There was always a strain of American Puritanism that pointed to Scripture as justification for asserting that wealth is somehow godly. But ever since evangelical Christianity separated from the mainline faiths in the early 20th century, some preachers have gone further and linked their focus on personal piety to financial success. The big-tent revivals of the 1930s promised the dust-bowl destitute the possibility of finding Jesus and their next meal just by listening to a fire-and-brimstone message. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, televangelists like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart made prosperity gospel big business, capitalizing on that era's economic uncertainties to win over a new generation of acolytes, before those ministries were brought down by scandal.
Osteen is one of a new breed of televangelists -- Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and Creflo Dollar are also rising stars -- who are preaching...
