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August 17, 2009 | 10:04 am

Prosperity Gospel gets rich in hard times

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I’ve made no secret about my disgust for the Gospel of Wealth, which is, in fact, not gospel at all. It turns out that even in hard times—maybe especially in hard times—some Christians are inclined to believe that if they give above and beyond the tithe expected of them that God will cause them to prosper.

From the NYT:

Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.

Private airplanes and boats. A motorcycle sent by an anonymous supporter. Vacations in Hawaii and cruises in Alaska. Designer handbags. A ring of emeralds and diamonds.

“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.

Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.

The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.

Fear ... also known as skepticism and/or sound judgment. Read the rest here.

4 Comments — Leave your comment

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i’m not sure this is exactly prosperity gospel, but it reminds me of something i saw just recently.  think i might have caught on 700 Club flipping channels.

http://www.authorsden.com/categories/article_top.asp?catid=37&id=36655

basically about a billionaire that saved Oral Roberts (the prayer babel tower guy) University, and making a great deal about “90 being greater than 100”.  which is an odd take on tithing, making it out to be something other than a sacrifice.  greed seems a peculiar motivation here.

gotta wonder how many of these prosperity guys will survive these tough economic times.  it’s surely no coincidence that we are hearing more from them now.

Comment by Proton Soup on 8/18/09 at 7:47 pm

I read that article and I really can’t follow your thought process. Where’s the greed? A billionaire who lives in a nice house, keeps his old cars going, gives religiously, and he said “God can do more with the 90 precent’. I know people like that (not necessarily billionaires but with that attitude).

I know that Jesus allegedly said that a rich man getting to heaven is like a camel getting through the eye of a needle (some more reasonably translate it as a ‘rope’ through the eye of a needle), but once you get the point about materialism what’s problem with success? As Tevye would say, it’s no mitzvah to be poor either. Too bad Jesus didn’t think of saying that it is harder for a poor man to get to heaven than a spider web though the eye of a needle.

Remember the story about Savonerola. If someone wants to take a vow of poverty in order to overcome his materialism, make our day. Just don’t project that weakness on the rest of us who may be able to handle a little dough.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 8/19/09 at 6:22 am

the greed comes from the implication that by tithing, one will become wealthy.  personal wealth then becomes the motivation for tithing.  not worship, not devotion to God, not a desire to help others in need, not any spiritual goal, but rather a selfish desire to accumulate more for oneself.

it’s got nothing at all to do with vows of poverty.  nor an intellectual understanding of what materialism is.

Comment by Proton Soup on 8/19/09 at 12:20 pm

This was your article and your reference. Your conclusions from it are incredibly convoluted. I don’t think one person in a thousand would read it as you do.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 8/20/09 at 1:19 am

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