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Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel

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We make a choice in life: God or nothing. Blessed Carlo Acutis chose God – “Not I, but God” – in five simple practices. The Mass, Adoration, Confession and spiritual guidance, befriending the Blessed Mother and the saints, and charity. These daily “appointments” led Carlo to a life of intimacy with Jesus and love for neighbour ” – Cardinal Sarah.”

You, too, can be a saint. But you need to want it with your whole heart, and, if you do not yet desire it, ask the Lord for it with insistence.”

Revelation with its focus on the end times was prominent in evangelical pop culture. Perhaps as a result what comes to mind when you think of Revelation is terrifying creatures emerging from the sea, numerous government leaders deemed the antichrist, or countless theories about what exactly the mark of the beast is. You might think a book about the future doesn’t have much bearing on the challenges you face today. Or maybe you love the glorious picture of the new creation in Revelation 21 but have some trepidation about exploring the rest of this controversial letter. I'd had this book on my wishlist for a while; it seemed like the prosperity gospel was as popular as it was egregiously wrong—and it was increasing in both respects. It seemed so impossible to take it all seriously; I was hoping someone could help me understand its origins and teachings. Yes from a young age he has a passion for the tings of God. But it was also something he worked at and strived for. On Saturday October 10, 2020, in the Upper Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, the Venerable Carlo Acutis was beatified, the second last step before canonization. Days prior to Bl. Carlo’s beatification, I kept seeing news stories of him on my Facebook news feed. I knew a little bit about who Carlo was prior to his beatification, but never bothered to read up much about him.

Bowler notes the recent emphasis in soft prosperity churches upon cultivating healthy bodies through diet and exercise versus the obesity which has crept into mainstream American society. The church doesn’t want to blindly follow after the rest of popular mainstream culture in idolizing health, but in too many Christian communities there is little to no emphasis being placed upon our need to be actively cultivating physically-healthy bodies.There are so many observations that can be discussed from the material in this book that it is impossible to list them all here. This would be a great book for a book club or for weekly discussion with a group of friends! Having said that, here are a few (if somewhat unrelated) thoughts I took from Bowler’s observations of the prosperity gospel movement. The first two are positive, the rest not so much so: Another great read from the Catholic Truth Society, and excellent volume in the CTS Biographies Series.

Belief that Jesus conquered poverty, that "faith operated as a perfect law," "drawing a straight line between life circumstances and a believer's faith. . . . any irregularities meant that the believer did not play by the rules." You can lay out a set of mortgages from a huge investment risk on the table and command God to pay them, and it will happen. What this book has to offer is far greater than popular theories about the apocalypse—real hope as we navigate a fallen world and anticipate Christ’s second coming. emphasis on individual's responsibility for their own fate resonated with American tradition of rugged self-reliance Nancy Guthrie reminds us that Saint John wrote about dragons, eagles, and beasts—not to fuel twenty-first-century speculation about their precise, physical referent, but to motivate the church towards godliness in the midst of a pagan culture. Revelation invites the church to gather around the throne of the holy God, Lamb, and Spirit and worship in every aspect of life. We need more books such as this on the capstone of the Bible’s storyline, and I’m eager to see how God will use this volume for his glory!” I'll start with the (apparent) criticism and end with the praise: Bowler doesn't manage to create much of a narrative. Her chapter titles—Faith, Wealth, Health, and Victory—do develop themes within prosperity teaching, but throughout much of the book, the word "concatenation" kept coming to my mind. I felt like I was being introduced to preacher after preacher, ministry after ministry, with very little coherence to hang all the details on.Michael Horton ,J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California It is possible to allow our difficulties to make us better and to live in such a way that we will end up better off than we were before the trouble began. We should never waste our pain. Through the wisdom distilled in this book, we can learn how to gain something from our messes, use what we've learned to stay out of trouble in the future, and allow our newfound wisdom to help other people mind blessing in the mist of their messes.

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