Mainstream evangelical scholarship has mounted a sustained exegetical case against the prosperity gospel's central proof texts, argued at length by bodies including the Lausanne Movement and in the pages of Themelios, the theological journal of the Gospel Coalition. Each text, critics argue, is misapplied outside its original context. 3 John 1:2 is a conventional Greek letter opening wishing a traveling companion good health, a form of address common in first century letters, not a doctrinal statement about wealth. Malachi 3:10 addresses the priesthood of ancient Israel under the Mosaic covenant's temple tithe system, not an individual New Testament pledge, and its promised blessing is corporate rather than a guarantee to any one giver. Mark 10:29 to 30's hundredfold return is read by critics as describing the shared life of the early Christian community, since the same passage has Jesus calling his followers to leave everything behind, a demand the prosperity reading does not apply to itself. 2 Corinthians 8:9 is read in context as Paul's appeal for the Corinthian church to give generously to poorer churches, not a promise about the giver's own income.
The doctrine has also drawn regulatory scrutiny distinct from its theology. Between November 2007 and January 2011, the United States Senate Finance Committee, under Senator Charles Grassley, examined the tax exempt finances of six prosperity preaching ministries. Two of the six, Joyce Meyer Ministries and Benny Hinn's World Healing Center Church, fully cooperated and made financial reforms; the other four provided incomplete or no response. The inquiry closed in 2011 without finding that any of the six had violated federal tax law, though the findings were unfavorable to several of the ministries.