Prosperity Gospel” as a doctrinal trend in neopentecostality in Tropical Africa

This article examines the influence of prosperity theology, also known as the Prosperity Gospel, on Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa. Prosperity theology is a global phenomenon in modern Christianity in the era of globalization. Christianity in post-colonial Africa is heavily influenced and shaped by the tenets of the Prosperity Gospel. First of all, this applies to various areas of neo-Pentecostal Christianity. The development of Christianity in Africa can be better understood by understanding the close relationship between the Prosperity Gospel and African Neo-Pentecostalism. African neo-Pentecostals perceive wealth, health and good fortune as rights that they can expect or even demand from God. Prosperity Gospel preachers claim that the physical health and material well-being of believers are a given as a result of the Awaam Covenant with God, when God blessed Abraham financially, and are also the result of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Success and prosperity within the framework of the Prosperity Gospel doctrine are also perceived as forms of healing, when a Christian overcomes failure, poverty, backwardness and lives a life of abundance and prosperity. To achieve prosperity, a person is expected to give generously and sacrificially to the church. The “prosperity gospel” is inextricably linked with “liberation theology”, which implies that spiritual forces are blocking prosperity and that in order to remove the blockage (liberation), the help of a “prophet”, a “man of God” is necessary, as well as a break with the past and an act of “restitution” is necessary. when a believer must atone for his past sins. The Prosperity Gospel doctrine shifts the focus from salvation in the afterlife to materialism, to prosperity in earthly life. The effect of the Prosperity Gospel tenets is that believers gain self-confidence, but on the other hand, this theological concept is an obstacle to achieving social justice and overcoming the problems of the costs of capitalism and prevents systematic theological analysis of economic injustice and social marginalization

Ancient history · Archaeology · Development economics · Economics · Geography · Gospel · Political science · Prosperity · Christian Theology and Mission · History · Law · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies · Religion, Society, and Development