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Author Topic:   Prosperity Theology
PixieJane
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posted October 19, 2013 03:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for PixieJane     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
For those who haven't heard of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology

It seems surprisingly common in the US. Lots of scams based on it, too, I understand the scammers rake in millions (and I mean individuals) from mostly poor people sending in money thinking God's gonna make 'em rich. I personally don't get why people don't pray for themselves to get rich rather than sending money to other people to pray for them.

I ticked off one lady who believed this as she absolutely loathed then President Clinton (this was late '99) and wasn't fond of me either for being a teen who had snarky things to say about the books she sold. The lady I was in her store with mentioned she was surprised that her last customer left with 9 kids who piled into a limo and the prosperity gospel lady was like "You can tell they're blessed, they have a limo." I said, "In that case God blesses many pimps and President Clinton, too." Oh how she loathed me.

Ah well, discuss if you want. One thing I'm curious about is if there are any western industrialized nation besides the United States that have a significant number who believe in this or is this another strictly US phenomenon (outside Third World countries and I'm guessing a very small number in South Korea)?

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Faith
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posted October 20, 2013 01:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Faith     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I don't know much about Rick Warren but I was sad to learn his son committed suicide recently. It's impossible to say how theology played into his mental illness, but it does make me even more curious about Rick Warren.

My best friend insists that she knows several men who read The Purpose-Driven Life and promptly filed for divorce. Weird.

I don't have enough interest in the topic to do full-blown research, but I wonder what is up with that guy? From your wiki link:

quote:
Prominent evangelical leaders, such as Rick Warren,[6] Ben Witherington III,[6] and Jerry Falwell,[57] have harshly criticized the movement, sometimes denouncing it as heretical.[6] Warren proposes that prosperity theology promotes the idolatry of money, and others argue that Jesus' teachings indicate a disdain for material wealth.[6]

So, what's the point of him doing all this?

quote:
Richard Duane "Rick" Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author.[1][2][3] He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States (this ranking includes multi-site churches).[4] He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books, including his guide to church ministry and evangelism, The Purpose Driven Church, which has spawned a series of conferences on Christian ministry and evangelism. He is perhaps best known for the subsequent devotional The Purpose Driven Life which has sold over 30 million copies, making Warren a New York Times bestselling author
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Warren

Oh, so he can invest in his own religious agenda....apparently everyone who gets rich via God is heretical unless they give the money right back to God. It's like a big, filthy rich God-loop, sort of like the Vatican bank?

quote:
Due to the success of his book sales, in 2005 Warren returned his 25 years of salary to the church and discontinued taking a salary. He says he and his wife became "reverse tithers", giving away 90% of their income and living off 10%.[11]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Warren

Yeah I never understand these people and what their point is.

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Randall
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posted October 23, 2013 11:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Interesting.

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Lei_Kuei
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posted October 29, 2013 02:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lei_Kuei     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well I'm pretty sure that's contradictory to various passages in the Bible where possessions and prosperity take a pretty low priority...

In the end people will use even the tiniest piece of scripture to justify their theology
http://www.openbible.info/topics/earthly_possessions


------------------
You can't handle my level of Tinfoil! ~ {;,;}

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Randall
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posted October 30, 2013 10:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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aquaguy91
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posted March 16, 2014 05:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for aquaguy91     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Some of that stuff just gets ridiculous.. This reminds me of the time I saw a church infomercial advertising "holy water" with the power to cure diseases and no it was not on mad tv.. This was a real infomercial.. And they wanted you to plant a financial seed to obtain it .

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Randall
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posted March 18, 2014 01:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Or little pieces of cloth.

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aquaguy91
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posted March 19, 2014 05:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for aquaguy91     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I went to a prosperity church when I was a teenager. Actually it was more than that... They combined the prosperity theology with guilt tripping to get you to put money in the offering plate. One Sunday the preacher even went so far as to say "you aren't a christian if you dont tithe ". Shortly after hearing him say that I left the church and never went back and have been disillusioned with organized religion ever since.in retrospect I can see how messed up the whole thing was. You know there is something fishy going on when the leaders of a church are also used car salesmen, which they were! And the scary thing is their church is growing rapidly. They have 5 different congregations in my county and have started other churches elsewhere.

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Randall
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posted March 22, 2014 01:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Interesting.

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Randall
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posted July 03, 2014 01:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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Ellynlvx
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From: the Point of Light within the Mind of God
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posted July 04, 2014 01:17 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ellynlvx     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm always very generous and open-handed.

It comes back.

What I really enjoy is that it is the perfectly needful thing that comes.

I don't know that people with a lot of money are always that happy. Happiness is the best thing to ask for. Happiness is a Beauty that Radiates from the Heart.

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Randall
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posted July 05, 2014 01:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
True.

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Randall
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posted July 06, 2014 01:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Giving is the key to miracles.

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Ellynlvx
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posted July 06, 2014 04:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ellynlvx     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Randall:
Giving is the key to miracles.


Giving and ThanksGiving.

The funny thing is sometimes appearances can be so contradictory.

Things happen and it would appear that they are the worst thing in the world to others, but in reality, they create the most happiness in the end.

I am often Awestruck at the Simple Complexity of the Divine Plan.

Truly, there is much to be Thankful for.

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Randall
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posted July 07, 2014 01:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Often, stumbling blocks are just intended to make us see opportunities we would have otherwise passed by.

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Ellynlvx
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posted July 08, 2014 12:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ellynlvx     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I really pay attention to these things, I like to try to figure out what acts of attention were the precursors to happenings of today.

Then you can decipher what cause and effects are in action at the time.

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Randall
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posted September 11, 2014 02:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yep!

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Randall
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posted November 11, 2014 10:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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