The Reformation and the Protestant work ethic
What is the origin of the prosperity doctrine of modern-day Pentecostalism? Where did Pentecostals get their emphasis on blessing in the form of material wealth from God? In Part I of this article, we'll talk about the social, economic and political changes of the fifteen and sixteen hundreds and how they gave legitimacy to the pursuit of monetary wealth and the growing capitalism of the West and opened the way for our contemporary culture of secularity.
Monasticism and Asceticism
After the close of the early church era of the first few centuries, Christianity increasingly developed a leaning towards asceticism; a paradigm prevailed that lead Christians to make simplistic living the goal and abstinence from the normal pleasures of life the model godly lifestyle. This focus on self-denial of material satisfaction was institutionalised within monasticism.
Monasticism spread through the Christian world during the fourth to sixth centuries. Monastics emphasised poverty, simplicity and humility as a way of imitating Christ. Consequently, the Middle Ages saw the trend towards asceticism increase. Sufficiency for daily needs was acceptable; poverty was virtuous. Covertness and uncharitable living were targeted vices. Money-making was dangerous; commerce was equated with iniquity; profiting was unchristian. It goes without saying that the private accumulation of material wealth was discouraged in the church prior to the fifteenth century.
The Reformation and Protestantism
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries unprecedented social and economic change occurred in the West. The Protestant Reformation changed society radically. It occurred within a historical context of existing economic change. Urban growth, expanding trade, a new money economy and new technologies all resulted in a new assertive middle class that rose above the discontents of the existing peasantry. The scientific progress of this time had its roots in the Renaissance that began in the fourteenth century. Francis Schaeffer has shown that the Protestant Reformation not only opened up the free approach to God that the Bible prescribes. The Reformation was also a catalyst for the creation of political and economic freedom in society.
Widespread proliferation of material wealth and general prosperity occurred during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was coupled with a momentous shift in emphasis within Christianity in regard to work and wealth.
Protestants objected to the superiority of the “religious” life and the inferiority of the “secular,” portrayed by Monasticism. The reformed theology of Martin Luther and subsequent reformers rejected the distinction between the secular and religious world altogether. Martin Luther, and John Calvin after him, exalted the dignity of the ordinary life, stressing that human callings to work in the world, in the home or with the ground, were as sacred as the call to minister in the Church. They regarded the secular political office as one of the most significant Christian vocations of all.
Protestants stressed predestination, discipline and vocationalism. Money-making became profitable for the glory of God; material prosperity became the reward of virtue and a sign of godliness. Now, improvidence and idleness became targeted vices. In a way, because Protestantism reconciled Christianity and commerce, enabling acceptable religion to be married with the demands of business and industry, it gave legitimacy to the pursuit of increasing wealth and the growing capitalism of the West. It also opened the way for our contemporary culture of secularity.
More on this topic
The origin of the prosperity doctrine - Part II
Changing views on money
What Pentecostals believe about prosperity
- -
Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements / Stanley M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee, editors; Patrick H. Alexander, associate editor, Grand Rapids, Mich. : Regency Reference Library, 1988.
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Ed., Paternoster Press, 2001, p. 900.
The Oxford companion to Christian thought / edited by Adrian Hastings ... [et al.], Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000.
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Prosperity doctrine: What Pentecostals believe
'Prosperity doctrine', 'positive confession theology', 'faith-formula theology'. These are some of the terms used to describe a relatively new system of theology that has emerged from the Word of Faith movement, also called the Faith movement or the Word movement, that began in the nineteenth century and after its rise in the twentieth century has reached wide-spread influence within the Pentecostal movement and beyond. Prosperity theology is also strongly associated with the Divine Healing movement.
Current proponents of this movement in America include Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps and Frederick Price. Prosperity doctrine is based upon a belief in the unified power of faith and the tongue. Faith is a confession; faith speaks (“I believed, therefore I have spoken.”) Also, words spoken in faith come to pass. According to this view, we create reality, whether good or bad, with the words of our mouths. Fear is negative faith. It is confidence in the certainty of a negative outcome. 'What I confess, I possess' is the view sometimes referred to as 'now faith.'
Accordingly, there is available for the Christian supernatural blessing for their complete prosperity. 'Prosperity' is broad, encompassing all of life, including blessing mentally, physically, financially and socially. And it is immediately available for all Christians who follow the 'laws of prosperity' outlined in God's Word, the Bible. This view also stems from a belief that a Christian’s inward and spiritual transformation will naturally result in an outward working that takes effect in every area of life. God’s blessing for Christians who lay hold of it is victory and overcoming in every sphere.
Generosity is encouraged as a key to financial prosperity, however such giving must be faith-filled to have a positive effect. The essential law of prosperity is the power that resides in the spoken word which will always precede from faith. Prosperity leaders and teachers would urge, ‘don’t pray the problem; speak the solution.’ ‘If you honour God, he will honour you’, in your business, your body, your exams. God's goal for every Christian is success and abundance in all its forms.
The logical endpoint of this doctrine is what some Pentecostals insist: God's ultimate goal for Christians is constant health, wealth and happiness. Where they fail to achieve this divine healing is a matter of expectation. However, God’s desire for Christians is that they do not suffer at all. This teaching insists that it is never God's will for physical disorder or discomfort for any of his children, ever. For them, suffering occurs for Christians because of personal sin, even involving a simple lack of faith in God’s will to protect them from harm.
In Australia the growth of the prosperity movement, particularly within Pentecostalism, is largely attributed to the influence of the movement in America. Key leaders within Australian Pentecostalism have embraced the prosperity message in recent times, such as Brian Houston, who wrote You need more money (1999), urging readers to discover God's "amazing financial plan" for their lives. Phil Pringle, another Pentecostal leader who is a key proponent of the prosperity gospel, wrote Keys to Financial Excellence, explaining how Christians could achieve financial success and freedom for themselves through the Biblical principles of prosperity.
What are the origins of the Prosperity doctrine? How far do the roots of Positive Confession theology go back and how has the Word of Faith movement developed over time to result in the current emphasis on abundant and prosperous living within Pentecostalism? This will be the topic of articles coming up.
More on this topic
The origin of the prosperity doctrine - Part II
The origin of the prosperity doctrine - Part I
Changing views on money
- -
Stanley M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee, editors; Patrick H. Alexander, associate editor, Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, Grand Rapids, Mich. : Regency Reference Library, c1988. (Positive Confession theology). talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Current proponents of this movement in America include Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps and Frederick Price. Prosperity doctrine is based upon a belief in the unified power of faith and the tongue. Faith is a confession; faith speaks (“I believed, therefore I have spoken.”) Also, words spoken in faith come to pass. According to this view, we create reality, whether good or bad, with the words of our mouths. Fear is negative faith. It is confidence in the certainty of a negative outcome. 'What I confess, I possess' is the view sometimes referred to as 'now faith.'
Accordingly, there is available for the Christian supernatural blessing for their complete prosperity. 'Prosperity' is broad, encompassing all of life, including blessing mentally, physically, financially and socially. And it is immediately available for all Christians who follow the 'laws of prosperity' outlined in God's Word, the Bible. This view also stems from a belief that a Christian’s inward and spiritual transformation will naturally result in an outward working that takes effect in every area of life. God’s blessing for Christians who lay hold of it is victory and overcoming in every sphere.
Generosity is encouraged as a key to financial prosperity, however such giving must be faith-filled to have a positive effect. The essential law of prosperity is the power that resides in the spoken word which will always precede from faith. Prosperity leaders and teachers would urge, ‘don’t pray the problem; speak the solution.’ ‘If you honour God, he will honour you’, in your business, your body, your exams. God's goal for every Christian is success and abundance in all its forms.
The logical endpoint of this doctrine is what some Pentecostals insist: God's ultimate goal for Christians is constant health, wealth and happiness. Where they fail to achieve this divine healing is a matter of expectation. However, God’s desire for Christians is that they do not suffer at all. This teaching insists that it is never God's will for physical disorder or discomfort for any of his children, ever. For them, suffering occurs for Christians because of personal sin, even involving a simple lack of faith in God’s will to protect them from harm.
In Australia the growth of the prosperity movement, particularly within Pentecostalism, is largely attributed to the influence of the movement in America. Key leaders within Australian Pentecostalism have embraced the prosperity message in recent times, such as Brian Houston, who wrote You need more money (1999), urging readers to discover God's "amazing financial plan" for their lives. Phil Pringle, another Pentecostal leader who is a key proponent of the prosperity gospel, wrote Keys to Financial Excellence, explaining how Christians could achieve financial success and freedom for themselves through the Biblical principles of prosperity.
What are the origins of the Prosperity doctrine? How far do the roots of Positive Confession theology go back and how has the Word of Faith movement developed over time to result in the current emphasis on abundant and prosperous living within Pentecostalism? This will be the topic of articles coming up.
The origin of the prosperity doctrine - Part II
The origin of the prosperity doctrine - Part I
Changing views on money
- -
Stanley M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee, editors; Patrick H. Alexander, associate editor, Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, Grand Rapids, Mich. : Regency Reference Library, c1988. (Positive Confession theology). talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)