Abstract
This study compared the early church’s conceptualization of poverty, and attitude towards the poor, with that of the contemporary Prosperity Preachers in Nigeria. Hermeneutical and comparative phenomenological methodologies were employed. The study revealed that in the early church, the majority of the members were poor, yet there was no practice which involved the elements of modern ‘prosperity preaching’ in Nigeria. In fact, the early church had a view of poverty and disposition towards the poor that is different from that of the prosperity preachers in Nigeria. This served as a justification for the position of the study on the prosperity preaching movement. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n5p377
Highlights
The concept of economic prosperity is a controversial subject which has drawn much attention among Christian theologians in recent times
According to a 2010 Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard Survey done by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 70 percent of Nigerians live in poverty; only 30 percent crossed the poverty line (NBS 2010)
This study peculiarly contributes to these discourses by examining the socio-economic condition of the early church, its ideology about poverty and prosperity, attitude towards the poor; in order to ascertain the essence of the contemporary prosperity gospel movement in Nigeria
Summary
The concept of economic prosperity is a controversial subject which has drawn much attention among Christian theologians in recent times. It holds that a poor Christian is under satanic curse (Celestina, 2007) It arose in Nigeria between late 1970s and early 1980s. According to a 2010 Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard Survey done by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 70 percent of Nigerians live in poverty; only 30 percent crossed the poverty line (NBS 2010) It seems that this situation is directly linked to the prosperity preaching phenomenon in Nigeria. The study, examines the economic circumstances within and around the early church of the New Testament text, the early Christians’ understanding of poverty, and the church’s attitude towards her poor members; so as to compare the past with the present prosperity preaching phenomenon in Nigeria. The study criticized the prosperity preachers’ simplistic view of poverty which is a multidimensional factor
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