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A History of the American Prosperity Gospel

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A History of the American Prosperity Gospel Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Catherine Bowler Graduate Program in Religion Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Grant Wacker, Supervisor ___________________________ Thomas Tweed ___________________________ Julie Byrne ___________________________ Mark Chaves ___________________________ Glenn Hinson Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program in Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 i v ABSTRACT Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Catherine Bowler Graduate Program in Religion Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Grant Wacker, Supervisor ___________________________ Thomas Tweed ___________________________ Julie Byrne ___________________________ Mark Chaves ___________________________ Glenn Hinson An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program in Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 i v Copyright by Catherine Bowler 2010 Abstract This dissertation introduces readers to the major figures and features of the twentieth-century American prosperity gospel. It argues that these diverse expressions of Christian faith-fuelled abundance can be understood as a movement, for they stem from a cohesive set of shared understandings. First, the movement centered on Faith. It conceived of faith as an “activator,” a power given to believers that bound and loosed spiritual forces and turned the spoken word into reality. Second and third respectively, the movement depicted faith as palpably demonstrated in wealth and health. It could be measured in both in the wallet—one’s personal wealth—and in the body—one’s personal health—making material reality the measure of the success of immaterial faith. Last, the movement expected faith to be marked by victory. Believers trusted that culture held no political, social, or economic impediment to faith, and no circumstance could stop believers from living in total victory here on earth. Though its origins lay in the late nineteenth century, the prosperity gospel took root in the Pentecostal revivals of the post-World War II years. It reached maturity by the late 1970s as a robust pan- denominational movement, garnering a national platform and a robust network of churches, ministries, publications, and media outlets. Using the tools of ethnography and cultural history, this dissertation argues that faith, wealth, health, and victory served as the hallmarks of this American phenomenon. iv Dedication To my parents, for their loving home, And to Toban, for bringing it with us On all life’s journeys. v Contents Abstract...............................................................................................................................................iv List of Tables...................................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures...................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... xi Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Method ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Terms.............................................................................................................................................. 8 Historiography ...........................................................................................................................10 An Introduction to the Faith Movement...............................................................................13 Outline..........................................................................................................................................26 Chapter One: Gospels .....................................................................................................................27 New Thought’s Mental Magic .................................................................................................28 E. W. Kenyon..............................................................................................................................32 Pentecostalism’s Mental Magic...............................................................................................41 Health, Wealth, and the Rise of Black Metaphysical Religion ........................................46 Gospels of Wealth .....................................................................................................................51 Metaphysical Money.................................................................................................................54 The “Disappearance” of New Thought................................................................................56 Corporate Metaphysics............................................................................................................59 Twice Blessed: The Gospel of Health and Wealth.............................................................61 Chapter Two: Faith..........................................................................................................................64 Healing Faith, 1947–1958........................................................................................................66 Positive Faith..............................................................................................................................74 vi Charismatic Faith, 1958–1975................................................................................................83 African American Faith............................................................................................................92 Cohesive Faith ............................................................................................................................95 Chapter Three: Wealth ..................................................................................................................102 Jehovah Jireh..............................................................................................................................103 Megaministry ............................................................................................................................107 Televangelism............................................................................................................................110 Hard Prosperity.......................................................................................................................114 Testing Televangelism .............................................................................................................120 Soft Prosperity .........................................................................................................................125 Sunday Prosperity...................................................................................................................129 Financial Sins ............................................................................................................................132 Holes in Their Pockets ............................................................................................................138 Chapter Four: Health.....................................................................................................................144 Miraculous Health ...................................................................................................................146 Sunday Healing........................................................................................................................152 Keeping Your Healing..............................................................................................................157 Deliverance................................................................................................................................160 Spiritual Competitors: Hoodoo............................................................................................164 Spiritual Competitors: Medicine ..........................................................................................168 Harmonizing Health................................................................................................................172 (Super)natural Health Care...................................................................................................180 Explanations for Suffering.....................................................................................................182 Chapter Five: Victory ....................................................................................................................188 Techniques of Triumph...........................................................................................................190 vii Aesthetics of Triumph............................................................................................................198 Triumph and Racism...............................................................................................................200
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