n your opinion why does it appear that American Christianity has become the love child of Capitalism, individualism and greed. I have purused the ghettos of Christian television and have become appalled at the heresy.
Prosperity Preachers like Creflo Dollar, Jamal Bryant, Keneth Hagin, Oral Roberts and Fred Price and etc depict God as a grand slot machine; If you tithe to the church GOD will bless you with a Benz, Bentley, new house, car and more bling bling.
It seems that the thesis of there message is that to have those things are a sign of divine blessings and favor. DOES THIS POP-CULTURAL MESS BOTHER ANYONE BUT ME??????
Does it even bother anyone that these beautiful celebraty preachers who dress like characters on soap operas are not even smart and do not have earned accredidated degrees? Can't congregants make a case to sue them for spiritual malpractice? I think the gospel that they preach is the equavelant of spiritual homocide. (murdering the spiritually weak)
2007-01-26 16:11:32 · 4 answers · asked by Andre L 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Oh, it definitely bothers me. I think about it everyday and how sick and twisted the world can be. The preachers and church seem to do whatever it takes to get people to come to their side. In this age of consumerism most of what people want are material gains and so the church says that God will give it too them. This is not the reason people should become religious and I am pretty sure it is not like this in 3rd-world countries whose people just want food for their children.
2007-01-26 16:18:27 · answer #1 · answered by The FudgeMaster 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course living an exorbitant lifestyle, and making outrageous promises is disturbing, and I don't approve,
but,
God's creation does teach prosperity. Not necessarily wealth, but prosperity. If you plant an apple seed, you get an apple tree. If you cultivate the tree, it will produce thousands of apples. If you plant a kernel of corn, it will produce a plant that has many ears on it, each with many kernels.
God's spiritual principles are similar. The are not magical, however. They are more "agricultural" than magical.
If you don't like prosperity, the other option is poverty, which is a curse. Read Deuteronomy 28. There are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
Yes, there are abusive preachers on TV, but God does have good things for those who love him and obey him.
2007-01-27 00:24:42 · answer #2 · answered by chustplayin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are correct sir. What you may or may not realize is that this sort of heresy and silliness is exactly what the Catholic Church warned people of, when the reformers decided to make "private interpretation" the rule for understanding scripture. Of course the reformers were right about some things as well, but it's a big swing and a miss on private interpretation. We need the Church for that, it has been well demonstrated I think.
2007-01-27 00:20:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't worry I don't like televangelists either....
2007-01-27 00:20:35 · answer #4 · answered by Cindy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋