Critics
The Alpha course has been criticised for a charismatic emphasis. A particular problem for non-charismatic evangelicals is what is seen as Gumbel's emphasis upon the person and work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, some churches have chosen to teach a different view of the Holy Spirit, although this is discouraged in Gumbel's book How to Run the Alpha Course.
Because it has been recommended as supplementary reading, Gumbel's book, Searching Issues, has become a focus of criticism. There is a chapter criticising homosexual practice, although this is not unique to the Alpha course but part of the wider Evangelical context.
More conservative critics (especially from a Reformed and Evangelical perspective) have complained that the course does not adequately define sin and therefore does not properly explain the reason for Jesus's death and resurrection. The alternative Christianity Explored course is an attempt to go beyond what the Alpha Course teaches on sin.
The Revd John Vincent of the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield has suggested that Alpha presents too narrow a version of Christianity and one too centred on what theologians have said about Jesus, rather than allowing students the freedom to draw their own inspiration from studying Jesus' life and teaching. "The Alpha course, because of its didactic style, its narrow-mindedness and its closed nature, doesn't facilitate alternative views", he says. "I happen to believe it therefore leads people into a self-centred religion which is not the same as the genuine Christian discipleship." The Alpha course has also been accused of using techniques similar to brainwashing and similar to The Third Wave
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