Why prosperity gospel is scam, satanic – Catholic priest

PREMIUM TIMES

A Catholic priest in Nigeria, John Oluoma, has said that the prosperity gospel is a scam and satanic and that Christians should discountenance it.

Mr Oluoma, otherwise known as Fada Oluoma, stated this in a Facebook post on Saturday where he rhetorically asked why the Nigerian economy, for instance, has continued to deteriorate “despite all the crossover and January prayers, decrees and prophecies”.

“What’s the essence of doing all these spiritual exercises if they are not working?” said Mr Oluoma whose bio on Facebook says he is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with prayers, fasting, prophecies and decrees,” he said. “There could be everything wrong with the motive and kind of prayers, fasting, prophecies and decrees.”

What’s prosperity gospel?

Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the prosperity gospel as “the teaching that faith—expressed through positive thoughts, positive declarations, and donations to the church—draws health, wealth, and happiness into believers’ lives.

“It is also referred to as the ‘health and wealth gospel’ or ‘name it and claim it.’

“Central to this teaching are the beliefs that salvation through Jesus Christ includes liberation from not only death and eternal damnation but also poverty, sickness, and other ills. Adherents believe that God wants believers to be richly blessed in this life and that physical well-being and material riches are always God’s will for the faithful. Illness and poverty are seen as curses that, through atonement, can be broken with faith in Jesus,” it added.

Prosperity gospel is a global movement common among Protestant Christianity. It began in the early 20th century and has continued to gain ground in different parts of the world.

Globally, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, and Kenneth Hagin are among the well-known prosperity preachers.

David Oyedepo, a Nigerian cleric and bishop of Living Faith Church, also known as Winners’ Chapel, is among the globally recognised prosperity preachers.

Another Nigerian cleric, Matthew Ashimolowo, the senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, London, is also top on the list of prosperity preachers in the world.

‘Israel’s wealth not from prayers’

Mr Oluoma, the Catholic priest, said Israel which Christians all over the world refer to as the Holy Land “never prospered economically at any point by prayers, prophecies and decrees”…