A new statement is aiming to address the growing influence of prosperity gospel and “word of faith” teachings in African churches.
The Africa Statement on Prosperity Gospel and Word of Faith Theology (ASPG) has been produced in Swahili, English and Amharic, and signed by notable pastors and church leaders across the continent.
It describes such teachings as: “[In reality] a constellation of mutually self-reinforcing doctrines which hold, essentially, that health and wealth in this life are guaranteed to Christians as a direct consequence of the atoning work of the Son of God on the cross. These blessings of material prosperity are to be seized by exercises of ‘faith’ that range from financial giving to speaking words of positive proclamation.”
