The “prosperity gospel” that US President Donald Trump and many of his advisers and followers seem to espouse does not promote solidarity for the common good, but sees God as giving his blessings to the rich and punishing the poor, said an influential Jesuit journal.
The philosophy “is used as a theological justification for economic neo-liberalism” and is “a far cry from the positive and enlightening prophecy of the American dream that has inspired many,” said the article in La Civilta Cattolica, a journal reviewed at the Vatican before publication.
The article was written by the journal’s editor, Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, and by Marcelo Figueroa, an evangelical pastor, who is director of the Argentine edition of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
In an email, Fr Spadaro described the article as “what I consider the second part of our article on the relationship between politics and fundamentalism in the United States.”
The controversial first article, published in July last year, was titled “Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism: A Surprising Ecumenism” and examined what the authors saw as growing similarities in the rhetoric and worldviews adopted by some evangelical fundamentalists and some “militant” Catholic hardliners.
They decried what they saw as an “ecumenism of hate” resulting from the political alliance in the United States of Christian fundamentalists and Catholic “integralists.”
The article set off widespread debate, ranging from criticism that it was a superficial reading of the US reality from the outside to praise for shining a light on ways that some tenets of the Christian faith have been manipulated for political gain.
“One of the serious problems that the prosperity gospel brings is its perverse effect on the poor,” the authors wrote. The philosophy “not only exasperates individualism and knocks down the sense of solidarity, but it pushes people to adopt a miracle-centred outlook,” which allows them to wash their hands of the obligation to work for justice and accept sacrifices for the common good.
Full story at The Catholic Herald.
That’s rich coming from Jesuits. If you want to live well, become a Jesuit. You don’t even have to be chaste. You don’t even have to be poor. You don’t even have to be obedient. You just have to know how to pretend.
Let me say this slowly so that even a Jesuit can understand:
1. Free market economies feed people.
2. Socialism kills people.
(Repeat)
The prosperity gospel of the mega churches is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Joel Osteen’s church has neither a crucifix or a cross – that would be too negative!
Only a clueless Marxist Jesuit would claim that Trump, who after less than two years in office has already spurred an economic boom and job growth that has benefitted the poor more than anything else his recent predecessors did would claim that Trump is bad for poor people.
Jesuit Spadaro, who said sometimes 2+2=5 in theology, isn’t a very bright bulb.
Jerry,
Did he actually say that 2+2 could equal 5? If so, could you please cite the source?
The reason is that philosophers who deny the principle of non-contradiction tend to be pantheists. Pantheism, of course, is a major heresy.
It’s not that hard to find in a search. Straight from his own tweet:
https://twitter.com/antoniospadaro/status/817144723093733377
Yep, a papal advisor believes 2+2 can equal 5 in theology. Nothing that man says should be listened to. He has no clue whatsoever about truth, reality, logic, theology, economics, you name it. But he gets to enjoy good wine and pasta in Rome, never mind that he’s a total fool in his thinking and writing.
Jerry,
Thank you for the link. He didn’t deny the principle of non-contradiction in math but he did deny it for theology [which, of course, is a further contradiction].
In short, it seems that instead of trying to find solutions to difficult problems, he prefers the easier route of bypassing truth and going rogue to find simple answers.
The Pope needs to surround himself with the best advisors he can find. By denying the principle of non-contradiction, Spadaro shows himself to be intellectually lazy and a man who plays loose with the truth.
These guys can’t get over that Trump is doing more to help people out of poverty and more for world peace than they are. Trump is blowing up every leftwing theory they have and showing that liberalism is lies. So they resort to more lies to try to convince people that what is happening to help people and make the world better, all because of Trump, isn’t really happening. The Jesuit journal is printing fake news and fake analysis and fake theology.
There are very dangerous and unwise men in powerful positions in the church. Let’s hope nobody listens to their opinions.
As I recall, Mr. Trump inherited a great economy. Given where we were when Mr Bush left in 2008, seems like Mr Obama started something very positive. However, the economic news I get says most of the income gains are going to the very well to do.
Mike M: I’m afraid both your memory and your source of economic news are faulty. He inherited a slumping economy, and the recovery is across-the-board.
There is no serious, respectable thought coming out of this pontificate. What a sad joke that this sort of uninformed writing is passed off as intellectually rigorous. I feel like taking a nap and then wake me up when we have a new pope.
Does “La Civilta Cattolica” mean “The Straw Man” in English? Because it commits the straw man fallacy in the article by proposing a straw man right off the bat: “The “prosperity gospel” that US President Donald Trump and many of his advisers and followers seem to espouse does not promote solidarity for the common good, but sees God as giving his blessings to the rich and punishing the poor” Who believes that? Nobody. This was in a reputable Catholic journal? Is this a parody or real?
Whatever Trump is doing for the economy, it’s working well. Enough said.
Stop worrying about Trump and economics and clean up the ranks of the clergy.
Let’s get off the Trump wagon. If he is doing well for the economy or not, isn’t the gist of the article. Too many ministers preach the gospel of prosperity to their congregations. It is a false gospel. It isn’t what Jesus taught. Don’t you agree that we should concentrate on what Jesus told us to do? He told us to give to the poor, take care of the sick, care for the widow and the orphan. He taught us that the meek will inherit the earth. His Sermon on the Mount is a lesson in how we should live. I don’t pretend to do it well, but I try. It isn’t about conservative or liberal, capitalism or socialism, but doing what Christ told us to do.I don’t see anything in the Bible that says we should amass wealth, and that if we do God loves…
Bob One,
Thank you for your post. I agree that the Prosperity Gospel is incongruent with the teachings of Christ and of the Church. My issue with the article is that the authors misrepresented the Prosperity Gospel.
I used to mingle with Protestants many years ago. One complaint that I heard is that too many big box Protestant ministers preach self-help and healing. But this isn’t the Prosperity Gospel.
My understanding is that it’s a minority view that repels most Protestants. It states that the closer one gets to Christ, the more he blesses you with secular riches. The further one stray from Christ, the poorer one gets. I don’t feel that Trump or his Protestant advisors espouse this view.
Unemployment was 6.7% in November 2008 and 4.6% in November 2016. Res ipsa
Trump was elected to be our President not our pastor. Yeah, go ahead and be snarky about a political leader who encourages job growth and respects unborn life. Clearly he is not a Democrat.