Relevant Magazine

How Manifestation Culture Snuck Prosperity Gospel Back Into the Church

How Manifestation Culture Snuck Prosperity Gospel Back Into the Church

Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Every generation in the American church has had its own shiny, marketable theology trend — something that promises an easier, flashier version of faith. In the 1980s, the prosperity gospel swept across TV screens, promising believers health, wealth and success in exchange for big faith (and often bigger donations). By the 2000s, celebrity pastors carried…