The Prosperity Doctrine

I should like to attempt to clarify a common misconception concerning Prosperity Theology and the Prosperity Doctrine. Concerning this subject we learn from Wikipedia: Prosperity theology (also known as prosperity doctrine, the health and wealth gospel, or the prosperity gospel) is a Christian religious belief whose proponents claim has "tens of millions" of adherents, primarily in the United States, centered on the notion that God provides material prosperity for those he favors. It has been defined by the belief that "Jesus blesses believers with riches" or more specifically as the teaching that "believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the 'sowing of seeds' through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings." In the words of journalist Hanna Rosin, the prosperity gospel "is not a clearly defined denomination, but a strain of belief that runs through the Pentecostal Church and a surprising number of mainstream evangelical churches, with varying degrees of intensity." It arose in the United States after World War II championed by Oral Roberts and became particularly popular in the decade of the 1990s.
Wikipedia: Prosperity theology

Prosperity Theology/Prosperity Doctrine proponents we learn therefrom include David Yonggi Cho, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, T. D. Jakes, Eddie Long, Joel Osteen, Peter Popoff, Joseph Prince, Brian Tamaki, Robert Tilton, Mike Velarde and Edir Macedo. Indeed: A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD (God) is the maker of them all. - Proverbs 22:1-2 Lands at Ease, Much Like America Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. - Ezekiel 16:49 (The Book of Jasher XIX.44 echoes
this sentiment)

The following homily deals with the rich who are not rich in God. Almost by definition a rich man is without God: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Matthew 6:19-21 The Charge of the Rich Let your love be for God and not for unrighteous mammon. Aid the poor and the needy:

As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty (proud), nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that is life indeed (that they may receive eternal life). - 1Timothy 6:17-19 I (Jesus) tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon (money), so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. - Luke 16:9 (See Luke 16:13) Love of Money is the Root of All Evils But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money (greed) is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wondered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs. - 1Timothy 6:9-10 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have - Hebrews 13:5 Does This Sound Like You? Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days (for retirement, as with 401Ks and other personal fortunes, what God calls prosperous ease). Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord (God) of hosts (many illegal aliens in America are employed in landscaping and as farm workers. Many are cheated of their fair wages). You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts (a reference in part to the obesity epidemic in America today) in a day of slaughter. - James 5:1-6 See also Psalms 37:16-17, Psalms 73:1-20 and Psalms 92:7. While the wicked prosper now they are doomed to hell. Unrighteous Mammon Idolic images come in many forms, the least of which is statuary in nature and whose likes include money, art, film, pornography and television images. But money is a big one, often containing human images. Psalms 135:15 informs us the idols of the nations are silver and gold, which is a reference to money and riches. For many people, their wealth and power are their gods: He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (money), who will entrust you to the true riches (the riches of Gods kingdom)? And if you have

not been faithful in that which is anothers (everything we have is Gods), who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Mammon was the Syrian god of riches). - Luke 16:10-13 (See also Matthew 6:24) (the poor are
rich in faith)

Ezekiel 33:31 speaks of those who hear the truth but will not accept it, and though with their lips they profess much love for God their hearts are set on gain and riches. Our various forms of money have images on them. On our money can be found the pictorial representations of former Presidents, images of our American Caesars. Money makes our world go round and many chase after such idols in pursuit of riches and power. The greedy who covet riches covet idols: And he (Jesus) said to them, Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a mans life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? And he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease (retire), eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. - Luke 12:13-21 The Temple tax in Jerusalem during the days of Jesus could not be paid in Gentilean foreign coinage bearing idolic images of the Caesars. These had to be exchanged for coinage acceptable to the Judaic priesthood, coins which bore no human images. Jesus overturned the tables of these moneychangers in the Temple as this practice unjustly hurt the poor. Indeed, Judas, the keeper of the money purse for the Twelve Disciples, chose his idols, the 30 pieces of silver coinage, over the life of Jesus. Judas rejected Jesus in favor of riches. Judas chose money over eternal life and later would come to regret it. Money Cant Buy Happiness He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity. - Ecclesiastes 5:10 Nearly Impossible for a Rich Man to Enter Heaven And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran out and knelt before him (Jesus), and asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone (all fall short of the glory of God). You know the commandments: Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth. And Jesus looking upon him, loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful;

for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around to his disciples, How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (the eye of a needle referred to a man sized door within a much larger door such as was found in a city gate, not the eye of a sewing needle, a common misconception). And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, Then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God. - Mark
10:17-27 (See also Matthew 19:16-26 and Luke 18:18-27)

Luke 16:19-31 contains the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Therein Jesus tells us the weak and the poor will be comforted after their resurrection to eternal life, and Lazarus here represents this group. Likewise, the rich represented by the Rich Man who have not love and good works receive hell (See Matthew 25:31-46 and Proverbs 28:27). The reference to the Rich Mans brothers having Abraham, Moses and the prophets refers to the fact that the law of God as spoken from the mouths of Abraham, Moses and the prophets mandated help for the poor and needy and warns of the consequences for those who do not comply. The Rich Man ignored the warnings of Abraham, Moses and the prophets as did his brothers and so we are told neither would they listen should someone rise from the dead, which is a reference to the rejection of Gods persistent message, spoken this time through Jesus who repeats the warnings of Abraham, Moses and the prophets. This parable shows how the poor who are rich in faith, here symbolically represented by Lazarus, receive eternal life while the unrighteous rich are subjected to eternal torment in hell (See Proverbs 28:27, Proverbs 29:7, Proverbs 21:13 and Proverbs 14:31). Lazarus is carried by the angels (in cherubim) during the Rapture to Abrahams bosom signifying entrance into Gods kingdom upon receiving eternal life during the First-Resurrection, and not immediately upon death. Indeed, though many had died before Jesus and after Jesus, 1Timothy 6:15-16 states that Jesus alone has immortality, that is, Jesus is the only one to have died and been resurrected to eternal life in heaven. For other scriptures pertaining to the rich, see also James 2:5-7, Proverbs 11:4,28, Proverbs 13:7-8, Proverbs 14:20, Proverbs 15:16, Proverbs 16:8,19, Proverbs 18:23, Proverbs 21:6, Proverbs 22:7, Proverbs 22:16, Proverbs 23:4-5, Proverbs 28:6,11,20,22,25 and Proverbs 30:7-9. Taxing the Poor God, speaking through the prophet Amos, warns it is a transgression against God to tax the poor (See Amos 5:11). See also Proverbs 22:16 concerning tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the poor. In Conclusion But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. - Luke 6:24 Heed the warnings of Proverbs 14:12 deemed of such importance it was repeated in Proverbs 16:25: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Beware your belief in the Prosperity Doctrine.