Costi Hinn, the nephew of world-renowned televangelist and ‘prosperity gospel’ preacher Benny Hinn, is releasing a book this summer denouncing and critiquing the message he once believed in.
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God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: How Truth Overwhelms a Life Built on Lies will be released by Zondervan in July, and promises to preach a message of hope in real truth, not the doctrine preached by prosperity pastors.
Hinn, who was once a next-generation prosperity preacher, announced his upcoming book in a blog post, in which he explained that he would be giving away all proceeds.
“I am eager to see this book used as a tool for God’s glory — not for sordid gain,” Hinn said. “Here is a sobering thought: In a rat-race effort to sell books, it’s easy to become the very dragon that we’re attempting to slay.”
“A prosperity gospel book should give more than it takes,” Hinn wrote, stating that he plans to “give away thousands of dollars in books and resources to those who pre-order in the coming months as well as pastors around the world.”
Hinn, the pastor of Mission Bible Church in California, said that the book “seeks to charge the prosperity gospel with the grit of a bull while displaying the grace becoming of servants of Christ.”
In an interview with Faithwire, Hinn explained that breaking free from the prosperity gospel transformed his life, and he wants everyone to know the real gospel that he found because of it.
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“After my life was transformed by the true Gospel I began to study and seek out discipleship from mature Christians the Lord had put in my life,” he explained. “Having seen their example, I knew what I was supposed to do as I grew stronger in my proper understanding of faith.”
“We are not transformed by a loving God and helped along by others just to sit around feeling good about our state in life!” he added.
Hinn explained that he left the prosperity gospel after he realized how detrimental it was to his faith, and how that fueled him to warn others of the dangers as well.
“It was never enough for me to be saved from the deceptive lies of the prosperity gospel. I wanted to proclaim the truth and do what I could to rescue others with the power of the true Gospel. I think many Christians think this way.”
Hinn pointed out to Faithwire that he has been asked to write God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel for years, but didn’t until now.
“Many people have been asking about life in the prosperity gospel, and what they can do to help others either avoid it or be rescued from it,” he said. “Of course, only God can change hearts, but we are all called to live on mission by sharing the truth.”
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God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel will detail the lifestyle Hinn lived when following his uncle around the country, give “behind-the-scenes details about some of the shady behaviors, and plenty of teaching about the gospel, healing, money, and reaching people caught up in false gospels like the one I was propagating.”
He hopes that by reading his book, people will realize the dangers of the prosperity gospel and how twisted it makes scripture. The subtitle to the book is “how truth overwhelms a life built on lies,” which Hinn explained is exactly what the Word of God did to reveal to him what was intricately wrong about the prosperity gospel.
“Looking back, it was the truth of God’s word that exploded in my heart and I couldn’t resist it,” he explained. “My mind literally changed in a moment.”
“That’s the power of God through the Gospel,” Hinn added. “Jesus transformed my life and I went from darkness to light. When God wants to change someone, He comes in like a tidal wave. Nothing can stop Him. I experienced that.”
In a blog post where Hinn announced his new book, he explained that in light of the book’s topic, he and his wife would be giving away all royalties from the book to theological education and providing resources to pastors and people who have been exploited by the prosperity gospel.
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When Faithwire asked him what lead him to that decision, he pointed out that he “learned a good lesson about this decision in the publishing world already.”
“I can’t technically say 100% of royalties because there are taxes and fees associated with royalties that I am not in control of,” he explained.
But he pointed out: “we are putting royalties towards theological education and providing resources to pastors and people who have been exploited by the prosperity gospel.”
“Technically, and legally, I can’t say ‘all,'” he said regarding donating his book royalties.
“Either way, our goal is the same,” he emphasized.
Hinn explained that one afternoon, he and his wife were talking about the book when they both reached the same conclusion about the royalties.
“A prosperity gospel book should be used as a tool for the kingdom of God. This book isn’t about getting, it’s about giving. We want to make sure that we are practicing what we’re preaching and one of the best ways we can do that is by putting money towards the root of the disease the book addresses.”
Last year, Hinn released: Defining Deception: Freeing the Church from the Mystical-Miracle Movement, a book also about the prosperity gospel. Hinn encourages readers to read both, in whatever order they please.
He pointed out that it might be better to read God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel first, and then Defining Deception, because “it dives deeper into the history of some of today’s most dangerous movements and addresses teachings that are hurting many younger people in the church.”
Be on the lookout for the release of God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel, which will be released in July.
You can pre-order the book here.