The Joel Osteen hoax is probably wished to be by some critics of the Prosperity Gospel.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , the Joel Osteen hoax began on a fake church website called joelostenministries.com, which looks almost identical to the original Joel Osteen Ministries website at JoelOsteen.com. As of this writing, the Joel Osteen hoax website is down.
CNN also reported the Joel Osteen hoax as real and the rest of the media fell inline, reporting the hoax one by one. The hoaxsters also posted a fake YouTube video and bogus Twitter page — twitter.com/PastorJoelOsten .
The Joel Osteen hoax was confirmed by Lakewood Church officials, saying Joel Osteen is not resigning. The church has not determined whether they’ll seek legal action, but apparently Joel Osteen is saying he’ll turn the other cheek to the hoax:
“You know, I’m really not angry. I don’t feel like a victim. I feel too blessed, that life is too short to let things like this get you down.”
But there’s some critics of the Joel Osteen hoax who are probably wishing it to be true. Joel Osteen is has been criticized for years for teaching the “name it, claim it” or “health-and-wealth” or “prosperity gospel.” These are nicknames for an idea that some call a heresy. Basically, God is there for you and your happiness. He has some rules and principles for getting what you want out of life and if you follow them, you can have what you want. Just “declare it” and prosperity will come to you. In short, if you’re rich must be following God, but if you’re not…
Critics of Joel Osteen and the Prosperity Gospel point to Bible verses like these:
“For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matthew 5:45)
“There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous.” (Ecclesiastes 8:14)
“I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.” (Ecclesiastes 7:15)
Joel Osteen has also spoken to Larry King, saying he “doesn’t know” if non-Christians will go to Heaven or not. Joel Osteen has also been criticized for not taking a solid stance on gay marriage , telling Oprah that homosexuality is a sin while at the same time claiming he cannot choose to be straight.
The Joel Osteen hoax was much-discussed on Twitter:
i’d be as spiritual as Joel Osteen too if I was worth 40 million dollars.
— Tshirt (@TshirtNinja_) April 9, 2013
… Though technically, Joel Osteen stopped being a Christian pastor the moment he embraced the “prosperity gospel.” #Jesus was a #socialist .
— Jason Tippitt (@TippittJason) April 9, 2013
http://twitter.com/alex_mololo/status/297429442899369985
Did you wish the Joel Osteen hoax was true?