by Derek Beres
The prosperity gospel is nothing new, nor is the train of thought
guiding it limited to followers of Christ. Preachers like Joel Osteen
and Creflo Dollar unabashedly preach such fortune: Your faith is
measured by your success; by your beliefs shall you prosper. It’s a
seductive notion, one inspiring millions of people, given the popularity
of Osteen’s varied industries and Dollar's widespread congregation,
among many others.
Predating Osteen by nearly two centuries was Phineas Quimby, a
mesmerist and healer born in New Hampshire in 1802. As the inspiration
behind what would become known as New Thought, his philosophical system
taught that God, or Infinite Intelligence, is everywhere — human beings
being the major beneficiaries of such awesome divine power. Quimby
wasn't a doctor but he played one often: Sickness was the result of
wrong thought, in some way implying you were responsible for your
ailments — an unfortunate belief persistent in both Christian groups and
New Age movements today.
Most importantly, perhaps, was Quimby’s notion that since we are
divine beings, divine blessings in the form of prosperity are our
birthright. Osteen agrees; in 2005 he wrote,
God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.
One of Quimby’s favorite students, Mary Baker Eddy, ran with these
ideas when founding Christian Science. She was influenced by the man to
such a degree she was accused of plagiarism. Nonetheless, in 1879 Eddy
founded the First Church of Christ, Scientist. From its humble
beginnings in Boston (27 members in 1880), by 1936 the congregation was
269,000 strong.
Initially Eddy was also inspired by Indian philosophy, quoting passages of the Bhagavad Gita,
which was in vogue for much of the 19th century in America. She later
removed any references to the book; as Christian Science gained steamed,
she wanted all the credit to herself.
She also denied any relationship to Spiritualism, a popular movement
that claimed contact with the spirit world (even though the sisters who
kicked off the movement later admitted it was a farce). Eddy’s preferred
term was "malicious animal magnetism," her fancying that people harm
others through their "mental powers." If the psychic hotline between
divine and human was open, humans could travel along the same network to
damage other sentient beings, which fits in nicely with the prosperity
model: an unseen force checking your name off the list if you misbehave,
favoring your bank account when your faith is strong.
New Thought was founded by Emma Curtis Hopkins, a former student of
Eddy mostly inspired by Quimby. With roots in the 1880s, national
conventions were followed by an international conference in 1914; by the
'40s there were 18 distinct schools based on New Thought’s foundation.
The major focus of these schools included the development of one’s will
power, the burgeoning self-help market, and, yes, financial success.
Money was on the mind of many, including Father Divine, a
lesser-known figure who profited greatly from the poor and suffering
during the Depression. An African-American preacher, the artist once
known as George Baker, Jr. taught his Peace Mission Movement followers
that he was God — he really took to heart the positive psychology
aspects of New Thought. While most Christian movements were faithful to
scripture, Divine was open to a little mysticism.
This approach worked like a charm. As Dax-Devlon Ross writes in The Nightmare and the Dream,
Divine’s image as a Godly figure was enhanced by the seemingly bottomless well of wealth at his disposal in the midst of the Depression. He dressed immaculately. He owned a late model luxury sedan. The suburban home [in Sayville, Long Island] was well kept.
A successful African-American in a white suburb raised the suspicion
of his neighbors. A coincidence helped his cause greatly, however. After
being jailed in 1932 pending psychiatric evaluation for being a public
nuisance — a wealthy black man in Sayville was enough of a cause — the
judge who sentenced him suddenly died. Divine’s followers took this as
divine retribution; his street cred skyrocketed. By 1941, there were 178
churches under his influence, though it seems that most of the wealth
stayed concentrated in his bank account.
Which seems to be the case with everyone preaching Prosperity
Theology. Televangelist Dollar, a modern day Father Divine, was baffled
when his Gulfstream III jet rolled off a runway in the UK in 2014. He
launched a fundraising campaign to the tune of $65 million, stating it
was a necessary purchase
to spread God’s word. The backlash forced him to suspend his efforts,
although within a few months his church announced it was indeed ready to
prosper with a brand-new airplane.
Osteen, who some claim helped
create the housing crash due to his advice that God will provide the
resources for his congregant's new homes, had no problem buying his own
$10.5 million mansion in 2010. Osteen reportedly accepts no money from
his church. His real cash cow is book sales, which, as quoted above,
ensure people the Big Guy is on their side — and in their wallets.
Pseudo-mystic Osho chimed in about prosperity often:
Life needs money because life needs comforts; life needs good food; life needs good clothes, good houses.
Oddly he didn't mention good cars, for his fleet of 93 Rolls Royces was a certain measure of his divine favor.
In his book Mystics and Messiahs,
religion professor Philip Jenkins dives deep into the cult underworld
that has fueled such thinking for over two centuries on American soil.
He quotes a 1929 article about this trend relating to New Thought and
Christian Science:
With its constant thought of prosperity, its opulent-consciousness, its belief in the limitless possibilities of the individual, [it] is simply American psychology on dress parade.
The philosophy of prosperity certainly seems to be an American
creation. While other cultures have exploited its population under the
guise of religious pretensions, the idea that infinite riches is
available for everybody with a mind to believe, promoted by those who do
indeed enjoy such wealth, is an old scheme that shows no sign of
slowing. It's like the lottery of religious lingo: Everyone has a shot,
but really, only the ones calling the shots.
Bigthink
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