Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Even prosperity itself now seemed a menace: what was it doing to the children? School boards and universities produced a flood of social control films meant to tame this new generation who knew nothing of the work ethic and sacrifices of their parents and grandparents. “Are You Popular?” “Table Manners,” and “Dating: Dos and Don’ts,” sought to mold
... See moreKate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
It is a bizarre twist of history that this flowering of the prosperity gospel arrived in a season of withering anti-institutionalism. Its preachers valued clean living and future thinking among a generation in the grips of rebellion, when the first wave of baby boomers became teenagers, arriving in those years of anxiety and hormones in such number
... See moreKate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Soon a flurry of “Prove God” campaigns encouraged believers to test their financial faith and earn their own proof. Gene Ewing, known as a financial troubleshooter for fellow evangelists, published Prove God testimonies like that of M. M. Baker, photographed beside his late model Lincoln:
Kate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Yet true to Peale’s unique style, the book was not a systematic treatise of thought-power. Rather, it traded precision for anecdotal evidence and warm reassurances.
Kate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
In it, he folded Christian and psychological categories into a New Thought theme: God’s power could be harnessed by “a spirit and method by which we can control and even determine” life’s circumstances.
Kate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Positive thinking followed a simple formula: “picturize, prayerize, and actualize.”
Kate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Second, Peale’s theological synthesis of upward mobility with religious buoyancy matched the postwar mood, turning a man into a movement. His blend of Methodist evangelism, Dutch Reformed Calvinism, and New Thought focus on mind-power appeared in earlier works, The Art of Living (1937) and You Can Win (1938), yet as Peale’s writing progressed, New
... See moreKate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Positive thinking was simply a repackaging of earlier metaphysical mind-power, remembered for its psychological cast and emphasis on a cheerful and well-ordered mind.
Kate Bowler • Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
Oral Roberts’s cheerful reminder to “Expect a Miracle” reconciled two opposing poles—predictability and otherworldliness—that Hagin codified in his law of faith.