Prosperity Doctrine

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Do you have any evidence showing he was actually hedging, or have you simply made some kind of judgment call there?

Just that there's no need to express something like this as an opinion (saying "I believe x" is usually a statement of opinion)- the Bible is quite clear that this sort of "theology" is completely wrong, and if one does not believe in the Bible than one would reject the prosperity doctrine anyways.

I'm agreeing with the OP's conclusions, just saying that the claim can and should be expressed as a definite fact.

I am inclined to agree also, but I do not see how anyone could accurately state the "prosperity doctrine" being false is "definite fact". Rather, that is simply an opinion or interpretation or exegesis or whatever, as accurate as that might be, yet possibly the OP and I might agree there ... and it is certainly fine that you might not, of course.

There are some interpretations of Scripture that simply cannot be held up as remotely plausible, and can be rejected as "just plain wrong." The prosperity doctrine is one such interpretation.

I am not holding any significant disagreement there, yet I am inclined to believe/know the so-called "prosperity doctrine" as more of a misuse of truths than as a complete error in any thought of right actions being blessed.

Pretty much any error of interpretation is a misuse of truths. But still definitely false.

My perspective...as a Christian who has issues with the "prosperity gospel."

First, I like to say that the Bible indicates that it IS NOT God's desire for His people to go without the things THEY NEED.

Please note my emphasis.

God promises to provide His followers what they NEED. Often, God will bless His followers with many of the things they WANT, but there is no express promise to do so.

The Bible also extols the virtue of hard work and prospering from that hard work.

However, that many Christians have been sold this "name it and claim it in Jesus' name" nonsense really irks me. I've gone without all the "manifold blessing" (at least financially) that you'd think I should have based on what they say God wants for me. Frankly, this is what I've learned in my own walk.

1. God promises to provide what I NEED, not what I WANT...although often He does give me some of my WANTS.

2. If I am doing without the "financial blessing" I feel I should have, I need to look in the mirror first and foremost. I don't work as hard as some others do (and as such, they have more). I have issues (like anger-management and AS) that frustrate my reaching goals...costing me opportunities. This is the normal way I see most Christians enjoying fiscal prosperity...the ability to get a good job and work hard (and long) to earn a lot more money than I do. I've also chosen (for personal reasons) to seek a life of personal tranquility rather than blindly pursue money. As such, I should never expect to be as prosperous as someone who is deliberately working to such a goal.

3. Poverty is not a "good" thing in such that it should be extolled as a virtue (a la Roman Catholicism), but the Bible makes it clear that the "love of money" is the root of all evil. God can use poverty to teach people lessons they must learn. If you can't handle being poor, you won't handle being wealthy. If you are ungrateful with nothing, you'll be ungrateful with everything. If you are unthankful with nothing, you will be unthankful with everything. God has no issue with His people being very wealthy, but only if they can handle it, and let's be honest, lots of people would like to think they could handle being abundantly wealthy, but God knows each person's heart and knows how wealth would affect them. Sometimes you can't get past that "prosperity barrier" in your life because you are not spiritually mature enough to handle how it would complicate your life.

4. There are many ways to be blessed other than money. Financially, I have my needs met...and several of my minor wants. I'm blessed with relative good health (nothing I can't handle with OTC meds)...which means a lot since I can't afford health insurance. I'm in a good place right now where I have stability in my life. For as much as I wish I had something "better," where I am at now really is a blessing because short of something really bad happening, I can depend on things not changing tomorrow, next month or even for the next several years. Since change upsets me easily, this is something most people would envy.

So, yes. God wants His people to be well, not struggling in poverty, but this emphasis on wealth, prosperity, etc. takes away from the growth of the spirit. Even if you grow spiritually so that you could handle having wealth, it doesn't mean God would hand it to you. In fact, if you indeed did mature in such a way, having material wealth would seem so unimportant compared to other issues in life.

Americans (and most western nations) put so much focus on the attainment of wealth, status, etc. that I think what started as a marketing ploy to attract people who thought Christians were all about suffering morphed into something very ugly.