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The article in the previous issue on megachurch pastor Joel Osteen set me to thinking about the members of my congregation who are watching Osteen on television and reading his books. The situation reminds me of the lament of the Reverend John Ames (in Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead): 40 years of careful, literate, theologically sound preaching could be undone in a 20-minute sermon by a radio preacher.

Osteen preaches "your best life ever" to 30,000 faithful at his church in Houston. He talks about his elegant home, his well-adjusted kids and his wife—his adoring "partner in ministry." "Be positive," says Osteen, "and you too can have all of these things."