i think you misunderstand prosperity gospel. the wealth you have is a sign in itself that G-d loves you and is pleased with you. the more money you have, the more G-d thinks of you. Wealth is a tangible marker that you are on the right path, not a reward.
So, for instance Donald trump goes to his pastor, a prosperity Gospel huckster, and Donald is assured that G-d is pleased with him because the proof is clearly in the evidence; he’s rich.
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I think that is the draw. People want to know if they are saved. They want to know how many points they got on the test and whether the grade in this class is going to be curved and whether there is any opportunity for extra credit. They want to know whether they are getting into medical school. They want to know if they are working hard enough or whether there is still more to do. Its a way to assuage anxiety without making you drunk or fat or high.
So what about Barron Trump? That’s where predestination comes in I think. I find predestination to be a fascinating concept (due in part to what I believe is its somewhat primitive attempt to account for some getting better genes than others). I thought predestination was basically a creation of the Puritans (now Presbyterians) because it appealed to the proto prosperity gospel types. They always have the nicest churches (like the one in Chicago with Tiffany stained glass). But after just doing a bit of reading I found that it appears to have also been an issue raised in rabbinic literature (according to Wikipedia). This quote from Wikipedia made me chuckle: “However, many Chabad (Lubavitch) Jews attempt to hold both views.” i.e. that there is both free will and predestination. I guess your story about “2 Jews, 3 opinions” holds water.
