Gospel of Prosperity

The prosperity gospel (PG) is a Christian movement that holds the belief that faith is a spiritual power that can overcome poverty and yield blessings. Signs of God’s blessing include material goods such as wealth and health. This entry will address the movement’s beliefs and influence and then evaluate it.

Beliefs

As a movement, the PG has no distinct or official creed; nor is it affiliated with any one Christian denomination, though it has arisen largely in Pentecostal churches. Many of its practitioners claim that the only source for their beliefs is Scripture or in some cases personal revelation. Nonetheless, it is clear that the origins of the movement derive from late-19th and early-20th-century thought in America.

The post-Reconstruction period in America was a heady and idealistic ...

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