Christians often have the same fundamental beliefs but disagree on details, which led to a panoply of denominations in the Christian faith. The many denominations tend to interpret the bible differently and have led to different styles of the gospel such as evangelicalism, fundamentalism and prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel, also known as the “health and wealth gospel” is the belief that if believers adhere to the will of God, he will bless them with prosperous lives in the form of health and wealth ( Hunt, 2002) . This doctrine focuses mostly on material possession and success in lie including good health, asserting that believers have a right to the blessings and can obtain them through faith and giving. The gospel of prosperity is mostly preached in megachurches offering comfort in times of economic strife in the hopes of having a prosperous future. This paper examines the prosperity gospel by introducing its significant features in America including deception and falsehood.
What is Prosperity gospel?
The prosperity gospel is defined as a type of Christianity preaching asserting that having the right faith and practice for Christians will deliver wealth and well-being. It is a Christian doctrine that preaches the message of God wanting people to be prosperous financially. Studies have shown that about20 percent of American Christians identify explicitly with the prosperity gospel movement and agree with the idea that God wants people to be prosperous ( Bowler, 2018) . Central to the doctrine of the prosperity gospel is the concept of tithing and giving money to church as an investment that will see God bless them in hundredfold. However, the hundredfold return heresy is a distortion of what Christ promised the hundredfold return to those who leave behind everything for the kingdom of God.
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The prosperity believers use love for money to lure unwitting believers in trying to use the money to but blessings from God. The false prophets and prosperity pastors have been deceiving people with a message of prosperity, changing the grace of God into a license for immorality (( Koch, 2010) . Their doctrine is therefore horrific with free love for money, making it difficult to discern. This teaching goes against the true gospel and shows how the Christian church is moving away from biblical Christianity to false doctrine. Jesus in his teachings stated that it is not possible to serve both God and money and those who love money are less likely to see the kingdom of God. The bibles call the love of money as the root of all kinds of evil, and Jesus frequently praised the meek and lowly whole chastising the rich and powerful. However, the prosperity gospel seems to teach that God favors those who have material wealth and can give to the church. This gospel can mean one thing; that those who are poor and who cannot afford to provide offerings cannot be blessed with wealth and good health ( Hunt, 2002) .
The prosperity gospel has also become an outlet for people with a considerable amount of money to justify their wealth. This is a branch of Christianity that promises a direct path to the good life with a bold central claim that God blesses faithful givers. Those who adhere to this gospel believe wealth is a sign of God’s blessings and compensation for prayers and giving beyond the minimum tithe to televangelists and churches ( Jones & Woodbridge, 2011) . As such, they think those who are poor lack faith in God and do not walk in his requirements of offering and tithing.
This gospel reflects the notion that if a person is doing the right things, then God will come through by blessing them with wealth and good health. However, this is not entirely true about scriptures and what God says regarding his people. The prosperity gospel is an escape from reality, misinterpretation of the purpose of giving as well as distortion of Jesus. The authentic interpretation of Christianity is that Christ’s atonement on the cross and his victory over death during resurrection means all faithful Christians are forgiven of their sins ( Bowler, 2015) . However, prosperity preachers have twisted this message of ultimate success by applying it to the worldly life.
Prosperity gospel and televangelism
The theology of prosperity gospel is mainly promoted through televangelism with the preachers utilizing an exemplary example of themselves to demonstrate the success of the gospel. The preachers are therefore the main character in every success story they tell, talking about themselves in a self-deprecating way that causes other people to admire their lifestyles ( Lioy, 2007) . Another characteristic of prosperity preacher is their self-exploration of how they speak directly to God who reveals new information to them regarding giving and tithing. For example, Benny Hinn has also claimed to talk directly to God when he speaks of hearing from the Lord instructing him to heal the people as an agent. Benny claims God uses him as a conduit for the supernatural deeds too numerous followers who attend his crusades, though most of miracles remain unverified and lacking proof ( Newland, 2010).
Televangelism for prosperity does not preach about God and what he requires of his people. Instead, this gospel focuses on becoming rich and getting blessings through faith and giving. This prosperity gospel teaches nothing about Christianity as it focuses more on getting healthy and wealthy. As such, it paves the road to hell other than guiding Christians to heaven, functioning as some form of anti-Christ. In essence, this prosperity gospel is a heresy that can drive people to hell rather than steer a path to heaven ( Bowler, 2015) . Prosperity preachers such as Benny Hinn sells what appears to be good fortune to believers, though it does no good to them.
Most of the televangelists preach a prosperity gospel and the idea that Gods wants all people to be productive and poor people carry their blame. They believe a person can only show faith in the lord by tithing to the churches as much money as possible and God will return the parishioner more. Televangelists can reach to numerous parishioners due to their television presence deceiving more people into giving to the churches ( Koch, 2010) . However, only these pastors seem to be getting rich claiming millions of dollars in salary annually among other perks such as house and private jets.
What makes prospective theology a false gospel
This theology is based on the belief that God will repay believers with health and wealth on earth if they have a strong faith. However, there are several aspects of the prospective gospel that are wrong and makes it a false gospel. Firstly, prosperity gospel blasphemes scriptures in the bible to fulfill their doctrine. The doctrine is blasphemy to the scripture that is twisted to fulfill specific objectives using the name of God. These preachers use the Bible and turn it to match their version of God that is different from the God of the bible. There is a gap between what is written in the text and what prosperity preachers teach to deceive crowds ( Koch, 2010) . Scripture twisting is common among prosperity preachers in mobilizing the congregation to give to the church. They tend taking bible verses out of context of interpreting it in their ways to fit the narrative of giving to be successful.
Secondly, this theology uses the bible as a tool for deception where the message that prosperity pastors preach is different from what God expects his people to do. They use the scriptures for sordid to deceive believers into giving their fortunes that enrich individual pastors while leaving the congregation destitute ( Koch, 2010) . Benny Hinn had turned Christianity into a religion that robs the poor and naïve with a gospel of prosperity. Benny in his crusades is fond of proclaiming that everyone would be healed, even insisting that Jesus could physically appear during a campaign.
Furthermore, prosperity gospel often exploits the poor with the promise of a better life ahead. The doctrine is associated with theological heresy and using deception to steal from the poor in the pretense of getting blessings from above. Property gospel has been associated with preying on the poor and encouraging them to give to churches before dealing with other bills such as rents. In this regard, prosperity gospel has flourished more among the poor and working class who believe wealth is a sign of God’s grace and favor. At the same time, this gospel of prosperity insults Christ by encouraging people to smear the divine name in building global empires ( Schieman & Jung, 2012) . They are turning the gospel of Christ into a lottery ticket for wealth and prosperity without thinking about heavenly treasures. Benny Hinn and other prosperity gospel ministers have been operating their churches as tax-exempt organizations.
The prosperity gospel is sinister with misuse of scriptures, false teachings, and blatant heresy. They teach a false doctrine that is different from what is illustrated in the new testament and what the Bible requires of believers. The prosperity gospel lacks clear, profound biblical teaching on the necessity of suffering and the control that God has over it. Even though the new testament has instructions that nothing can separate believers from the love of Christ including suffering and tribulation, prosperity preachers sound like no one is supposed to suffer and they are to blame for their miseries ( Jones & Woodbridge, 2011) . The prosperity preachers also bring the wrong perspective regarding the timing of prosperity. In essence, the prosperity preachers distort the message to for their narratives through misinterpretations and twisting of the word. Over the years, the message in most megachurches and televangelists has changed with a new gospel of prosperity. Most of the prosperity ministries lack accountability despite receiving numerous amounts of revenue annually. Therefore, the progressive gospel is a constant danger to the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is established on deceit and falsehood ( Koch, 2010) .
For example, the traditional interpretation of the gospel states that the suffering in this world is nothing for the faithful who will be rewarded in heaven after completing the journey. This is one way of living a holy life knowing that in the ultimate end they will be paid for their faithfulness in heaven ( Jones & Woodbridge, 2011) . However, prosperity gospel twists this original message of the gospel, blaming those who suffer or lack for not being faithful enough to overcome the physical, financial or spiritual ailments befalling them. This gospel revolutionizes prayer as an instrument for getting an answer from God with a guarantee that God will reward anyone who follows the rules. The doctrine uses prayer as a tool to force God into granting prosperity or a key to get results. The prosperity gospel is a perversion of the Gospel of Jesus which claims that God rewards increases in faith with improvements in health and wealth ( Bowler, 2018) .
One of the theological bases of the prosperity gospel is the Abraham covenant that entails material entitlement. The preachers focus on planting a seed through a financial donation that God will multiply in blessings. The essence of this new gospel is that God wants believers to be happy, healthy and wealthy, encouraging followers to pray and demand material flourishing from God ( Jones & Woodbridge, 2011) . Religious leaders tend to encourage their followers to equate financial donations with future material gains and teach nothing about the gospel of growth. They are also fixed on the act of giving before gaining material compensation from God. They prosperity preachers urge followers to give generously to finance the gospel when in reality it benefits the pastors in the ministry.
At the same time, these preachers rarely talk about theology and will try to backpedal whenever asked hard questions regarding their doctrine. They frequently misunderstand essential aspects of faith and belief by getting the gospel wrong and interpreting it in their ways. For example, Benny Hinn was famous for coming out with some offensive and controversial remarks during his ministry and could not accept any questioning lest they touch the Lord’s anointed ( Bowler, 2015) . In essence, there is much-twisted hermeneutics that goes into excuses whenever one asks about the miracles that prosperity preachers’ stage all around the world.
Benny Hinn and Prosperity Preaching
This essay will mostly focus on Benny Hinn, one of the prosperity preachers who claim to have healed countless people through his miracle crusades. Benny Hinn is a controversial healing televangelist described as a faith healer and ‘health and wealth’ preacher who preaches prosperity gospel which views financial riches as a sign of God’s favor ( Cooper, 2014) . He is a longtime proponent of the prosperity gospel where those who donate are promised richness from God. Benny is one of the pioneers of prosperity gospel teaching using them to become rich. His ministry brought in millions in annual revenue that benefited the prosperity preachers. His ministry is considered controversial in some parts of Christianity with a debate over his lifestyle and use of deception to manipulate his followers.
Hinn is an extravagant preacher who lives a lavish lifestyle with a private jet and multi-million-dollar mansion among other properties. The televangelism has been associated with funding the lavish lifestyle of prosperity gospel preachers who promise material prosperity and miraculous healings to those who give financially to their ministries in faith. A majority of prosperity gospel televangelists are in it for the money and to enrich themselves by duping their followers ( Bowler, 2015) . Their main message is that Christians can only receive God’s blessings by offering and tithings and nothing else. This money goes into their pockets enriching them at the expense of poor followers. Some prosperity preachers such as Jim Bakker were jailed for fraud and selling lifetime membership to tv viewers in exchange of free hotel stays which went on to finance his lavish lifestyle. Other prosperity preachers have duped followers and use the money to finance the family’s personal life.
Benny Hinn is continuously associated with false teachings and healings, including an instruction that God will heal everyone who has faith through the agency of a healer like himself. He is a Roman Catholic mystic who took the Pentecostal and charismatic church down the ecumenical road. In his crusades, Benny Hinn dazzles the crowds by manipulating the emotions of audiences. His crusaders are constructed to manage those in attendance with repetitive music that builds an atmosphere of anticipation ( Cooper, 2014) . Through the miracle crusades, Benny Hinn has manipulated many people to give their money for this cause with the belief that it will be a key to activating their miracles
Benny Hinn has traveled to countries in Africa and other unsuspecting audience selling his gospel of prosperity while reaping numerous in revenue from the audience. For example, he held a miracle crusade in Uganda in 2009 where he charged $50 for every attendee promising them economic gain and spiritual change from the experience ( Newland, 2010) . He named his concert a ‘fire conference’ and advertised it across the country and flew from Texas to Uganda to hold the crusade. In this concert, numerous poor individuals paid to attend the event and donate money to Benny Hinn’s ministry with the hope of spiritual euphoria and promise of future prosperity.
In these tours of preaching about good health and wealth, Benny Hinn could travel in a private jet and stay in expensive luxury hotels before going to speak to desperate people and deceiving them of their money ( Koch, 2010) . This case shows how prosperity gospel preachers have exploited target and harm the poor globally with their message of wealth and well-being. This is a scary technique since the bible teaches of how God loves the poor, and this technique cannot please God. As such, Benny Hinn is a fraud who uses the gospel to live extravagantly while leading a ministry that rakes in more than $100 million annually ( Cooper, 2014) . Many of his followers do not see any hypocrisy in their pastor living a luxury life as they continually fund it
The gospel preached by Benny Hinn is a twisted form of Christianity that teaches faith, giving and obedience as a way of getting things from God or bribe him into offering blessings of wealth and good health. Prosperity gospel tends to glorify the accumulation of money and turns the virtuous acts of faith, giving and obedience into tools for getting God to do something. The prosperity preachers use doing good and trust to leverage material blessings from God, and not on the true gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, Joel Osteen preaches that God has already done everything he needs to do and believers need to do more than meditate and believe if they want to be prosperous and healthy ( Gordon & Hancock, 2005) . In his teachings, he regularly mentions giving and words of faith as instruments to be successful.
Benny Hinn claims to have preached to a billion people directly and has claimed to heal a legally blind person. However, his doctrine has been faced with numerous controversies and debacles that can easily make a reasonable person to doubt his supernatural abilities. Benny Hill has been faking miracles when carrying out supernatural acts in his miracle crusades ( Cooper, 2014) . He has allegedly healed attendees of cancer, blindness, and deafness yet these claims are questionable. The primary objective of carrying out the false miracles is to hoodwink believer in paying money to be prayed for and receive supernatural healing. However, there are no actual cases of people getting healed from the crusades, using them for business. Benny is also known to for his fabrication of truth and how his staff carefully chooses crusade members to come on stage and proclaim their miracle healings ( Newland, 2010) . In essence, the miracle seekers are never allowed to get on stage with only actors getting to testify about the cures.
Why prosperity gospel has continued to grow
Many prosperity preachers are preaching the gospel that is comfortable and soothing, lauded by followers as being welcoming. Prosperity gospel works since many people looking for ways to overcome personal struggles and find happiness in their lives. However, though they emphasize the doctrine of positive thinking, there is a dark side of these cavernous cathedrals. The prosperity preachers exploit this inherent need by selling the message of the prosperity gospel ( Gordon & Hancock, 2005) . Their followers are sacrificing their finances and psychological well-being in seeking for God-given windfall that never materializes. While most of the information from prosperity preachers do not explicitly focus on getting rich but about focusing the energy to make positive changes in life, the implicit message is that the happiness and fulfillment in life comes from becoming financially secure.
However, while this gospel has a relentless focus on positive thinking, it can take a psychological toll on individuals struggling with serious problems. For example, the doctrine has seen sick people leaving their hospital beds in practice called faith acting and walk around acting as if they are already cured, leaving them in much pain. At the same time, the prosperity preachers encourage those in crippling debt to give and thank God for checks they haven’t received, which is not the best way of dealing with problems. Instead of such people reconciling themselves with the problem and dealing with them productively, they have grown to scour their minds of any negative thought that can block their memories of blessings as advised by the prosperity preachers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the prosperity gospel is fundamentally flawed because of its faulty view of the relationship between God and man. It is anti-Christian and unholy for believers to live with the object of accumulating wealth. This doctrine of the prosperity gospel is deceitful and false taking advantage of the poor and vulnerable ( Koch, 2010) . Most of the teachings by property preachers does not bear a resemblance to the teachings of Jesus, instead of providing avenues for opportunists to take advantage of believers. The exhaustion and desperation of the masses in need of prosperity makes them emotionally vulnerable to the false gospel of wealth in America and different parts of the world ( Bowler, 2018) . The preachers take advantage of the unfortunate individuals leaving them with worse economic situations and nothing to account for the miracle crusade while he took off to other countries to hold similar movements.
References
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