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How have millions of American Christians come to measure spiritual progress in terms of their financial status and physical well-being? How has the movement variously called Word of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, or simply prosperity gospel come to dominate much of our contemporary religious landscape?
Kate Bowler's Blessed is the first book to fully explore the origins, unifying themes, and major figures of a burgeoning movement that now claims millions of followers in America. Bowler traces the roots of the prosperity gospel: from the touring mesmerists, metaphysical sages, pentecostal healers, business oracles, and princely prophets of the early 20th century; through mid-century positive thinkers like Norman Vincent Peale and revivalists like Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin; to today's hugely successful prosperity preachers. Bowler focuses on such contemporary figures as Creflo Dollar, pastor of Atlanta's 30,000-member World Changers Church International; Joel Osteen, known as "the smiling preacher," with a weekly audience of seven million; T. D. Jakes, named by Time magazine one of America's most influential new religious leaders; Joyce Meyer, evangelist and women's empowerment guru; and many others. At almost any moment, day or night, the American public can tune in to these preachers-on TV, radio, podcasts, and in their megachurches-to hear the message that God desires to bless them with wealth and health. Bowler offers an interpretive framework for scholars and general readers alike to understand the diverse expressions of Christian abundance as a cohesive movement bound by shared understandings and common goals.
- Sales Rank: #205791 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Oxford University Press, USA
- Published on: 2013-06-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.50" h x 1.10" w x 9.40" l, 1.30 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 352 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
From Booklist
The most controversial aspect of the so-called prosperity gospel is “its radical claim to transform invisible faith into financial rewards.” Poverty and illness are signs of spiritual malaise, for God wants us to be wealthy, healthy, and live to our full potential in victory here on earth. Preached by Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and others, the prosperity gospel teaches that Jesus’ death and resurrection overcame not only sin and death but also poverty and disease. Believers, therefore, may claim wealth and health as part of their divine inheritance. Bowler argues the allure is actually optimism, not financial success. The message of the prosperity gospel channels America’s can-do spirit and its belief that the future can be changed for the better through hard work. Her book is an important account of an audacious contemporary religious phenomenon, albeit one that scandalizes many. It also serves as an invitation to reflect upon the relationship of religion and money. --Christopher McConnell
Review
"[A] magnificent study."--Heath W. Carter, Journal of Cultural Economy
"Highly entertaining...and deeply human."--David F. Ruccio, Journal of Cultural Economy
"Very readable and engaging...Blessed is the best history of the development of the prosperity gospel written to date. It is an important addition to the library of pastors or scholars who regularly encounter the prosperity gospel in their ministry."--Southwestern Journal of Theology
"Bowler shows how the prosperity gospel movement has drawn from multiple denominational, racial, ethnic, and even secular subtraditions. She identifies both the dazzling diversity and the common understandings that have given the prosperity gospel coherence"
--Christian Century
"Bowler's respect for her subjects and her ability to locate them in the larger American religious narrative mean that serious scholars dismiss the prosperity gospel at their own peril. Bowler shows us that its deep roots and vibrant future, even after the recent recession, place it solidly in the category of religious movements to watch." --Church History
"Marvelous this is a stunningly empathetic book. By pushing far beyond caricature, Bowler has produced a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the prosperity gospel and how it is, even now, remaking the American religious landscape." --The Christian Century
"An important account of an audacious contemporary religious phenomenon." --Booklist
"[A] riveting historical account." --Publishers Weekly
"The 'prosperity gospel' is as much despised by its detractors as it is embraced by its millions of adherents. Yet until Kate Bowler's Blessed, no one has attempted a balanced, informative, inquisitive survey. Her book is a metaphorical godsend for those with an outsider's curiosity about one of the fastest growing religious movements in contemporary America and a literal one for those inside." -- Mark A. Noll, author of Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction
"Though often maligned and misunderstood, Bowler's comprehensive and exciting examination of the prosperity gospel demonstrates the ways 'health and wealth' has been a staple of American Protestant life since the 19th century. Blessed provides a thorough and nuanced account of the phenomenon, as it skillfully examines varying attitudes toward prosperity which emerged across racial, regional, and denominational lines. This is a grand contribution to the field of American religious history." -- Jonathan L. Walton, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Professor of Religion and Society, Harvard University
"This book propels Kate Bowler into the first rank of younger historians of religion in America. The author's keen ear, her perceptive insights, and her command of history make this a remarkable and unforgettable book-and her conclusion that the 'prosperity gospel consecrated America's culture of optimism' rings very true." -- Randall Balmer, author of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America
"Blessed is worthwhile reading for what it is-a history of the prosperity gospel and not a theology of the prosperity movement. I've benefited from time spent working through it and would recommend it to those seeking to learn about this topic." --The Gospel Coalition
"Blessed is a good history of the rise and flourishing of the gospel." --The Blade
"...[A]n unprecedented historical examination of health and wealth as spiritual subjects in American Christianity by tracing the rise, development, and transformation of the prosperity gospel in the United States." --Religious Studies Review
About the Author
Kate Bowler is Assistant Professor of American Religion at Duke Divinity School.
Most helpful customer reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
Solid stuff
By Prairie Pal
The prosperity gospel -- the idea that God wants believers to be wealthy and healthy -- has taken much of the Protestant world by storm. Churches professing this belief can be found all across the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Its proponents are media stars, best-selling authors and pastors of urban megachurches. Bowler's "Blessed" is the first comprehensive history of this trend, tracing its complicated beginnings from the late 19th century to the present. To accomplish this task she seems to have read every secondary source on the subject, interviewed its thinkers, attended conferences, watched countless televised services and worshipped in its churches. The end result is a very readable and highly judicious account
Bowler avoids taking cheap shots at the prosperity gospel's believers. Instead, she explains a sacred world that churchgoers would want to live in. Her distinction between "hard prosperity" and "soft prosperity" helps explain the difference between prophetic salesmen like Mike Murdock (hard prosperity) and the therapeutic feel-good messages of Joel Osteen (soft prosperity.) The result should be helpful for pastors and researchers alike to explain this incredibly varied movement.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
God's Glory or Actualization/Exaltation of the Individual?
By M. Edwards
Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Kate Bowler is a scholarly yet highly-readable work which deserves to be read slowly and carefully. In this book Bowler unravels the "intertwining roots" of the modern prosperity gospel as they lead back to (1) early 20th century Pentecostalism, (2) New Thought "Right Thinking" metaphysics (and Protestantism), and (3) pragmatism, individualism, and upward mobility as valued in the traditional "American Dream" worldview. Bowler then proceeds to shows how this Prosperity Gospel has continued to evolve, both in the United States and (to a lesser extent) internationally. Her narrative centers broadly on the themes of "Faith", "Wealth", "Health", and "Victory" although there is considerable overlap and interchange between themes.
There are so many good points that can be discussed from the material in this book that it is impossible to list them all here. This would be a great book for a club or for extended discussion with a group of friends! Having said that, here are a few thoughts I took from Bowler's observations of the prosperity gospel movement. The first two are positive, the rest not so much so:
* The optimistic spirit which is cultivated and attracts so many people in prosperity gospel movement: It's sad to see and read so many defeatist negative attitudes in society and certain churches today (or read them on social network status updates), and I have sometimes been guilty as well. When someone asks "How are you?" instead of a simple "I'm fine thank you" or a litany of complaints perhaps I can personalize something along the lines of what the book quotes "I'm blessed and highly favored!" (with the freedom to be authentic with regard to other feelings and without being restricted to "positive confessions")
* Bowler notes the recent emphasis in soft prosperity churches upon cultivating healthy bodies through diet and exercise versus the obesity which has crept into mainstream American society. No, the church doesn't want to blindly follow after the rest of popular mainstream culture in idolizing health, but in too many Christian communities there is little to no emphasis being placed upon our need to be actively cultivating physically-healthy bodies!
* Popular soft prosperity preachers today such as Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer continue the traditions of hard prosperity leaders and the promoters of Right Thinking of yesteryear, encouraging us to fix ourselves as we discover the champion within ourselves. But this kind of self-actualization requires total commitment (see below).
* Having worked in and been associated for more than 25 years with the denomination founded by the person referenced in the quote below, I was struck by Bowler's observation that late 19th century radical evangelicals like A.B. Simpson likened faith to natural laws harnessed for believer's use. However, she goes on to say that these leaders never envisioned faith as an independent force or law that turned around to bind God himself. That's an important distinction: It was Kenneth E. Hagin and others of his generation who later turned faith into a sure-fire "law" (p. 45).
* The author notes that the emphasis upon prayer and spiritual discipline can lead to a competitive atmosphere in which people struggle to live up to the rigorous expectations set up for them (p. 194). Sadly, people can be guilted into attending meetings whenever the church doors are open (as seen also in churches which have been influenced by the Korean prosperity tradition noted elsewhere in the book).
* It has made me sad to read here and hear from friends in Australia and other places in years past of the flocks exiting prosperity churches (in spite of their great music) who have been wounded and spiritually-abused when told the reasons for their inability to receive healing and wealth arise from their own sin, negative confessions, and improper attitudes. Does not this kind of effort (or lack of effort) miss the point of grace? The source of victory, healing, and wealth lie outside of ourselves and there is nothing we can do to earn or ensure it. And if these are the things which are the focus of our faith, is it really God we are worshipping, or merely the actualization of ourselves through the acquisition of blessing?
* Bowler does a good job in highlighting a disconnect in prosperity gospel churches with the biblical doctrine of suffering (as seen especially on the traditional church holiday of Good Friday, and when leaders or loved ones unexpectedly pass away, experience suffering, etc.). The Christian faith centers mostly on Jesus and His resurrection-- yes, but also His cross.
* At the same time as I was reading this book, I was also reading about the life of Jimmy Carter in Randy Balmer's Redeemer so I was paying particular attention to areas of overlap. For example, in the "Wealth" section of Blessed, Bowler tells us how President Ronald Reagan wrote to Jim and Tammy Faye Baker in 1983 on the opening of Heritage USA to congratulate them for their efforts to help "many Americans endure and triumph." In this America of renewed confidence, says Bowler, America had ditched the president associated with national malaise and humiliation in the Iran hostage affair and replaced him with one whose campaign slogan was "It's morning again in America."... The decade's economic expansion accompanied a market-oriented viewpoint and an ethic proclaiming "greed is good." The galloping optimism and individualism fit well with a decade of growth by the faith movement (p. 101). Prosperity preachers took the advice of Jerry Falwell that "a cheap church makes God looks cheap" (p. 197) and continued to live out even more extravagant personal lives as they ignored the gospel imperatives of social justice.
* The rough equation between individualism and "Victory" ignores for the most part social injustice, as African American prosperity leaders like Frederick Price were to discover. After hearing about a sermon from the son of his white "spiritual father", Price angrily proclaimed: "Don't' shake my hand and give me a charismatic hug and act as if you love me when you really see me as a n...." He then evolved in his thinking to link social injustice to structural racism in the context of a highly individualistic gospel (p. 203; one wonders if Price would have enlisted as an activist on behalf of others if he had not been personally insulted in the midst of his individualized quest for blessing and prosperity). Similar to Price's realization, President William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention observed that the prosperity movement was nothing more than capitalistic devotion to persons of privilege (p. 204).
* Finally, in the Asian culture in which I have lived for the past 17 years traditional religionists worship the gods primarily for what they can get out of them. They live in a mutually-beneficial reciprocal arrangement: "I'll scratch my back if you scratch yours." I have to wonder if the manipulation of God by prosperity gospel adherents and the placement of Him in a box as one extracts blessings and wealth according to the "law" of faith are significantly any different? Perhaps speakers like Bonkke and Hinn are so well-received in that country is because they are merely repackaging and re-clothing traditional beliefs into a syncretistic "Christianized" outer-garment of power which is more acceptable than mere Christianity with its message of both the cross and resurrection.
Bowler's discussion on the church growth movement, Peter Wagner, and megachurches in relation to the prosperity gospel is also enlightening.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
A Good Start in the Study of the Prosperity Gospel
By Dr. W. Terry Lindley
Drawing upon personal observations after having visited dozens of prosperity churches, listening to scores of sermons, and talking with congregants, Kate Bowler, who teaches at Duke Divinity School, presents a thorough overview of the origins, development, and beliefs/practices of the prosperity movement. She has mined the writings of its leaders (e.g., Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Sr., and Oral Roberts) as well as grounded herself in the pertinent secondary literature. This is neither an apologia for the movement nor an assault on its legitimacy. While she does not shy away from warts like Jim Bakker and PTL and identifies some of the movement’s excesses, Bowler also points to its positive aspects. For example, she writes, “The assignment to laypeople of all the tasks necessary for a large church to hum along helped them develop skills such as organizational, budgeting, and leadership, which translated well into entrepreneurial virtues.”
After tracing the origins of the movement, which some describe as “name it and claim it” or “confess then possess,” to the New Thought of the late 19th century coupled with early Pentecostalism and the healing movement of the 1940s and 1950s, the author examines the three aspects of the movement—wealth, health, and victory. Bowler correctly asserts that this movement is not monolithic, but varies widely in how each of the three aspects is handled by the various prosperity churches, especially the megachurches. There is no one shoe that fits all.
For example, in the area of wealth, some prosperity leaders guarantee a hundredfold return on each dollar given, while others only promise an increase if one faithfully tithes ten-percent on his or her income. And what is wealth? Is it luxurious living—the finest home, best cars, and designers’ fashions? Or is it what one needs on which to live a comfortable lifestyle? Regarding health, is sickness the result of personal sin or an attack by Satan? And how should one react to medical science? Some prosperity preachers oppose the use of medical science, while others unite faith and medicine, prayer and doctors. As a middle ground, a few advocate natural medicine like herbs and vitamin supplements.
Victory means to become a conqueror over one’s circumstances, both in the present and the future. This includes utilizing the proper method of binding and loosing spiritual powers, such as the use of specific prayer and calling on protection by guardian angels. Victory can also refer to the end times and the believer’s role in it. One pastor has gone so far as to claim that as things get worse in the end times, believers will be exempt from these hardships. In fact, he argues, the wealth of the wicked will be literally transferred to believers.
In conclusion, this scholarly study of the prosperity movement is well worth reading and hopefully will raise questions for thoughtful discussion and debate.
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