The New Age “prosperity Gospel” preaches that God meant everyone to be rich and happy – so does this mean you can rob a bank in order to achieve the wealth Jesus said you deserve?

Of course not! But not according to John Haskew, an unemployed man from Lakeland, Florida who blamed Jesus for making a $7 billion fraudulent wire transfer.

AOLNews.com is reporting on the court documents in which Haskew stated that “Jesus Christ created wealth for everyone. Using this scheme, Haskew believed that he could obtain the wealth that Jesus Christ created for him and that belonged to him.”

This is a textbook example of a distortion of the Gospel that has come to be known as the “prosperity Gospel” or the “health and wealth Gospel.” People who espouse this teaching believe that God meant for everyone to be rich. All we have to do is ask in the right way, or be generous to others, in order to trigger an avalanche of cash.

We don’t know if Haskew was actually exposed to this teaching, but the explanation he gave to the authorities sure does sound like it!

Unfortunately, he isn’t going to be rich any time soon and is now facing a $250,000 fine and five years in prison.