That's the question on the cover of this week's Time Magazine. They only provide the lede, so I haven't read it yet, but it apparently deals (at least in part) with Joel Osteen. If anyone has read it and wants to link to a summary, feel free to do so in the comments section below.
Update: Here's a summary. Alex Chediak also recaps. Here are some quotes:
"In a Time poll, 17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31%—a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America—agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money."
Rick Warren: "This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?" he snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"
Joyce Meyer: "Who would want to get in on something where you're miserable, poor, broke and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you get to heaven?" asks Joyce Meyer, a popular television preacher and author often lumped in the Prosperity Lite camp. "I believe God wants to give us nice things."
Update: I'm glad to see that the National Baptist Convention (the nation's largest African-American organization) has denounced the prosperity gospel. Thabiti comments: "Now, if we can just get the folks who denounce the prosperity gospel to give up the social gospel and preach the biblical gospel of redemption from sin and joyous eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ . . . then we'll be getting somewhere!"
