How do those who subscribe to the so-called “prosperity gospel” square their notions with Jesus’ talk about camels and needles and stuff like that?
They prefer this verse:
Simple. Doesn’t apply to them.
New Living Translation version.
A wee bit different.
They’re still trying to grapple with the problem of evil: why do bad things happen to good people?
This form of denial tries to square this with reality by holding that good things happen to good people. It’s an echo of the doctrine of the “Visible Elect.” You know that healthy guy with a big house is blessed by God…because he’s healthy and has a big house.
The truth is that bad things happen to good people and to bad people just about equally. Prayer doesn’t “work,” it doesn’t have concrete real-world benefits. The kinds of believers who suffer from “magical thinking” can’t accept that, and work very hard to claim that faith does have real effects.
A guy’s house was spared in the hurricane or fire: “God was looking out for me.” But why did God not look out for his neighbor?
(If Satan were really in charge of this corrupt world, non-believers should have lots and lots of visible advantages, specifically to deceive believers!)
From my experience with a preacher who taught the prosperity gospel, the idea is that for The Church to be able to Do God’s Work in the Real World, you have to have money, which is not intrinsically evil. How does The Church get money? From donations by those who attend of course. Thus, go out and be Prosperous, make lots of money and you only have to tithe as much as you want to (but to honor the old testament covenant 10% pre-tax is recommended of course)
This preacher had a bunch of scripture* he used to support this, and it amounted to “God doesn’t want you to be poor, He knows how the world works, he set it up, He just doesn’t want you to be selfish or stingy with the money He ‘gives’ you”
*I don’t remember what verses he used, this was the preacher who kicked me out of his church years ago
They follow the old TV trope notion of, when all else fails, retcon.
More here:
Cognitive dissonance can be very liberating.
In my opinion, for whatever that’s worth, they don’t. Bother to square their preaching with the Gospels, that is. They know full well it can’t be done. And I say this as a practicing, churchgoing Christian (specifically, Catholic).
I believe that most, if not all, of the prosperity gospel preachers are sociopaths who don’t believe a word they’re saying. They’ve discovered that they have something of a talent for oratory, and have found a way to convince large number of people to part with their money. Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, the whole pack of them, they’re just scammers.
There’s something to what Trinopus said above, about the elect being favored by God here on this earth. That’s pretty Calvinist (and my church rejects the idea entirely), but it has nothing to do with the prosperity gospel in its modern form.
True. That’s why they don’t use that version.
Simple: All of those verses are there, in the text, and completely true, but the meaning you ascribe to them is utter interpretation, and therefore not true, which means Jesus meant something compatible with Prosperity Gospel by those parables, and if you were to read the text truly, literally, and prayerfully, you, too, would see the light and give Joel Osteen a lot of money.
Remember: Interpretation is what the Enemy does. We read things literally.
I can only tell you what I think my parents believe.
God doesn’t want us to be poor. There is no virtue in poverty. There is virtue in having a humble spirit. So you can have your nice things. Just don’t brag about having them. Don’t lord them over others or be boastful about them. And be generous with them.
I also think my parents believe that the moral of the Parable of the Talents is that we are obligated to get the most out of what has been invested in us. It is wrong to be satisfied with the bare minimum. If God has given you great intelligence, then it is a shame for you to not put it to good use–like by working at a “good” job where you can get a “good” salary. Because by seeking these “good” things, you allow yourself to be a testimony to God’s blessings. And you can also help other people. But if you waste your gifts by living a marginal life doing marginal things, you’re like that lazy and/or overly cautious guy in the parable who doesn’t make any money for his master. I think many Christians believe that God didn’t put us here just for us to play life on easy mode. If you play life on easy mode, you never experience strife and struggle, which means you never have to beg for help from Heavenly Father. A lot of Christians believe that kind of neediness is important for spiritual development.
Here’s a decent recent article:
The prosperity gospel, explained: Why Joel Osteen believes that prayer can make you rich
Theologians, with the creation of Satan, got that covered by a concept that wasn’t given a name until the Reagan administration: Plausible Deniability.
That’s the thing about the Bible- there’s something there for everybody (and not necessarily in a good way).
Someone is offering a theology that tells people they can be filthy, stinking rich on earth and live forever in paradise, and you wonder why people believe it?
As has already been mentioned in this thread, when trying to figure out why people believe something, it helps to think:
- What do people get out of believing it?
- What do people get out of convincing other people to believe it?
Dang, makes me wanna go out and buy a copy of The Secret. Or not.
“Jesus was a man, who travelled cross the land
A hard working man and brave
He said to the rich, “Give your money to the poor”
So they lay Jesus Christ in his grave”
-Woody Guthrie
Yeah, the predestination model says that your material wealth on earth is proof that you’re going to heaven. If you’re poor, all the more reason to work hard and try to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Also a very good reason to be respectful of your betters - they’re going to heaven, after all, and it’s still up in the air for your sad sack of a self.
In other words, Joe Millionaire is rich because he’s going to heaven.
Prosperity theology says, look, you’re poor. Nothing earthly is going to magically make you rich. You’re not going to win the lotto, you’re not going to make millions in the stock market, you’re not going to wake up tomorrow making six figures.
But you can afford to send fifty bucks a month to your church, right? That fifty bucks isn’t going to change your life, but think of all the good it will do in the hands of the holy. And guess what? By sending that money, you’re planting a seed which will grow into wealth because God is going to reward your faith with vast riches. It’s not only the best investment you can make - it’s the only one that’s guaranteed.
I mean, maybe not today or even this year, but keep sending that check.