Equipping Disciples to Oppose the Prosperity Gospel in Africa
Neil Trollip
September 2014
Introduction
This paper addresses the popularity of the Prosperity Gospel and the reasons for its rapid growth, especially in
Africa. Applying basic exegesis to some of the scriptures most commonly used to justify the Prosperity world
view demonstrates how this movement is based on a false theology about material possessions combined with
poor interpretation of Scripture.
There is an urgent need for the church to become indignant about this worldly “Gospel” that represents the
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greatest threat to the true movement of God in the 21 Century, and to equip disciples to correctly handle the
Word of God to refute it. There is also a need for honest personal reflection by disciples of Christ, since these
beliefs can easily creep into the family of God, hastened by a world culture that glorifies success and idolises
money.
What is the Prosperity Gospel?
Osei attends a church in a poor area of Accra in Ghana where the pastor wears expensive clothes and drives a
Mercedes Benz. Every Sunday, Osei placed most of his meagre salary at the feet of his pastor who claimed to be a
prophet of God. He sincerely believed the prophet’s promise that God will pay back one hundred times whatever
he seeded to the church. One day, Osei asked the prophet when he could expect God to pay him back. The
prophet urged him to have more faith, and Osei responded by giving all the money he had to the church. Osei’s
wife left him when he when he was no longer able to put food on the table for her and their three small children.
The Prosperity Gospel originated about 100 years ago in the United States but is now exported across the world,
especially to Africa where it has resonated with poor communities desperate for relief from their suffering. The
Prosperity movement is a subset of a broader belief system known as the Word of Faith movement or the
“Health and Wealth” Gospel. These beliefs almost always go hand in hand with prophetic preaching, an
obsession with miraculous signs and wonders, and salvation through the “sinner’s prayer”.
The Prosperity Gospel does not stand up to Biblical scrutiny and has been described as an egocentric gospel that
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omits Jesus and the message of the cross . Gordon Fee refers to it as an insidious disease that fits the American
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Dream far better than the teachings of Jesus .
Prosperity doctrine is particularly prevalent in the Pentecostal charismatic movement but has also crept into
more conservative churches, encouraged by a world culture obsessed with the pursuit of wealth and personal
comfort. According to this belief system, God wants to bestow material blessings and good health on everyone
but His providence needs to be unlocked by positive “faith-filled” words and “seeding”, referring to generous
financial contributions to the church. If a person does not receive God’s blessings, then the “problem” is with the
individual who either has unconfessed sin in their life or who lacks faith, the main barometer of which is their
level of giving.
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2
Jones and Woodbridge, 2011
Fee, 2006
Prosperity preachers are very charismatic and their behaviour is in some cases, simply bizarre. The recording of
two leading proponents of the PG, Leroy Thompson and Creflo Dollar, dancing on money is an extreme case in
point. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYxeTjrckl0).
How prevalent is the Prosperity Gospel in Africa?
The Prosperity movement has been the fastest growing faith-based movement in the world over the past 25
years, backed by clever global marketing through Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Regular participants in
TBN programmes include Creflo Dollar, TD Jakes, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, John Hagee, Kenneth Copeland,
Jesse Duplantis and Joel Osteen, an impressive “Who’s Who” of the Prosperity/Word of Faith movement. TBN
Africa is broadcast on DSTV Channel 341 and has developed its own cohort of African preachers who imitate the
style and success of their American counterparts and are often mentored by them.
American lifestyles have led African believers to equate Christian faith with wealth, accelerating the adoption of
the Prosperity heresy on our continent. In a 2006 survey, 96% of people in Nigeria who professed faith in God
agreed with the statement that God would grant material riches if one had enough faith. In the same survey,
90% of people across Africa (including South Africa) agreed that faith was an important factor in people’s
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economic success .
The largest church in Africa, and the third largest in the world, is the Deeper Life Christian Ministry in Lagos,
Nigeria, attended by 120 000 people. They are strongly Pentecostal and explicitly preach the Heath and Wealth
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Gospel . Nigeria has a number of other mega churches, including the Living Faith Church which blatantly teaches
Prosperity. According to Forbes their leader, Bishop David Oyedepo, was estimated to be worth over $150
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million three years ago .
One of the biggest African churches outside of Nigeria is the United Family International Church in Harare,
Zimbabwe with about 50 000 members and 13 satellite churches. The main thrust of their ministry is divine
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miracles and healing, and their leader openly preaches Prosperity and is a multi-millionaire
Rhema Church in South Africa with a weekly attendance of 45 000 is also one of the ten biggest churches in
Africa. At first glance their statement of beliefs looks quite Biblical but the devil is in the detail as is often the
case with Prosperity/Word of Faith churches. For example, Rhema’s published small group lessons strongly
promote the power of positive confession, reflected in titles such as “Good success is in your Mouth” and
“Expect good things to happen to you”.
(http://www.rhema.co.za/Displaycustomlink.aspx?name=Small%20group%20teachings)
Probably the most controversial Prosperity preacher in Africa is T.B. Joshua who leads the Synagogue Church of
All Nations in Nigeria. This church has 15 000 members and attracts hundreds of international visitors each week
hoping to be healed by “Prophet” Joshua. Even though his claims of healing and ability to predict world events
do not stand up to close scrutiny, he commands a faithful following of tens of thousands of people desperate for
deliverance from poverty and illness. He sells his “anointing water” at exorbitant prices as a cure for HIV and
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Ebola, amongst others .
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Jones and Woodbridge, 2011
Unger, 2013
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Nsehe, 2011
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Blair, 2014
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There are thousands more churches in Africa of various sizes, in poor and wealthy areas, that peddle the false
hope of Prosperity. This message is sometimes overtly preached but is more commonly subtly woven in to what
on the surface appear to be Bible based teachings. The devil does indeed disguise himself as an angel of light (2
Cor 11:14). Tell-tale signs of this belief system include an over-emphasis on God’s material blessings and the
power of positive thinking, reference to financial giving as “seeding”, and unsubstantiated claims about
miraculous healings. Church names also give hints as to their doctrine e.g. a church with the word “Victory” in its
name is almost guaranteed to teach Prosperity.
The Prosperity Gospel is clearly alive and well in Africa and its many millions of followers span the economic,
tribal and racial spectrum.
What are the reasons for the rapid growth of this heresy?
Desperation caused by extreme poverty, usually coupled with limited education and ability to properly interpret
the Word of God, is a common reason for the rapid adoption of the Prosperity Gospel. The tragic story of Osei at
the beginning of this paper is not unusual in the Prosperity movement, and we should share God’s righteous
anger at those who take advantage of the poor and vulnerable in society such as Osei (Amos 4:1, Mal 3:5).
The ready acceptance of this “Gospel” cannot however always be explained by poverty. Many people nowadays
simply do not want to hear messages about sacrifice and self-denial in a culture which idolises personal comfort
and wealth. Disciplined Bible study takes far too much effort in a world of instant thrills and fast food. Such
effort would in any event lift the lid on uncomfortable teachings that the average follower surely suspects are
there but does not particularly want to hear. Such followers of the Prosperity “hope” have gathered around
themselves teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim 4:3), and who through their generous
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financial support perpetuate the system. Hanegraaff blames postmodernism for this replacing of solid spiritual
disciplines with what he calls the “fads and formulae” of the Prosperity Gospel.
Between these two extremes of victims and perpetrators, there are no doubt many God-fearing people in the
Prosperity movement who genuinely want to know and please God, but who have been inadequately taught or
deliberately misled about what the Bible actually says about topics like God’s blessings, worldly possessions,
illness and suffering.
How should the church respond to the Prosperity Gospel?
Three responses are suggested here for the church to adopt towards the false teachings of the Prosperity/Word
of Faith movement, concerned with (1) being united with God in His response, (2) doing an honest selfevaluation of our own beliefs, and (3) educating, teaching and warning.
Righteous anger
True followers of Jesus will share his indignation and anger towards false teachers (Matt 7:15), and towards
those who take advantage of the poor (Matt 21:12-13). Prosperity Gospel practitioners fit both of these
categories, and it is right to be angry and to oppose them in the name of truth.
Honest self-reflection
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Hanegraaff, 2009
Because of the ease with which these false teachings can creep into our belief system and the ever-present
temptation of materialism, we should take a cue from Paul who encouraged the Corinthian church to examine
themselves to test if they were “in the faith” at a time when they too faced the dual threat of false teaching and
a culture clash (2 Cor 13:5). The following questions are suggested by the author as a personal examination of
how free our beliefs are from Prosperity thinking.

Do you understand God’s blessings to be concerned primarily with material things?

Do you believe that poverty or sickness is a sign of unconfessed sin?

Do you believe that God’s blessings are linked to your financial giving to the church?

Do you believe in the power of positive thinking to shape the future?

Do you sometimes read or listen to Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen or TD Jakes for spiritual input, believing
that they have a sound Biblical view?
Answering “yes” to any of these questions may indicate that your beliefs have been compromised by the
Prosperity heresy, and should encourage you to deepen your understanding of what the Bible teaches on topic
such as self-denial, wealth and suffering.
Correct handling of the Word of Truth
Exegetical teachings on the Prosperity Gospel are needed which expose the unbiblical basis of this belief system
and the poor interpretation of scripture that underpins it. Much of what is taught has a Biblical ring to it which is
exactly why so many people fall for this heresy. But the doctrine of Prosperity does not stand up to even
elementary exegesis. Some passages of scripture often used in support of Prosperity are provided here together
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with their plain (correct) meaning .
The King James Version of 3 John 2 is one of the basic texts used to justify the view that God desires material
prosperity for His people. But John’s wish that Gaius would “prosper” and be in health cannot be taken to mean
that God wishes all people to prosper financially. This was a standard greeting in Biblical times and is better
translated (as we find in, for example, the NIV and ESV) as John wishing that “things will go well with” Gaius,
much as we might extend well wishes to a friend nowadays. Even if John had material blessings in mind, this is
clearly a personal wish for a close friend that cannot be extrapolated to a universal truth for all time.
Proverbs 18:21,which refers to the tongue having the power of life and death, is another favourite scripture used
in the Word of Faith community to justify “positive confession”. But the plain meaning from the context of this
verse is that what we say can have a devastating impact on others, not that the future can be spoken into
existence through the power of words.
Jeremiah 29:12 is incorrectly used to teach that God has plans for His people to individually prosper in financial
terms. But the context reveals that this is a promise of God to his collective people who were being taken into
exile that He would rescue them after 70 years and restore them in relationship with Him. It is not a promise that
God will financially prosper His people in all ages.
In John 10:10 Jesus promises that in him we have life to the full/abundant life. This passage is interpreted in
Prosperity circles to mean a life of material comfort, but it actually refers to a life with purpose and relationships
that point ahead to life in the Age to Come.
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Fee, 2006
A common promise peddled by Prosperity preachers centres around the “one hundred fold blessing”, based on
ripping Mark 10:29-30 out of context. It is used to teach the reaping of prosperity if one invests money in God’s
Kingdom. But, ironically, the plain meaning of this passage is about the deceitfulness of wealth (vs 24-25) and the
hundredfold multiplication clearly refers to the expanded family and relationships enjoyed by God’s children. If
we are willing to turn our backs on worldly treasures, we will be more than compensated in relationships.
There are many other passages of scriptures that are distorted to suit the aims of the Prosperity cult that are
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beyond the scope of this short paper but which are well covered elsewhere , .
At a deeper theological level, the Prosperity movement is based on an incorrect view of God and His ways. For
example, while it is true that material possessions are frequently related to a life of obedience in the Old
Testament, this is not the case in the New Testament where God’s blessings are primarily spiritual. The view that
God desires His people to be “happy” also misses the central call of discipleship to go the way of the cross, which
involves suffering to become more like Jesus (Luke 9:23, James 1:2-4).
While it is important to reactively challenge the shoddy exegesis underpinning the Prosperity movement, it is
equally important to proactively teach the correct Biblical view of wealth. God’s true children have adopted the
worldview of Jesus who had no place to lay his head (Luke 9:58). The one with two tunics is to share with he who
has none (Luke 3:11), and possessions are to be shared with the poor (Luke 12:33). The zero rating of the value
of wealth that is consistently taught under the new covenant makes it futile and unbiblical to desire wealth, even
if one’s motives are to be generous. Instead, those who happen to be blessed materially by God are to be
generous (1 Tim 6: 18) and all are called to be content with what they have (1 Tim 6:6-10).
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Summary and Conclusions
The Prosperity Gospel is man-centred rather than a God-centred, and derives from a culture that glorifies
success and personal wealth. It presents a false theology that we need to give in order to get, a distorted
understanding of God’s blessings and also ignores the value of suffering to become more like Jesus. The
Prosperity cult has made huge inroads in Africa through taking advantage of the desperation brought about by
poverty, coupled with false teachings about discipleship and God’s view of material possessions which resonate
with what people want to hear.
The pull of the world, especially the attractiveness of wealth, is stronger than ever. The Prosperity world view
has consequently crept into many sincere Bible-based churches. It is the responsibility of every disciple of Jesus
to check their hearts for any Prosperity tendencies and to repent of these if they are present. There is also an
urgent need for disciples to be able to refute these false teachings and save people from this evil through
correctly handling the Word of God. This requires deliberate education and teaching by church leaders, as well
as warning and correcting if needed.
Finally, the reader is encouraged to hear this impassioned plea by John Piper to reject the Prosperity cult and to
rejoice in suffering for Christ: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s
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Fee, 2006
Hanegraaff, 2009
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Resources
The books referenced in this paper are a good starting point to develop deeper convictions about the threat
posed to the true Gospel by the Prosperity cult. The resources made available by Justin Peters, a paraplegic with
personal experience of the hurt caused by the false promises of the Health and Wealth movement, are also
highly recommended: www.justinpeters.org.
The author has taught a sermon short series in 2012 called “Does the Bible really say …”. These audio lessons are
available at www.pecoc.co.za/sermons.aspx and transcripts are available on request. The Port Elizabeth Church
has also developed a Bible study on this false doctrine which has proved useful for people from a
Prosperity/Word of Faith religious background.
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Bibliography
Blair, L., Millionaire Prophet TB Joshua Sent 4,000 Bottles of Powerful Holy Water and Money to Cure Ebola in
Sierra Leone, www.christianpost.com/news/millionaire-prophet-tb-joshua-sent-4000-bottles-of-powerful-holywater-and-money-to-cure-ebola-in-sierra-leone-124934/ (17/09/2014)
Fee, G., The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospel, Regent College Publishing, Canada (2006)
st
Hanegraaff, H., Christianity in Crisis – 21 Century, Thomas Nelson, Nashville (2009)
Jones, D.W. and Woodbridge, R.S., Health, Wealth and Happiness, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (2011)
Nsehe,L., The Five Richest Pastors in Nigeria, http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/06/07/thefive-richest-pastors-in-nigeria/ (06/07/2011)
Trollip.N., Sound and False Doctrine part 2: The Prosperity Gospel, http://www.pecoc.co.za/mdbs.aspx (2011)
Unger, L., Charismatic Primer: Global Mega Churches – Africa,
http://mennoknight.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/charismatic-primer-12-global-megachurches-by-continentafrica/ (2013)
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Trollip, 2011