Bible scholar Ben Witherington III critiques Joel Osteen‘s variation of the “prosperity gospel.” Some commenters defend Osteen on the grounds that, e.g. his church is very multiracial. Which is surely a good thing, but the question for the church (qua church, as it were) is what does it gather around? The gospel of Jesus Christ or some counterfeit?
Though, lest we find ourselves getting all smug about Osteen and his ilk, simply reading Prof. Witherington’s references to various biblical teachings on wealth should probably be enough to make most of us distinctly uncomfortable.
A Thinking Reed 
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