The Prosperity Gospel as a Modern-Day Indulgence System

October – particularly today on Halloween –brings out all manner of spookiness. In keeping with the general theme of the season, I want to talk about a particularly spooky development in theology: The historic practice of selling indulgences, and how that has informed an equally influential branch of evangelicalism today.

While today is Halloween, it’s also widely celebrated as Reformation Day, in acknowledgment of the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg. Luther’s Theses were a response to a particular development in his theology. He was a Roman Catholic monk who had done something dangerous: He read the Bible for himself! Oh, the humanity! In his reading, Luther became convinced of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. 

Luther’s Theses, however, do not represent a fully-formed Protestant Reformed theology, as Protestants might recognize it today. The Theses are a representation of a man who was developing in his theology. The main thrust of the Theses is against the practice of selling indulgences. In short, the Roman Catholic church of the late 15th and 16th centuries authorized the practice of selling indulgences. In Luther’s direct context, the Archbishop of Mainz was a man named Albert, who had purchased this post as Archbishop. In order to be named Archbishop, Albert had to make a significant contribution to Rome for different building projects undertaken by Pope Leo X. In order to raise this money, the Pope authorized monks such as Johann Tetzel to travel throughout the land and sell certain indulgences. People in the villages could contribute money to the priest, and in return, they would receive an indulgentia, or a remission of temporal punishment due to sin. To sum up the system: Rome needed money to build bigger buildings, so they raised this money by promising remission of sins in exchange for financial contributions. 

You can see the flaws of the system. However, if the Roman Catholic church was all that you knew, and you viewed their hierarchical leadership system within Roman Catholicism as the voice of God (especially the Pope), then it would be hard to stand against it. The Popes could get away with such a corrupt and abusive system because they were believed to have papal authority and were thought to be acting as the Vicar of Christ, or the one who has supreme headship of the church on earth.

Tetzel was an engaging preacher and persuasive speaker. He would write jingles to encourage people to purchase indulgences. Most famously, he said: “Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.” Tetzel was implying that if the people would contribute their hard-earned money to the Roman Catholic fund, their relatives could have a lesser sentence in purgatory. This irked Martin Luther so much that he wrote his 95 Theses in order to reform the theology of the church. He was one who was willing to stand against an oppressive system that distorted the gospel message. What started in Wittenburg quickly spread across Europe and led to the development of the movement that we now know as the Protestant Reformation.

There is a concept within the Reformers that is known as semper reformanda. Semper reformanda means “always reforming.” This concept calls the church to continue to watch her doctrine, and always be willing to reform faith and practice to the Scriptures. In other words, the Reformation never really ends: We should always be watchful in our doctrine, being careful to be thoroughly biblical in what we confess and practice.

In the spirit of semper reformanda and in remembrance of Luther’s 95 Theses, I want to shift gears. While Luther brought to debate the practice of selling indulgences 506 years ago, the Protestant church is still in the business of buying and selling blessings. New Tetzels have risen up, and under the guise of apostolic authority have sold their constituents a fake bill of goods comprised of promises of prosperity and wealth. I am of course referring to the modern phenomenon known as the prosperity “gospel.”

The modern prosperity gospel – or Word of Faith movement – is a relatively new religion. It grew in popularity largely as a result of televangelists in the latter half of the 20th century. Key figures of this movement include Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, Paula White-Cain, Creflo Dollar, and many, many more. Perhaps the most popular proponent of the prosperity gospel is Joel Osteen. Due to the rise of radio and television programming, the messaging of these leaders has been quickly disseminated across the globe at an astonishing rate. In short, the prosperity gospel promises that believers can experience wealth and “favor,” but at the expense of sowing seeds of faith into the ministries that preach this message. Money for blessing. This system, which finds its roots in the U.S.A., has now been shipped all over the world and is destroying different cultures with its empty promises.

The prosperity gospel does not differ much from the selling of indulgences. First, in the prosperity gospel system, preachers convince the hearers to contribute by promising blessings that they are not authorized to make, thus committing abuses of authority. The leaders are actually the ones who profit by living lavish lifestyles removed from the everyday ministry of their followers. Finally, the prosperity gospel and selling indulgences distort the gospel in similar ways.

Similarity 1: Abuse of Authority

The prosperity gospel thrives on a misunderstanding of authority. Only someone with a perceived spiritual authority granted by God himself could say the outlandish things that prosperity gospel preachers say. Just as the Pope claimed to act as the Vicar of Christ (with absolute divine authority), so too do the prosperity gospel preachers of today. They claim to be acting on behalf of God as modern-day prophets and apostles. 

When a person is raised to an authoritative position that is equal to Christ’s authority, their word is believed to be gospel truth. No person can take up the mantle of Christ’s authority. Thus, when a person claims to be speaking for God, the only response is to flee. Humans are not built to carry the spiritual weight of Christ’s authority. As fallible creatures, the only place that leads is sinful abuses of authority. These abuses are what lead to such evil practices as indulgences and the prosperity gospel. 

“Who can stand against a prophet of God, or lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed?” This is what many prosperity gospel preachers will proclaim when they are rightly called out. The same was true of the medieval Roman Catholic Church. Creating a sense of infallible rule and unquestionable authority sets up a system that is unapproachable. History shows what leaders of countries and societies are capable of once they reach absolute power and authority. The same is true in the church. These systems thrive when no one questions authority and the authority rests in one person who claims divine power and voice. The prosperity system and the selling of indulgences both thrive under unquestioned authority.

Similarity 2: Lavish Lifestyles

As stated above, the system of selling indulgences was to directly profit the building of bigger buildings in Rome. I am not against beautiful and large buildings (in fact, I believe that congregations should try to build beautiful buildings in which to meet). However, the system of indulgences was given spiritual perfume so that it had the aroma of faithful orthodoxy. In reality, it was a fancy building program to simply support Rome’s lavish lifestyle and concretize Albert’s position in the church hierarchy.

The prosperity gospel is much the same. The pastor or leader needs to give the appearance of wealth, since his or her gospel promises wealth. Therefore, the church must support a wealthy lifestyle for the leader. It is not uncommon for prosperity gospel preachers to have private jets, exotic cars, and massive mansions, all from the money raised by their congregations and through their ministry channels. I believe that churches should support those who are leading them – this is a biblical practice. But pastors should not be living in absolute luxury while their congregations struggle to make ends meet. The bishops, archbishops, and popes of Rome lived like kings while selling “blessings” to poor peasants in their parishes. The prosperity gospel, in the same way, feeds on the powerless and poor. The system is created to sell promises that cannot be met by any person. If someone does not become wealthy after sowing a seed of faith into a certain ministry, the fault is theirs, not the charlatan who received the money. They are asked then to give more, believe more, and do more works. Sound familiar? It’s the same system that Luther rebelled against.

Similarity 3: Distortion of the Gospel

And Luther’s rebellion and reformation lead us to the final point of similarity between the indulgence system and the prosperity gospel: They are both distortions of the true gospel. The gospel is that though humans are sinful, they can experience salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And this is found in Scripture alone and is accomplished for the glory of God alone. Nowhere in the biblical gospel is found any grounds for a system that uses any works of man to achieve a state of blessing (Ephesians 2:8-9). Blessings from God cannot be bought. Blessings from God are the result of his salvation and are freely given by his grace (Eph 1:3-14). 

The indulgence system promised people that they could achieve remission of punishments for sin with a financial contribution. The prosperity gospel system promises post-salvation blessings of wealth and health dependent upon the strength of a believer’s faith and the size of their financial contribution. More financial contribution equals more grace and favor. I hope that you can see that these systems are fundamentally antithetical to the biblical gospel and the ways the church ought to operate today. The biblical gospel teaches that the remission of sin is completely found in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. His death is the atonement for our sins, and he willingly gave his life as a sacrifice so that we might have forgiveness and redemption. There is no need to buy indulgences for the remission of sins. Grace and favor cannot be bought – they are unmerited and find their source in God alone, not men. In the same way, a blessed life is not to be found in wealth. True blessedness comes in finding yourself in Christ alone. If you are in Christ, you are blessed. You might not be rich or healthy. You might not have fame or fortune. But in Christ you have “every spiritual blessing” (Eph 1:3). You have been chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, shown grace, sealed with the Spirit, and will be on the last day glorified with all the saints (Eph 1:3-14). That is the blessed life. This blessing is not contingent upon how much you give or the strength of your faith. Your blessing is found in the strength of the object of your faith, namely the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

The prosperity gospel and the indulgence system leave people wanting. These systems cannot satisfy the hunger in your soul for God. Only the biblical gospel can do that. We will hunger and thirst for righteousness until we find satisfaction in God alone, and find that by trusting in the efficacy and finality of Christ’s sacrifice. 

Remember on this Reformation Day, that no matter the era, no matter the cultural milieu: God’s blessings cannot be bought, and his grace is freely given. Praise God for the biblical gospel. May we be prepared to stand firm for the sake of the gospel in our day as Luther did in 1517. Take heart: The church has emerged victorious for 2,000 years and will continue on. The gates of hell will not overcome the church of Christ, and neither will the prosperity gospel. No matter what spookiness might be challenging the church, she will overcome, as long as God’s truth abides within her walls.

Read and ponder the hymn of the Reformation, written by Martin Luther himself:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe;

his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,

on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our strength confide, our striving would be losing,

were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing.

You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth His name, from age to age the same,

and He must win the battle.

And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure;

one little word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth;

the Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindreds go, this mortal life also;

the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still;

His kingdom is forever!