License To Thrill

Jesus wants you to be much happier than you are. Really.

So argue three extraordinarily popular recent books, one on prayer by a preacher who thinks we pray too little blessing for ourselves, another by a workplace motivator who sees Jesus as the ideal entrepreneurial guru, and a third by a prophet for a new kind of men’s movement.

Nothing is new about their ideas - this sort of prosperity gospel has been part of the American religious scene for some time. What is striking is the number of books they’re selling and the best-selling lists they’re gracing. Alongside the better-documented publishing successes of the Left Behind series, The Da Vinci Code, and The Purpose-Driven Life are these promises of unbridled happiness for those who follow Jesus in the way these authors describe. The market for religious publishing is apparently not exhausted; it is only just beginning to be tapped.