Been a while but here's a paper I wrote recently on the Prosperity Heresy.

 Prosperity Gospel: Truth or Tragedy?

            There is no question that the American Machine is controlled and advanced by consumerism. Americans are always looking for that next best gadget, trinket or toy. They have become obsessed with wealth; how to get rich, how to stay rich, what are they going to buy, where they are going to go and what are they going to do when they do get rich. People all across this land no matter the income level are always trying to “get ahead” and create that cushy nest egg to retire on, while still satisfying their “now” needs by buying stuff they do not need with money they do not have. Citizens go to jobs they hate, all for that promised dollar at the end of the week. Prayers are lifted to God saying “please let me have a good return on my taxes, I need a new floor in the game room, as well as a screen room for the summer that will never be used, as well as a big screen plasma television in the living room so the Playstation 3 will look more realistic.

Well, there is good news for those money hungry, superficial, millionaire dreamers out there! They no longer have to spend thousands of dollars on the state lottery or Powerball! They do not have to worry how they are going to pay that note for a new car or buy that new bass boat. It is true, God has promised to make every person healthy and wealthy! Not only has He promised to make people rich, it is His will that all His children are without illness and so abundantly wealthy they never have to worry again!

            At least that is what several proponents of the Prosperity Gospel are saying. Prosperity teachers are spreading the belief that because it is God’s will for a believer to be a have and not a have-not, and to be without sickness, that a believer who is the opposite of their status quo, must be living out of self and not in the will of God (Sarles 329).  Aside from Prosperity Gospel, the movement goes by many names: “Name it and Claim it,” “Health and Wealth,” “Gospel of Success,” “Positive Confession Theology,” “Blab it and Grab it,” and the “Word of Faith Movement” (Jones 80). There are numerous teachers in the movement, even a television station that seems to be ramming this view down the throat of not only America, but also exploiting third world countries by filling their heads with this false hope.

The leaders in this wave of theology are Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin Jr., and Joel Osteen (Lioy 48). Another teacher is Oral Roberts, who is known as the father of the movemen (Jones 84). These men have been vomiting this poison into the minds of desperate people as well as rich people trying to get richer for years. By the end of this paper, it will be apparent that the Prosperity Gospel movement is not just another case of confused theologians, but down right, unmistakable heresy.

Proponents of this system of theology stem from every corner of the denominational spectrum. Even though the beginnings of this line of thinking came from charismatic and/or Pentecostal bases, traces can be found in every denomination. The preachers can be hardcore prosperity, like some of the preachers on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, to a more subtle style and view with speakers like Robert Schuller (Sarles 330). Now that there is a background to the major players in the Health and Wealth Gospel, the rest of this dissertation will explain and combat the views of The Prosperity Gospel with a fury and a passion that one can only get by coming to a realization as to why there is so much animosity towards the men and women who teach this method.

            First, there must be an explanation as to how and why they believe what they believe. Prosperity preachers place a high emphasis on speaking commands in faith, and by claiming it for yourself. Therefore, God has no choice but to grant your requests. Preachers in the movement tell their congregations to think big and to think positive; their result will be outcomes that bless abundantly (Lioy 46). Ken Sarles said it nicely that their definition of faith is, “speaking or confessing something with the authority in the full expectation that what is spoken will happen.” (Sarles 332) Kenneth Copeland in his book “The Laws of Prosperity” states that, “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.” (Jones 84)This totally goes against Biblical faith. Instead of faith being the means of salvation, faith turns into a conduit from which you get material objects from God, hence the moniker “Name it and Claim it” (Jones 84).

            This view of faith translates into their stance on healings as well. If someone is sick, all that has to be done is rebuke the illness and claim that it will be gone. As long as the person is in the will of God, the person will be healed. It is taught that healing comes by way of faith. Just believe you will get better and own that God’s will is for you to be healed and you will be (Sarles 331,332). It is then understood that if healing doesn’t happen then you are of the “yea of little faith” group. Prosperity preachers use 3 John 2 that says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (Holman Christian Standard Bible). This is used to encourage that God wants all his children to be free of illness. The problem with this “proof” is context. This kind of statement was more of a salutation and blessing instead of a command from God to be healthy (Sarles 338).

            Next is their promise of wealth. They operate upon two views to prove God wills the believer to have monetary abundance. The first outlook is the “Law of Compensation” (Sarles 341). To give substantiation to this law, Prosperity Preachers turn to Mark 10.30 “Who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions- and eternal life in the age to come” (Holman Christian Standard Bible). They claim that the more you give to their ministry the more you will receive. They use the “what you sow you will reap” methodology. The problem with this approach is that giving turns from joyful heart giving and for God to use for His glory, to a selfish, I scratch your back you scratch mine giving (Jones 83).

            The final reason a prosperity based message is given is, the Abrahamic Covenant. They place themselves into the nation of Israel and hold that they may be partakers of the covenant. Prosperity preachers use Galatians 3.14 to show they are now allowed to revel in the privileges of the covenant. As they did with Mark 10.30 they only read half of the verse. Galatians 3.14 says, “The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Prosperities stop after Christ Jesus. If they were to finish the verse they would see that the verse is dealing with salvation. Not the accumulation of wealth. Claiming the Abrahamic Covenant is a staple to the Prosperity theology, without it their system crumbles (Jones 81). If two and two were put together here, we would see that they confuse the Abrahamic Covenant as one that is not unconditional. Because Prosperities believe that the gathering of abundance is a faith based task, it would be safe to assume they believe that they can enjoy the benefits of the covenant on a faith system. The problem is when it comes to the Abrahamic covenant God said “I WILL” not I will if you will. God made a declarative absolute. The nation of Israel had to do nothing to fulfill the covenant; God was going to do it all and therefore cannot be conditional (Sarles 346-347)

            There is also something to be said that Jesus did not have any of the characteristics a “faithful and obedient” Christian should have. Christ was born in a barn and was raised in a poor home. In Matthew 8.20 Christ says he has nowhere to lay His head. When he died he had no property or possessions to be divvied up. Sarles states, “Yet even in view of these circumstances, no one would dare suggest that God the Son was out of harmony with God the Father” (Sarles 341). There are too many hole and inconsistencies in this “gospel” to hold any merit and withstand any scrutiny.

            If all the wayward side paths were a faulty hermeneutic and could be dealt with that would be okay. However, while most of the inaccuracies can be dealt with by having a basic dispensational understanding of Scripture, the issue that arises that cannot be tolerated is the cheapening of the Gospel and the blatant about-face on the sacrifice and atonement of Christ. When this happens, things can get ugly and fellowship must be broken. The adherents to this blasphemous doctrine pervert the cross. Instead of seeing the cross as it is, Christ shedding His blood to pay for the world’s sins. Taking on the world’s shame and guilt, and washing the dirty sinner clean unto all righteousness and restoring the broken relationship with God that sin has caused, and doing what the individual could not do for himself; they throw out what it meant and come up with their own meaning. These dissenters begin in Deuteronomy 28, which is explaining the curse of sickness, poverty, and death. They continue through the Bible, rip the cross out and movie it over to Galatians 3.13; which says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, cursed is anyone who is hung on a tree” (Holman Christian Standard Bible) (Walter C. Kaiser 165). They claim that Galatians 3.13 proves that Christ’s death breaks us from the curse of sickness, poverty, and death. They do not see the eternal, just the material. To back up their claim, they have the gall to go to Isaiah 53.5 and say that, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, punishment for our peace is on Him, and we are healed by His wounds” (Holman Christian Standard Bible) means; because he died we do not have to be sick. To say that Christ died for any other reason than to make right what we couldn’t, is heretical. It completely goes against Scripture.

In closing, John Calvin said, “our salvation and reconciliation to God in Christ is more important than any present happiness” (Bucer-Beza). We were never promised that life after Christ was going to be easy. The Christian life cannot always be filled with happy times. To grow we must be broken, sometimes brokenness comes in the form of cancer, or going broke and having your vehicles repossessed at the same time as your house is being foreclosed. It is all about Christ. It all points to the cross where his blood atoned for the sins of the world. Not once did Christ ever say “follow me and everything will be roses.” Christ said, “Pick up your cross and follow me.” We have our own cross to carry, and we don’t get to haul it in a Cadillac.

Works Cited

Bucer-Beza, John Calvin with Knox. "The Real Prosperity Gospel." Christianity Today

April 2009: 58.

Holman Christian Standard Bible. Nashville: Holman Bible, 2003.

Jones, David W. "The Bankruptcy of the Prosperity Gospel: an Exercise in Biblical and

Theological Ethics." Faith and Mission (1998): 1-8.

Lioy, Dan. "The Heart of the Prosperity Gospel: Self or Savior." Conspectus (2007): 1-15.

Sarles, Ken L. "A Theological Evaluation of the Prosperity Gospel." Bibliotheca Sacra

(1986): 1-25.

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. "The Old Testament Promise of Material Blessings and the

Contemporary Believer." Trinity Journal (1988): 1-15.