Prosperity Gospel

A friend of mine recently wrote and said "We should talk about this. this is seriously messed up stuff."

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/did-christianity-cause-the-crash/7764/

I responded with this:

Dude, it's funny you find this article.  I read this a month ago or so.  Isn't it really rediculous?  I mean, I just don't understand what Bible people are reading.  I think about Solomon - God told him he could have anything he wanted.  Solomon asked for wisdom so that he could govern well the people he was made King over. God said that he would also give him riches and good stuff because his heart was set on truth and the benefit of others.  Jesus didn't have a house - "...The son of Man has no place to lay his head."  The Israelites, God's chosen people, were originally slaves, then were forced to walk through the desert for 40 years with nothing but a pilar of fire and a cloud and a crazy man leading them.  They got bread to eat almost the entire time... not much else.  When a rich man asked Jesus what he had to do to follow him, Jesus told him that he should sell his stuff, give the money to the poor then follow him.

God has made many promised of prosperity and well-being to those who follow him - namely life to the full.  But, rarely has God promised material wealth and most of the time, God has rejected it.  So, I just don't really get this prosperity gospel... it certainly isn't in the Christian Bible... I have read it on every page of the American Bible though.

What do you think?

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Tuna