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How American Life Is Impacted By The Prosperity Gospel : Throughline In the New Testament, Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In the United States today, many Christians believe in something radically different. In what's known as the prosperity gospel, wealth is a sign of virtue and God's favor. The effects of this belief can be seen throughout American life from business to politics to social policy.

Throughline

Capitalism: God Wants You To Be Rich

Capitalism: God Wants You To Be Rich

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  • The prosperity gospel is a mix of theology and capitalism that equates wealth with goodness, prosperity with virtue. It has helped shape the broader ideology of American capitalism we live with today.
    The prosperity gospel is a mix of theology and capitalism that equates wealth with goodness, prosperity with virtue. It has helped shape the broader ideology of American capitalism we live with today.
    Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
  • Donald Trump and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in 1988 in New York, New York.
    Donald Trump and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in 1988 in New York, New York.
    Tom Gates/Getty Images
  • Evangelist Oral Roberts seen praying for the healing of a baby in 1964.
    Evangelist Oral Roberts seen praying for the healing of a baby in 1964.
    Reg Innell/Toronto Star via Getty Images
  • Televangelist switchboard in the 1960's.
    Televangelist switchboard in the 1960's.
    Found Image Holdings/Getty Images

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In the New Testament, Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In the United States today, many Christians believe in something radically different. In what's known as the prosperity gospel, wealth is a sign of virtue and God's favor. The effects of this belief can be seen throughout American life from business to politics to social policy.

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