Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels
Gordon Fee's brief but incisive critique emerged from his unique position as both a respected New Testament scholar and a committed Pentecostal. Writing in the mid-1980s when prosperity theology was gaining significant traction within charismatic and Pentecostal circles, Fee felt compelled to address what he saw as a dangerous distortion of biblical faith that was spreading through televangelism and popular Christian teaching.
Fee systematically dismantles the theological foundations of the health and wealth gospel by returning to careful biblical exegesis. He demonstrates how prosperity teachers misinterpret key passages about faith, healing, and material blessing, often taking verses out of context or applying Old Testament covenant promises inappropriately to New Testament believers. His central argument is that the prosperity gospel fundamentally misunderstands the nature of faith itself, reducing it to a mechanism for obtaining desired outcomes rather than trust in God's character and purposes. Fee shows how this teaching contradicts the New Testament's consistent witness that suffering and hardship are normal aspects of Christian discipleship, pointing to Paul's own experiences and Jesus' warnings about the cost of following him. He particularly challenges the movement's implicit denial of the ongoing effects of living in a fallen world before Christ's return.
The work has endured as one of the most theologically substantive critiques of prosperity theology precisely because it comes from within the Pentecostal tradition rather than from cessationist critics. Fee's credibility as both a biblical scholar and someone sympathetic to divine healing and miraculous gifts has made his warnings particularly influential among Pentecostals and charismatics seeking to distinguish authentic faith from its distortions.
Who should read this: Pastors and teachers in Pentecostal and charismatic contexts will find Fee's arguments especially valuable, as will anyone seeking to understand or respond to prosperity theology from a biblical perspective. Those looking for a detailed historical analysis of the movement's development should look elsewhere.