What is the Gospel of Wealth? Has it changed over time?
RABOTEAU: The gospel of wealth which, which goes back certainly into the 19th Century in this country, with people defending wealth in part because it enables them to be charitable towards the poor, has found, you know, ongoing reincarnations. The most current of which, are a number of televangelists. And seemingly has a large-scale appeal, at least, in terms of the folks that seem to be flocking to some of the mega churches that a number of these televangelists pastor. For me this gospel of wealth really is an abandonment of what I spoke of earlier as the suffering dimension that Christianity. It’s to, to look at suffering as strictly an evil or a sickness, that one avoids by prayer. And that if one does suffer impoverishment, or illness, or some other deprivation, it’s a sign of lack of faith on the part of the person who was suffering it because obviously God wants to draw us out of any of this and to have us prosper. To me that’s a distortion of a major aspect of Christianity and o
