As the magazine explains: Of the four biggest megachurches in the country, three--[Joel] Osteen's Lakewood in Houston; T.D. Jakes' Potter's House in south Dallas; and Creflo Dollar's World Changers near Atlanta--are Prosperity or Prosperity Lite pulpits (although Jakes' ministry has many more facets). While they don't exclusively teach that God's riches want to be in believers' wallets, it is a key part of their doctrine. And propelled by Osteen's 4 million--selling book, Your Best Life Now, the belief has swept beyond its Pentecostal base into more buttoned-down evangelical churches, and even into congregations in the more liberal Mainline. It is taught in hundreds of non-Pentecostal Bible studies. One Pennsylvania Lutheran pastor even made it the basis for a sermon series for Lent, when Christians usually meditate on why Jesus was having His Worst Life Then.The article also includes quotes from critics, most notably Rick Warren: "This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?", Warren snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?" Meanwhile, Christianity Today spots an even sterner rebuke, from Pastor Frederick Haynes at the National Baptist Convention: Black communities are suffering, while this prosperity-pimping gospel is emotionally charging people who are watching their communities just literally dissolve. The Prosperity Gospel, also known as the "Word of Faith" or the "Faith Gospel", is perhaps the hardest segment of the Christian right to take seriously. The scandals of 1987 immediately come to mind, and controversies arising from the movement continue to this day - Matthew Ashimolowo, the pastor of one of the UK's largest megachurches, recently found himself severely criticised by the Charities Commission for his very generous remuneration and luxurious lifestyle. For an outsider, it's often very difficult to see anything beyond the ridiculous and tacky. Five years ago I visited a church in London to see Mike Murdock, one of its best-known exponents. At one point Murdock had us holding our wallets in the air to call down God's blessing onto them - a nice technique for getting them out of our pockets. He also told a remarkable story about how he was once visited by a young couple in need of financial help. They told Murdock that they had recently bought a house from an old lady, agreeing to pay her a certain sum every month until she died. Sure enough, soon after praying for a financial blessing, the old lady went to her reward! Murdock's worldview may appear crass, but the movement's concern with this-worldly results is not in itself weird as a form of religiosity - after all, traditional religions often have a strong practical component, and Japan has produced Soka Gakkai, a kind of Buddhist prosperity teaching. Prosperity preachers may appear to live lavishly - but mainstream church leaders also usually enjoy fine vestments and very comfortable circumstances, albeit in ways that most of us find more tasteful. The Time article acknowledges that in the case of TD Jakes, his ministry "has many more facets" than just prosperity, and that is probably true of many other ministers. Milmon Harrison's recent book Righteous Riches argues that among African American Christians the movement is part of a tradition which sees churches attending to material, as well as spiritual, needs. Prosperity preachers often offer financial seminars, as well as motivational speeches that apparently inspire and empower large congregations. My old university teacher Paul Gifford has looked at the movement as it appears in Africa, and contrasted the different ways that "success" becomes the focus for some African pastors. In African Christianity: Its Public Role (1998), Gifford compares Nicholas Duncan-Williams with Mensa Otabil, two prominent Ghanaian church leaders (81): Otabil's message is one of success: 'Every problem is temporary, every problem can be solved. [...] God did not create you with failure in mind, but with success.' But his is a different path to success. For Duncan-Williams success is achieved inexorably through the immutable laws of sowing and reaping. For Otabil it is reached through self-confidence, pride, determination, motivation, discipline, application, courage - and by skills and techniques that Otabil sets out to teach. Gifford also traces a development in Otabil's political thinking (239) As late as 1992 he could write: 'The world, particularly the part called "the third world", is looking for a better economic system. All they have to do is learn God's system for the whole world to prosper.' 'God's System' here is obviously the laws of sowing and reaping that the Faith Gospel adovates. However (240-41): ...But by mid-1994, all this had changed...time and time again he stressed 'structures'...having a 'Christian president' means nothing of itself. Otabil had come to see Africa's poverty in terms of economics and politics, rather than as the result of spiritual forces. In an earlier book (Christianity and Politics in Doe's Liberia, 1993), Gifford outlined the political context for Prosperity teaching (185-186: The media have shown Americans the incredible deprivation of so much of the world. There are many, including some influential Christians, who claim that there is something wrong with the world's economic system and call for some radical restructuring. The gospel of prosperity meets this challenge. No one need feel guilty about wealth. Gifford discussed a Prosperity seminar given in Harare by the US evangelist Kenneth Copeland (186-7): Socio-economic analysis meant nothing to him...Political systems, asserted Copeland, do not matter; God's laws of prosperity 'work under any system of government'. Copeland expressly stated, 'I do not have any political views...' Summarizing the ramifications of his teachings: ...Sickness, poverty, hunger were not political issues - according to this gospel, there were no political issues. Hunger and poverty had nothing to do with mismanagement, corruption and the incompetence of the government. Lack of money was not an issue, because a Christian should live beyond his means...Unbelievers would naturally be in want; God can bless only what belongs to him. Gifford also complained about the effect of affluent white preachers like Copeland flaunting their wealth in situations of dire African poverty. Meanwhile, Prosperity is apparently making inroads in a most unlikely location: in 2003 it was reported that the Swedish Prosperity preacher Ulf Ekman was assisting with the establishment of an underground church in Kabul.
Prosperity Gospel: Pastor Decries "Prosperity-Pimping" | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 hidden)
Prosperity Gospel: Pastor Decries "Prosperity-Pimping" | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 hidden)
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Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series
on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)
Religious Right is Ecstatic about Palin --UPDATED
Sara Palin, as Chip Berlet writes below was a predictable choice for John McCain, at least in so far as a Religious Right candidate...... By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
McCain VP Pick Shores Up Christian Right Base
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New Courses Charted for Fundamentalist's Conventions
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Going to War for God
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Short Takes
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Book Review: The Apocalypse Directive
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Saving Monsignor Ryan
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Constitution Party Leader as Crackpot Propagandist
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Swedish Cowboy Church Accused of Abusive Practices
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When Wagner's Prophecy Fails
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Removal of Petraeus Endorsement from "Spiritual Handbook" Not Enough
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Short Takes
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Richard Land Picks Republican Veep Candidate
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"Yes on 8" RSVP? Need your advice.
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Alabama PSC Cantidate Matt Chancey: His Views on Suffrage, Women, Marriage, etc.
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Jews and Christians Unite against the Empire of Neo-cons and 'Christian' Zionists
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Patriot Follows the Money and Exposes Foreign Agents
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The Alleged "Church of Liberalism"
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Hope Never Dies for Extremists
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Catholic religious right wing: Legion of Christ
Frank L. Cocozzelli's weekly series of posts on "The Catholic Right" (listed here) includes quite a few posts about Opus Dei. There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in...... By Diane Vera (3 comments)
Prosyletization in Iraq: A threat to national security
As amazing as it sounds, dominionists may in fact be fomenting terrorism--not just the domestic terrorism like bombings of women's clinics we normally associate, but the very "Islamist terror bombings" that the GOP loves...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Proselytization in Iraq: A minor history
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Source of "Bible coins" distributed by USMC in Iraq discovered
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What Does the Religious Right Fear the Most?
A poll that one of the giants on the right, Coral Ridge Ministries, sent to their members gives a revealing insight into their world view. ...... By John McKay (3 comments)
UK Abortion Limit Stays at 24 Weeks Despite Washington Think Tank's Tactics
IN GOD'S NAME is a revealing documentary about how the Alliance Defense Fund is using its tactics to try to restrict abortion in Europe as well as in America. Watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
'Christians United For Israel' Joyfully Sing of Israel's Invasion and Destruction
An open letter, from Ray McGovern, a 27-year intelligence analyst with the CIA, to Admiral William J. Fallon, warns of an impending US attack on Iran. If such an event occurred, the resulting war...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
The Petrification of John McCain
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More Biblical Precedent for Allowing Abortion
This is a follow up to my most recent diary entry. ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
John Hagee Says God Made AIDS and Bird Flu But Lord will Protect Him Personally
John Hagee claims 1) that he knows with absolute certainty the will of God (as he told a BBC interviewer in 2003), is 2) sure that he, John Hagee, has a place in heaven...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal...... By TMurray (2 comments)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
The following somewhat satirical video is built around a brief excerpt from Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's 2001 55-minute film "Vanished", which followed the prophetic, premillennial plot line of Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkin's...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ...... By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought? If we could all have the opportunity to live...... By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
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Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American...... By MichaelWWilson (2 comments)
Newspaper Profiles Army of God Spokeman
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Judicial Council Chief James Holsinger and $20 million of UMC Money
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No Constitution Party home for Keyes
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Florida Christian License Plate
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The Alleged 'Atheist Delusion'
John Gray's ample Saturday Review column in the March 15th edition of London's Guardian newpaper diagnosed the current climate surrounding religion as one of `moral panic'. This is true only of the irrational fear...... By TMurray (0 comments) More Diaries... |
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