The Prosperity Gospel (Part 2)
Good day and thanks for reading about the prosperity gospel and its worldwide spread.
In the first column, you were given information on the Prosperity Gospel, its origin, a definition of the prosperity gospel and the preachers who preach this type of gospel.
So, let’s look at this gospel and look at the AI overview:
The prosperity gospel (or “word of faith” movement) is a Christian theological belief that divine, physical, and financial prosperity is guaranteed to believers through faith, positive confession, and tithing. Popularized by televangelists, it emphasizes “seed-faith” giving to unlock blessings. Critics label it as heretical for prioritizing wealth over spiritual well-being and exploiting followers.
Core Beliefs and Aspects
- Health and Wealth: The belief that God desires all believers to be rich and healthy, making suffering or poverty a sign of insufficient faith.
- Seed-Faith: A “give to get” principle, where donating money to ministries triggers financial returns
- Positive Confession/Name it and Claim it: The idea that spoken words, when filled with faith, have creative power to manifest desired outcomes, such as healing or prosperity.
- Covenant Relationship: Viewing the Bible as a contract where God promises material prosperity in exchange for faithfulness.
Common Types and Terminology
- Word of Faith Movement: Emphasizes the spoken word’s power to shape reality.
- Seed-Faith Theology: Focuses on financial giving to receive a “harvest” of wealth.
- New Apostolic Reformation: Often associated with the belief that modern-day apostles can command divine blessings.
- Neo-Pentecostal Movements: Often incorporate these beliefs into a, “health and wealth” gospel.
Benefits (According to Adherents)
- Material and Physical Blessings: Proponents believe it leads to financial success and divine health.
- Personal Empowerment: Encourages a proactive, positive, and confident mindset.
- Sense of Control: Offers a formula to, “claim” blessings and avoid misfortune through faith.
Criticisms
- Biblical Contradiction: Critics argue it focuses on greed, whereas the Bible warns against the love of money.
- Exploitation: It is often criticized for exploiting the poor, as many teachers are extremely wealthy.
- Theological Errors: It is considered a, “false gospel” by many theologians, as it misinterprets scripture and places the focus on, “using God” rather than obeying Him.
Key Figures
Prominent figures often associated with the prosperity gospel include Joel Osteen, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, and Joyce Meyer.
Upon reading both columns, various questions arise that need to be answered biblically—
Is the prosperity gospel biblical, made for man or a false gospel?
Where in the Bible is seed faith biblical?
What does the Bible say about financial prosperity?
Where in the Bible does it say that beliefs in salvation through Jesus Christ includes liberation from not only death and eternal damnation but also poverty, sickness, and other ills?
Where in the Bible does it say physical well-being and material riches are always God’s will for the faithful?
Where in the Bible does it say the teaching that faith—expressed through positive thoughts, positive declarations, and donations to the church—draws health, wealth, and happiness into believers’ lives?
Is poverty seen as a curse?
What does the Bible say about proclaiming his kingdom as being within a person.
Biblically, what does the Bible say about the poor?
Let’s tackle the questions above biblically—
Is the prosperity gospel made for man or to glorify Christ? Jesus said that he was to do the will of his father at a very early age and that we are here to glorify God and make God our first priority.
God created all things for his glory including both you and I so why make this about the individual. Remember it was Satan who brought self, arrogance and pride into the world.
Where in the Bible is seed faith biblical? Please show mein the Bible where money donated to a ministry would return to the donor sevenfold.
Do you think this has to do with tithing? Does this mean that if you give, you get something in return? I thought that the earth was the Lord’s and the fulness thereof. Malachi 3: 8-11 (NIV) says:
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
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.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
Why should we expect God to return to those who donate sevenfold? I don’t see that in scriptures, but I do see man has robbed God because he has not tithed and yet he holds his hand open for blessings. Why do we try to rob God for He is the creator of all things and we are to tithe generously and without grumbling or expecting to be reimbursed.
God does say that He will open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing so that there shall not be room enough to receive it, but we must take the first step and that is to tithe.
What does the Bible say about financial prosperity? All through the ages we have had those who have financially prospered yet they did not place money as their idol. These folks were blessed by God for they put God first in all they said and gave God the glory for blessing them. They followed the parable of the talents as written in Matthew 25:14-30 where they were entrusted with one or more talents and because they were good and faithful with those talents that Jesus put them in charge of many more talents.
We can look at David, Solomon, Jesus, Esther, Moses, Adam, Job and others in the Bible who were tested and were examples of financial prosperity. Remember Jesus received the expensive gifts from the magi and that his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea and according to https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/joseph-of-arimetha-faq-htm —Note that the information presented in this article is acquired from various sources – not strictly biblical manuscripts. The stories have been passed down through traditional documents and cannot be proved as accurate.
Joseph of Arimathea was quite an enigma! From history we learn that he was previously known as Joseph de Marmore as he lived in Marmorica in Egypt before he moved to Arimathea.1 There is speculation that Joseph of Arimathea, or Joseph of Glastonbury as he later became known, was the uncle of Mary, mother of Jesus. The relationship to Mary made him a Great Uncle of Jesus. From this, we may presume that he was an elderly man at the time of the crucifixion. We have few verifiable details about Joseph except that he was he was quite wealthy. Some claim that Joseph of Arimathea was a merchant in metals and took young Jesus with him on his business trips to England, India, and even to South America. It is a well-documented fact that Britain led the world at this time with its tin mining. Joseph of Arimathea was referred to by the Romans as ‘Nobilis Decurio’ or Minister of Mines to the Roman Government.
On a side note, when you go to the internet and read about Joseph of Arimathea and then look at his occupation, then you might put two and two together that Joseph took Jesus with him to various countries and explain the missing years in the Bible of Jesus life and that Jesus was doing his Father’s work by promoting the gospel to the world.
Where in the Bible does it say that beliefs in salvation through Jesus Christ includes liberation from not only death and eternal damnation but also poverty, sickness, and other ills?
Because we have salvation through Christ does not prohibit us from having poverty or sickness. Jesus said in Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7 and John 12:8 that we will always have the poor among us along with sickness as shown in both the Old and New Testament. When the kingdom is established here on earth and Jesus comes to reign, then both poverty and sickness will be abolished.
Turn to Isaiah 35:5-6 (NIV) Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Turn to Isaiah 65:17-20 (NIV)
“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
As for poverty, look to Isaiah 65:21-22 (NIV)
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
Isaiah 55:1 (NIV)
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
The kingdom under God’s plan will people with the luxuries of life, whether they have money or not. God’s system laziness will not encouraged nor slothfulness in business condoned.
Furthermore, the kingdom people will be unselfish and good neighbors resulting in everyone having plenty and everyone working for service instead of profit.
Where in the Bible does it say physical well-being and material riches are always God’s will for the faithful?
Physical well-being and material riches are God given—1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV) says 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Greed, self, arrogance, pride are the roots of evil for many of the faithful have wandered thinking the grass was greener on the other side.
God will test us as he did Job to grow our faith in him in both times of trouble and the good times. If we set our eyes upon him, he will never leave us nor put more on us that we cannot handle.
Where in the Bible does it say the teaching that faith—expressed through positive thoughts, positive declarations, and donations to the church—draws health, wealth, and happiness into believers’ lives?
What is faith? When looking at the dictionary, faith is complete trust or confidence in God and nothing less. Synonyms include trust, belief, confidence, conviction, credence, reliance, dependence, optimism, hope, expectation.
As a Christian, we are to glorify God and keep him first and foremost in all that we say and do as we want to be Christ-like. Faith is more than positive thoughts, positive declarations and donations to the church for faith is the means that you and I as believers have come to God and put our trust in him for salvation.
Turn to Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Two words describe faith: sure, and certain and having true wealth is asking for wisdom. As you read the entire Bible, you will grow closer to God, strengthen your faith, be thankful for his blessings and desire to follow his commandments, statutes, laws and ordinances. This will lead to the blessings that he will give to you.
Is poverty seen as a curse? No,Jesus said in three of the New Testament gospels that poor people have been and will be among us always. Jesus set the standard by preaching to the poor as seen in Luke 7:22 and that we are to share the gospel with the poor, to feed the poor, to clothe the poor and assist in any way we can for we are to help those in need. We are taught not to look down upon those who are poor, but to help those in need and ask nothing in return.
What does the Bible say about proclaiming his kingdom as being within a person. The kingdom is physical, not within a person for the Disciple’s Prayer says so—Luke 11:1-4 (KJV)
11 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Look at Matthew 24:14 (NIV) 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
If the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the world, then wouldn’t this kingdom have to be physical for all to listen and be a part of?
Yes, this will be a physical kingdom with a king or ruler, laws (statutes, judgments commandments), a throne, citizens and a land.
The above elements make the physical kingdom that Jesus will soon establish when he comes back to earth. Where will Jesus come back, turn to Zechariah 14:4 (KJV) 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Take a moment to read John 14:1-4 (KJV) in conjunction with the above verses: Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
My conclusion is that the Lord told the disciples He was going to receive them unto himself where he was at the time, which was on both the earth and at the Mount of Olives. The first resurrection is where we will be united in our new bodies to meet the Lord at the Mount of Olives where he will establish his kingdom.
Biblically, what does the Bible say about the poor? I think the subject has been explained in the pages above and does not need any further explanation.
As we conclude part 2, let’s delve into some history of the prosperity preachers in the next column and I will provide some thoughts on this gospel.
May God bless you in your endeavors and may you always Praise God from whom all blessing flow.
