Prosperity gospel

The Prosperity gospel also known as Word of Faith, Prosperity theology, Health and Wealth Gospel, Word-Faith or simply Faith, is a movement within Pentecostal and charismatic churches worldwide. Its central doctrine is that health and prosperity are promised to all believers, and are available through faith. For this reason, it has also become known as "Health and Wealth", although this is a term usually applied perjoratively by its critics. Other names, reflecting major aspects of the movement, include "Name it and claim it" and "Positive Confession".

Origins
Word-Faith teachings trace their roots to E.W. Kenyon (1867-1948), a New England evangelical pastor who taught that health and finances were the right of every believer who would claim the promises of Scripture through faith. Claiming promises was done by believing and verbally confessing the relevant scriptures, and thus Kenyon coined the phrase, "What I confess, I possess."

Pentecostal preacher Kenneth Hagin (1917-2003), of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was heavily influenced by Kenyon's writings, and began teaching the same doctrines as early as the 1930s. Hagin is often referred to as being the "father" of the modern Word-Faith, movement. He elaborated on Kenyon's theology of confession, preaching a four-part formula for receiving God's promises: "Say it; do it; receive it; tell it."

Other preachers in Tulsa were mentored by "Dad" Hagin, and began to preach the same doctrines. The most prominent of these is Kenneth Copeland.

Healing
The Word-Faith movement teaches that physical healing was included in Christ's atonement, and therefore is available here and now to all who believe. Frequently cited in favor of the doctrine is Isaiah 53:5: "By his stripes we are healed."

Because Isaiah speaks in the present tense ("we are healed"), many of the most prominent Faith preachers teach that believers should deny the symptoms of sickness, and instead positively confess that they are already healed. Sickness is an attempt by Satan to rob believers of their divine right to total health.

Most do not openly advocate dispensing with medical treatment, although some, such as Fred Price, have claimed to be strong enough in faith that they no longer need medicine.

Little 'gods'
A common Faith teaching is that believers are "little gods". Kenneth Hagin wrote that God "made us in the same class of being that He is himself," and that the believer is "called Christ" because "that's who were are, we're Christ!" According to Hagin, by being "born again", the believer becomes "as much an incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth". Kenneth Copeland says Adam was "not a little like God ... not almost like God ... not subordinate to God even", and has told believers that "You don't have a God in you. You are one." A common theme in Word-Faith preaching is that God created man as "an exact duplication of God's kind."

This has proved one of the most contentious doctrines with the movement's critics, who consider it heresy. Hanegraaff contends the 'little gods' doctrine is on a par with the teaching of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Jim Jones. In response, Faith defenders have claimed the teaching is simply underscoring the biblical view of the believer's "true identity in Christ", and is no more heretical than similar-sounding claims by C.S. Lewis and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Prosperity
According to Word-Faith theology, financial prosperity and wealth was also included in the Atonement. This is based on an interpretation of the words of the apostle Paul: "Yet for your sakes he became poor, that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

It is frequently taught that Jesus and the apostles were rich, and therefore believers should expect the same financial success.

Faith & confession
In Word-Faith teaching, the central element of faith is "confession". The doctrine is often labelled "Positive Confession". Noted Word-Faith teachers such as Hagin and Charles Capps have argued that God created the universe through the power of the spoken word (Genesis 1), and that humans were created with the same power to speak things into being by their words. Thus, making a positive confession (by reciting a promise of Scripture, for example) has the power to cause things to happen. Word-Faith preachers have likened faith to a "force".

Conversely, according to Word-Faith teaching, "negative confession" can bring about negative results, and therefore believers should be careful to watch their words. This is often based on a literal interpretations of Proverbs 18:21: "Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and they that love them will eat the fruit thereof."

Preachers & ministries
Proponents of the doctrine in the United States include Creflo Dollar, Frederick K.C. Price, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Marilyn Hickey, Rod Parsley, T.D. Jakes, Jesse Duplantis, Oral Roberts, Joyce Meyer, John Avanzini and Keith Butler, among others. Many of these pastors appear regularly on Trinity Broadcasting Network, whose founders and directors Paul and Jan Crouch are also proponents of the Word-Faith doctrine.

In Australia, Pastor Brian Houston of Hillsong Church promotes Word-Faith doctrine. In South Africa, Ray McCauley is the movement's chief proponent, and in the United Kingdom, Clive Pick and Paul Scanlon are among the main Word-Faith preachers.

Critics & controversy
One of the earliest critics of the movement was Oral Roberts University's Professor Charles Farah, who published From the Pinnacle of the Temple in 1979. In the book, Farah expressed his disillusionment with the movement's teachings, which he argued were more about presumption than faith.

The following decade was to see several severe critiques of the movement, including Dan R. McConnell's A Different Gospel, in which the author followed the research of scholar Dale H. Simmons in suggesting that the Faith teachings had their origin in the metaphysical cults of the 19th century, in particular New Thought and Christian Science.

In 1993, Hank Hanegraaff's Christianity in Crisis charged the Faith movement with heresy, and accused many of its churches of being "cults". He accused the Faith teachers of "demoting" God and Jesus, and "deifying" man and Satan.

Other critics, such as Ole Anthony, Norman Geisler, Dave Hunt and Roger Oakland, have denounced Word-Faith theology as aberrant and contrary to the teachings of the Bible. Critics have also condemned the teachings on wealth, arguing that the Bible condemns the pursuit of riches.

Relevant passages

 * Salvation


 * Faith


 * Faith and Prayer


 * God's Will


 * Giving


 * Wealth (in addition to giving)


 * Healing

Criticism of Word of Faith

 * Charismatic Chaos by John MacArthur (ISBN 0310575729)
 * Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff (ISBN 0890819769)
 * A Different Gospel by Dan R. McConnell (ISBN 1565631323)
 * New Wine or Old Deception by Roger Oakland (ISBN 0936728620)
 * Seduction of Christianity by Dave Hunt (ISBN 0890814414)
 * Righteous Riches. The Word of Faith Movement in contemporary African American Religion by Milmon F. Harrison (ISBN 019515388)

Support of Word of Faith

 * Faith and the Pharisees: Sincere Critics Have Been Sincerely Wrong by Ted Rouse (ISBN 1890900036)
 * The Laws of Prosperity by Kenneth Copeland (ISBN 0881149527)
 * Quenching the Spirit: Discovering the Real Spirit Behind the Charismatic Controversy by William DeArteaga (ISBN 0884194329)
 * The Tongue: A Creative Force by Charles Capps (ISBN 0892740612)
 * What You Say Is What You Get by Don Gossett (ISBN 0883680661)