Baptist pastor lays waste to Joel Osteen’s prosperity gospel: ‘It is a damning heresy’

A conservative Virginia pastor dismantled the teachings of prosperity gospel televangelist Joel Osteen as false and misleading.

Adam Blosser, senior pastor of Goshen Baptist Church in Spotsylvania, published a column in The Free Lance-Star reacting to Osteen's recent appearance nearby -- and he urged Christians to reject the televangelist and his gospel.

"Make no mistake, Joel Osteen is a false teacher and should not be trusted as a source of biblical teaching by Bible-believing Christians," Blosser wrote.

He said Osteen's message was built on the power of positive thinking and urged followers to reject negativity, but Blosser said that ignored Christ and his disciples' teachings.

"Osteen teaches that faithfulness to God and righteous living results in material blessing," he wrote. "Jesus makes it clear that sometimes faithfulness to God and righteous living results in persecution. (That) alone would be enough to identify Osteen as a false teacher."

But the Texas pastor also teaches his followers to reject churches that teach that all people are sinners who must repent and place their full trust in Christ, which Blosser said contradicts the essential message in the gospels.

"He has become successful by proclaiming a false message," Blosser said. "That is why he is so dangerous."

"If we fail to compare the things that Osteen says with the clear teachings of Scripture, it is easy to be deceived," he added. "The prosperity gospel sounds good to itching ears, but it is a damning heresy from which Bible-believing Christians should flee."