within families. Well-meaning parents and grandparents, wanting to give the best to their children, pass down Dake Bibles as treasured heirlooms. These gifts, given in love, transmit error wrapped in sentiment and family tradition.

The Power of Family Tradition

Consider this common scenario: Grandfather, a devoted Christian and Dake Bible user, gives his grandson a Dake Bible for high school graduation. He inscribes it with a loving message about following God’s Word. The grandson, honoring his grandfather’s faith, treasures this Bible and studies it diligently. He absorbs not only Scripture but Dake’s interpretations, assuming they must be correct because they came from his godly grandfather.

Years later, this grandson, now a father himself, teaches his children from the same Bible. The errors are now three generations deep. The children grow up believing God has a body, the Trinity is three Gods, and racial segregation is divinely ordained. The family tradition sanctifies the error, making correction extremely difficult.

Breaking these generational chains requires tremendous sensitivity. Telling someone their beloved grandfather’s Bible contains heresy feels like attacking the grandfather himself. The emotional bonds make theological correction seem like personal betrayal. Yet love for truth and future generations demands that these chains be broken.

The Educational Pipeline

Christian schools and homeschool curricula sometimes perpetuate Dake’s errors. Well-meaning educators, often volunteers without theological training, use resources readily available to them. If the church library has Dake Bibles, they use them for Bible class. If the pastor recommends Dake’s notes, they incorporate them into lessons.

Children educated with these materials absorb Dake’s theology during their formative years. These early impressions are particularly powerful and resistant to change. A child who learns that God has a body accepts this as fundamental fact, like learning that water is H2O. Later correction requires not just teaching new information but overcoming deeply embedded assumptions.

The homeschool movement, so vital for Christian education, is particularly vulnerable. Parents teaching at home often lack theological training and rely heavily on study Bibles for curriculum. The Dake Bible’s comprehensive notes seem to provide everything needed for Bible instruction. Parents unknowingly teach their children heresy while believing they’re providing solid biblical education.

The International Crisis: Dake in Translation

The translation of Dake’s Bible into other languages exponentially expands its influence and damage. Publishers, seeing market opportunity in growing Christian populations worldwide, have produced versions in Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages. These translations spread Dake’s errors to communities that may have even less access to theological resources for correction.

The Mission Field Problem

Missionaries, often working in theological isolation, have sometimes relied on the Dake Bible as their primary study resource. Its comprehensive nature seems ideal for contexts where theological libraries are unavailable. These missionaries, sincerely seeking to spread the gospel, unknowingly plant churches with heretical foundations.

National pastors trained by these missionaries perpetuate the errors. They establish Bible schools that teach Dake’s theology. They train other pastors who plant more churches. Within a generation, entire denominations in developing nations are built on Dake’s false foundation. The multiplication is geometric—one missionary’s use of the Dake Bible affects thousands.

The problem is compounded by the respect given to Western theological resources. National believers assume that a Bible produced in America must be theologically sound. They lack the historical and theological background to recognize departures from orthodoxy. The very features that make Dake’s Bible attractive in America—comprehensive notes, confident assertions, supernatural emphasis—make it even more influential in contexts where Christians hunger for biblical teaching.

The Translation Quality Issue

Translations of the Dake Bible sometimes compound the errors. Translators, often hired for linguistic rather than theological expertise, may not recognize theological problems. They translate Dake’s errors accurately, preserving the false teaching in new languages. Sometimes, translation actually worsens the errors as nuances are lost and assertions become even more absolute.

Quality control for these translations is often minimal. Publishers, motivated by market opportunity rather than theological accuracy, rush translations to market. Review processes focus on linguistic accuracy rather than theological orthodoxy. The result is that Dake’s errors are preserved and sometimes amplified in translation.

The Economic Dimension: Following the Money

Understanding the economic dimensions of the Dake Bible helps explain its persistence despite theological problems. Publishing is a business, and the Dake Bible is a profitable product. This economic reality creates resistance to addressing its errors.

The Publisher’s Dilemma

Publishers face a difficult choice: continue selling a profitable product that contains theological errors, or sacrifice revenue for theological integrity. Most choose profit. The Dake Bible sells steadily, requires no new development costs, and has an established market. From a business perspective, it’s an ideal product.

The specialized nature of the market—primarily Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians—means publishers can target marketing efficiently. They advertise in Pentecostal publications, display at Charismatic conferences, and partner with ministries that share Dake’s theological emphasis. This targeted marketing maintains steady sales without broader market scrutiny.

Economic pressure also affects Christian bookstores. The Dake Bible, with its premium price point, generates significant revenue per sale. Bookstore owners, often struggling financially, are reluctant to remove a profitable product. They rationalize that they’re providing what customers want and that buyers should exercise discernment.

The Digital Revenue Stream

Digital distribution creates new revenue opportunities. Bible software companies license the Dake Bible for inclusion in their platforms. Website subscriptions provide access to his notes. Mobile apps sell Dake commentary modules. Each digital format creates a new revenue stream from the same content.

This digital monetization ensures Dake’s influence continues. As long as his content generates revenue, it will remain available. Publishers have no economic incentive to withdraw it and significant economic incentive to maintain it. The free market, without theological discernment, perpetuates theological error.

The Way Forward: Solutions and Strategies

Addressing Dake’s influence requires comprehensive strategies that acknowledge the complexity of the problem. Simple condemnation won’t work. We need patient, systematic, grace-filled approaches that correct error while maintaining unity in the body of Christ.

Educational Initiatives

Education is the long-term solution. Churches must return to systematic theological teaching that grounds believers in orthodox doctrine. This doesn’t mean dry, academic lectures but vibrant, relevant teaching that shows how correct theology enhances spiritual life.

Specific educational initiatives might include:

• New believer classes that include basic theology
• Adult education series on the nature of God
• Hermeneutics courses teaching biblical interpretation
• Church history classes showing the development of doctrine
• Apologetics training equipping believers to recognize error

These initiatives must be accessible, engaging, and practical. Use multimedia resources, interactive discussion, and real-life application. Show how theology matters for daily Christian living. Make the classes so valuable that people want to attend.

Resource Development

We must provide alternative resources that meet the needs Dake’s Bible addresses. Recommend study Bibles that combine scholarly reliability with spiritual vitality. Develop commentaries that take supernatural themes seriously while maintaining theological orthodoxy. Create reference works that are comprehensive yet accurate.

Specific resources needed include:

• A study Bible specifically for Pentecostal/Charismatic believers that maintains orthodox theology
• Accessible commentaries on difficult books like Revelation and Daniel
• Topical studies on angels, demons, and spiritual warfare from a biblical perspective
• Prophetic charts and timelines that avoid speculation
• Greek and Hebrew study tools for non-scholars

Pastoral Training

Pastors need specific training to address Dake’s influence in their congregations. Seminary and Bible college curricula should include courses on recognizing and correcting theological error. Continuing education should offer workshops on pastoral approaches to doctrinal correction.

Training should cover:

• How to identify Dake’s influence in congregation members
• Strategies for gentle correction that maintains unity
• Preaching approaches that establish truth without attacking persons
• Counseling techniques for those struggling with theological change
• Resources for further study and teaching

Denominational Response

Denominations, particularly the Assemblies of God, must take clear positions on the Dake Bible. This doesn’t require harsh condemnation but clear warning about specific errors. Official statements, educational materials, and pastoral guidance would help local churches address the issue.

Denominational actions might include:

• Position papers documenting theological problems in the Dake Bible
• Educational materials for churches to use in addressing the issue
• Recommendations for alternative study resources
• Training modules for pastors and teachers
• Careful review of denominational educational materials for Dake influence

Conclusion: The Urgency of Truth

As we conclude this opening chapter, the urgency of addressing Dake’s errors should be clear. This is not an academic exercise or theological hair-splitting. Real people’s faith is at stake. Churches are being built on false foundations. The next generation is inheriting heretical teaching. The global spread of Christianity is being contaminated by theological error.

Yet we approach this task with hope. The same God who preserved His truth through centuries of challenge will preserve it now. The same Spirit who guides into all truth will guide His people away from error. The same Word that is living and powerful will accomplish its purpose of establishing believers in sound doctrine.

Our responsibility is to speak truth in love, to contend earnestly for the faith, to guard the good deposit entrusted to us. This book is part of that responsibility. As we continue examining Dake’s specific errors in following chapters, remember that our goal is not destruction but construction—building up the body of Christ in truth that sets free.

The apostle Paul’s charge to Timothy applies to us today: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16). May we take heed. May we continue in sound doctrine. May we save ourselves and others from the destruction that false teaching brings.

The battle for truth is not optional. The stakes are too high, the consequences too severe, the souls too precious. With God’s help, with His Word as our authority, with love as our motivation, we must address the errors that threaten His church. This book is one effort in that battle. May it be used by God to restore many to the truth of His Word and the knowledge of who He truly is.

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Footnotes

¹ Finis Jennings Dake, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963), note on Genesis 1:26. Referenced in multiple project sources showing Dake’s consistent teaching on God’s physical body.

² Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan for Man (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949), 56-57. Dake writes: “The Bible declares that God has a body, shape, image, likeness, bodily parts, a personal soul and spirit, and all other things that constitute a being or a person with a body, soul, and spirit.”

³ Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan for Man (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949), 56. Under the section “89 Proofs of A Divine Trinity,” Dake explicitly defines his understanding: “What we mean by Divine Trinity is that there are three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead, each one having His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit in the same sense each human being, angel, or any other being has his own body, soul, and spirit.”

⁴ Ibid., 56. Dake continues: “We mean by body, whether a spirit body or a flesh body, the house for the indwelling of the personal soul and spirit. The soul is that which feels and the spirit is that which knows.”

⁵ Finis Jennings Dake, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963), note on Ezekiel 1:26-28. In explaining God’s movement, Dake writes: “God also has many other means of travel and goes from one place to another bodily as all other beings in existence. He is omnipresent, but not omnibody.”

⁶ Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan for Man (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949), 56.

⁷ Finis Jennings Dake, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963), note on 1 John 5:7. Dake writes: “Thus there are three separate persons in divine individuality and divine plurality. The Father is called God (1 Cor. 8:6), the Son is called God (Isa. 9:6-7; Heb. 1:8; Jn. 1:1-2; 20:28), and the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3-4). As individual persons each can be called God and collectively they can be spoken of as one God because of their perfect unity.”

⁸ Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan for Man (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1977), 42. Dake establishes his hermeneutical principle: “The chief fundamental principle is to gather from the Scriptures themselves the precise meaning the writers intended to convey. It applies to the Bible the same principles, rules, grammatical process, and exercise of common sense and reason that we apply to other books. In doing this, one must take the Bible as literal when it is at all possible.”

⁹ Ibid., 47. Dake states his fundamental rule of interpretation in capital letters: “TAKE EVERY STATEMENT IN THE BIBLE AS LITERAL WHEN IT IS AT ALL POSSIBLE AND WHERE IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS LITERAL, OTHERWISE, IT IS FIGURATIVE.” He adds: “In other words, what cannot be literal must be figurative. The subject matter itself as expressed in human language will always make this clear.”

¹⁰ Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan for Man (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1977), 60. Dake writes: “The vague way men think and speak of God as being a universal Spirit that fills all space and all solid matter, and that He is impersonal, intangible, unreal, and without a body, soul, and spirit, with parts, passions, feelings, appetites, desires, will, mind, or intellect, is the height of ignorance. God wants us to know that He is a person; that He is real; that He has a body, soul, and spirit; and that He has literal faculties to hear, see, speak, will and do anything any other person can do.”

¹¹ Ibid., 60-61. Dake explicitly states: “Spirit beings, including God, Himself, cannot be omnipresent in body, for their bodies are of ordinary size and must be at one place at a time, in the same way that bodies of men are always localized, being in one place at a time. God, angels, and other spirit beings go from place to place bodily as men do; but their presence can be any place in the universe—wherever there are other persons who also have the sense of presence enough to feel the presence of others regardless of bodily distance between them.”

¹² Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan for Man (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1977), 448. In discussing the Trinity, Dake argues: “If the fact is revealed that there are three separate distinct beings in the Deity or Godhead, this would be sufficient to warrant the conclusion that each of them have separate bodies, souls, and spirits, like all other separate and distinct beings. Even disembodied spirits are separate and distinct from each other and can be numbered as are all other beings.”

¹³ Ibid., 55. Dake poses rhetorical questions that reveal his tritheistic theology: “Cannot any number of persons retain their individuality and still be one in unity? Could not this be true of the Godhead? Could not God exist as three separate persons with three separate bodies, souls, and spirits, and still be one in unity?”

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