Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel

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Belief that Jesus conquered poverty, that "faith operated as a perfect law," "drawing a straight line between life circumstances and a believer's faith. . . . any irregularities meant that the believer did not play by the rules." You can lay out a set of mortgages from a huge investment risk on the table and command God to pay them, and it will happen. rang true to a vision of righteous individuals bending circumstances to their vision of the good life Over 12 chapters, Blessed covers the full text of the book of Revelation, exploring its call to patient endurance as God’s sovereign plans for judgment and salvation are worked out in the world. In this book, Guthrie shows how Revelation is less about when Jesus will return and more about who we are to be, what we are to do, and what we can expect to endure as we wait for Jesus to return to establish his kingdom in the new creation. Nancy Guthrie reminds us that Saint John wrote about dragons, eagles, and beasts—not to fuel twenty-first-century speculation about their precise, physical referent, but to motivate the church towards godliness in the midst of a pagan culture. Revelation invites the church to gather around the throne of the holy God, Lamb, and Spirit and worship in every aspect of life. We need more books such as this on the capstone of the Bible’s storyline, and I’m eager to see how God will use this volume for his glory!” We make a choice in life: God or nothing. Blessed Carlo Acutis chose God – “Not I, but God” – in five simple practices. The Mass, Adoration, Confession and spiritual guidance, befriending the Blessed Mother and the saints, and charity. These daily “appointments” led Carlo to a life of intimacy with Jesus and love for neighbour ” – Cardinal Sarah.”

The book was certainly dense. I may have a general religion undergraduate degree, but many of the names and religious movements were new to me. That said, Bowler is an excellent writer, and this was very well researched. And fair. Prosperity Gospel stalwarts should have trouble taking offense. Her organization was fairly straightforward. The many charts and pictures (mostly) helped me to grasp what was happening. Revivalist Joel Osteen preaching that attendees are victors, not victims, that they can succeed through the power of positive thinking. "It's going to be a year of promotion, a year of increase, a year of favor, a year of supernatural opportunities!" (179). Transformative Personal Application:Every chapter asks and answers the question, What does it mean to hear and keep this part of Revelation and thereby experience its promised blessing? The story of Bl. Carlo Acutis is truly a remarkable one. If you want to read more about the life of Carlo, I suggest you go online and do a Google Search… you will be able to get much of his biographical details. However, what I was more excited after Carlo’s beatification was the fact that there was now a young model of holiness, close to my generation that I can relate to and ask for his intercession and I pray for the day of his canonization. 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. 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.

Finally, we need a road map. The life and witness of Blessed Carlo Acutis show us the way: “Always to be united with Jesus, this is my programme of life.” To live with Jesus, for Jesus and in Jesus is the simple and achievable roadmap that he sets out for us in five practices.” Blessed, by bestselling author and speaker Nancy Guthrie, provides individuals and small groups a friendly yet theologically robust guide to understanding the book of Revelation. I approached this book with a strong bias, believing that the central tenets of the prosperity gospel are a perversion of God's message in scripture and Jesus' salvation purpose. Kate Bowler does an excellent job of outlining the historical roots of the prosperity gospel, and showed me it is much older than I had thought, and that the economic blessings it promotes really took hold in the context of the economic boom following World War II. Before that, the same founding ministers (people like Oral Roberts and Rex Humbard) had been more focused on physical healing services. Blessed is practical, not only in each chapter’s closing sections but throughout the book as a whole. Guthrie explains that “Revelation is actually less about when Jesus will return and more about what we are to do, who we are to be, and what we can expect to endure as we wait for Jesus to return to establish his kingdom,” and this focus is evident in her writing. I recommend reading this book slowly, taking adequate time to reflect and pray, as each paragraph contains new practical implications.

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. Third biggest is tracing that part as an earlier part, and its connections to Christian fringes like the Divine Science movement of the late 19th century and the New Thought of the early 20th, that included places like Unity.Third, something also nowhere mentioned, and not a church, but yes, a religious movement in my mind, in its language and federal court rulings? The 12-step movement. Again, like Mormons, no paid leadership outside of HQ, and not charismatic. But, New Thought leaders, Emmet Fox above all, were highly cited by many early AA pioneers. And, after the initial "inventory," AA and NA's idea of a daily inventory for good things as well as bad at least somewhat parallels name it and claim it. The prosperity gospel has a terrible theology of prayer. Where once prayer was the cry of an utterly dependent individual to the almighty God, the prosperity gospel twisted it into an act of man trying to compel the divine. Never in a million years would you hear a prayer like “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours.” Persistent prayer and prayer in community also have no place in the prosperity gospel. Pray once for healing, but don’t pray again—that’s not believing that you’ve already received what you prayed for. And don’t share your burdens with others—it’s negative confession and gives power to your struggle. Perpetual positivity! Which leads me to my next point. . . . . Fourth is noting its greater racial cross-pollination than much of Christianity while showing it still has flaws.