_Apologetics research resources on religious cults and sects - Pensacola Outpouring, Pentecostalism, Post-Modernism, Etc._ (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/p00.html) <<Prosperity Teaching _Aberrant_ (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/a26.html) doctrine, largely promoted by the _Word-Faith_ (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/w00.html#wordf) movement. Here's how it is sold: God wants you to be rich, but He can not bless you unless you first send money (a.k.a. "seed-faith offering") to whichever televangelist or teacher tells you about this scheme. Perfected by _Oral Roberts_ (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/r00.html#roberts) , Kenneth Copeland, the _Universal Church of the Kingdom of God_ (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/i04.html) , et al. >> The notion derives largely from the promise of the tithe -- if you give God 10% of your income He will reward you ten-fold. TV Evangelists particularly used this to get sick poor little old women to donate to their cause. Oral Roberts you surely know of -- his giant Praying Hands entrance to his musem which, though he was still alive when he built it (I have no idea if he's alive now or not) has the entire front room devoted to his life; the super-high towering hospital where the patients could be as close to God as possible while being treated (Babel 2); his promises of prosperity to anyone who would donate. Trickle down effect was, in Churches, if you didn't display signs of wealth you obviously weren't a God-honoring Christian. These preachers didn't try to reconcile scriptures (e.g. prosperity & eye of the needle) with one another. They were consummate professionals at ripping a verse out of context and making it mean anything that would serve their purposes. Unfortunately the "faith trumphs all" thing in the Pentecostal movement caused questioning, examining, thinking (aka "doubting") to be a sin, so people swallowed whole anything fed them, in their righteousness. Critical thinking was a sin. Julie Krueger ========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: lit-ideas Digest V1 #129 Date: 11/14/04 9:29:36 PM Central Standard Time From: _aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) To: _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) , _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on: Sorry, I've been preoccupied, just saw this. No, I haven't heard the prosperity sermons. I'm really curious how they rationalize this. I'll guess that God bestows success on them because they deserve it, the old Puritan settlers in America line. Am I close? It still doesn't explain this line about the camel. Andy -----Original Message----- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx Sent: Nov 13, 2004 2:31 PM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: lit-ideas Digest V1 #129 <<Bush and some other Evangelicals are quite wealthy. It makes me wonder how they reconcile wealth with the Bible's notion that a rich man will enter heaven the way a camel goes through the eye of a needle, or words to that effect. >> I guess you haven't heard the Prosperity sermons rampant by TV Evangelists. Julie Krueger ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html