The Prosperity Gospel VS The Actual Gospels
Everybody knows the gospels of the bible are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and taken together they tell the story of Jesus: who he was, what he did, his divinity, the whole JC mythology is sold through these four books that proclaim him the son of God, the savior of Man, all that hokum. Nowhere do they promise you wealth, success, the favor of God in all you seek nor that you have a limitless capacity to make it as big as you want as a favored of the Almighty.
The Prosperity Gospel, on the other hand, promises all of this: wealth, health, success, and happiness. It proclaims you to be the chosen favorite of a divine superpower and he wants nothing more for you than to succeed in life and amass as much wealth and riches as you can because that's what truly pleases God. All you have to do is believe in Jesus hard enough and it's all yours for the taking. If you fail, it's because your faith wasn't sufficient.
All of these "Gospels" are completely made up, all of them are designed to fool dumb people into believing bullshit and all of them sell snakeoil to an audience eager to believe in a supernatural fantasy but I think the Prosperity Gospel is even more insidious that the actual gospels because it seems to have been designed purely as a tool to deny what the actual gospels preach about the meek and being non-materialistic so the faithful can be primed to fleece them for as much cash as possible.
All televangelists and religious hucksters preach the Prosperity Gospel and none of what's taught in the Prosperity Gospel is in the bible but its followers never seem to question that. They seem to have talked themselves into believing it too is the word of God despite its message being found nowhere in their supposedly inerrant holy book.
Why isn't this a red flag to any of them? If its not in their bible shouldn't they reject it? I guess they're willing to believe anything that makes them feel good.
Thoughts?
2
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10 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Many televangelists don't know the gospels well nor do they really know Jesus. What Jesus might say to the televangelist is already written in the gospel of Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?'Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Word
Level 8
Aug 3, 2020
0
There are many religious scams in the world. They contradict one another, and many of them contradict the scriptures. 
BestWithoutGods
Level 8
Aug 3, 2020
0
Religion is the only business where you can sell a shit pile of nothing for Crap ton of something and not be prosecuted as a scam artist.
LenHazell53
Level 9
Aug 3, 2020
1
@David1955 There a hundred or more cases of dissatisfied customers every year who take all of the major religions to court demanding their money back, but so far, all but the most horrendously fraudulent (The Moonies and Synergy for example) of them hold on to their ill gotten gains by claiming all donations and tithes were voluntary even while threatening Hell fire and damnations and shunning to those who don't pay.
Why can't you talk about the CONCEPTS without citing 'Jesus?' 'Jesus' was a creation of the Flavian emperors. Probably written by Justinian.
Although they wanted the Jews to accept their dominion by embracing poverty as a virtue, they in no way accepted it for themselves. As prescriptions for living a good life, the poor had no choice but to accept their plight. Jesus was an ingenious invention; words put in his mouth made it 'cool' to be an aesthetic living in a cave, to embrace poverty as a spiritual shortcut to 'heaven.' Do you think the super-rich Roman masters thought so? Of course not.
Prosperity Gospel is nowhere to be found in the Bible... Why even bring it up?
Most people always reference the Bible. I wish we could talk pure concepts. Nobody wants to be poor, we are all FORCED into lives of poverty
Storm1752
Level 8
Aug 3, 2020
1
If you want to start a discussion on biblical concepts then do so. I'm sure we'd all enjoy the opportunity. Create a post and see what kind of response it gets but don't get mad at my post if you have a different idea for it..
@Sgt_Spanky I'm saying why not talk about the concepts without always referencing the 'Christian' context? I'm hardly mad. And the chances of me starting a group are remote.
@Storm1752 Okay, fair enough but I still think you should make that post and start that discussion.
So I think you're saying the New Testament was made up to convince the gullible and weak it was cool to be humble, subservient, and poor. Whereas the prosperity doctrine was made up to convince them they could be rich and happy by bullshit subservience to a grand pyramid scheme / hoax of modern "Christianity" (leveraging the fact most so called Christians have never read nor comprehended the Bible in the first place).
Yeah I can accept that - both make sense as manifestations of The Art of the Steal by ruling elite who need a compliant mass underclass to maintain their status.
I find it interesting that so many are suckered in by bullshit conspiracy theories while such obvious mass frauds are hiding in plain sight right in front of them.
Maybe the real way to end this bullshit is couch all these "gospels" as giant conspiracy theories themselves - instead of trying to disprove things by science, logic, and rain. I'm sure someone must have tried that already right?
@prometheus The prosperity doctrine was created for the already rich, it seems to me, to make it 'okay' to hoard their wealth. Like supply-side economics makes it 'okay' to push for ever-lower taxes because the revenues generated by the resultant economic activity will more than make up for what on the surface looks like pure selfishness and greed.
Prosperity thought similarly implies true Christians are well off, to put it bluntly. If you are poor, it's your fault for living an ungodly life. Turn to Jesus, and reap the earthly rewards.
In both examples, Prosperity Doctrine and Supply-side Economics, there's ample and obvious evidence this is nonsense. BUT it provides moral underpinnings to those all too willing to believe it, for the simple reason they get to keep more of their money rather than contribute a reasonable amount to a healthy and vibrant society-at-large, the Commonweal.
If as I think the Romans wrote the gospels and substituted Christianity for the mythological gods discredited by the Caesars, it could be regarded as the perpetuation of a cleverly-conceived and implemented hoax, I postulate one carried out by a very small cadre of insiders: the Flavian emperors and their scribes, and a few others. It might sound preposterous to some, but the Roman aristocracy was actually a tiny group numbering less than 100, sort if like Saudi royalty. They COULD have decimated the Jews, dispersed them, and in the wreckage substituted a replacement religion, a Rome friendly Jew-Lite, borrowing liberally from mystery religions so common at the time. I think that's what happened.
Prosperity Doctrine is not in that class. I doubt ANYTHING is. If I and Carrier and others are right, it was truly the Greatest Hoax Ever. They must have been very proud of themselves
The gospels are not fake, they are real (see the Dead Sea scrolls) but Constantine the empetor did hide the apocriphals, the gnostic and even the judas iscariot gospel or the wife of jesus gospel of Mary Magdalene among others.
Mofo1953
Level 9
Aug 2, 2020
0
Spell much?
Nothing to do with the gospels. They are much more recent.
@Moravian [en.m.wikipedia.org]. The new testament were also in scrolls, written in greek, and found in different places in the area.
You assumed wrong. I do not know the gospels of the Bible. 
Sierra4
Level 8
Aug 2, 2020
0
I included a very brief overview of what they are for the sake of someone like yourself.
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