How do the wealthy religious bible thumpers deal with its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than a rich man to get into heaven?
How do the wealthy religious bible thumpers deal with its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than a rich man to get into heaven?
The beauty of the Bible (and I would guess the Koran, etc.) is that you can pick and choose what parts to heed and what parts to ignore as long as most of your fellow believers agree.
I’d think those “prosperity” preachers must have some justification for this.
The way they see it, wealth is only bad for those that are not blessed by god, if you are blessed by God, well he wants you to have all that money, so it is no problem.
i.e. they ignore it.
We call them “cafeteria christians”. Just pick and choose what you like and leave the rest. But specific to the OP, check out Luke 19: 11-27 or Matthew 25: 14-30.
Not that I would try to defend “rich bible thumpers”, but the biblical “eye of the needle” apocryphally refers to a gate in a city wall (EDIT: Jerusalem, IIRC). Camels would have some difficulty squeezing through to enter/leave the city. But, it’s not nearly as hard as it appears if one thought that said needle was a sewing needle.
They continue reading the next two verses.
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?â€
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.â€
Not that I would try to defend “rich bible thumpers”, but the biblical “eye of the needle” apocryphally refers to a gate in a city wall (EDIT: Jerusalem, IIRC). Camels would have some difficulty squeezing through to enter/leave the city. But, it’s not nearly as hard as it appears if one thought that said needle was a sewing needle.
It kind of doesn’t matter anyway, right?
Isn’t it consistent with most of the other teachings attributed to Jesus that one should be living a spiritual life rather than a life based on material pursuits?
What the “eye of the needle” refers to specifically misses the point.
How do the wealthy religious bible thumpers deal with its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than a rich man to get into heaven?
The beauty of the Bible (and I would guess the Koran, etc.) is that you can pick and choose what parts to heed and what parts to ignore as long as most of your fellow believers agree.
I’d think those “prosperity” preachers must have some justification for this.
An oldie but a goodie:
Bible contradictions
They continue reading the next two verses.
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?â€
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.â€
I don’t really see how that modifies what Jesus thought about the pursuit of wealth, it just gives the rich man some hope, but murderers, rapists, etc., anyone can be saved (as I understand it).
I suppose it would depend on how they acquired their wealth and what they do with it. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the benefits of prosperity as long as it is attained in an honest way. People tend to be paid more for doing good work or more valuable work, and people should strive to work to their abilities.
Of course, there is an obligation to give charity and the more you have available, the stronger that obligation becomes. Also, one is not to hoard money or worry about the future too heavily, but rather have faith in God to meet your needs. This can be extended to say you should pursue the occupation that you feel you are most called to, not necessarily the one that pays the most.
There are a few examples of extremely wealthy people who live honorably. There are a lot more who do not.
To me, the meaning is that someone trying to get to heaven on their own merits (wealth) will have a difficult time. It isn’t meant to say that it is wrong to be rich.
How do the wealthy religious bible thumpers deal with its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than a rich man to get into heaven?
My guess is they don’t believe in their god any more than I do.
Not that I would try to defend “rich bible thumpers”, but the biblical “eye of the needle” apocryphally refers to a gate in a city wall (EDIT: Jerusalem, IIRC). Camels would have some difficulty squeezing through to enter/leave the city. But, it’s not nearly as hard as it appears if one thought that said needle was a sewing needle.
It kind of doesn’t matter anyway, right?
Isn’t it consistent with most of the other teachings attributed to Jesus that one should be living a spiritual life rather than a life based on material pursuits?
What the “eye of the needle” refers to specifically misses the point.
The answers are no and no. I’d imagine there are short videos out there to explain Christianity to the uninitiated.
How do the wealthy religious bible thumpers deal with its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than a rich man to get into heaven?
Good point.
Now do abortion and birth control.
How do the wealthy religious bible thumpers deal with its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than a rich man to get into heaven?
My guess is they don’t believe in their god any more than I do.
There was a good discussion on that topic published on Patheos last week: “functional atheism”
“A majority of Americans behave as if they doubt the reality of gods, devils, heavens, hells, miracles, visions, prophecies and the rest of church supernaturalism. For most of society, daily life proceeds in a manner generally called “functional atheism†(acting as if God doesn’t exist). Even priests and ministers have secret doubts.”
“Belief in religion” is far more common than actual religious belief.