While the prosperity gospel comes packaged in a number
of different forms—Word of Faith, Positive Confession, and so on—the core
product is consistent. At its heart is the conviction that human words and
faith shape reality. We are empowered to speak life into being, but regrettably
few of us are aware of this great privilege. The reason we do not have the
financial security, health, and success we want is that we do not call it forth
and draw it unto ourselves. Beneath this claim rests a high anthropology, which
regards human beings as fundamentally good and ultimately powerful.
One need not look far to see
that this message has resonated with a massive audience, both in the United
States and abroad. Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, Benny
Hinn—the list of celebrity prosperity preachers is seemingly endless, with many
of them broadcasting on TBN. These preachers hawk their television ministries,
books, podcasts, CDs, and retreats to hungry consumers eager to find out how
they can maximize their potential to live a life of fullness and well-being, to
“break out” of the desperation of broken dreams and dashed hopes (as Osteen’s
latest book instructs).
It is a tempting and
intoxicating brew, appealing to basic human inclinations and culturally
conditioned desires, offering a quick high but a nasty hangover. And it’s
extremely lucrative for its purveyors, since one of the principal ways to demonstrate
faith is to sow financial seeds, which is to say, give gifts to prosperity
preachers or purchase their products. The resulting fleets of luxury
automobiles, massive homes, and Italian suits might strike critics as garish,
but prosperity preachers retort with a smile that their lives and bank accounts
merely verify the truth of their messages.
How did we get to a place where
such a clearly debased form of Christianity holds sway with so many people?
Read the entire enlightening
article HERE.
Article posted by Jonathan Baer on December 20, 2013.
Jonathan Baer is an associate professor of religion at
Wabash College and a deacon at First Christian Church in Crawfordsville,
Indiana.
http://www.9marks.org/blog/soil-prosperity-gospel
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