Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith) is a religious belief among some Protestant Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. Prosperity theology views the Bible as a contract between God and humans: if humans have faith in God, he will deliver security and prosperity.
The doctrine emphasizes the importance of personal empowerment, proposing that it is God's will for his people to be blessed. The atonement (reconciliation with God) is interpreted to include the alleviation of sickness and poverty, which are viewed as curses to be broken by faith. This is believed to be achieved through donations of money, visualization, and positive confession.
It was during the Healing Revivals of the 1950s that prosperity theology first came to prominence in the United States, although commentators have linked the origins of its theology to the New Thought movement which began in the 19th century. The prosperity teaching later figured prominently in the Word of Faith movement and 1980s televangelism. In the 1990s and 2000s, it was adopted by influential leaders in the Pentecostal movement and charismatic movement in the United States and has spread throughout the world. Prominent leaders in the development of prosperity theology include E. W. Kenyon, Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, Robert Tilton, T. L. Osborn, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Reverend Ike, and Kenneth Hagin.
Prosperity theology has been criticized by leaders from various Christian denominations, including within the Pentecostal and charismatic movements, who maintain that it is irresponsible, promotes idolatry, and is contrary to scripture. Secular as well as some Christian observers have also criticized prosperity theology as exploitative of the poor. The practices of some preachers have attracted scandal and some have been charged with financial fraud.
History
Late 19th and early 20th-century background
According to historian Kate Bowler, the prosperity gospel was formed from the intersection of three different ideologies: Pentecostalism, New Thought, and "an American gospel of pragmatism, individualism, and upward mobility". This "American gospel" was best exemplified by Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth and Russell Conwell's famous sermon "Acres of Diamonds", in which Conwell equated poverty with sin and asserted that anyone could become rich through hard work. This gospel of wealth, however, was an expression of Muscular Christianity and understood success to be the result of personal effort rather than divine intervention.
The New Thought movement, which emerged in the 1880s, was
responsible for popularizing belief in the power of the mind to achieve
prosperity. While initially focused on achieving mental and physical
health, New Thought teachers such as Charles Fillmore made material success a major emphasis of the movement. By the 20th century, New Thought concepts had saturated American popular culture, being common features of both self-help literature and popular psychology.
E. W. Kenyon, a Baptist minister and adherent of the Higher Life movement, is credited with introducing mind-power teachings into early Pentecostalism. In the 1890s, Kenyon attended Emerson College of Oratory
where he was exposed to the New Thought movement. Kenyon later became
connected with well-known Pentecostal leaders and wrote about supernatural revelation
and positive declarations. His writing influenced leaders of the
nascent prosperity movement during the post-war American healing
revival. Kenyon and later leaders in the prosperity movement have denied
that he was influenced by the New Thought movement. Anthropologist Simon Coleman argues that there are "obvious parallels" between Kenyon's teachings and New Thought.
Kenyon taught that Christ's substitutionary atonement secured for believers a right to divine healing. This was attained through positive, faith-filled speech; the spoken word of God
allowed believers to appropriate the same spiritual power that God used
to create the world and attain the provisions promised in Christ's
death and resurrection.
Prayer was understood to be a binding, legal act. Rather than asking,
Kenyon taught believers to demand healing since they were already
legally entitled to receive it.
Kenyon's blend of evangelical
religion and mind-power beliefs—what he termed "overcoming
faith"—resonated with a small but influential segment of the Pentecostal
movement.
Pentecostals had always been committed to faith healing, and the
movement also possessed a strong belief in the power of speech (in
particular speaking in tongues and the use of the names of God, especially the name of Jesus). Kenyon's ideas would be reflected in the teachings of Pentecostal evangelists F. F. Bosworth and John G. Lake (who co-led a congregation with New Thought author Albert C. Grier prior to 1915).
Post-War Healing Revivals
While Kenyon's teachings on overcoming faith laid the groundwork for
the prosperity gospel, the first generation of Pentecostals influenced
by him and other figures, such as Bosworth, did not view faith as a
means to attain material prosperity. In fact, early Pentecostals tended
to view prosperity as a threat to a person's spiritual well-being.
By the 1940s and 1950s, however, a recognizable form of the doctrine
began to take shape within the Pentecostal movement through the
teachings of deliverance and healing evangelists. Combining prosperity teaching with revivalism and faith healing,
these evangelists taught "the laws of faith ('ask and ye shall
receive') and the laws of divine reciprocity ('give and it will be given
back unto you')".
Oral Roberts began teaching prosperity theology in 1947. He explained the laws of faith as a "blessing pact" in which God would return donations "seven fold",
promising that donors would receive back from unexpected sources the
money they donated to him. Roberts offered to return any donation that
did not lead to an equivalent unexpected payment.
In the 1970s, Roberts characterized his blessing pact teaching as the
"seed faith" doctrine: donations were a form of "seed" which would grow
in value and be returned to the donor.
Roberts began recruiting "partners", wealthy donors who received
exclusive conference invitations and ministry access in exchange for
support.
In 1953, faith healer A. A. Allen published The Secret to Scriptural Financial Success and promoted merchandise such as "miracle tent shavings" and prayer cloths anointed with "miracle oil".
In the late 1950s, Allen increasingly focused on prosperity. He taught
that faith could miraculously solve financial problems and claimed to
have had a miraculous experience in which God supernaturally changed
one-dollar bills into twenty-dollar bills to allow him to pay his debts. Allen taught the "word of faith" or the power to speak something into being.
In the 1960s, prosperity became a primary focus in healing revivals. T. L. Osborn began emphasizing prosperity in the 1960s and became known for his often ostentatious displays of personal wealth. During that decade, Roberts and William Branham
criticized other prosperity ministries, arguing that their fund-raising
tactics unfairly pressured attendees. These tactics were prompted in
part by the expense of developing nationwide radio networks and campaign
schedules. At the same time, leaders of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God denomination often criticized the focus on prosperity taken by independent healing evangelists.
Televangelism
TBN World Headquarters in Costa Mesa, California
During the 1960s, prosperity gospel teachers embraced televangelism and came to dominate religious programming in the United States. Oral Roberts was among the first, developing a syndicated weekly program that became the most watched religious show in the United States. By 1968, television had supplanted the tent meeting in his ministry.
Reverend Ike,
a pastor from New York City, began preaching about prosperity in the
late 1960s. He soon had widely aired radio and television programs and
became distinguished for his flashy style. His openness about love for
material possessions and teachings about the "Science of the Mind" led
many evangelists to distance themselves from him.
In the 1980s, public attention in the United States was drawn to
prosperity theology through the influence of prominent televangelists
such as Jim Bakker. Bakker's influence waned, however, after he was implicated in a high-profile scandal. In the aftermath, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) emerged as the dominant force in prosperity televangelism, having brought Robert Tilton and Benny Hinn to prominence.
Word of Faith
Although nearly all of the healing evangelists of the 1940s and 1950s
taught that faith could bring financial rewards, a new
prosperity-oriented teaching developed in the 1970s that differed from
the one taught by Pentecostal evangelists of the 1950s. This "Positive
Confession" or "Word of Faith" movement taught that a Christian with
faith can speak into existence anything consistent with the will of God.
Kenneth Hagin
was credited with a key role in the expansion of prosperity theology.
He founded the RHEMA Bible Training Center in 1974, and over the next 20
years, the school trained more than 10,000 students in his theology.
As is true of other prosperity movements, there is no theological
governing body for the Word of Faith movement, and well-known ministries
differ on some theological issues, though many ministries are unofficially linked. The teachings of Kenneth Hagin have been described by Candy Gunther Brown of Indiana University as the most "orthodox" form of Word of Faith prosperity teaching.
International growth
By the late 2000s, proponents claimed that tens of millions of Christians had accepted prosperity theology. The Neo-Pentecostal movement has been characterized in part by an emphasis on prosperity theology, which gained greater acceptance within charismatic Christianity during the late 1990s. In the 2000s, churches teaching prosperity theology saw significant growth in the Third World. According to Philip Jenkins of Pennsylvania State University,
poor citizens of impoverished countries often find the doctrine
appealing because of their economic powerlessness and the doctrine's
emphasis on miracles. One region seeing explosive growth is Western Africa, particularly Nigeria. In the Philippines, the El Shaddai movement, part of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, has spread prosperity theology outside Protestant Christianity. One South Korean prosperity church, Yoido Full Gospel Church, gained attention in the 1990s by claiming to be the world's largest congregation.
A 2006 poll by Time reported that 17% of Christians in America said they identified with the movement. By the 2000s, adherents of prosperity theology in the United States were most common in the Sun Belt. By 2006, three of the four largest congregations in the United States were teaching prosperity theology, and Joel Osteen
has been credited with spreading it outside of the Pentecostal and
Charismatic movement through his books, which have sold over 4 million
copies. Bruce Wilkinson's The Prayer of Jabez also sold millions of copies and invited readers to seek prosperity.
Recent history
In 2005, Matthew Ashimolowo, the founder of the largely African Kingsway International Christian Centre in southern England, which preaches a "health and wealth" gospel and collects regular tithes, was ordered by the Charity Commission
to repay money he had appropriated for his personal use. In 2017, the
organisation was under criminal investigation after a leading member was
found by a court in 2015 to have operated a Ponzi scheme between 2007 and 2011, losing or spending £8 million of investors' money.
In 2007, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley opened a probe into the finances of six televangelism ministries that promoted prosperity theology: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Creflo Dollar Ministries, Benny Hinn Ministries, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries, Joyce Meyer Ministries, and Paula White Ministries.
In January 2011, Grassley concluded his investigation stating that he
believed self-regulation by religious organizations was preferable to
government action. Only the ministries led by Meyer and Hinn cooperated with Grassley's investigation.
The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States featured prayers from two preachers known for advocating prosperity theology. Paula White, one of Trump's spiritual advisers, gave the invocation.
Theology
Proponents of prosperity theology often cite the parable of the talents (here depicted in a 1712 woodcut)
Prosperity theology teaches that Christians are entitled to
well-being and, because physical and spiritual realities are seen as one
inseparable reality, interprets well-being as physical health and
economic prosperity. Teachers of the doctrine focus on personal empowerment, promoting a positive view of the spirit and body. They maintain that Christians have been given power over creation because they are made in the image of God and teach that positive confession allows Christians to exercise dominion over their souls and material objects around them. Leaders of the movement view the atonement as providing for the alleviation of sickness, poverty, and spiritual corruption; poverty and illness are cast as curses which can be broken by faith and righteous actions. There are, however, some prosperity churches which seek a more moderate or reformed paradigm of prosperity. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of a Methodist mega-church, supports a theology of abundant life, teaching prosperity for the whole human being, which he sees as a path to combating poverty.
Wealth is interpreted in prosperity theology as a blessing from
God, obtained through a spiritual law of positive confession,
visualization, and donations. Believers may see this process in almost mechanical terms; Kenneth Copeland, an American author and televangelist, argues that prosperity is governed by laws, while other teachers portray the process formulaically. Journalists David van Biema and Jeff Chu of Time have described Word of Faith pastor Creflo Dollar's teachings about prosperity as an inviolable contract between God and humanity.
The prosperity theology teaching of positive confession stems
from its proponents' view of scripture. The Bible is seen as a faith
contract between God and believers; God is understood to be faithful and
just, so believers must fulfill their end of the contract to receive
God's promises. This leads to a belief in positive confession: the
doctrine that believers may claim whatever they desire from God, simply
by speaking it. Prosperity theology teaches that the Bible has promised
prosperity for believers, so positive confession means that believers
are speaking in faith what God has already spoken about them. Positive
confession is practiced to bring about what is already believed-in;
faith itself is a confession, and speaking it brings it into reality.
The teaching often depends on non-traditional interpretations of Bible verses, the Book of Malachi often being given special attention. While Christians have generally celebrated Malachi for its passages about the Messiah, teachers of prosperity theology usually draw attention to its descriptions of physical wealth. Frequently quoted verses include:
- Malachi 3:10: "'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.'" (KJV)
- Matthew 25:14–30: the Parable of the talents
- John 10:10: "'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'" (KJV)
- Philippians 4:19: "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (KJV)
- 3 John 1:2: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (KJV)
Prosperity theology casts itself as the reclamation of true doctrine and thus part of a path to Christian dominion over secular society. It contends that God's promises of prosperity and victory to Israel in the Old Testament apply to New-Covenant Christians today, and that faith and holy actions release this prosperity. C. Peter Wagner, a leader of the New Apostolic Reformation, has argued that if Christians take dominion over aspects of society, the Earth will experience "peace and prosperity". Some Latin Americans who have embraced prosperity theology argue that Christianity has historically placed an unnecessary focus on suffering. They often view this as a Roman Catholic doctrine that should be discarded and replaced with an emphasis on prosperity.
Prosperity-theology advocates also argue that biblical promises of
blessings awaiting the poor have been unnecessarily spiritualized, and
should be understood literally.
Practices
Prosperity
churches place a strong emphasis on the importance of giving. Some
services include a teaching-time focused on giving and prosperity,
including Biblical references to tithing;
and then a sermon on another topic which follows the offering.
Prosperity-church leaders often claim that a specific blessing can be
exchanged for the money being donated to their ministry; some have been
reported to instruct worshipers to hold their donations above their
heads during the prayer.
Congregants in prosperity churches are encouraged to speak
positive statements about aspects of their lives that they wish to see
improved. These statements, known as "positive confessions" (distinct
from confessions of sin), are said to miraculously change aspects of
people's lives if spoken with faith. Prosperity churches also encourage people to "live without limits" and to cultivate optimism about their lives. T. D. Jakes, pastor of The Potter's House
non-denominational mega-church, has argued in favor of prosperity,
rejecting what he sees as the demonization of success. He views poverty
as a barrier to living a Christian life, suggesting that it is easier to
make a positive impact on society when one is affluent.
While some prosperity churches have a reputation for manipulating and alienating the poor,
many are involved in social programs. Underlying these programs is a
theology of empowerment and human flourishing with the goal of releasing
people from a "welfare" or "victim" mentality.
Many prosperity churches hold seminars on financial responsibility.
Kate Bowler, an academic who studies prosperity theology, has criticized
such seminars, arguing that though they contain some sound advice, the
seminars often emphasize the purchase of expensive possessions. Hanna Rosin of The Atlantic argues that prosperity theology contributed to the housing bubble that caused the late-2000s financial crisis.
She maintains that prosperity churches heavily emphasized home
ownership based on reliance on divine financial intervention that led to
unwise choices based on actual financial ability.
Most churches in the prosperity movement are non-denominational and independent, though some groups have formed networks. Prosperity churches typically reject presbyterian polity (or governance) and the idea that a pastor should be accountable to elders; it is common for pastors of prosperity churches to be the highest organizational authority-figure. Critics, including Sarah Posner and Joe Conason, maintain that prosperity teachers cultivate authoritarian organizations. They argue that leaders attempt to control the lives of adherents by claiming divinely-bestowed authority. Jenkins contends that prosperity theology is used as a tool to justify the high salaries of pastors.
Reception
Socioeconomic analysis
In the United States, the movement has drawn many followers from the middle class and is most popular in commuter towns and urban areas. In Exporting the American Gospel: Global Christian Fundamentalism Steve Brouwer, Paul Gifford, and Susan Rose speculate that the movement was fueled by a prevailing disdain for social liberalism in the United States that began in the 1970s.
Rosin argues that prosperity theology emerged because of broader
trends, particularly American economic optimism in the 1950s and 1990s.
Tony Lin of the University of Virginia has also compared the teaching to manifest destiny, the 19th-century belief that the United States was entitled to the West. Marvin Harris argues that the doctrine's focus on the material world is a symptom of the secularization of American religion. He sees it as an attempt to fulfill the American Dream by using supernatural power.
Hillsong Church in Sydney
Prosperity theology has become popular among poor Americans, particularly those who seek personal and social advancement. It has seen significant growth in black and Hispanic churches and is particularly popular among immigrants. Apologists for the movement note its ethnic diversity and argue that it encompasses a variety of views.
Joel Robbins of Cambridge University notes that most anthropologists
attribute the theology's appeal to the poor—especially in the Global South—to
the fact that it promises security and helps explain capitalism. Simon
Coleman developed a theory based on the doctrine's rhetoric and the
feeling of belonging it gave parishioners. In a study of the Swedish Word of Life
Church, he noted that members felt part of a complex gift-exchange
system, giving to God and then awaiting a gift in return (either from
God directly or through another church member). Hillsong Church, the largest congregation in Australia, teaches a form of prosperity theology that emphasizes personal success. Marion Maddox has argued that this message has drawn a significant number of upwardly mobile Australians. Scott Morrison, who became the 30th Prime Minister of Australia in August 2018, is a member of Horizon Church, a Pentecostal church that believes in prosperity theology.
In a 1998 interview in Christianity Today, Bong Rin Ro of the Asia Graduate School of Theology
suggested that the growth in popularity of prosperity theology in South
Korea reflects a strong "shamanistic influence". Bong pointed to
parallels between the tradition of paying shamans
for healing and the prosperity theology's contractual doctrine about
giving and blessings. Asia's economic problems, he argued, encouraged
the growth of the doctrine in South Korea, though he claims it ignores
the poor and needy. During the interview, he stated that he saw the
problem beginning to be reversed, citing calls for renewed faith and
other practices. Cho Yong-gi, pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church
in Seoul, has been criticized for shamanising Christianity. This
criticism has focused on his healing and exorcism ministries and his
promise of material blessings. Malaysian Christian writer Hwa Yung has
defended Cho's healing and exorcism ministries, arguing that he
successfully contextualized the Gospel in a culture where shamanism was
still prevalent. However, Hwa criticizes Cho's teaching of earthly
blessings for not reflecting a trust in God's daily provision and for
their heavy focus on earthly wealth.
Comparisons with other movements
Historian Carter Lindberg of Boston University has drawn parallels between contemporary prosperity theology and the medieval indulgence trade. Comparisons have also been made to Calvinism, but John T. McNeill disputes the widespread semi-Weberian idea that Calvinism promoted the idea of prosperity as a marker of the elect.
Coleman notes that several pre–20th century Christian movements in the
United States taught that a holy lifestyle was a path to prosperity and
that God-ordained hard work would bring blessing.
Coleman has speculated that modern-day prosperity theology borrows heavily from the New Thought movement, though he admits that the connection is sometimes unclear. Jenkins notes that critics draw a parallel between prosperity theology and the cargo cult phenomenon.
While citing the popularity of prosperity theology in agrarian African
communities, he argues that it can also bear similarities to traditional African religious rituals. J. Matthew Wilson of Southern Methodist University compares the movement to Black theology
owing to its focus on uplifting oppressed groups, though he notes that
it differs in its concentration on individual success rather than
corporate political change.
Observers have proposed that some doctrines and beliefs found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) are reminiscent of prosperity theology,
such as a similar interpretation of Malachi 3:10 found among LDS
members as among Protestant prosperity theology and LDS lesson manuals
teaching a "prosperity cycle" that shows material wealth follows from
obedience to God.
Criticism
Mainstream evangelicalism has consistently opposed prosperity theology as heresy
and prosperity ministries have frequently come into conflict with other
Christian groups, including those within the Pentecostal and
Charismatic movements. Critics, such as Evangelical pastor Michael Catt, have argued that prosperity theology has little in common with traditional Christian theology. Prominent evangelical leaders, such as Rick Warren, Ben Witherington III, and Jerry Falwell, have harshly criticized the movement, sometimes denouncing it as heretical. Warren proposes that prosperity theology promotes the idolatry of money, and others argue that Jesus' teachings indicate a disdain for material wealth. In Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, R. Kent Hughes
notes that some 1st-century rabbis portrayed material blessings as a
sign of God's favor. He cites Jesus' statement in Mark 10:25 that "It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God" (KJV) as evidence to oppose such
thinking.
Other critics of the movement assail promises made by its
leaders, arguing that the broad freedom from problems they promise is
irresponsible. Televangelists are often criticized for abusing the faith of their listeners by enriching themselves through large donations. Prosperity theology has been opposed for not adequately explaining the poverty of the Apostles. For instance, some theologians believe that the life and writings of Paul the Apostle,
who is believed to have experienced significant suffering during his
ministry, are particularly in conflict with prosperity theology. Cathleen Falsani, religion writer in an opinion piece in The Washington Post,
points to the conflict with basic Christian teachings "Jesus was born
poor, and he died poor. During his earthly tenure, he spoke time and
again about the importance of spiritual wealth and health. When he
talked about material wealth, it was usually part of a cautionary tale."
In their book Health, Wealth and Happiness, theologians David Jones and Russell Woodbridge characterize the doctrine as poor theology. They suggest that righteousness cannot be earned and that the Bible does not promise an easy life.
They argue that it is inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus and propose
that the central message of the gospel should be Jesus' life, death,
and resurrection.
Jones and Woodbridge see Jesus' importance as vital, criticizing the
prosperity gospel for marginalizing him in favor of a focus on human
need. In another article, Jones criticizes the prosperity theology interpretation of the Abrahamic covenant,
God's promise to bless Abraham's descendants, arguing that this
blessing is spiritual and should already apply to all Christians. He
also argues that the proponents of the doctrine misconstrue the
atonement, criticizing their teaching that Jesus' death took away
poverty as well as sin. He believes that this teaching is drawn from a
misunderstanding of Jesus' life and criticizes John Avanzini's teaching that Jesus was wealthy as a misrepresentation, noting that Paul often taught Christians to give up their material possessions. Although he accepts giving as "praiseworthy", he questions the motives of prosperity theology and criticizes the "Law of Compensation",
which teaches that when Christians give generously, God will give back
more in return. Rather, Jones cites Jesus' teaching to "give, hoping for
nothing in return".
Jones and Woodbridge also note that Jesus instructed followers to focus
on spiritual rewards, citing his command in Matthew 6:19–20 "Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth ... But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven" (KJV).
Jones criticizes the doctrine's view of faith: he does not believe that
it should be used as a spiritual force for material gain but seen as
selfless acceptance of God.
In 1980, the General Council of the Assemblies of God criticized the doctrine of positive confession,
noting examples of negative confessions in the Bible (where Biblical
figures express fears and doubts) that had positive results and
contrasting these examples with the focus on positive confessions taught
by prosperity theology. The Council argues that the biblical Greek
word often translated as "confess" literally translates as "to speak
the same thing", and refers to both positive and negative confessions.
The statement also criticizes the doctrine for failing to recognize the
will of God: God's will should have precedence over the will of man, including their desires for wealth, and Christians should "recognize the sovereignty of God".
The statement further criticizes prosperity theology for overlooking
the importance of prayer, arguing that prayer should be used for all
requests, not simply positive confession. The Council noted that Christians should expect suffering in this life.
They urge readers to apply practical tests to positive confession,
arguing that the doctrine appeals to those who are already in affluent
societies but that many Christians in other societies are impoverished
or imprisoned.
Finally, the paper criticizes the distinction made by advocates of
prosperity theology in the two Greek words that mean "speaking", arguing
that the distinction is false and that they are used interchangeably in
the Greek text.
The Council accused prosperity theology of taking passages out of
context to fulfill its own needs, with the result that doctrine of
positive confession is contradictory to the holistic message of the Bible.
In April 2015, LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks
stated that people who believe in "the theology of prosperity" are
deceived by riches. He continued by saying that the "possession of
wealth or significant income is not a mark of heavenly favor, and their
absence is not evidence of heavenly disfavor". He also cited how Jesus
differentiated the attitudes towards money held by the young rich man in
Mark 10:17–24, the good Samaritan, and Judas Iscariot in his betrayal.
Oaks concluded this portion of his sermon by highlighting that the "root
of all evil is not money but the love of money".
However, Mormonism has a tradition of entrepreneurship and unlike
adherents of most mainline Protestant denominations, have very little
ambivalence about the acquisition of wealth. A Harper's Magazine article asserted that Mormon beliefs were like the prosperity gospel and Protestant work ethic "on steroids."
In 2015, well known pastor and prosperity gospel advocate Creflo
Dollar launched a fundraising campaign to replace a previous private jet
with a $65 million Gulfstream G650. On the August 16, 2015 episode of his HBO weekly series Last Week Tonight, John Oliver satirized prosperity theology by announcing that he had established his own tax-exempt church, called Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.
In a lengthy segment, Oliver focused on what he characterized as the
predatory conduct of televangelists who appeal for repeated gifts from
people in financial distress or personal crises, and he criticized the
very loose requirements for entities to obtain tax exempt status as
churches under U.S. tax law. Oliver said that he would ultimately donate
any money collected by the church to Doctors Without Borders.
In July 2018, Antonio Spadaro and Marcelo Figueroa, in the Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, examined the origins of the prosperity gospel in the United States and described it as a reductive version of the American Dream which had offered opportunities of success and prosperity unreachable in the Old World. The authors distinguished the prosperity gospel from Max Weber's Protestant ethic,
noting that the Protestant ethic related prosperity to religiously
inspired austerity while the prosperity gospel saw prosperity as the
simple result of personal faith. They criticized many aspects of the
prosperity gospel, noting particularly the tendency of believers to lack
compassion for the poor, since their poverty was seen as a sign that
they had not followed the rules and therefore are not loved by God.
In 2019, the documentary American Gospel: Christ Alone
presented a number of critical analyses of the prosperity gospel while
following the stories of individuals whose lives had intersected with
prosperity teachings, including Costi Hinn, nephew of Benny Hinn.
Notable works advocating prosperity theology
Notable works that advocate prosperity theology include:
- Hill, Edward (2019). Prosperous Christian: 10 Commandments of Godly Prosperity. Pensacola: Best Seller Publishing. ISBN 978-1-949535-38-9.
- Lindsay, Gordon (1960). God's Master Key to Prosperity. Dallas: Christ for the Nations Institute. ISBN 978-0-89985-001-6.
- Osteen, Joel (2004). Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential. New York: FaithWords. ISBN 978-0-446-53275-4.
- Roberts, Oral; Montgomery, G. H. (1966). God's Formula for Success and Prosperity. Tulsa: Abundant Life Publication. OCLC 4654539.
- Wilkinson, Bruce; Kopp, David (2000). The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books. ISBN 978-1-57673-733-0.
- Ziglar, Zig (1975). See You at the Top. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub. Co. ISBN 0-88289-126-X.
- Ziglar, Zig (2006). Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can't Wait to Live. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7852-8919-7.
- Ziglar, Zig; Ziglar, Tom (2012). Born to Win: Find Your Success Code. Dallas: SUCCESS Media. ISBN 9780983156512.
