#98: How Protestant Prosperity Gospel Pastors are Killing Christianity

Intellectual Freedom Podcast

Just twenty-two percent of the youngest adults describe themselves as Protestant – a more than fifty percent decline from the 1950s and 60s. A cataclysmic decline if things do not change.

Gen Z is the most likely generation yet to say they don’t believe in God. They are also the least religiously affiliated and the least likely to attend church.

Meantime, their rates of depression and anxiety are soaring. The Centers for Disease Control recently published a report stating that “almost 60% of female students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year, and nearly 25% made a suicide plan.”

This is a stunning collapse. Any way a Christian may slice it, the current theology and institution are not working. Period.

In this episode, we contrast maybe the most corrosive element of Christianity—prosperity gospel preachers against some very stoic and hardcore followers of Christian theology often referred to as the desert fathers and mothers. What a stark contrast and the disparity shines a bright light on the differences between a postmodern world of ease versus a life of pain, suffering, and ultimately one of deep fulfillment outside the umbrella of materialism.

In this podcast, we primarily focus on St. Anthony, an incredible individual who shunned all material and personal wealth and fame for a life in the deep, mystical desert, hoping to live out his best life as close to the teachings of Christ as possible.

Whether you are a Christian, Jew, or of any faith, the hard-fought lessons learned by the desert fathers and mothers illuminate shortcomings in our lives that we can work on to become a better version of ourselves.
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