The Case for Prosperity

Prosperity can be a real problem. As new Chris­tian churches have flourished in the non-Western world in recent decades, their conservative attitudes on theological and moral issues have caused some discomfort for liberal-minded Euro-Ameri­cans. In one specific area though, namely, the prosperity gospel, criticisms cross partisan boundaries. Even ob­servers deeply sympathetic to the rising churches of Africa or Latin America are troubled by the astonishing success of U.S.-inspired megachurch preachers who present health, wealth and material success as the essential promises of the Christian faith.