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PROSPERITY PREACHING CRITICALLY REVIEWED A Professional Project presented to the Faculty of Claremont School of Theology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Seung Mok Choi May 2015 ©2015 Seung Mok Choi ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This professional project completed by Seung Mok Choi has been presented to and accepted by the faculty of Claremont School of Theology in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Doctor of Ministry Faculty Committee Kang-nam Oh, Chairperson K. Samuel Lee Dean of the Faculty Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook May 2015 ABSTRACT PROSPERITY PREACHING CRITICALLY REVIEWED By Seung Mok Choi Prosperity preachers, both in Korea and in the U.S., have dominated TV pulpits and considerably influenced on the public. In this study, I will examine whether the distinctive Biblical interpretations made by prosperity preachers have theological validity; then specially, I will analyze the sermons of David Yonggi Cho, one of the most representative prosperity preachers, by using the five characteristics of Kang-nam Oh’s concept of In-Depth Religion as an academic frame. I will examine a series of Cho’s sermons from three months in 2008, when he started to be criticized in the press, and a sample of sermons from three months in 2014 in order to examine whether the distinctive paradigm of prosperity preaching has run consistently throughout these six years, in spite of heavy criticism from the press and society. From these accounts, I will propose desirable alternatives reflecting the paradigm of In-Depth Religion. Characteristics of prosperity preaching include a health-and-wealth-centered faith, charismatism, and shamanistic experience. Furthermore, prosperity preaching has Biblical and theological weak points such as a focus on selfish mundane desire, literal exegesis on the scripture, and an exclusive attitude toward other religions and a supernatural theism, which are characteristics of a Surface Religion, in contrast to an In- Depth Religion defined by Oh. In order to overcome these drawbacks, it is necessary for preachers to take transition themselves from a surface level to an in-depth level of religious faith. I hope that my study may be a signpost illuminating the way to In-Depth religious faith and practices. KEYWORDS: David Yonggi Cho, Prosperity Preaching, In-Depth Religion, Kang-nam Oh, Prosperity Gospel SUMMARY Recently, David Yonggi Cho, the founder of the World’s largest Pentecostal church was exposed in broadcasts all over the World due to his financial corruption and embezzlement. Furthermore, it was hot news that Robert Harold Schuller could not help but let Crystal Cathedral Ministries file for bankruptcy due to defaults on loans. It staggers enough making people to reconsider of prosperity sermons delivered by them as representative prosperity preachers and to wonder if there were fatal drawbacks in prosperity preaching. At this time, public credibility on Christianity is standing lower than ever before. Prosperity sermons and messages delivered by the majority of televangelists, including David Yonggi Cho, are being socially criticized. In this context, I will examine whether prosperity preaching is theologically valid and healthy. I will examine characteristics and problems that prosperity preaching may contain. After that, I will propose alternatives to prosperity preaching by drawing on the five characteristics of Kang-nam Oh’s concept of In-Depth Religion. In this study, first, I will review the history of prosperity preaching. Secondly, I will investigate some Bible verses and prosperity preachers’ typical interpretations. I will show how they improperly interpret them. Prosperity preachers used to emphasize a health-and-wealth centered gospel, exclusiveness toward other religions, literal interpretation of the Bible, mundane well-being, and irrational blind faith. These are typical characteristics of a Surface Religion as defined by Kang-nam Oh. Ironically, not few advocators of prosperity preaching have been criticized by the press for their financial corruption, such as breach of duty and financial embezzlement, and some of them have even been convicted criminal. Even he was sentenced to guilty in the court. The luxurious life style of the majority of prosperity preachers have been denounced by public outcry. It seems that they naturally pursue their own financial prosperity in accordance with their preaching on pursuing material blessing; however, it needs to be reconsidered whether material wealth is a genuine blessing to them, since they narrow down and extract biblical messages to focus on material prosperity only. They utilize these messages to accumulate their own wealth, while they embezzle public assets and accumulate their private wealth illegally. Furthermore, while these preachers live luxurious lives by selling a false dream to the general public, what kind of rewards do their listeners, who are mostly poor and sick and are captured by the false dream of the preachers’ messages, receive? I hope that this study can facilitate the proclamation of the genuine message of the Gospel. The Bible conveys and encourages Christians living with a blind faith to move toward realization of an In-Depth religious faith. Christianity has existed at a surface level for a long time. In particular, the majority of Korean churches have not been able to go deeper, staying on the surface level. In one of the scenes of the movie, The King and I (a movie that I have been deeply struck by), Yul Brynner asks Deborah Kerr how the Bible can tell about only 6,000 years of the earth’s history, when science asserts that the earth has a history of tens of millions of years. In answer, Deborah’s character tells the king that the Bible is not a science or history book but a book recording confessions of faith. There are still numerous believers in the Korean Church who believe that the Bible can provide all the answers for every question even relating to history, science, and culture, like an encyclopedia. These people remain in a literal understanding of faith stage. Beyond the literal level, a genuine meaning that biblical texts try to convey can be found in depth. It is time for them to try to understand other religions and share genuine wisdom with them on an In-Depth religious level rather than misunderstanding them and taking an exclusive attitude toward other religious faiths. Even if a healing miracle does not occur at any request every time, Christians need to be able to find the sacred meaning that God provides in the midst of illness and recognize God’s grace and blessings. Just like Jonah was reborn as a prophet of Assyria after leaving the belly of the fish and just as the Count of Monte Cristo was reborn as a new man after his 18-year exile in Elba, both in accordance with Joseph Campbell’s concept of the Hero’s Journey in which heroes journey through darkness, I look forward to readers of this project leaving from their darkness and entering into a history of the new heaven and earth, a new dimension of a wholistic faith. Just like a bird fights its way out of its egg, as Hermann Hesse said, I hope Christians undergo the process of breaking through the surface level of their religiosity and moving into the level of In-Depth Religion. This will lead them to find their genuine Self, which is the first element of In-Depth Religion. It is like the Buddhist idea of nirvana, a snake slipping off its old skin, and Christian baptism, rebirth through water and the Spirit. m TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. *!■§• Introduction..........................................................................................................................................1 A. Discussion of the Questions.................................................................................................1 B. Methodology..................................................................................................................................5 c. 4-g-^ -g-oiôi ^si (m n w ^-g-^ w Definitions of Terms......................................................................................................................7 D. ^ Audience.......................................................................................................................................10 E. ^ xfltlAj Limitations of the Study..............................................................................................................11 F. 5 ^ 3 ]- ^ Originality and Contributions of the Study................................................................................12 II. Prosperity Preaching..........................................................................................................................14 A. <3*1- A History of Prosperity Preaching..............................................................................................14 B. 1SCS ^ ^H 1 ^ <£-§- The Response of Media about Prosperity Preaching and Preachers.........................................25 C. £#<>11 ^ ^ 9 # Prosperity Preachers’ Corruptions and Breaches of Duty.........................................................28 III. ^-§-71 3-A]- # 9 Analysis of the Prosperity Preaching of David Yonggi Cho............................................................34 A. ^-*1-51 2008^ ll-¥-^ 414*1 AiZL 164 ¥ 4 16 Preaching in 2008...................................................................................................................34 B. a-g-7] s.A}£] 20144 liM&l 414*1 15L 174 -g-4 17 Preaching in 2014...................................................................................................................57 C. ^-§-7] S-A} £4 Problems with Pastor David Yonggi Cho’s Biblical Interpretations.........................................78 IV. ÂisflAlS] £-Afl Problem with Prosperity Preacher’s Biblical Interpretation.............................................................85 A. Prosperity Preachers’ Understandings of Tithes and Financial Blessings...............................85 b. m & m 7h*hi tn& 7^ The Notion of Wealth in the New Testament and Early Churches...........................................95 C. £ 4 ^ A]-) Interpretation of the Beatitudes in Matthew..............................................................................98 D. 7hi*> *H rflSF TgAi ^ S Original Meaning of Poverty in the Bible................................................................................101 e. m m ° ] s it From Faith to Faith in Action....................................................................................................107 F. AM] tflfF Who is a Little One?...................................................................................................................111 V. 57M1 ^ P S . # Alternatives to Prosperity Preaching Based on the Five Characteristics of In-Depth Religion ..113 A. What is In-Depth Religion?......................................................................................................113 B. AMS) “ifM M “4M-" -t $7) Seeking a Transpersonal Self beyond the Current Self-Being................................................113 C. ^#41 Ai 4)iT£2l£ From Blind Faith to Realization...............................................................................................118 D. 3 ^ 5 1 AlôjlAi From Supernatural Theism to Panentheism..............................................................................122 e. -& a m s )^ * s fc nqsLs. (^ ^ ^ a d From Literal Interpretations to Finding Interpretation of Real Meaning (Evocative Reading Method)......................................................................................................................................132 F. 1T-I7?H]A1 A0UôM From a Closed Religion to Open Religion...............................................................................133 v