The God of Prosperity
This article in The Economist is an interesting addition to the on-going debate over the prosperity gospel as preached by several charismatic churches. Instead of taking a theological perspective, Jonathan Gruber, an economist from MIT has instead conducted a study which empirically measures the economic well being of church goers as opposed to non church goers. For the full text or summary of his paper, take a look here.
Apparently the results seem to support the view that religious participation can and does boost your income/economic well-being by a certain percentage. But I’d caution the prosperity gospel fans from using this article as evidence to back up their stand that God does bless them with material wealth. The article itself suggested several practical reasons behind the apparent percentage difference in the economic well being of church goers as opposed to non church goers of a similar background. As I recall, the Weberian discussion of the Protestant work ethic was brought up as a possible forerunner of this study and other suggestions that church itself fostered an ethic that led to a higher likelihood of completing higher education and therefore better financial well being bears a great deal of merit.
And the study itself only looked at a very narrow segment of American society; in that only white Americans were included within the study, a decision I find problematic. It is entirely possible that the survey results could have turned out differently if applied to African Americans or Chinese in Asia.
For a good theological discussion of this view, take a look at this blog post and for an example of a church that practices this doctrine, go to this site.
Personally I find the prosperity gospel itself a little difficult to swallow. The suggestion that God intends to bless everyone with material wealth seems to smack more of the Chinese Money God than the Jesus who commented on the difficulty the rich would have in attaining heaven.
So I'll end off here with a terribly snide but appropriate quote from The Economist: "But given that Jesus warned his followers against storing up treasures on earth, you might think that this wasn't the motivation for going to church that he had in mind."
Apparently the results seem to support the view that religious participation can and does boost your income/economic well-being by a certain percentage. But I’d caution the prosperity gospel fans from using this article as evidence to back up their stand that God does bless them with material wealth. The article itself suggested several practical reasons behind the apparent percentage difference in the economic well being of church goers as opposed to non church goers of a similar background. As I recall, the Weberian discussion of the Protestant work ethic was brought up as a possible forerunner of this study and other suggestions that church itself fostered an ethic that led to a higher likelihood of completing higher education and therefore better financial well being bears a great deal of merit.
And the study itself only looked at a very narrow segment of American society; in that only white Americans were included within the study, a decision I find problematic. It is entirely possible that the survey results could have turned out differently if applied to African Americans or Chinese in Asia.
For a good theological discussion of this view, take a look at this blog post and for an example of a church that practices this doctrine, go to this site.
Personally I find the prosperity gospel itself a little difficult to swallow. The suggestion that God intends to bless everyone with material wealth seems to smack more of the Chinese Money God than the Jesus who commented on the difficulty the rich would have in attaining heaven.
So I'll end off here with a terribly snide but appropriate quote from The Economist: "But given that Jesus warned his followers against storing up treasures on earth, you might think that this wasn't the motivation for going to church that he had in mind."
posted by adinahaes at 8:25 PM
2 Comments:
From a marketing POV, I think it's easier for a church to sell the 'come to church, get richer' mentality because it matches prevailing definitions of success.
Who likes to go to church only to be told 'it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'? :)
One: just because someone goes to church does not mean they aren't dishonest, money-grubbing bastards and not even really Christians. Look at all the televangelists—totally dishonest and reaping the money by playing on the gullible.
Two: I'd say that religious people stick together and are more likely to give a member of their fellowship, whatever it may be, a break or a hand up. So there's that networking thing.
Three: Neither of the above has anything to do with gods or goddesses, just human nature as evolutionary psychology is ever more revealing it. Read Steven Pinker's Blank Slate.
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