Friday, January 13, 2017

Prosperity Theology: No More Pie in the Sky

Really, you have to love Donald Trump.




Did you know of the 6 ministers he's inviting to pray at his Inauguration, 4 are preachers of "Prosperity Theology?"
A message with broad appeal: Worship money


As I understand this, from Professor Google--and I will have to do my own research on this by watching some of these guys on TV--this is a school of evangelical ministers who preach some version of these beliefs:
1/ Wealth on earth is a blessing from God, which means it is the visible sign of God's will that a particular individual should be rewarded, presumably because of a pure soul or for some other worthy reason. Or maybe just because.
2/ The fact that a particular prosperity minister is rich and lives in a mansion and drives expensive cars is the worldly evidence of God's blessing on that individual.
3/ Some ministers add a twist:  While some believe you cannot know why God favors you, others believe you can purchase God's favor.
If you send that preacher money, God may be pleased with you, because, after all, you are endorsing that person he has special affection for, and your reward may be that God will make you rich right now, right here on earth.


In other words, worshiping God is a contract--you send his preacher money, and God returns your investment several fold.


Got that?
When I was in college, freshman year, some professor assigned Jonathan Edwards, who wrote that there was an "elect" among human beings and you were elect not because you had done good things or thought pure thoughts but just because. No reason given. God loved you and made your life good and took you into Heaven for reasons of his own, and none of us human beings down here on Earth need know why. That's just the way it is.


J. Edwards:  Some are simply chosen

I could not understand why the professor would have assigned this reading by someone who was clearly a lunatic, but I eventually understood the idea was look, people believe or have believed all sorts of things.  We have to be aware of these beliefs to be liberally educated.  Among these beliefs is the belief that rich people, kings, have wealth and power for a reason that transcends earthly comprehension, but inasmuch as it is God's will, we humble human beings here on Earth should accept this.
The Chosen One: God's Will Manifest in Money and now Power

So now, Donald Trump is opening my mind. He is rich because God wants him to be rich. He is President because God wants him to be President.


Send your envelop stuffed with whatever cash you can get your hands on to "God: c/o Donald John Trump,  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20500






PS: Caught a little time on TV-- during which I was exhorted to join the TV church and to tithe 10% of my income to the church. And I was given a story about a woman who was earning only $35 a week and she couldn't see how she could afford to tithe, but she did anyway, and miraculously, God gave her a new job at a higher rate and so she tithed more and then another lump of money fell into her lap, and so on and now, she's rich! Yikes! These guys prey (pray) on the poorest among us. Those who can least afford it. They take a fool and his money to new heights.





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