There is possibly no variation of Christian Doctrine that has been more damaging than the so-called Prosperity Gospel. This is the one that says that God wants you to be happy and that he will achieve this by giving you health, prestige and most importantly, wealth. It is most damaging not just because it takes something that was never anywhere in the bible and adds it for no reason, but also because it diminishes every other part. It makes Jesus out to be nothing more than a great cosmic Santa who wants you to be good and talk to him every so often.
You can see the damage that it causes in two places. Firstly in the place that most of us will see more clearly, the early morning televangelists. These people have massive followings and all of them say that Jesus wants to make us better or to give us more than what we have. These people get a following of themselves rather than a following for Christ and this is where the damage comes in. There are thousands of people calling themselves Christian because they follow the teachings of a televangelist. Because of this they won't listen to actual teachings and have left themselves out of the truth.
The second place that you see it is in third world countries. Missionaries who go over to poor communities and tell people that Jesus wants them to have education and hospitals and food. This is an effective way to build up a congregation quickly since the only way that you can get these blessings is to confess your sins, come along to church every week and be good. There is a word for these people in India - Rice Christians, people who follow the teachings of Rice. The damage here comes because firstly these people do not have a relationship with God, but with their now satiated gut. If and when this fails then God is a sick joker who lies to people in order to play some twisted power game. This response is one that is contagious and that is where the next damage is found.
However there is some side truth to this statement. Not in the way that might be initially expected, but there is some surprising truth there. When you read the Old Testament there are many repeated moments when God allows people to try happiness. The biggest example went down something like this
"Are you absolutely sure you want compete Self-Autonomy? Are you sure that you want everyone forever to be the final say on what is wrong or right? Will that make you Happy?"
"Yes it will"
"Fine; there it is. And you will suffer for it."
I am of course referring to the Garden of Eden.
This approach is not dissimilar to what is being called experiential parenting, where you teach your kids through experiences rather than through lessons. For example in order to teach your kid not to stick his finger in the power socket, you let him stick his finger in there and then let him learn what will happen when he does that. However it is also similar to the other approach where you tell your kid that sticking her hand in a ceiling fan will hurt or that knives are sharp. You tell them that if they do that, it will be bad.
The third thing that is a part of this is that if the outcome of Christianity is an eternity in heaven, literally, then why would you want to taint it with the second-rate crap that makes up physicality?
You can see the damage that it causes in two places. Firstly in the place that most of us will see more clearly, the early morning televangelists. These people have massive followings and all of them say that Jesus wants to make us better or to give us more than what we have. These people get a following of themselves rather than a following for Christ and this is where the damage comes in. There are thousands of people calling themselves Christian because they follow the teachings of a televangelist. Because of this they won't listen to actual teachings and have left themselves out of the truth.
The second place that you see it is in third world countries. Missionaries who go over to poor communities and tell people that Jesus wants them to have education and hospitals and food. This is an effective way to build up a congregation quickly since the only way that you can get these blessings is to confess your sins, come along to church every week and be good. There is a word for these people in India - Rice Christians, people who follow the teachings of Rice. The damage here comes because firstly these people do not have a relationship with God, but with their now satiated gut. If and when this fails then God is a sick joker who lies to people in order to play some twisted power game. This response is one that is contagious and that is where the next damage is found.
However there is some side truth to this statement. Not in the way that might be initially expected, but there is some surprising truth there. When you read the Old Testament there are many repeated moments when God allows people to try happiness. The biggest example went down something like this
"Are you absolutely sure you want compete Self-Autonomy? Are you sure that you want everyone forever to be the final say on what is wrong or right? Will that make you Happy?"
"Yes it will"
"Fine; there it is. And you will suffer for it."
I am of course referring to the Garden of Eden.
This approach is not dissimilar to what is being called experiential parenting, where you teach your kids through experiences rather than through lessons. For example in order to teach your kid not to stick his finger in the power socket, you let him stick his finger in there and then let him learn what will happen when he does that. However it is also similar to the other approach where you tell your kid that sticking her hand in a ceiling fan will hurt or that knives are sharp. You tell them that if they do that, it will be bad.
The third thing that is a part of this is that if the outcome of Christianity is an eternity in heaven, literally, then why would you want to taint it with the second-rate crap that makes up physicality?
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