There are several versions of the prosperity gospel, but this essay talks only about the “Mormon” one (using “Mormon” in a way President Nelson would approve of).
In the Mormon version people are foreordained (because we don’t believe in predestination) to great wealth and fame because of their virtue, generally from the pre/existence.
Those who have virtue, God rewards and pays very well. Those who do not have only sufficient for their needs.
Everything else can be obtained with money and the possession of money and fame is proof of virtue.
Anything that generates wealth is holy and virtuous. Anything that results in reduced wealth or the absence of wealth is a sign of a lack of virtue. This is especially true of those who turn down professional advancements to spend time with family.
The great hero of this group is King David. After all, no matter what he did, God rewarded him, or so the narrative goes.
Which narrative comes about from not actually reading the scriptures.
After all King David:
- Acknowledges in the Psalms his soul is headed for hell and he pleads with God not to leave him there.
- Lost his wives in the course of the civil wars.
- The same civil wars where his children who didn’t rape, murder or kill each other died.
- Had his sole remaining friend and supporter killed, slaughtered really, upon the mercy seat in the Temple while pleading for his life.
- Came to ruin in other ways as well.
Using David as a reference point for someone with fame and wealth who had God wink at their sins because of virtue requires just ignoring the real details of the scriptures and David’s life.
Which makes sense since embracing the prosperity gospel just requires ignorance of what the scriptures and the temple really have to say.
I’m curious how often our readers encounter versions of the prosperity gospel and their experiences and thoughts about it.
Wheat & Tares 
I have not heard the concept that “people are foreordained (because we don’t believe in predestination) to great wealth and fame because of their virtue, generally from the pre/existence.” I have been taught that if you were faithful/righteous/virtuous in the pre-existence then you got a prime slot in your earthly destination. Of course, the most coveted and best reward was being born white, in the USA, and to an LDS family. I supposed one might consider that “great wealth”, but fame is a stretch for me. The Church has since renounced (or quietly discarded) that teaching. In fact, almost everything I was taught has been quietly discarded or changed. I’m not sure what the Church actually holds as true anymore but I am sure that they don’t tell their members what has changed voluntarily.
Most Mormons are blithely unaware of the Evangelical prosperity gospel preaching. If there’s a Mormon counterpart, I doubt King David has much to do with it. I think there’s a Mormon folk doctrine that runs something like this: It’s great to be rich (and pay lots of tithing). It’s great to be Mormon. It’s even greater to be rich and Mormon.
Is there a more “official” Mormon doctrine about riches or prosperity? I don’t think so. For all the scriptural handwringing about riches and its corruptive power, that seems like the very bottom item on the long GA list of things to worry about. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that most GAs are rich or at least very well off — that’s almost a prerequisite to being called. So the result is there is almost nothing said officially (in Conference or in manuals) about riches, largely ignoring scriptural concerns. So the folk doctrine (It’s great to be rich, it’s great to be Mormon, and it’s really great to be rich and Mormon) sort of becomes the recognized LDS position by default.
I see the term “prosperity gospel” in a wider way. What I hear in church meetings is the “self reliance” gospel with the idea that if you keep the commandments all will go well in your life. This is an attractive idea because it makes us feel safe from tragedy and trial. We can then look at other people and judge them and imagine that their trials came about because they failed to keep the commandments, and we can keep on feeling smug and safe. This is the reap what you sow paradigm and is in fact reinforced scripturally in some ways.
However many scriptures conflict with these ideas and typically, if you have lived long enough you know life does. There are people born with disabilities that will never be able to be self reliant no matter how righteously they, or their parents live. Of course there are scriptures that support this point of view as well, Mosiah 4 referring to helping the begger rather than judging him is often ignored. Alma 30:17 where the idea that taking credit for our own success due to good management is labeled as anti Christ, and of course in Matthew where we are reminded that rain falls on the just and unjust.
But we do seem to want to climb the Rameumpton stand at church and thank God we are better than other people.
As far the wealthy General Authorities, to be fair, money is a practical help for doing the Lord’s work. However, I think being poor and suffering difficult circumstances can teach much you can’t learn in an easier, more well cared for setting. But these things are never learned by leaders of the church. Am I wrong?
It seems like providing a stipend might widen the group of people that could be chosen to lead.
I think the Mormon version of the prosperity gospel is based more on the promise of paying tithing and then the blessings of heaven will be poured out upon you. So, Mormons got to Wendover and gamble and then pay tithing on it, so that they will win next week in Wendover. But they don’t tell the bishop it is earnings from the slot machine. Yup, known Mormons like that. Or they join a multi level marketing company, or another get-rich-quick scheme expecting to get rich because they just know that God is going to reward them. Known Mormons like that too.
And our leaders do preach the blessings of paying tithing with stories of sacrifice and reward. Stories about people who paid tithing not knowing how they would buy food and then the unexpected check came in the mail. We never hear stories about paying tithing instead of rent and then being evicted, or listening to hungry children crying.
So, yes, Mormons believe in their version of prosperity gospel.
I agree that for many, the “windows of Heaven” was aligned with wealth – though that has been “re-framed”…. In addition, we are taught in the Bof M: And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land;
I think many interpret “prospering in the land” as “financial success”. Too many feel if they are keeping the commandments, and pray/feel good about an opportunity – that is all they need to become successful…. forgetting about D&C 93:30
The prosperity gospel is particularly onerous in developing countries. Countries where members and their neighbors are frequently in serious poverty. And are susceptible to the prosperity gospel. Give us money and grow rich (or it will rain on your crops).
There was a GA talk, about 10 years ago, that said you should pay tithing before feeding your family. President Nelson in Kenya suggested that paying tithing would lift members out of poverty. And Elder Bednar stated that even though the Church is rich, members should still pay tithing. Tithing brings blessing.
Atlantic Mag suggested that the Mormon Church is the prosperity gospel on steroids. The $100B certainly played into that scenario. And let’s not forget the perception that members of the Q15 are all rich (evidence of their faithfulness).
I wonder how many poor Africans tithed their way to prosperity, as promised by Russell Nelson. In 2018 Nelson said: “We preach tithing to the poor people of the world because the poor people of the world have had cycles of poverty, generation after generation. That same poverty continues from generation to another, until the people pay their tithing.” Yes, poor people, take your food money and give it to the $100B church.
The version of the prosperity gospel that I grew up believing in was that if you were faithful, you’d get the ideal Mormon life. Others have already mentioned the connection between tithing and financial prosperity. Staying virtuous and temple worthy was supposed to bring a good marriage. Having FHE was supposed to produce faithful prosperity. The Word of Wisdom was also supposed to lead to health.
And honestly, there’s some correlation with some of those activities. FHE means spending time with your kids, which can lead to good relationships. Avoiding tobacco and alcohol has some health benefits. But there are plenty of examples of people who were obedient and didn’t get the (implied) promised blessings. It’s luck as much as anything else in some of these categories.
As far as the pre-existence goes, I remember the suggestion that we brought some of our talents with us. People like Mozart were musical in the pre-existence, for example. And of course, priesthood holders were ahead of other men because of their premortal righteousness, like Alma 13 says.
I am not a fan of the prosperity gospel. However, I still fall into those thought patterns pretty easily. This is something I have to guard against.
I live in a very wealthy ward. Lots of successful business owners, lawyers, doctors, etc. The time came for a new bishop to be called, and the rumor mill was in full swing. I sat in silent shock through much of an EQ presidency meeting where the presidency members went through the potential candidates, and the only criteria they were considering were: how many employees each candidate had, how much money each candidate had, how quickly each candidate had gained their wealth, etc. Literally no other types of criteria were discussed. I mean, I guess there are some qualities that a successful businessman could use to be an effective bishop, but it seems there’s so many more important things to consider than that. Granting a prestigious calling to the most successful businessman in the ward feels like a form of prosperity gospel to me.
Prosperity gospel was most prominent for me on my mission where I heard multiple missionaries talk about how their investigators problems would disappear if they would just get baptized and start following the commandments. There was also plenty of talk about “wife points”. The more door knocking we did the more we would be rewarded with an exceptionally attractive wife. I’ve also heard rumors about getting wealth so you can do the work of the Lord and not hinder it. I’ve never gotten the impression that wealth is necessarily a sign of approval or a blessing from God. I grew up in a relatively poor area where we talked more about money being the root of all evil rather than a blessing.
I mentioned this recently on another thread, but LuLaRich, a 4-part docuseries on Amazon Prime (https://www.amazon.com/LuLaRich-Season-1/dp/B09CFXPNSX), is a fascinating show that features a form of Mormon prosperity gospel. It’s a show about a Mormon couple who founded LuLaRoe, an MLM company that peddles leggings of all things. The company experienced a meteoric rise followed by an equally spectacular collapse due to shady practices and terrible mismanagement. The LuLaRoe founders firmly believe that all people that are good enough and that work hard enough will be blessed with success (can you say prosperity gospel?), and they preyed on all their “downline” followers as they preached this philosophy to them (those people who weren’t having success or getting rich selling LuLaRoe simply weren’t good enough or working hard enough–there couldn’t possibly be a problem with the way LuLaRoe was managed or with the the product it was producing).