Prosperity Gospel Definition

“An obsession with possessions enslaves us to the demon of worry. Jesus invites us to change our priorities, focus on the kingdom, and share with the needy” (Kraybill, 2011, p.101). A man’s wealth will be measured by the love, kindness and empathy he has for the poor and the hungry in Gods kingdom. For this matter Jesus wants the wealthy to humble themselves and receive their blessing by offering opportunities to the poor instead of being greedy and celebrating their own wealth.

Andrew Carnegie, "The Gospel of Wealth," discusses the way human life has transformed over the years. These changes can be good or bad ones, depending on how people use them. People are becoming more civilized. Every change has a price to pay, nothing comes without demands. Later on the text evolves into discussing surplus wealth and how people handle it. The three methods of adjusting excess wealth. One in which the leftover wealth goes to the family. As right as this may seem, it has some drawbacks, for one, the son may not want to work hard to earn wealth since it was passed down to him already. No incentive for him to get an education or career. The second method is used for public purposes. As noble as this sounds, the individual waited

28). He describes wealth as a “…blessing to mankind,” (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s perspective of causality dissents from Weber and Sellers; he believes that, “…one effect invariably produced by Christianity upon an uncivilized people receiving it is to multiply the wealth of that people,” (Gladden, 5). He argues, Protestantism, and ultimately Christianity, cause people to desire material goods (Class notes, Feb. 28). Thus, Christianity cannot be against capitalism without contradicting itself (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s evidence for his argument stems from the Bible. Gladden contends that there are statements in the Old Testament in which “…the possession and the increase of wealth are adduced as proofs of the favor of God,” (Gladded, 6). Wherefore, the New Testament supplements this argument by clarifying that is expected for men to accumulate wealth and possessions, but also God admonishes people valuing material goods over spiritual good, but not material wealth itself (Gladden,6). That is, people are meant to value spiritual well-being over material goods, but also remember they are commanded to be “fruitful” on earth and thus produce and amass wealth (Gladden, 7). Finally, Gladden realizes capitalism is not the problem; the problem is the unequal distribution of wealth (Class Notes, Feb. 28). He says, “No possible system will remove all

“The wealthy class is becoming more wealthy; but the poor class is becoming more dependent. "(Doc 1) from Progress and Poverty, in 1879 by Henry George, he describes a social gap between the rich and the poor. He speaks of social differences and contrasts that are becoming more prominent in noticeable. Another piece of this evidence of the gap of wealth growing larger is a source from Andrew Carnegie in the Gospel of Wealth in 1889. (Doc 2) he begins speaking of a wealthy man's responsibility to his community. He then goes on saying he (the wealthy) must act as a parental figure in reality, since they should give the poor since they lack the knowledge, experience, and more since those with money can do it better than the poor could. Andrew Carnegie is reaching out to the poor, and attempting to aid them, on the contrary, baby feeding the poor will not “Help them help themselves "as spoken by President Kennedy. By offering them opportunities rather than rations of

Stapleford presents a strong analysis of economic issues with a Christian perception that aligns with Biblical truths. He urges his audience to avoid the temptation of idolatry and materialism but to live a selfless life of sacrifice. Stapleford claims that “there is sanctity in all of labor, and without God’s involvement human labor is futile. In whatever we do, Christians are to do it heartily as unto the Lord, for we do not labor for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to everlasting life” (Stapleford, 2009).

Andrew Carnegie’s rhetoric in the “Gospel of Wealth,” challenged the economic disparities in the United States during the late 1800s by proposing a radical shift in the distribution of wealth as a solution to social improvement without understanding that poverty was not a personality deficit rather the result of oppression. Carnegie exemplified his philosophy and achieved the American Dream, yet he neglected that he was the exception to the rule, not the rule in itself. The “Gospel of Wealth” had too many assumptions, both with merit and not, when proposing how the distribution of wealth could alleviate economic hardships to the impoverished population without understanding the complexities of the working class.

Wealth is something that not all people have, but most typically want more of it. There are many people on Earth that wish they had more wealth, and there are even a select few that have too much. “The Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie is all about what should be done when there is too much wealth held by an individual. Carnegie begins his essay by describing how the disparity of wealth has changed over the years. He also describes how wealth has simply grown in general over time.

The historical significance to the Gospel of Wealth connects back to these concepts the Gilded Age, industrialization, and Social Darwinism. The Gilded Age which refers to the glamourized “gilded” layer of wealth that tried to hide America’s serious social problems. The Gilded Age was a time of economic growth. This was the time that wealthy “captains of industry” and “robber barons” manipulated the growing steel, railroad, and gold markets and became astronomically rich. (Gospel of Wealth: AP US History ). Serious labor problems arose during this time.

Christian teaching on wealth and possessions varies slightly regarding the amount of money and possessions that should be given to the poor. Some Christians follow the teaching in (Mark

The Gospel of Wealth gives three common ways to dispose of wealth to the masses and give understanding to the side Carnegie favors more by his definitions of them. As well the Gospel of Wealth shows the views of a philanthropist and the need for change in the big corporation world. In choosing to give your money to the community progress can occur more throughout your time in this

Last Week Tonight: Televangelist by comedian John Oliver illustrates his attempt to take down American televangelist who manipulate their audiences into giving them money for their own personal gain. In the TV segment, Oliver stance is clear as he believes the acts of these individuals are downright awful and pathetic. He noticeably references the “seed faith” idea used by preachers which argues that “wealth is a sign of God’s favor, and donations result in wealth coming back to you.” In many cases, individuals sent all their money with hopes to get something in return. For instance, a cancer patient refused treatment to donate money and in returned anticipated to live longer. On the other hand, televangelists are spoiling themselves to personal

When examined through a semi-technical lens, the Bible designates a significant amount of passage-space to the discussion of economic matters. Many of Jesus’ parables and the book of Proverbs seem heavily focused on such a topic. However, the Bible is far from a standard textbook that could be used in an economics class. The Bible does not go into detail explaining economic principles such as monetary and fiscal policies, aggregate supply and demand curves, inflation, etc. Instead, from a Christian perspective, the Bible acts as a framework for our actions, attitudes, and views surrounding wealth and the actions taken by ourselves and others, including national governments. One crucial aspect of economics that proves to be a significant motivating

The "rags to riches" stories by Horatio Alger have helped many people in the US to believe that hard work will lead to sussess and wealthiness. Indeed, does not matter when – 19th century or nowadays it is difficult to control your own faith. Although there is a common belief that rich people take all, there are some stories that prove othervise.

McFague and Solomon both relate religion to the current economy. Both authors seem to agree that there is something that can be done to help enhance our current economic state. Both authors advocate for the consideration of religious influence in the economy, and they both use different examples from religious texts to support their statements. McFague and Solomon use Christianity and Judaism respectfully. One of the points they both bring up is the way the poor is treated. McFague says".... how we treat needy bodies gives the clue to how a society is organized."(pg. 132) Along with this, Solomon says " No permanent remedy is readily available to heal the sickness of poverty and maldistribution of wealth."(pg. 114). In contrast with each other,

​Consequently, a man who is “poor” in material possessions many times is “rich” in character, which is spiritually defined as the nine fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.  Having friends and family members who grew up poor and who worked hard to survive to obtain material possessions, their character was strengthened or made “rich” as a result of it. They had to do the jobs that many rich people would never do, such as being a maid, construction worker, janitor and many more domestic type jobs. Although they differ in terms of definition, being “rich” and being “poor” in character can be one of the same as “poor” in spirit or humble.  For example, my great grandmother was an Indian who was very poor, but you never would have known it because she was humble, kind, loving and a peaceful woman who always shared everything she had.