Prosperity theology

== History ==
=== Late 19th and early 20th-century background ===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?318386-3/blessed Interview with Kate Bowler on ''Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel'', March 18, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]}}
According to historian [[Kate Bowler]], the prosperity gospel was formed from the intersection of three different ideologies: [[Pentecostalism]], [[New Thought]], and "an American gospel of pragmatism, individualism, and upward mobility".{{sfn|Bowler|2013|p=11}} This "American gospel" was best exemplified by [[Andrew Carnegie]]'s [[Gospel of Wealth]] and [[Russell Conwell]]'s famous sermon "Acres of Diamonds", in which Conwell equated poverty with [[Christian views on sin|sin]] and asserted that anyone could become rich through hard work. This gospel of wealth, however, was an expression of [[Muscular Christianity]] and understood success to be the result of personal effort rather than divine intervention.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|pp=31–32}}

The New Thought movement, which emerged in the 1880s, was responsible for popularizing belief in the power of the mind to achieve prosperity. While initially focused on achieving mental and physical health, New Thought teachers such as [[Charles Fillmore (Unity Church)|Charles Fillmore]] made material success a major emphasis of the movement.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|p=32}} By the 20th century, New Thought concepts had saturated American popular culture, being common features of both [[self-help]] literature and [[popular psychology]].{{sfn|Bowler|2013|pp=35–36}}

[[E. W. Kenyon]], a [[Baptist]] minister and adherent of the [[Higher Life movement]], is credited with introducing mind-power teachings into early Pentecostalism.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|pp=14,16}} In the 1890s, Kenyon attended [[Emerson College|Emerson College of Oratory]] where he was exposed to the New Thought movement. Kenyon later became connected with well-known Pentecostal leaders and wrote about [[supernatural revelation]] and positive declarations. His writing influenced leaders of the nascent prosperity movement during the post-war American healing revival. Kenyon and later leaders in the prosperity movement have denied that he was influenced by the New Thought movement. Anthropologist [[Simon Coleman (anthropologist)|Simon Coleman]] argues that there are "obvious parallels" between Kenyon's teachings and New Thought.{{sfn|Coleman|2000|pp=44–45}}

Kenyon taught that Christ's [[substitutionary atonement]] secured for believers a right to [[divine healing]]. This was attained through positive, faith-filled speech; the spoken [[Biblical inspiration|word of God]] allowed believers to appropriate the same spiritual power that God used to create the world and attain the provisions promised in Christ's death and resurrection.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|pp=18–19}} Prayer was understood to be a binding, legal act. Rather than asking, Kenyon taught believers to demand healing since they were already legally entitled to receive it.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|p=20}}

Kenyon's blend of [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] religion and mind-power beliefs—what he termed "overcoming faith"—resonated with a small but influential segment of the Pentecostal movement.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|p=21}} Pentecostals had always been committed to faith healing, and the movement also possessed a strong belief in the power of speech (in particular [[speaking in tongues]] and the use of the [[Names of God in Judaism|names of God]], especially the [[Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament|name of Jesus]]).{{sfn|Bowler|2013|pp=23,25}} Kenyon's ideas would be reflected in the teachings of Pentecostal evangelists [[F. F. Bosworth]] and [[John G. Lake]] (who co-led a congregation with New Thought author [[Church of the Truth|Albert C. Grier]] prior to 1915).{{sfn|Bowler|2013|pp=21,23}}

=== Post 1945 Healing Revivals ===

{{main|Healing Revival}}

While Kenyon's teachings on overcoming faith laid the groundwork for the prosperity gospel, the first generation of Pentecostals influenced by him and other figures, such as Bosworth, did not view faith as a means to attain material prosperity. In fact, early Pentecostals tended to view prosperity as a threat to a person's spiritual well-being.{{sfn|Bowler|2013|p=30}}{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=40}} By the 1940s and 1950s, however, a recognizable form of the doctrine began to take shape within the Pentecostal movement through the teachings of [[Deliverance ministry|deliverance]] and healing evangelists. Combining prosperity teaching with [[Christian revival|revivalism]] and [[faith healing]], these evangelists taught "the laws of faith ('ask and ye shall receive') and the laws of divine reciprocity ('give and it will be given back unto you')".{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=81}}

[[Oral Roberts]] began teaching prosperity theology in 1947.{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=41}} He explained the laws of faith as a "blessing pact" in which God would return donations "seven fold",{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=87}} promising that donors would receive back from unexpected sources the money they donated to him. Roberts offered to return any donation that did not lead to an equivalent unexpected payment.{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=41}} In the 1970s, Roberts characterized his blessing pact teaching as the "seed faith" doctrine: donations were a form of "seed" which would grow in value and be returned to the donor.{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=87}}{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=42}} Roberts began recruiting "partners", wealthy donors who received exclusive conference invitations and ministry access in exchange for support.{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=88}}

In 1953, faith healer [[A. A. Allen]] published ''The Secret to Scriptural Financial Success'' and promoted merchandise such as "miracle tent shavings" and [[Pentecostalism#Divine healing|prayer cloth]]s anointed with "miracle oil".{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=85}} In the late 1950s, Allen increasingly focused on prosperity. He taught that faith could miraculously solve financial problems and claimed to have had a miraculous experience in which God supernaturally changed one-dollar bills into twenty-dollar bills to allow him to pay his debts.{{sfn|Harrell|1975|pp=74–75}} Allen taught the "word of faith" or the power to speak something into being.{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=85}}

In the 1960s, prosperity became a primary focus in healing revivals.{{sfn|Harrell|1975|p=105}} [[T.&nbsp;L. Osborn]] began emphasizing prosperity in the 1960s and became known for his often ostentatious displays of personal wealth.{{sfn|Harrell|1975|p=171}} During that decade, Roberts and [[William Branham]] criticized other prosperity ministries, arguing that their fund-raising tactics unfairly pressured attendees. These tactics were prompted in part by the expense of developing nationwide radio networks and campaign schedules.{{sfn|Harrell|1975|p=105}} At the same time, leaders of the Pentecostal [[Assemblies of God USA|Assemblies of God]] denomination often criticized the focus on prosperity taken by independent healing evangelists.{{sfn|Harrell|1975|p=108}}

=== Televangelism ===
During the 1960s, prosperity gospel teachers embraced [[televangelism]] and came to dominate religious programming in the United States. Oral Roberts was among the first, developing a [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] weekly program that became the most watched religious show in the United States. By 1968, television had supplanted the [[tent meeting]] in his ministry.{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=89}}

[[Reverend Ike]], a pastor from New York City, began preaching about prosperity in the late 1960s. He soon had widely aired radio and television programs and became distinguished for his flashy style. His openness about love for material possessions and teachings about the "Science of the Mind" led many evangelists to distance themselves from him.{{sfn|Harrell|1975|pp=234–235}}

In the 1980s, public attention in the United States was drawn to prosperity theology through the influence of prominent televangelists such as [[Jim Bakker]]. Bakker's influence waned, however, after he was implicated in a high-profile scandal.{{refn|name=time}}{{cref2|C}} In the aftermath, [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] (TBN) emerged as the dominant force in prosperity televangelism, having brought [[Robert Tilton]] and [[Benny Hinn]] to prominence.{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=129}}

=== Word of Faith ===

{{main|Word of Faith}}

Although nearly all of the healing evangelists of the 1940s and 1950s taught that faith could bring financial rewards, a new prosperity-oriented teaching developed in the 1970s that differed from the one taught by Pentecostal evangelists of the 1950s. This "Positive Confession" or "Word of Faith" movement taught that a Christian with faith can speak into existence anything consistent with the will of God.{{sfn|Robins|2010|p=131}}

[[Kenneth Hagin]] was credited with a key role in the expansion of prosperity theology. He founded the RHEMA Bible Training Center in 1974, and over the next 20 years, the school trained more than 10,000 students in his theology.{{sfn|Coleman|2000|pp=29–30}} As is true of other prosperity movements, there is no theological governing body for the Word of Faith movement, and well-known ministries differ on some theological issues,{{sfn|Billingsley|2008|p=41}} though many ministries are unofficially linked.{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=30}} The teachings of Kenneth Hagin have been described by Candy Gunther Brown of [[Indiana University]] as the most "orthodox" form of Word of Faith prosperity teaching.{{sfn|Brown|2011|p=152}}

=== International growth ===
By the late 2000s, proponents claimed that tens of millions of Christians had accepted prosperity theology.{{refn|name=rosin}} The [[Neo-charismatic movement|neo-Pentecostal movement]] has been characterized in part by an emphasis on prosperity theology,{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=23}} which gained greater acceptance within [[charismatic Christianity]] during the late 1990s.{{sfn|Coleman|2000|p=27}} In the 2000s, Evangelical-Pentecostal churches teaching prosperity theology saw significant growth in the [[Global South]] and [[Third World]] countries.<ref name="Smith 2021">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Daniel J. |date=March 2021 |title=The Pentecostal prosperity gospel in Nigeria: Paradoxes of corruption and inequality |journal=[[Journal of Modern African Studies]] |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=103–122 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X2000066X |pmid=37398918 |pmc=10312994 |issn=1469-7777 |lccn=2001-227388 |oclc=48535892 |s2cid=232223673}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Haynes |first=Naomi |date=March 2012 |title=Pentecostalism and the morality of money: Prosperity, inequality, and religious sociality on the Zambian Copperbelt |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] on behalf of the [[Royal Anthropological Institute]] |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=123–139 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9655.2011.01734.x |doi-access=free |issn=1467-9655 |jstor=41350810 |s2cid=142926682 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/10092601/HAYNES_2012_Pentecostalism_and_the_Morality_of_Money.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718220724/https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/10092601/HAYNES_2012_Pentecostalism_and_the_Morality_of_Money.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2018 |access-date=25 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Jenkins|2011|p=99}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Freston |first=Paul |year=2008 |chapter=The Changing Face of Christian Proselytization: New Actors from the Global South |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y5TCBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 |editor-last=Hackett |editor-first=Rosalind I. J. |editor-link=Rosalind Hackett |title=Proselytization Revisited: Rights Talk, Free Markets, and Culture Wars |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |pages=109–138 |isbn=9781845532284 |lccn=2007046731}}</ref> According to [[Philip Jenkins]] of [[Pennsylvania State University]], poor citizens of impoverished countries often find the doctrine appealing because of their economic powerlessness and the doctrine's emphasis on miracles.{{sfn|Jenkins|2006|p=95}} One region seeing explosive growth is Western Africa, particularly Nigeria.<ref name="Smith 2021"/>{{sfn|Jenkins|2011|p=99}} In the Philippines, the [[El Shaddai (movement)|El Shaddai movement]], part of the [[Catholic Charismatic Renewal]], has spread prosperity theology outside Protestant Christianity.{{sfn|Wiegele|2005|p=7}} One South Korean prosperity church, [[Yoido Full Gospel Church]], gained attention in the 1990s by claiming to be the world's largest congregation.{{sfn|Jenkins|2006|p=91}}

A 2006 poll by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' reported that 17 percent of Christians in America said they identified with the movement.{{refn|name=time}} By the 2000s, adherents of prosperity theology in the United States were most common in the [[Sun Belt]].{{refn|name=rosin}} By 2006, three of the four largest congregations in the United States were teaching prosperity theology, and [[Joel Osteen]] has been credited with spreading it outside of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement through his books, which have sold over 4 million copies.{{refn|name=time}}{{cref2|D}} [[Bruce Wilkinson]]'s ''[[The Prayer of Jabez]]'' also sold millions of copies and invited readers to seek prosperity.{{sfn|Jenkins|2006|p=91}}

=== Recent history ===
In 2005, [[Matthew Ashimolowo]], the founder of the largely African [[Kingsway International Christian Centre#Charity Commission enquiries|Kingsway International Christian Centre]] in southern England, which preaches a "health and wealth" gospel and collects regular tithes, was ordered by the [[Charity Commission]] to repay money he had appropriated for his personal use. In 2017, the organisation was under criminal investigation after a leading member was found by a court in 2015 to have operated a [[Ponzi scheme]] between 2007 and 2011, losing or spending £8 million of investors' money.{{refn|name=Booth}}

In 2007, [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Chuck Grassley]] opened a probe into the finances of six televangelism ministries that promoted prosperity theology: [[Kenneth Copeland]] Ministries, [[Creflo Dollar]] Ministries, Benny Hinn Ministries, [[Eddie L. Long|Bishop Eddie Long Ministries]], [[Joyce Meyer|Joyce Meyer Ministries]], and [[Paula White|Paula White Ministries]]. In January 2011, Grassley concluded his investigation stating that he believed self-regulation by religious organizations was preferable to government action.{{refn|name=goodstein}}{{cref2|E}} Only the ministries led by Meyer and Hinn cooperated with Grassley's investigation.{{refn|name=goodstein}}

The [[inauguration of Donald Trump]] as the 45th [[President of the United States]] featured prayers from two preachers known for advocating prosperity theology.{{refn|name=Zoll}} [[Paula White]], one of Trump's spiritual advisers, gave the invocation.{{refn|name=Posner}}