Prosperity Teaching
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Also known as, “Prosperity Doctrine,” “Health and Wealth,” “Name It and Claim It,” or “Blab It and Grab It” (the latter term tends to be used by those who criticize this teaching).
The prosperity teaching is an aberrant doctrine, largely promoted by the Word-Faith movement.
Here’s how it is sold: God wants you to be rich (and/or healthy), but He can not bless you unless you first send money (also known as a “seed-faith offering”) to whichever televangelist or teacher tells you about this scheme. Perfected by Oral Roberts, Kenneth Copeland, Marilyn Hickey, Benny Hinn the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, et al.
The teaching is part and parcel of ‘Positive Confession,’ one of the doctrinal pillars of Word-Faith theology:
1) Positive Confession: The Theology of the Spoken Word (Rhematology), or thought actualization, is commonly known as positive confession. It stresses the inherent power of words and thoughts. Each person predestines his own future by what he says verbally and by how well he uses spiritual laws. As such, it is as if we live in a mechanistic universe instead of a personal one (see, Kenneth Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, p. 15; Charles Capps, The Tongue A Creative Force, pp. 117-118; Releasing the Ability of God, pp. 98-99, 101-104).
2) The Gospel of Health: Isaiah 53 is used to justify blanket coverage for the physical healing of every Christian who has enough faith. “…it is the plan of our Father God in His great love and His great mercy that no believer should ever be sick, that every believer should live his life full span down here on earth and that every believer should finally just fall asleep in Jesus” (Hagin, Seven Things You Should Know About Divine Healing, p. 21). Hagin also denies having a headache for forty-five years, labeling such as “simply symptoms rather than any indication of a headache” (In the Name of Jesus, p. 44).
3) The Gospel of Wealth: A central tenet of the prosperity gospel is that God wills the financial prosperity of every Christian. If a believer lives in poverty, he/she is living outside God’s intended will. “You must realize that it is God’s will for you to prosper” (Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, p. 51).- Source: Word-Faith Movement
, “Other Doctrines,” a Watchman Fellowship profile
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Prosperity Gospel: Greed-based TheologyShare this
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• This page was first posted: Jan. 14, 2006
• This page was last updated: Jul. 19, 2007
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The Apologetics Index (apologeticsindex.org) 'family of web sites' provides 25,000+ pages of research resources on religious cults, sects, new religious movements, alternative religions, apologetics-, anticult-, and countercult organizations, doctrines, religious practices and world views. These resources reflect a variety of theological and/or sociological perspectives. [More Info]
September 12th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
[…] Known (or vilified) under a variety of names — Word of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, Prosperity Theology — its emphasis is on God’s promised generosity in this life. In a nutshell, it suggests that a God who loves you does not want you to be broke. […]