I have long had a challenge with people selling to me. I prefer to do my homework, decide what I want and then make 
my purchase with no outside pressure. This extends to faith as well. I recently watched a few minutes (this is all I could take!) of a well-known televangelist telling the stadium-sized crowd of his mega church that they could have everything on this earth they might desire if they simply loved God more. People were on the edge of their seats listening to this “road to riches” sermon and I felt very sad for them and anyone else who thinks it is that easy…or that riches on earth is even our goal. Perhaps it was Divine Providence that this morning I read an excellent article by Father Robert Barron who addresses the prosperity gospel issue very logically and reminds us that, “Following God’s will, abandoning yourself to the divine providence, will indeed give you treasure in heaven, but don’t expect it necessarily to give you treasure on earth.” How do you feel about this issue? Please read the article by Fr. Barron and leave your comments below.
The Dangers of the Prosperity Gospel
By Father Robert Barron
A few weeks ago, I came across an article in the Atlantic Monthly magazine, which bore the extraordinary title “Did Christianity Cause the Crash?”
I realize that much of the mainstream media is ready to blame Christianity for almost every societal ill, but this seemed a bit much. As I read through the article, it became plain that the culprit, in the author’s mind, is the so-called “prosperity Gospel,” the view propagated by quite a few extremely popular evangelists that material prosperity flows from the depth and quality of one’s faith in God.
To read the full article, click here.
