The Midas Touch: A Balanced Approach To Biblical Prosperity written by Kenneth Hagin, considered as the father of Charismatism, has recently surfaced on social media with praise. It is said Hagin retracted his earlier teachings on prosperity thus advocating for a balance. Hagin sounded convincing in his introduction as he drew lessons against covetousness from the Greek mythology The Midas Touch. But as one proceeds, it becomes clear Hagin didn’t bring any balance to prosperity teachings as he promised and is far from what the book is touted for. Hagin begins by saying,
I believe in prosperity. Yes, by that I do mean spiritual well-being and physical health. But I also mean material or financial blessing. When the Apostle John declared, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2), I believe his intent and meaning was to refer to three distinct areas of life—material, physical, and spiritual. His fervent desire was that we should thrive and flourish, or prosper, in every aspect of our being. This is the proper application of prosperity—balanced, sound, complete, and evenly emphasized. (Pg. 13).
In the aforementioned, Hagin argues for financial prosperity from a popular text of prosperity preachers: 3 John 2. Hagin quotes a text and instead of objectively interpreting it, he gave his subjective interpretation: “I believe.” We must note that 3 John is an epistle and verse 2 is simply well-wishes to the recipient Gaius; a common feature of letters written during that period. That fact wasn’t oblivious to Hagin for he addressed it. “Some people have argued that the phrase “that thou mayest prosper” does not refer to financial prosperity.” They contend the phrase was nothing more than a common greeting, or idiom, of the day that simply meant, “May things go well for you.” (Pg. 13-14).
Hagin shoots down this right approach of interpretation of 3 John 2 to clear it out of the way enabling him to establish his belief in financial prosperity. He further employs Greek to explain himself.
The Greek word translated “prosper” or “prospereth” in this text is “euodoo.” Euodoo is comprised of the words “hodos,” which means a road, and “eu,” which means good. Thus the Greek word eudoo (translated “prosper”) literally means a good road or a good journey. So even if in this instance the word did not mean specifically to prosper financially, at the very least it meant to have a good and prosperous journey.
Having established the meaning of “prosper” or “prospereth” as literally meaning having a good road or prosperous journey, he does what he has been doing all along; read his meaning into the text: “I have a hard time understanding how anyone could have a good and prosperous journey if he didn’t have adequate provisions for the trip—if he was broke lacking, and in poverty and want every step of the way.”(Pg 14). Would having adequate provisions for a journey necessarily translate into having financial prosperity?
Finally, on 3 John 2, we must bear in mind the apostle John was not making a promise to Gaius and by extension us. So to see and claim a promise is misreading the text. It is a well-wish and the best we can say to that text is Amen.
Now, appealing to the word of God under a heading, What Does God’s Word Say? Hagin lists characters in the Bible to prove biblical prosperity. “It is significant that many of God’s servants throughout the Bible were wealthy. I am not talking about just being spiritually prosperous, either. I mean financially rich! The Bible says, “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:2). That verse doesn’t require much interpretation, does it?” (Pg 16-17).
Actually, that verse does require much interpretation.
Firstly, the historical account of the life of biblical characters and their wealth are not promises to claim. They are information. Secondly, nowhere in Scripture are we told the wealth of any biblical character will be given the believer. Before we proceed, it is important to note financial wealth is not a gospel promise. Neither is poverty. In every generation, there will be rich and poor Christians. But to point to the wealth of biblical characters as a case for financial prosperity among Christians is bad hermeneutics. Paul says those who teach godliness as a means to gain are depraved in mind and deprived of truth (1 Timothy 6:5). Moving to another text, Isaiah 1:19, Hagin concludes “God wants to prosper his children. He is concerned about us and wants us to have good things in life”(Pg 17).
Chapter 2 opens with an interesting title: Our Authority In The Area Of Finance. Hagin outlines a supposed conversation with God on the subject and then proceeds to explain Scriptures to fit his narrative.
As I was praying and waiting before Him, He said to me by the Holy Spirit “The money you need is down there. It isn’t up here in Heaven. I don’t have any American dollars up here. I’m not going to rain any money down from Heaven because if I did, it would be counterfeit. And I’m not a counterfeiter.”(Pg 28).
From here, Hagin uses his personal experience as the basis of interpreting Scripture. “Afterward, I remembered what Jesus said in Luke 6. GIve, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall MEN give into your bosom… Luke 6:38″ (Pg 28). “
You see, when men give unto you, God’s behind it, all right, but that verse says, “…shall MEN give into your bosom…” That’s why the Lord said The money you need is down there. It isn’t up here in Heaven. I don’t have any American dollars up here. I’m not going to rain any money down from Heaven because if I did, it would be counterfeit. And I’m not a counterfeiter.” (Pg 28-29).
Hagin now establishes a doctrine from these conversations with God: Name it and Claim it “After the Lord showed me this, He said, “Whatever you need, you just claim.”(Pg. 29). Explaining further, Hagin states that “The reason we have a right to claim our needs met is, Jesus came to the earth and defeated Satan…. So we must use our God-given authority to enforce Satan’s defeat and enjoy the blessings of God that we have in Christ, including financial prosperity” (Pg 29). Prosperity preachers indeed undervalue the work of Christ on the cross. Christ’s death didn’t bring us financial prosperity. Continuing with his experience, the Lord told him “It’s Satan who’s keeping it[money] from coming, not me…. “The Lord said to me, “Don’t pray about money like you have been. Whatever you need, claim it in Jesus’ name. And then you say, ‘Satan, take your hands off my money.’ And then say, ‘Go, ministering spirits and cause the money to come.”(Pg 35). Hagin consistently uses his personal experiences, supposedly with the Lord to build his theology.
Hagin furthermore argues for prosperity saying Jesus wasn’t poor. “Let’s look again at Second Corinthians 8:9. “For ye know the grace the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became POOR, that ye through his POVERTY might be RICH.”(Pg. 46). Commenting, Hagin wrote: “We see that by His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus took our poverty to provide us the riches of His grace. He became poor that we might be rich, which mean abundant provision!” (Pg 46). This is simply a twisting of Scripture. The riches and poverty of Christ in that text is not material, but spiritual; what is called kenosis– the doctrine of Christ’s “self-emptying in His incarnation.”[¹] This is a spiritual exchange, not material.
Despite its flawed prosperity teaching, there are points in the book worth praising. Hagin speaks about caring for ministers of the gospel (Pg 85-86). This indeed is a true teaching of Scripture. However, it is not a means to gain and prosperity. Hagin also warns against covetousness which all believers will agree to (Pg.91). Overall, this book falls short of what it claimed to do, bring a balance to biblical prosperity. It is not faithful handling of Scripture, but rather an exposition of personal experiences Hagin claims to have had with the Lord.
Stay away from this book.
Grace and Truth 