Prosperity Gospel vs The Gospel

By Dr Joseph Kinyanjui Karanja

Prosperity Gospel vs The Gospel

Sweety foods are tasty at the glands. It feels good to have it in the mouth. However, as these delicacies, flavoured with salts, sugars, colorings, preservatives, acids, artificial additives and fats get into our stomachs, and finally absorbed in the bloodstream, they end up costing us dearly, through life threatening diseases, or even death.

Herbs and fibre rich foods on the other hand are bitter and tasteless. However, as they get absorbed into our bodies, they rejuvenate our body cells, clearing every trace of infection. This is occasioned by their possession of healing properties and nutritional value. They do not only boost vitality. Rather, they promote our health as well.

This is exactly what happens when we consume prosperity gospel stuff. Prosperity gospel is sweet to the ear, and appealing to the eye. However, the effects are disastrous. Prosperity gospel does not only malnourish the Spirit man. Rather, it kills him altogether.

Prosperity gospel is so popular. It is the most sought product at the market today. It sells like hot cakes. This is contrary to the true gospel that is shunned, hence, fulfilling the scripture in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (nkjv)

'Prosperity gospel' depicts itself as The Gospel, though in actual sense it is not. Beneath it lies deception that is not noticeable. The spiritual venom concealed in prosperity gospel is highly dangerous. It slowly consumes its recipient's soul, and eventually kills it.

This book aims at unveiling this flawed and mega deception, and attempt to separate the lie from the Truth.

Dr Joseph Kinyanjui Karanja is the senior pastor of The Fruitful Brethren Christian Centre, Ruiru, Kenya. He holds a Doctorate in counseling, a Doctorate in Christian Theology, a Masters in Counseling Psychology, and a Bachelors degree in Education (Arts), among others. Dr Kinyanjui is also the author of 'The Eschatological Dilemma'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr Joseph Kinyanjui Karanja
• Release date: Jan 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224357055

Dr Joseph Kinyanjui Karanja

Dr Joseph Kinyanjui Karanja is the senior pastor of The FBCC, Ruiru, Kenya. He holds a Doctorate in Counseling, a Doctorate in Christian Theology, a Masters in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor's degree in Education (Arts) among others.

Book preview

Forward

This book, Prosperity ‘Gospel’ vs the Gospel, is a long overdue contribution to the church of Jesus Christ. The subject of prosperity Gospel is one of those issues which demands serious thinking, research and discussion.

The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with an understanding of the subject from two perspectives: prosperity Gospel and the Gospel. Research for this book has been done among various churches and congregations globally. This provides the basis for our understanding of prosperity Gospel vs the Gospel. Serious study of the word of God has been made to understand each topic from the biblical perspective.

Therefore, I strongly recommend this book as a textbook for pastoral training institutions. It is also recommended for use in church seminars. The book is valuable for every Christian who is willing to grow and know the truth. It is also good for any Christian preparing for Church leadership. This book enables Christians to understand what prosperity Gospel is from a biblical angle.

Rev. Dr Harrison Mburu

Preface

Ihave served as Pentecostal minister for the last three and a half decades. In the early nineteen nineties when I started to serve God, the prosperity gospel teachings had not gained roots in the Kenyan Society. The impact was still mild, with just a few churches in the urban centres embracing this theology. The scenario is quite different today. Prosperity gospel has spread deep into the Kenyan rural villages. With time, I joined the band wagon. I believed in the prosperity gospel theology, preached it, taught it and practiced it. To me, it was the correct theology. Anybody who had different opinion contrary to mine, was wrong. I taught and preached it with vigor, gusto and determination.

A while ago, before penning down this testimony, I developed some discomfort about prosperity gospel theology. The discomfort persisted for close to two years. I had not come across any book or literature critiquing prosperity gospel theology then. With the severe discomfort, I decided to go back to the scriptures, the very scriptures I had taught and preached for years. I felt like a fleck had fallen off from my eyes. I could now see clearly and in original form, the scriptures that prosperity gospel theology had misinterpreted. This far, it had not clicked to me that the discomfort I was experiencing was the Spirit of God working within me.   The Spirit of God had opened my eyes and convicted me from the deception of holding on a flawed theology. I sought God for forgiveness, for having misled His people all this long.

In my search, I bumped on some materials critiquing prosperity gospel theology. As a scholar, I quite often visited the libraries and the net. Interestingly enough, all this time I interacted with the net, I never came across such materials. I wondered how all this time, by any chance I had not seen such literature? It was intriguing. That I was bumping on this literature at this time, long after my conviction. Among the literature I came across was, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Kate Bowler, and Christianity in Crisis 21st Century by Hank Hanegraaff, two great works in the field of correcting this wrong theology. Bumping on this literature, was a confirmation of my conviction. From this mystery, that is, having not bumped on this kind of literature before, despite frequent visits at the net for my scholarly search, led me to draw only one conclusion. That your eyes see, only what they want to see.

A song that used to be sang in my community when I was growing up, came so real to me, and made a lot of sense. The song, directly interpreted stated, "surely, it is quite bad, for somebody who does not know, that he doesn’t know. For I lived without knowing, and I did not know that I never knew, neither did I have any clue that I did not know’’.

My entire spiritual system, was saturated with prosperity gospel venom. I had to urgently do two things: One, detox the spiritual poison that was already affixed within my system, and two, avoid consuming any more prosperity gospel poison that would take me back to the state I was. To ensure this was effectively done, I had to firmly guard the two gates to my soul. I did this as I detoxed myself through the most powerful spiritual detoxing agent - the word of God (Eph. 5:26; John 17:17). From that point in time, I purposed to promote the truth, with the same vigor and determination, as I did when I was promoting the flawed prosperity gospel theology.

I felt a heavy load dropped off my shoulders. There was a big sigh of relief. I was now breathing air of freedom from the prosperity gospel prison. But then, my heart was so troubled and in deep sorrow. I remembered the millions of my Christian brethren who were still held up in the prison of prosperity gospel, yet they did not know, that they were holding onto a wrong theology, just as I was before my conviction.

Joseph Kinyanjui Karanja

Ruiru, Kenya.

January, 2024

Acknowledgement

First and foremost , I acknowledge the Almighty God whom I serve, for granting me strength to write this book. I also acknowledge all the men and women, who have devoted and sacrificed their precious time to write on this subject, with the aim of correcting a serious error that has misled the Body of Jesus Christ, hence, deviating the Christian believers from focusing on the truth, and instead believing in heresy.

Table of Contents

Forward

Preface

Acknowledgement

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

UNDERSTANDING PROSPERITY GOSPEL THEOLOGY

CHAPTER TWO

HISTORY OF PROSPERITY GOSPEL

CHAPTER THREE

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROSPERITY ‘GOSPEL’

CHAPTER FOUR

PROSPERITY ‘GOSPEL’ VS THE GOSPEL

CHAPTER FIVE

FOCUS OF PROSPERITY GOSPEL THEOLOGY

CHAPTER SIX

LOVING THE WORLD

CHAPTER SEVEN

PROSPERITY ‘GOSPEL’ – GUILTY OF IDOLATRY

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE DANGER OF COMPLACENCY

CHAPTER NINE

IMPORTANCE OF THEOLOGICAL TRAINING

CHAPTER TEN

CARE OF GOD’S SERVANT

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE STATISTICS

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN PROSPERITY GOSPEL

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

PROSPERITY GOSPEL MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT

PARTING SHOT

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

T welve voices were shouting in anger and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs? The creatures outside looked from pig to men, and from men to pig, and from pig to men again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. This is the concluding statement of the famous novel Animal Farm by a renowned writer of our time – George Orwell.

A revolution had taken place. The animals, led by Napoleon plotted a rebellion against Mr. Jones, because of what they termed as tyranny rule of their human masters. The success of the rebellion was because of the philosophy of animalism initiated by Old Major before he died. Mr. Jones and his men were chased from the farm. The farm that was initially known as Manor Farm changed to Animal Farm.

The pigs because of their intelligence, took the supervisory role in the farm. There was an attempt by Mr. Jones to come back and retake the farm, but the animals repelled this move. Napoleon, due to his greed for power, became a totalitarian dictator leading to mass killings of innocent animals, through his royal guards – the dogs. The pigs moved to Mr. Jones’ house and began sleeping in beds. The animal’s food ratio was reduced, while the pigs grew fatter and fatter. Napoleon engaged in timber business with Mr. Jones, who had moved to another farm, and joined another farmer – Fredrick, who paid the consignment of timber ordered by Napoleon with fake notes.

In the meantime, a lot of changes had taken place in the farm. The seven commandments of animalism were broken by the pigs. The language of their command was also revised as well. For instance, one of the commandments was: No animal shall drink alcohol! It happened that one night, the pigs became drunk. This commandment was revised to read: No animal shall drink alcohol to excess!

As time progressed, Napoleon bought more fields from his neighbors. The life of the rest of the animals deteriorated, while that of the pigs flourished. Finally, the pigs started walking on their hind legs and adopted many other characteristics of their former human oppressors. The seven commandments were reduced to one law: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. Then the worst scenario happened.

Towards the end, we witness Mr. Pilkington (A neighboring farmer who was a human being) sharing drinks with the pigs in Mr. Jones’ house. Napoleon finally reverts the name Animal Farm to Manor Farm. Pilkington and Napoleon engaged in a card-game – a game associated with human beings. As this party was going on at Mr. Jones’ house, the animals were watching from outside through the window. They were unable to distinguish who was who, between the pigs and men. The animals who were watching, were totally confused.

The animals who were watching from outside were a disappointed lot. This was not what they expected from Napoleon and his ruling class – the pigs. The purpose of the revolution was to bring change to the farm. Immediately, after the revolution, the animals came up with very good rules to govern them. The rules corrected all the evils committed by men. It was a new dawn. The life of the animals was also expected to improve. The animal’s kingdom was not supposed to relate with human beings in the neighborhood, including Mr. Jones who was overthrown.

Napoleon changed and reduced the commandments to one that favored him and the pigs. The pigs started sleeping in beds and drinking alcohol. Those were habits that were only meant for human beings. Actually, the reign of Napoleon and his ruling class – the pigs, was worse than that of human rule under Mr. Jones. No wonder the animals could not believe what they saw through the window.

The Christian believers, once belonged to the world kingdom (Manor Farm). They drank alcohol and engaged in other worldly practices. They walked worldly (on hind legs), behaved like the world (slept on beds and played card-games). After salvation, they settled at the New Kingdom of God (Animal Farm). The rules that governed the other kingdom were changed to new ones governing their Christian faith. From that moment, its God’s commandments that were to apply because they were a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).

The commandments of God have been revised by the church (see the change of the Sabbath law, for instance). Christian believers were expected to live in accordance to God’s law (see seven commandments of the Animal Farm). The scriptures have been distorted from its original form to suit selfish leadership of the prosperity gospel preachers. They have gone back to the habits and practices they engaged in while they were in the world, (see the pigs sleeping on beds, walking on hind legs and playing card-games). By doing so, the Christian believers were not different from the worldly people.

The prosperity gospel preachers are greedy, lusting for earthly wealth, just as Napoleon was ambitiously expanding his boundaries and bought more fields from his human neighbours. The prosperity gospel preachers are so pre-occupied with preaching earthly riches, rather than heavenly riches. They are busy amassing wealth and living lavishly. Christian believers are supposed to shun luxury living, and be willing to suffer in this life for the sake of Christ and the gospel. See the pigs for instance. They were supposed to sleep on the floor, but chose to sleep on beds which was contrary to animalism philosophy. The language of the pigs also changed. The language of prosperity gospel preachers is that of materialism and riches, rather than the godly language e.g., repentance, holiness, etc.

The unbelievers have great expectation on the Church leadership and Christian believers. They expect to see light in the dark world through the light emitted by the believers’ lives. But when they listen to their language, and watch their conduct, they are unable to distinguish between the unbelieving world, and the so called Christians. To them, these Christian believers and the world are one and the same. If anything, they are even worse than the world. Napoleon and the pig’s regime were worse than that of Mr. Jones, according to the animal’s assessment at the Animal Farm. It is a sorry state!

According to New International Bible Dictionary, the English word ‘gospel’ is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘godspell’, which meant ‘good tidings’ and later, the ‘story concerning God’. As now used, the word describes the message of Christianity and the books in which the record of Christ’s life and teaching is found. The message is the Good News, that God has provided a way of redemption through His son Jesus Christ. Through the gospel, the Holy Spirit works for salvation of human beings (Rom. 1:15-16). In the New Testament, the word means a book; instead, it always refers to the good tidings, which Christ and the apostles announced.  The Good News was meant to be the avenue reconciling fallen man to God. It is the platform by which Christ is revealed to mankind. The Good news unveils Jesus Christ as the only Truth, the Way and the Life.  The message delivered by the Master and the apostles, was simple, and full of power.

John the Baptist introduced the message. Throughout his ministry, John’s message was, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  The theme of John’s message was man’s redemption from sin, and his reconciliation back to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus picked from where John left. A foundation had already been laid. That was John’s mandate – to prepare the way for the Lord. From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to proclaim, Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.  For three years, Jesus preached the Good News to the poor, He healed the broken hearted, He preached deliverance to the captives, and He gave sight to the blind and set at liberty those that were bruised.

The message of the Lord throughout His ministry was on: Sin and consequences of sin, faith in Him, repentance, forgiveness, self-denial, caution against riches, loving God and men (neighbor), the Kingdom of God and eternity, holy living, heaven, hell and His second coming (the eschatological factor). The teachings of the Lord focused on nurturing the spirit man.

The Lord appointed and prepared the apostles to continue with the gospel from where He left. Their starting point was in the great commission – introducing the Lord Jesus Christ to the world. The two key mandates in the great commission were: evangelism and discipleship. Those who believed were to be baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The apostles preached the gospel, exactly as they were taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. They upheld the theme of the gospel and guarded it from perversion. They preached the resurrected Christ and salvation through repentance. The apostles emulated the Lord Jesus Christ by living a simple life. They demonstrated this practically by selling their possessions and sharing to the needy, among the Christian believers.  The early Church set the pace. That is, grounding the faith on the pillars that it was built on. Apostle Paul reminds the Church in Ephesus that, they are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone. 

Throughout her history, the Church has gone through tremendous transformation. Although the Apostolic Church laid a proper foundation and pursued a selfless approach in executing its mandate, the modern Church has drifted away from that original course. The true gospel of Jesus Christ is exceedingly facing severe threat posed by the prosperity gospel that is anchored on falsehood and heresy. This book unveils these heresies that conflicts and rivals the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It is worth to note that prosperity gospel churches do not identify themselves with the tag prosperity gospel. The only way to identify them, is through the characteristics of prosperity gospel.

When reading this book, note: -

i) All the Bible scriptures referred to in this book, have been quoted from KJV, unless otherwise stated.

ii) Some Bible scriptures have been quoted more than once, and some statements repeated because of thematic overlap. Where they appear more than once, they appear on a different context.

iii) The personal pronoun he in this book is also used to refer to the female gender she where applicable.

CHAPTER ONE

UNDERSTANDING PROSPERITY GOSPEL THEOLOGY

Collins English Dictionary defines the noun prosperity gospel as a modern version or, according to some, perversion of the gospel according to which the full blessings of God is available to those who approach Him in faith and obedience, include wealth, health and power.  Of worth to note here are the words: wealth and health. Prosperity gospel and prosperity theology are occasionally used interchangeably. Your Dictionary defines the noun prosperity theology as a religious belief that wealth is a divine reward for personal faith in God.  The emphasis in this definition of prosperity theology is in wealth, with the word health notably missing.

Whereas the prosperity gospel would connote the message delivered, prosperity theology signifies the system in a broader manner. Besides the two terminologies, i.e. the prosperity gospel and prosperity theology, it is also viewed as a movement. Lausanne Theology Working Group adds some other terminologies in defining the prosperity gospel. The group defines prosperity gospel as the teaching that one can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and sowing of seeds through the faithful payment of tithes and offerings.  In Lausanne’s definition, positive confessions and sowing of seeds comes into the scene.

Wilson and Walton, defines prosperity theology as a religious belief among some protestant Christians, that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one’s material wealth. This theology views the Bible as a contract between God and human.  According to Walton, Prosperity theology views the Bible as a contract between God and humans: If humans have faith in God, He will deliver security and prosperity.  From these definitions, it is apparent that the prosperity gospel doctrinal principles are based on holding in faith for attainment of health and wealth through positive confession. This attainment of health and wealth could be influenced by giving or sowing of seeds".

Prosperity gospel is synonymous with: faith movement, word of faith, health and wealth gospel, gospel of success, seed faith, positive confession theology as well as name it and claim it gospel. All these tags refer to one and the same thing.

Prosperity theology is viewed as a perversion of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This theology claims that God rewards increases in health and wealth depending on our level of faith, as Pongo quotes Stephen Hunt who writes, In the forefront is the doctrine of the assurance of divine physical health and prosperity through faith. In short, this means that health and wealth are the automatic divine rights of all Bible-believing Christians and may be procreated by faith as part of the package of salvation, since the atonement of Christ includes not just the removal of sin, but also removal of sickness and poverty.

To claim that Christ’s atonement removed sickness and poverty is not only erroneous, but dilution of the actual purpose of Christ’s atonement. Jones by citing Ken Sarles observation in the article A theological Evaluation of the Prosperity Gospel confirms this claim. That both physical healing and financial prosperity have been provided for in the atonement. The claim would appear accurate if seen in the light of Copeland’s statement that, the basic principle of the Christian life is to know that God put our sin, sickness, disease, sorrow, grief and poverty on Jesus at Calvary.

Prosperity gospel hold to the doctrine of material entitlement due to the Abrahamic covenant as seen in (Genesis Chapter 12, 15, 17 & 22). According to prosperity gospel theology, Abrahamic covenant was aimed at God blessing Abraham materially. As Abraham’s spiritual children, the believers automatically inherit these material blessings. This claim is based on (Gal. 3:14) that says:

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promises of the Sprit through faith.

Whereas there is no dispute as far as part a of this verse is concerned, however, the emphasis is in part b which prosperity gospel teachers ignore.  There is need to get to the contextual meaning of this scripture. Apostle Paul makes it very clear to the Galatians that through Abrahamic covenant, they have received spiritual blessings of salvation. That promise of Abrahamic blessings came through Jesus Christ as is explained in (Gal. 3:16).

Prosperity gospel theology believes that prayer is a component that can be used to compel God to release prosperity. The scripture encourages us to pray without ceasing, and, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we should make our requests be known to God.  It is only through prayer that a believer can connect with God. However, the prosperity gospel theology’s understanding of prayer is that we can arm-twist God through prayer to compel Him to release material blessing upon us. In other words, God has to respond to our prayers, not as per His will, but in our terms. With prosperity theology, man and not God, becomes the focal point of prayer.  They use (James 4:3); to base their argument:

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

The last part of this verse explains clearly the reason behind the prayer. The intention is for selfish purposes and not spiritual gain. In the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord teaches us to let God’s will prevail. We cannot manipulate God; neither can we dictate our terms to Him in our prayer. Man is subject to God’s will and not the other way round.

Faith, as Jones observes according to prosperity gospel, is a self-generated spiritual force that leads to prosperity. Prosperity preachers demonstrate faith as a spiritual energy or spiritual power. It is this, force of faith which makes the laws of the spirit world function. This is better explained by Jone’s reference on Copelands writing; The laws of prosperity. According to prosperity gospel, faith is not to be granted by God, where the action centers on His will. Instead, it is the human effort that direct God to act. A theology that sees faith more importantly as an avenue to gain material possession, instead of it being a justification before God is wanting.  For we are justified not by our works or human effort, but by faith through Christ. The scripture tells us in (Romans 4:3):

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

The scripture Apostle Paul is quoting in (Gen. 15:6) expresses that Abraham was credited with righteousness due to his faith in God. "He did not do any work to earn the credit, and so was entitled to be regarded as righteous. He was justified simply because he trusted God.

A major hallmark of prosperity theology is found in the act of giving. Giving is an important virtue in the life of a believer. Giving should be seen as an act of worship and expression of thanksgiving to God – who is the source of all things. However, in prosperity theology, the act of giving is pegged to a condition. Christians give so as to gain material compensation from God. If there is no reciprocation, the giver ends up in disappointment. The giver is bound to heap blame on himself, if no response was forthcoming. This is what prosperity teacher Robert Tilton refers to as law of compensation according to Jones, where the law is based on Mark 10:34. 

According to prosperity theology, financial blessing is a guaranteed result of faith in God.  Seed faith is deeply entrenched in prosperity theology. The teaching emphasizes that the financial blessings received is commensurate with the seed sown. Members are encouraged to sow generously either to the ministry, or specifically to the preacher. The concept of seed sowing is described in the gospels. As Michel Bell notes, the life is in the seed, which is God’s word. Jesus follower’s heart is the soil. And obedience to the word is the fertilizer that causes blessings to flow. Yes, obedience, not money sent to a preacher.

Health is another blessing promised to believers according to prosperity gospel theology. Prosperity theology has been heavily influenced by the New Thought Movement introduced by E. W. Kenyon. The movement ushered in doctrines of supernatural revelations and positive declarations. According to New Thought, David Jones & Russel Woodbridge writes, In order to attain health and wealth, you must form a clear, distinct mental image of health and wealth, and then take mental ownership of that picture. You must have faith that the subject of your desire is already yours. Jones & Russell quotes, Wattles, one of these New Thought writers stating, You simply take possession of it (the mental picture), in mind, in the full faith that it is actually yours. Hold to this mental ownership; do not waiver for an instant, in the faith that is real.

Prosperity theology casts itself as a reclamation of true doctrine. This position therefore, places it as part of a path to Christian dominion amid secular society.  It contends that God’s promises of prosperity and victory to Israel in the Old Testament apply to New Covenant Christian today, and that faith and holy actions release this prosperity.  This claim means that the blessings of Israel have been taken over by the Church, in what is referred to as replacement theology.

Has the Church really taken blessings of Israel? That the whole of Abrahamic covenant has been abolished in favor of the Church? Does God revoke His promises? In Genesis 17:7-8, God declares:

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, the land