The Prosperity Gospel is a theology that believes that God will bless His believers with good health and an abundance of wealth. This differing form of Christianity teaches that God takes pleasure in seeing His creations prosper, which is why this belief appeals to millions of people across the globe. Poverty remains a global issue and many Christians have converted to this particular theology as a solution to their economic struggles. The prosperity Gospel can provide the lower classes with hope but that is a false hope since prosperity preachers are often criticized for misinterpreting bible scriptures and twisting the true nature of God. This theology is viewed as a corrupted, Christian-like belief system.
Unfortunately, this theology has …show more content…
In fact, prosperity preachers hardly ever use the Bible outside of quoting the Scripture out of context. Instead, they place an emphasis on the visions and prophesy to focus on the future. The gospel is assumed so attention is then diverted to what God is currently saying or doing in the world. Another former prosperity gospel follower named Chantel declared that the most important aspect of the sermon was the singing, which sometimes lasted half the sermon time and such song always spoke of the individual and not God (Retief 11). She stated, “There was no systematic Bible teaching. The norm was quoting scriptures completely out of context. I don’t know why I took my Bible. The Bible was seldom opened. It was just misquoted” (Retief 11). The Bible seems to be used as a prop, being only ever carried to church out of tradition. These prophecies are seemingly only given to the gospel’s leaders, which give them the status of being chosen by God. This honor allows them to preach their own false teachings uncontested. Questioning a man representing God’s voice is seemingly …show more content…
One must remember, the prosperity gospel creates a cycle of guilt and greed in the mindset of its followers (Michelén 31). Faith is a vital part of the prosperity gospel. Faith is emphasized as a powerful force that can be used to compel God into submission to the believer’s will and grant the believer what they wish for, which is most times some form of monetary gain. When the believer does not receive the prosperity they asked for, the believer then interprets this to mean that he or she did not have enough faith. They must not have believed enough in their worthiness of God’s blessing. So the followers return to prosperity gospel sermons to increase their faith but grow more covetous
Unfortunately, this theology has …show more content…
In fact, prosperity preachers hardly ever use the Bible outside of quoting the Scripture out of context. Instead, they place an emphasis on the visions and prophesy to focus on the future. The gospel is assumed so attention is then diverted to what God is currently saying or doing in the world. Another former prosperity gospel follower named Chantel declared that the most important aspect of the sermon was the singing, which sometimes lasted half the sermon time and such song always spoke of the individual and not God (Retief 11). She stated, “There was no systematic Bible teaching. The norm was quoting scriptures completely out of context. I don’t know why I took my Bible. The Bible was seldom opened. It was just misquoted” (Retief 11). The Bible seems to be used as a prop, being only ever carried to church out of tradition. These prophecies are seemingly only given to the gospel’s leaders, which give them the status of being chosen by God. This honor allows them to preach their own false teachings uncontested. Questioning a man representing God’s voice is seemingly …show more content…
One must remember, the prosperity gospel creates a cycle of guilt and greed in the mindset of its followers (Michelén 31). Faith is a vital part of the prosperity gospel. Faith is emphasized as a powerful force that can be used to compel God into submission to the believer’s will and grant the believer what they wish for, which is most times some form of monetary gain. When the believer does not receive the prosperity they asked for, the believer then interprets this to mean that he or she did not have enough faith. They must not have believed enough in their worthiness of God’s blessing. So the followers return to prosperity gospel sermons to increase their faith but grow more covetous