Skip to main content

What is the Prosperity Gospel and Why is it So Popular?


The prosperity gospel is widely practised throughout the world, and hugely popular in Africa. It has also gained a foothold in Europe via certain modern movements that emphasise the 'health' aspect of 'health and wealth' teaching i.e. the idea that God doesn't want anyone to suffer, but for all to be healed. We are probably all familiar with TV evangelists who ask us to give, and God will reward us by giving back. The proof that it works is the large house they themselves live in, and the executive car they drive.

The trouble with this teaching is that it does not line up with the overall message of Scripture. The so-called proof texts used by prosperity teachers are often taken from the Old Testament (nothing in and of itself bad about that), turning descriptive teaching (a description of what God did then) into prescriptive ideas (God wants that to happen to everybody). "God made Abraham prosperous. He wants to make us prosperous too!"

Now, there are a lot of blogs and videos out there about prosperity teaching, so I don't want to repeat what is written and said there. Instead I have a question. Where did this teaching come from? When did it originate, and why? The answer is that it began in the early 20th century in the States, when an over-optimistic view of modern history ("things can only get better") combined with Christianity to create a mix that resulted in the prosperity gospel. This teaching spread throughout the world via mission work.

What a lot of missiologists miss, it seems to me, is that there is often something in the host culture (the culture of those in e.g. Africa) that makes this teaching very popular. Two possibilities:

  1. Poverty is a massive issue in the majority world, so prosperity teaching appeals to those wanting to climb out of the poverty trap
  2. Traditional African religion includes an emphasis on the role of ancestral spirits in a family's everyday life, which includes fertility (more children are needed to work in the fields), good harvests (if you have more crops come in then  you need to eat, you have a surplus you can sell), and protection from evil. All three of these are, or can be, included in prosperity teaching
Probably both are to some extent true. The problem with (2) is that people are likely to turn to God on a Sunday, and the ancestors Monday - Saturday. Or turn to God, and if their prayers are not answered, turn to the ancestors for help.

One of the worst results of prosperity teaching is a complete lack of a theology of suffering. I don't see how 2 Cor can make any sense if suffering is not part of God's plan for us. In 2 Cor Paul teaches that suffering and victory are inextricably linked.

This does not mean that we have to preach about suffering every Sunday. Instead, let's focus on the 'now and not yet' of the kingdom. Now we may need to suffer, but when God's kingdom is fully realised (at the second coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah), we will never have to suffer again. Alleluia!

Image by bertin23 from Pixabay

More info here from the Lausanne movement.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Asset Based Bible Translation (ABBT)

Many of you will have heard of asset-based community development (ABCD). How can Bible translation programmes be asset based, rather than deficit based? The best way to look at this is a comparison table: Deficit based Asset based Driven by outsiders Driven by the community Outside funding Community funded Done to meet a need Done to help the community grow Quality control done by a consultant Community checked and approved Control from outside-in Lead by stepping back Products not accepted? Products are accepted Little engagement Engagement with products Scientific Organic Not sustainable Sustainable Of course many translation programmes these days are neither one nor t'other, they are somewhere between these two extremes. Nevertheless, this illustrates a point, and shows that the current
Post a Comment
Read more

A Flow Chart for Bible Translation (a Relevance Theory Approach)

One of the current theories behind modern translation work is Relevance Theory. [1] Here is a flow chart that explains the process often used to produce a draft when using such an approach: *Make sure your translation committee makes the decision as to what kind of translation they want. A domesticated translation is one that submits to dominant values in the target language [2] whereas a foreignized translation is one that is happy to import foreign terms and ideas from Hebrew, Greek, or the language of wider communication such as the Greek term baptizo . The chart looks something like this: Text                                   Communicated Ideas                  Context A sower went out to sow  A farmer went out to sow grain   People scattered/threw seed etc. The text has very little information, but behind it is the idea that seed was scatted by throwing it from a bag carried round the farmer's shoulder. This could be explained in the para-
Post a Comment
Read more

Asking the Right Questions in Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement Planning

If you want to get useful answers you have to ask the right questions. Do you agree? Yes, of course you do. In the Bible translation world we often ask a very narrow question when planning for the next stage of work: 'What would you like to see translated next?' Now, if you simply want to translate, and that's it, that question is fine, but what if you want to see some kind of result from your translation work? What if, for instance, you want to see transformation occur? Then a more powerful question to ask the community and positive stakeholders in the project would be: 'What kingdom goals would you like to see reached?' These kingdom goals should meet felt needs of the community - they should solve problems that are apparent to most or all in the community. See below on how those can be met. If that's too abstract, then try, 'What kinds of things, in your extended family, do you tend to worry about?' This will help establish some felt needs, from which
7 comments
Read more