Prosperity Teaching flourishes in contexts of terrible poverty, - TopicsExpress

Prosperity Teaching flourishes in contexts of terrible poverty, and that for many people, it presents their only hope, in the face of constant frustration, the failure of politicians and NGOs, etc., for a better future, or even for a more bearable present... However, we do not believe that Prosperity Teaching provides a helpful or biblical response to the poverty of the people among whom it flourishes... - It vastly enriches those who preach it, but leaves multitudes no better off than before, with the added burden of disappointed hopes - While emphasizing various alleged spiritual or demonic causes of poverty, it gives little or no attention to those causes that are economic and political, including injustice, exploitation, unfair international trade practices, etc. - It thus tends to victimize the poor by making them feel that their poverty is their own fault (which the Bible does not do), while failing to address and denounce those whose greed inflicts poverty on others (which the Bible does repeatedly). - Some prosperity teaching is not really about helping the poor at all, and provides no sustainable answer to the real causes of poverty.