Evander Holyfield, Creflo Dollar and ‘prosperity theology’
It seems the “prosperity gospel” didn’t perform as advertised for former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the Fairburn resident faces foreclosure on his 109-room mansion. Also: “the mother of one of his children is suing for unpaid child support, and a Utah consulting company has gone to court claiming the boxer failed to pay back more than a half million dollars for landscaping.”
Holyfield told the AJC yesterday he’s just suffering from a little cash-flow problem.
Where’d the millions from Holyfield’s boxing career go? A big chunk apparently went to his preacher. In 2000, Holyfield’s then-wife told a divorce court that the fighter had given at least $7 million to the Rev. Creflo Dollar.
Dollar is one of the leading advocates of “prosperity gospel,” an upside-down school of Christianity, which argues that God wants you to get rich and that you’ll get particularly rich if you give obscene amount of money to your preacher. The Lear jet-riding, Rolls Royce-collecting Dollar is one of several high-rolling reverends in hot water with U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley over how they spend Holyfield’s — er, I mean, their — money.