I.
Where
Does the Prosperity Gospel Come From?
According
to Duke University Divinity School Professor of the History of Christianity in
North America Kate Bowler, it is possible to trace the prosperity gospel to
Bethel Bible Institute founder Essek Kenyon [1867-1948]. Bowler writes that the
Prosperity gospel sprung from the “New
Thought” movement, more specifically the teaching of Unity Church founder
Charles Fillmore [1854-1948].[1] Georgia
College and State University Associate Professor of Sociology Bradley Koch traces
its origins back further, to the “Great
Awakening” of 1730.
Southeastern
Baptist Theological Seminary Professor of Christian Ethics David Jones believes
it is possible to trace the theological origins of the Prosperity Gospel
further back still, to eighteenth century German philosopher and theologian
Friederich Schleiermacher [1768-1834].[2]
Koch
further traces the specifics of the modern gospel of prosperity to Oral Roberts
University founder Granville Roberts [1918-2009] and associates it with Kenneth
Hagin [1917-2003], a disciple of Kenyon’s, “Father”
of the Word of Faith Movement. Harvard
University Divinity School Professor of Divinity Harvey Cox writes that the
Prosperity Gospel “owed much” to the
“positive thinking” school of American
Minister Norman Peale [1898-1993].[3]
Jones
writes that Roberts is “regarded by many
to be the father of the prosperity gospel movement”. Roberts claims that
his ministry began when god miraculously led him to Verse Two of Chapter One of
the Third Book of John: “Dear Friend, I
pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as
you are spiritually”; which Roberts interpreted to mean that god wanted
believers to “prosper in all things”
and therefore as a revelation of the Prosperity Gospel. Professor Jones points
out that the word translated as “prosperity”
in the verse in question is the Greek word “eujodovw”,
meaning “to grant an expedition and
expeditious journey” and “be led
along a good road” or “to lead by a
direct and easy way”.
However,
Roberts’ miraculous revelation set the trend for future Prosperity preachers.
Koch points out that in the Prosperity theology “a preacher’s “calling” is
seen as divine and his charisma as inspired and sufficient”, as a result of
which Prosperity gospel preachers do not receive formal training.
II.
What
Does the Prosperity Gospel Say?
Professor
Koch summarizes the prosperity gospel thusly: “Adherents to the Prosperity Gospel believe that wealth is a sign of
god’s blessing and the poor are poor because of a lack of faith.”[4] American
Prosperity Gospel televangelist Robert Tilton described the theology of
prosperity thusly:
“I
believe that it is the will of god for all to prosper because I see it in the
word of god, not because it has worked mightily for someone else. I do not put
my eyes on men, but on god who gives me the power to get wealth.”[5]
“Faith;”
writes Prosperity Preacher Kenneth Copeland; “Is a spiritual force, a spiritual energy, a spiritual power. It is this
force of faith which makes the laws of the spirit world function.” “There are certain laws governing prosperity
revealed in god’s word.” He explains. “Faith
causes them to function.”[6] “True
prosperity;” Copeland writes; “Is the
ability to use God’s power to meet the needs of mankind in any realm of life.”[7]
“If
you make up your mind…that you are willing to live in divine prosperity and
abundance…divine prosperity will come to pass in your life. You have exercised
your faith.”[8]
According
to Copeland, the theological basis for the Prosperity gospel is the Abrahamic Covenant
in Chapters 12-28 of the Book of Genesis, writing “Since god’s covenant has been established and prosperity is a provision
of this covenant, you need to realize that prosperity belongs to you now.”[9] The
prophecy in question begins in Verse Seven of Chapter 12: “Then the lord appeared to Abram and said “I’m going to give this land
to your descendants”.[10]
It continues in Verses 14-16 of Chapter Thirteen:
“And
the lord said unto Abram after Lot separated himself from him, lift up now
thine eyes and look from the place where thou art towards the Aquilon [the land
of the north wind] and to the Negev [the south desert] and to the east and
west; I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your
descendants as a permanent possession. I’ll make your descendants as plentiful
as the specks of dust of the Earth, so that if one could count the specks of
dust of the Earth, then your descendants could also be counted.”
The
prophecy gets specific in Verse Eighteen of Chapter 15: “That very day the lord made this covenant with Abram: “I’m giving this
land to your descendants, from the River of Egypt to the great Euphrates River”.[11] The
prophecy get more or less specific in Verse Eight of Chapter 17: “I will give the whole land of Canaan—the
land where you are now residing—to you and your descendants after you as a
permanent possession”. The prophecy continues in Verse Seventeen of Chapter
22: “I will greatly multiply your
descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the
grains of sand on the seashore”.[12] This
particular part of the prophecy is repeated in Verse Four of Chapter 26: “I will make your descendants as numerous as
the stars in the sky and give all these lands to your descendants.”[13] This
is repeated again in Verse Fourteen of Chapter 28: “Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the Earth”.[14]
Needless
to say, this prophecy went unfulfilled, on two levels:
·
Firstly on the prophesized Jewish
population being greater than the number of stars and the number of grains of
sand, according to Hebrew University of Jerusalem Avraham Harman Institute of
Contemporary Jewry Professor of Population Studies Sergio DellaPergola, the
global Jewish population is around 14.2 million, or 1.42x10^7.[15] According
to a December 2010 article in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature by Yale University
Department of Astronomy Professor Pieter Dokkum and Harvard University
Department of Astronomy Associate Professor Charlie Conroy, the number of stars
in the observable universe is three septillion, or 3x10^24.[16]
According to University of Western Australia International Center for Radio
Astronomy Research Professor Simon Driver, the number of grains of sand on
Earth’s beaches is seven sextillion, or 7x10^21.[17]
·
Secondly, on the land possessions prophesized
in Chapter Fifteen of Genesis stretching from the Nile River to the Euphrates
River, a distance of more than two thousand kilometers [1,263 miles], the
territory promised to the Jews would encompass not only the modern borders of
what is today the nation of Israel, but would contain most if not the entirety
of what is now the modern nations of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Professor
Jones writes that the Prosperity gospel is
“built upon a faulty understanding of
the Abrahamic covenant” and that Prosperity theologians such as Copeland
hold an “incorrect view of the inception
of the Abrahamic covenant” and an “erroneous
view concerning the application of the covenant.” In his 1987 book Our Covenant With God, Copeland
summarized the inception of the Abrahamic covenant transactionally: “God
offered Abram a proposition and Abram bought it.”[18]
According
to Methodist Theological School of Ohio Dewire Professor of Christian
Leadership Lisa Withrow:
“What
makes this gospel particularly dangerous is its propensity to claim innocence
of any motive other than fulfilling god’s will for human beings… The only
reason some people remain poor is because they do not exert enough effort to
promote their own success. They are considered lazy, ineffectual or misdirected
and therefore “unblessed”.[19]
Bethlehem
College and Seminary Chancellor John Piper writes, “Prosperity preachers not only give the impression that they peddle
god’s word and make godliness a means of gain but actually develop a bogus
theology to justify their extravagant displays of wealth”.[20]
Professor
Koch concurs:
“Poverty,
far from being a blessing, is a sign of god’s disfavor; thus, Christians have a
duty to deal only with the apparent lack of faith among the poor and not their
poverty itself.”
Martin
Bucer European Theological Seminary and Research Institute Professor of
Apologetics and Modern Theology Ron Kubsch writes that the theology “thus tends to victimize the poor by making
them feel that their poverty is their own fault…while failing to address and
denounce those whose greed inflicts poverty on others”.[21] “The
logical extension of the Prosperity Gospel—sometimes explicit, sometimes not,
depending on the preacher;” Argues University of London School of Oriental
and African Studies Department of Religions and Philosophies Professor Paul
Gifford; “Is that the poor are poor
because of a lack of faith—that poverty is the fault of the poor themselves.”[22]
On
the “Success in Life” program on the
Christian-based Trinity Broadcasting Network [TBN], Tilton stated, “being poor is a sin”.[23] Copeland
agrees, writing, “Poverty is under the
curse of the law.”[24] “While emphasizing various alleged spiritual
or demonic causes of poverty;” Writes Kubsch; “Prosperity Teaching is not really about helping the poor at all and
provides no sustainable answer to the real causes of poverty”.[25]
Koch
points out the danger of the Prosperity Gospel in a nation with as great a
disparity in wealth as America: “while
income has no effect on adherence to the Prosperity Gospel, blacks, the “born
again” and “evangelical” and those who are less educated are more
likely to seek out Prosperity messages”. Indeed, Koch finds that being
“born again” is second only to being African American in terms of the highest
chances of being members of the Prosperity movement, and that “increasing levels of education have an
indirect [i.e. inverse] relationship”
with adherence to the theological tenets of the Prosperity gospel. [26] This
trend led University of California—Davis African American and African Studies
Associate Professor Milmon Harrison to write that the Prosperity Gospel “Might be seen, at least in part, as a type
of poor people’s movement”.[27] Both
Professor Gifford and Howard Elinson of the University of California—Los
Angeles argue that the Prosperity gospel resonates with those of lower class by
offering them a supplementary and supernatural “opiate” and “cathartic”
of upward mobility that is otherwise lacking.[28] “In the absence of natural opportunity”;
Koch concludes; “The Prosperity Gospel
offers a supernatural means to material advancement.” “Prosperity Teaching flourishes in contexts of terrible poverty;” Writes
Kubsch; “For many people, it represents
their only hope, in the face of constant frustration, the failure of
politicians and NGOs, for a better future, or even for a more bearable present.”[29]
Conversely,
Professor Gifford argues that the Prosperity Gospel offers an apology for
wealth and “rationalizes the preexisting wealth
of those who have been upwardly mobile” by providing an explanation and “divine justifications for their elevated
status” and affluent lifestyles as being “spiritually derived and deserved”.[30]
“Those
who are highly educated have the human, social and cultural capital to more or
less insure their upward mobility;” Koch argues; “While those with little education…must seek out other means to that
mobility.”
Alternatively,
Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion Associate Professor Robert
Woodberry argues that adherence to the Prosperity Gospel “may facilitate movement of poor people into the middle class” by
fostering changes in people’s lives, such as working harder and investing more,
that result in upward mobility, suggesting that those who are poor and feel
that it is a sign of God’s displeasure would work hard “to put themselves in God’s good graces”.[31] However,
Koch finds that adherents “are not
appreciably changing their financial behaviors”. “The changes induced by adhering to the Prosperity Gospel, such as
waiting for god to make them prosperous rather than working toward it
themselves” make upward mobility less likely, he explains, arguing that since
adherents to the Prosperity Gospel “expect
god alone to give them a prosperous life, they are less likely to be motivated
to take actions themselves that would increase their likelihood of becoming
wealthy.”
Dallas
Theological Seminary Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology and Field
Education Ken Sarles agrees, writing that the Prosperity Gospel “appeals to the poor and sick to put more
faith in the ultimate fulfillment of their desires”.[32]
III.
Is
the Prosperity Gospel Christian?
“Any
theology that views faith solely as a means to material gain;” Professor
Jones says; “Must be judged as faulty and
inadequate.” “The Prosperity Gospel;”
Jones argues; “Is constructed upon a
faulty theology. Consequently, many of its doctrines, including the…Prosperity
Gospel teachings regarding acquisition and accumulation of wealth are ethically
incorrect.” Jones concludes by saying that the Prosperity gospel is a “wholly inadequate and unbiblical view of the
relationship between god and man and the stewardship of wealth.” “The teachings of those who most vigorously
promote the Prosperity Gospel are false and gravely distorting of the bible… Their
practice is unethical and un-Christ-like;” Writes Kubsch; “It can be soberly described as a false
gospel.”[33]
In
his July 18, 1886 sermon entitled “The
Heart of the Gospels”, English Particular Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon
told what was then the largest congregation in Christendom at London’s
Metropolitan Tabernacle, the largest non-conformist church of its day, that:
“I
believe that it is anti-Christian and unholy for any Christian to live with the
object of accumulating wealth. You will say, “Are we not to strive all we can
to get all the money we can?” You may do so. I cannot doubt but what, in so
doing, you may do service to the cause of god. But what I said was that to live
with the object of accumulating wealth is anti-Christian.”[34]
On
Copeland’s “Believer’s Voice of Victory”
program on TBN, however, Word of Faith televangelist John Avanzini disagreed,
claiming that Jesus “wore designer
clothes”, “was handling big money”
and “had a nice house, a big house”.[35] The Prosperity Gospel interprets the New
Testament as portraying Jesus as a rich figure who used his wealth to finance a
costly itinerate ministry. It argues that adherents should model their lives
after Jesus by living lavishly. The theological basis for such a belief among
Prosperity Preachers is Verse Nine of Chapter Eight of the Second Book of
Corinthians: “For ye know the grace of
our lord Jesus Christ that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor that ye through his poverty might be enriched”.
Professor
Cox summarizes Hagin’s Prosperity preaching as saying that “Through
the crucifixion of Christ, Christians have inherited all the promises made to
Abraham, and these include both spiritual and material well-being,”[36],
arguing that the theological basis for this is Verse Fourteen of Chapter Three
of the Book of Galatians: “Christ paid
the price so that the blessing promised to Abram would come to all the people
of the world through Jesus Christ and we would receive the promised spirit
through faith”.[37]
Professor
Jones, however, writes that in the verse in Second Corinthians, Saint Saul the
Apostle of Tarsus was “in no way teaching
that Jesus died on the cross for the purposes of increasing anyone’s net worth
materially.” Jones argues that the Apostle was teaching the Corinthians
that they ought to “empty themselves of their riches in service”, pointing out that
five verses later, the Saint urges them to give their wealth to the needy: “Right now you have plenty and can help those
who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you
need it. In this way, things will be equal.”[38]
The
concept of giving in Prosperity theology is substantively different, driven by
what Tilton called a “Law of Compensation”.[39] Kenneth
Copeland’s wife Gloria describes the “Law of Compensation” this way: “Give ten dollars and receive a thousand
dollars; give a thousand dollars and receive a hundred thousand dollars.”[40] This,
the theology of Prosperity preaches, leads to a cycle of ever-increasing
prosperity. The theological basis for this “Law
of Compensation” is Verses 29-30 of Chapter Ten of the Book of Mark:
“I
assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or
mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the good news
will receive not in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters,
mothers, children and property”.[41]
In
other words: Christians give generously because when they do, god gives back
more in return. “Members are urged to
borrow money, take out loans or open insurance policies;” writes Pan
African Anthropological Association President Robert Akoko; “In order to give to the church; they are
told that they thus qualify for supernatural monetary blessing”.[42] Another
verse commonly cited as a biblical basis for the “Law of Compensation”, Verse Six of Chapter Nine of the Second Book
of Corinthians, states that “the person
who sows generously will also reap generously”. Professor Gifford writes
that Prosperity Preachers such as Copeland “leverage
the biblical image of sowing and reaping” to get adherents to bring their
offerings of tithes, or as Prosperity preachers proclaim them to be: “instruments of prosperity”.[43]
Professor
Jones, however, objects to this by pointing out that in Verse 35 of Chapter Six
of the Book of Luke, Jesus tells his disciples to “love your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return
and your reward shall be great and you shall be the children of the highest:
for he is kind unto the unthankful”.[44]
One
substantive difference in the concept of giving in the theology of Prosperity
is that, as University of New York Assistant Professor of Sociology Stephen
Hart writes, that the Prosperity Gospel emphasizes the “self-deterministic and voluntaristic dimension of Christian teaching”
and thus adherents give generously to their churches but little to charities.[45] Koch
found that 90% of adherents to the tenets of the theology of the Prosperity
Gospel gave to their church, while only 74% of them gave to nonreligious
charitable causes. “Since the Prosperity Gospel
ultimately blames the poor for their own plight, ignoring social constraints;”
He explains; “Nonreligious charitable
giving is largely discouraged as, at best, wasteful.”[46] Copeland
summarizes the Prosperity Theology’s lukewarm attitude toward giving to the
poor:
“You can feed a thief
all day long, but all you will have is a thief full of food. The food won’t
change him, but the word of god will transform him on the inside… I never give
to the poor without telling them about Jesus. If they are to get my material
goods, they will first have to listen to what I have to say about Jesus.”[47]
IV.
Case
Study: Kenneth Copeland: All of the Problems with the Prosperity Gospel in
Microcosm
In
many ways, the real danger of the Word of Faith Movement’s Prosperity gospel
stems from the ease with which its predatory preachers solicit money from the
poor.
An
example is Copeland. His 33-acre Kenneth Copeland Ministries complex in Fort
Worth Texas, valued at more the twelve million dollars by the Tarrant County
appraisal District, includes not only a lakeside villa for Kenneth and his Wife
Gloria, valued at more than six million dollars,[48]
but also the private Kenneth Copeland Airport for Copeland’s two private jets,
a 47 foot long Cessna S550 Citation S/II/SP and a 72 foot long Cessna 750
Citation X+, each valued at twenty million dollars. The complex also includes
Copeland’s daughter Terri Pearsons’ Eagle Mountain International Church, to
which are registered five music and book companies, according to the Texas
Secretary of State.[49]
According to United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Charles
Grassley [R-IA], Copeland’s Cessna 550 has been used for domestic travel
including hunting trips to the private LaFonda exotic game-hunting ranch in
Bracketteville, Texas; where Kenneth Copeland and his son John were
photographed posing with a pair of dead Cheetal [Spotted Axis Deer] indigenous
to Sri Lanka] and the Steamboat Springs Ski Resort in Routt County, Colorado in
December 2006. Copeland’s Cessna 750 is used for international flights,
including to Honolulu, Maui and Fiji in October 2006. Kenneth Copeland
Ministries responded by claiming that theses were “for preaching”, with Copeland telling a news report of the airplane
that “This is a preaching machine… It
will never, ever be used as long as it is in our care, for anything other than
what is becoming to [Jesus]”. Copeland claimed that the two days in Maui
were a “layover” on the way to a
seven-day evangelical seminar in Australia, after which the three days in
Honolulu were “for eating and rest”
and “allowing the pilot to rest”.[50]
“Those
with a prosperity orientation;” Koch adds in his 2009 paper; “tend to have voted for Bush in the year 2004
and identify as Republican.” He argues that the tenets of the theology of
Prosperity, “specifically its teachings
about the accumulation of material wealth and the conspicuous consumption of
that wealth” encourages adherent to support issues such as lowered taxes, “decreased governmental regulation of the
market and government economic intervention overall”. Indeed, in an October
19, 2016 Eagle Mountain Church television program, “Faith for Our Nation”, Copeland stated that Christians would
be “guilty of murder” and “guilty of an abomination to god” if they
did not vote for Republican Nominee Donald Trump in the November 8, 2016
Presidential election. Trump had named Copeland to his “Evangelical Executive Advisory Board” on June 21, 2016.[51]
The use of Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ facilities by the 2008 Presidential
campaign of Governor Michael Huckabee [R-AR] prompted Senator Grassley to Chair
a three-year-long investigation by the Committee on Finance, on which he was
the ranking member,[52]
into the tax-exempt status of religious organizations under Title 26 Subtitle
A, Chapter 1 Subchapter F, Part 1 Section 501 Subsection C, Paragraph 3 of the
Code of Laws of the United States [USC 501C3].
501C explicitly limits its exemption to any organization:
“Organized
and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific…literary or
educational purposes” and which “does
not participate in or intervene in [including the publishing or distributing of
statements] any political campaign on behalf of [or in opposition to] any
candidate for public office.”
As
documented by former Daily Show
correspondent John Oliver on HBO’s Last
Week Tonight on August 16, 2015, the dangers of predatory Prosperity
preaching go beyond wealth and into health. Oliver recounts the story of Bonnie
Parker of Winnsboro, Louisiana. According to her daughter, Kristy Beach, after
she was diagnosed with cancer Parker, a watcher every Sunday morning of Kenneth
Copeland’s “Believers’ Voice of Victory”,
donated money to Copeland that Beach says reached in to the hundreds of
thousands of dollars. Parker also spent still more money on lottery tickets,
with the intention of giving the money to Copeland should she win.
As
Oliver explains, this is “not an
unreasonable interpretation” of Copeland’s preaching. Copeland, like many
Prosperity Preachers, specifically cites Verse One of Chapter Eleven of the
Book of Ecclesiastes: “Send your grain
across the seas and in time, profits will flow back to you”.[53]
“We
know what’s wrong with you: You’ve got cancer.” Kenneth Copeland’s wife
Gloria says in the Kenneth Copeland ministries series “Healing Faith”. “The bad news
is we don’t know what to do about it except give you some poison that will make
you sicker.”
“Now
which do you want to do: Do you want to do that or do you want to sit here on
Saturday morning, hear the word of god and let faith come into your heart and
be healed?”
According
to Parker’s diaries found by Beach, the Copeland’s words convinced her to
refuse to see a doctor. “If she went to a
doctor, it was a sin.” Beach explained to the Associated Press. “You didn’t believe enough if you did. She
just wrote “God heal me. God heal me. God heal me.” The cancer advanced
rapidly and according to her husband Alvin, Bonnie Parker died in 2004
believing she had not donated enough money to Copeland and always believing
that if she continued to donate, her health would improve.
Amy
Arden, a former member of Eagle Mountain International Church, echoed Parker’s
sentiment. “We were terrified to have any
sort of fear. And anything that wasn’t faith in god was fear.” Said Arden,
who attended Eagle Mountain Church from 1997 to 2003 and worked for three years
for Kenneth Copeland Ministries. “To get
a vaccine would have been viewed by me and my friends and my peers as an act of
fear; that you doubted god would keep you safe, you doubted god would keep you
healthy. We simply didn’t do it.” The vaccine Arden was referring to was
for measles. In 2013, 21 members of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries were diagnosed
with measles. Of the sixteen from Tarrant County, nine of them were
children—including a four-month old child—at a day care center at Eagle
Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas.
According to the church, all of the school-aged children infected were
home-schooled. The measles vaccine is recommended at 12 months of age and again
at age four to six, but of those same sixteen people, aged 4 months to 44
years, at least twelve of them—a majority of the 21 infected—were not fully
immunized and had not received all of the recommended vaccinations and the rest
had no record of being vaccinated or no documentation to verify their
vaccination history, which 98 percent of the citizens of the county do,
according to Texas State epidemiologist Russell Jones.[54]
Arden, who by 2013 lived in New York City, said that her daughter was eleven
months old and up to date on her immunization when she joined Eagle Mountain
Church in 1997, but did not get any others until after they left the church in
2003.
The
pastor of the church is Copeland’s daughter Terri Pearsons, who with her
husband George, had preached about the potential of the measles vaccine to
cause autism. “This is a sadly
misinformed religious leader.” Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Professor William Schaffner told USA
Today.[55]
On “Believers’ Voice of Victory” in
August 2010, Kenneth Copeland himself called the process of immunization “downright criminal”.[56] “I got to looking into that and some of it is
criminal.” Copeland said of having his first grandchild and being alarmed
at the number of vaccinations the child was supposed to be given. “You don’t take the word of the guy that’s
trying to give the shot about what’s good and what isn’t…. Because I’m telling
you, it’s very dangerous the things that are happening around us all the time.”[57]
V.
Why
The Theology of Prosperity is Particularly a Problem for Disparity and
Sociological Inequality in the United States Today
With
the wealthiest one tenth of all Americans holding more than three quarters of
all of the wealth in America[58]
and the wealthiest 0.1% having the net worth of the lower 90% put together
combined,[59]
the United States of America has the highest income inequity in the developed
world and ranks fourth among nations with the greatest wealth inequality,
trailing only Lebanon, Russia and Ukraine. The United States also spends more
than ten thousand dollars per capita[60]
on healthcare, more than twice the average for developed countries.[61] In spite of this, Americans are less healthy
and have a lower life expectancy than in other high-income nations.[62]
These things are not, as it turns out, as entirely unrelated as one might like
to think, since not only is there convincing evidence that income inequity
detrimentally affects human health,[63]
but there is also an ever-increasingly persuasive case to be made that
America’s economic inequalities are actually being fueled at least in part by
its exorbitant healthcare costs.[64]
Given
all of these various statistics—that the poor are poorer and the sick are
sicker in America than in any other developed country in the world, it is not
difficult for one to envision how the observed and documented predatory
behavior of Prosperity Gospel preachers such as the Copeland family, by
convincing poor people to send them money that they do not have and sick people
to refuse medical care for diseases that they do have—or that they acquired through
refusal of preventative precautions, could quite easily and understandably
exacerbate very nearly each and every aspect of inequalities in America.
VI.
Conclusion: Prosperity Theology; Faith? Or Fraud?
What
sets the preachers of the prosperity gospel apart from other gospel preachers
as particularly predatory is the immediacy of the consequences thereof.
No
one in the known written recorded history of civilization has ever been able to
in any way empirically verify the existence of any afterlife of any kind. As
such, it has never been and perhaps can never be known with any reasonable
degree of surety whether or not the promises of reward or threats of punishment
preached by most Christian clergy to their church congregations have ever been
or will ever be fulfilled. However, the Prosperity gospel sets itself apart by
promising its adherents that their faith, in the form of material monetary
“tithing”, will be rewarded within this lifetime. While it may never be
knowable whether those who devoted their lives to the church in hopes of
receiving eternal salvation in the afterlife were right or whether they were
wrong to do so, the immediacy of the promises made by Prosperity Gospel
preachers such as the Copeland’s makes the judging of the efficacy of their
message an elementary matter of empirical observation.
If,
as John Lennon imagined, there is no heaven and no hell, then it could be said
that many if not all preachers, not only of Christianity but all Abrahamic
faiths, throughout the history of those traditions had potentially, perhaps
unknowingly, been defrauding their congregants, and doing so for generation,
for hundreds if not thousands of years. But such accusations must remain
without proof—in all cases except one: The Prosperity Gospel. To say that
predatory Prosperity preachers such as Kenneth Copeland defraud those like
Bonnie Parker who donate to them by promising rewards they will never be in any
position to deliver on and never have any intention of delivering on takes no
supposition whatsoever.
[1]
Bowler, Kate. “Death, the Prosperity
Gospel and Me”, New York Times,
February 13, 2016: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/opinion/sunday/death-the-prosperity-gospel-and-me.html?_r=0
[2]
Jones, David. “The Bankruptcy of the
Prosperity gospel: An Exercise in Biblical and Theological Ethics”. Faith and Mission, Volume 16, Issue 1.
Fall 1998. Pages 79-87: http://www.southnorfolkbaptistchurch.com/images/The_Bankruptcy_of_the_Prosperity_Gospel.pdf
[3]
Cox, Harvey. Fire From Heaven: The Rise
of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the 21st
Century. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. September 30, 1994. Page 272.
[4]
Koch, Bradley. “The Prosperity Gospel and
Economic Prosperity: Race, Class, Giving and Voting”. Indiana
University—Purdue University Indianapolis Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
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