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Is there a scripture in the Bible that says the rich are blessed by God?

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CrispyQ

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:50 AM
Original message

Is there a scripture in the Bible that says the rich are blessed by God?

I've read that Boosh & his ilk believe that God favors the rich -- even spoiled little boys like W who didn't do a thing to earn his riches. That's how they justify their heinous behavior. Does it actually state that somewhere in the Bible?

Recently several articles & posts have mentioned the passage "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man enter the kingdom of God."

So which is it?

It frightens me that we have a group of self-righteous, egotistical assholes who are willing to kill anyone who doesn't agree with their view of things engaged in a global battle with another group of self-righteous, egotistical assholes who are willing to kill anyone who doesn't agree with their view of things. And both groups claim to be 'men of God.'

Excuse me while I go retch.

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shoelace414

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:51 AM
Response to Original message

1. blessed are the cheesemakers

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ET Awful

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:54 AM
Response to Reply #1

5. Quiet Big Nose. n/t

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Dhalgren

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:56 AM
Response to Reply #1

7. "The Holy Shoe!"

It isn't a 'shoe' it's the Holy Sandal! Shoe! Sandal! Splitter!"

Of course the "Bible" says that the "Rich shall inherit the earth". You can see it right here (just give it a few minutes for the ink to dry).

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kodi

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:07 AM
Response to Reply #7

10. Blasphemer! Follow the Holy Gourd!

Actually, we are seeing a reprise of the Calvanistic Protestant Work Ethic and its intereptation of holy blessings as realized by material riches.

It dovetails well with the Neocon belief in the model of Utopian Capitalism.

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oneighty

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:15 AM
Response to Reply #10

17. Go forth and rape the Earth

The creed.

180

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Dhalgren

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #10

21. Good analysis.

I can just hear the neo-Christians - "After the meek inherit the earth, they'll be pretty damned wealthy!"

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jus_the_facts

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:53 AM
Response to Original message

2. welcome to the world theater of the absurd.....

Edited on Tue Feb-08-05 10:54 AM by jus_the_facts

...s'the way it's been since the dawn of *civilization*...nothin' new to see here...same o'song and dance for millennia... :evilfrown: :nopity:

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Done

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:54 AM
Response to Original message

3. It's all a matter of interpretation.

"blessed are the peace makers" could be interpreted "blessed are those who kill"

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meegbear

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:54 AM
Response to Original message

4. Supply Side Jesus

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/132/story_13245.html

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ClintonTyree

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:54 AM
Response to Original message

6. No, but there's something about a "camel and a needle".........

a dromedary heroin addict? :shrug: Never read the book myself.

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shoelace414

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Tue Feb-08-05 10:58 AM
Response to Original message

8. the camel thing was translated from hebrew wrong.

"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a liberal man enter the kingdom of God."

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HamdenRice

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:14 AM
Response to Reply #8

15. You mean Greek ...

The old testament was written in Hebrew -- actually Aramaic, an archaic form of Hebrew.

The New Testament original texts are in Greek.

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starroute

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:00 AM
Response to Original message

9. Michael Novak and the theology of the corporation

http://www.mediatransparency.org/stories/novak_worker.htm

In what in the preface he calls a theology of the corporation, Novak combatively takes on those who want to "humanize" the corporation, that "tiny minority of publicly owned firms" which "produce more than half of America's economic output." We read this supposed theology and ethics of corporate governance from cover to cover. It was impossible to find even the slightest echo of the Gospel or of the great teachings of the Popes of the last century in the book.

<snip>

Novak's presentation of the "The Corporation as it Ought to Be" might have been a textbook on economics written by Machiavelli. He goes to great lengths to explain why there should have been no checks and balances on the power of a CEO. Power is what he most needs to do his job and power he must have . . .

<snip>

The problem with Michael Novak and fellow neoconservatives George Weigel, Fr. John Neuhaus and Fr. Robert Sirico is this: They use Catholicism as window dressing to promote an economic system based solely on self-interest, a system that has nothing to do with the Gospel or Catholic social teaching. They replace the heart of Catholicism with Adam Smith and Max Weber (virtue comes to society only through self-interest; the Gospel is a private affair).

<snip>

In order to popularize this economics, Catholic neoconservatives advocated it in the name of John Paul II, even though their inspiration came instead from Adam Smith. They began to speak of wealth creation as a participation in the work of the Creator, as a participation in the eternal life of God.

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Occulus

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:09 AM
Response to Reply #9

11. I'd like to see a vast push to revoke

the doctring of corporate personhood. Yank ALL their rights away, replace them with priveleges, and revoke it all, including the corporate charter itself, upon the very first hint of wrongdoing.

We HAVE to do this, people. Corporate personhood is responsible for nearly ALL of the corporate abuses we see around us.

They can do it, because under the law, corporations are people, too! Isn't that nice?

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kodi

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:13 AM
Response to Reply #9

14. Smith would find the market primitivism of the current day unrecognizable

Edited on Tue Feb-08-05 11:14 AM by kodi

"He (Smith) saw the necessity for public intervention to create or sustain the public interest, and took for granted the existence of a government responsible to the community as a whole, providing the structure within which the economy functions.

"Classical political thought says that the purpose of government is to do justice for its citizens. Part of this obligation is to foster conditions in which wealth is produced. The obligation is not met by substituting the wealth-producer for the government.

William Pfaff

http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0126-01.htm

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TlalocW

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:12 AM
Response to Original message

12. It comes from not reading the Bible

And listening to goons like Pat Robertson and others who write books that tell you that God wants you to have nice things and be rich and if you follow these "Biblical principles," he'll bless you as he's blessed them.

I don't know if it's because they think God favors them, but the Bushistas have always had the attitude that they're somehow destined to rule.

TlalocW

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On the Road

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:13 AM
Response to Original message

13. There are Some Verses in Proverbs

For example:

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Proverbs 13:25
The righteous eat to their hearts' content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

Proverbs 10:3
The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

Proverbs 13:25
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

It's not so much an individual statement as it is that the Old Testament in general associates personal goodness with prosperity. It does not imply the converse, namely that all rich people are blessed by God. The OT is full of evil rich people.

OOH, all these ignore the repeated statements of Jesus about the blessedness of the poor and condemnation of the rich.

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IrateCitizen

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:14 AM
Response to Original message

16. It's not in the bible -- but it's the foundation of Calvinist theology

And since a good portion of the initial colonists were Puritans who believed in Calvinist Theology, this line has become accepted as fact in the US.

Basically, Calvinist theology dictates that those who are successful in life are successful because they are favored by God. Likewise, those who are poor and destitute are that way because they are not favored by God. This sets up the proposition that the rich man is rich because he lives a moral and upstanding life, and that the poor man is the way he is because he does not.

It's a familiar refrain that winds through to the tales of Horatio Alger and the gospel of Social Darwinism promoted by the industrialists of the Gilded Age.

I can't say I blame the rich for pushing it, but I sure as hell blame the rest of the rubes who aren't rich for believing it.

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CTLawGuy

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:15 AM
Response to Original message

18. Bush worships at the church

of the almighty dollar. Services 6 mornings a week.

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amazona

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:15 AM
Response to Original message

19. Gospel clearly says the rich do not receive eternal life

They have received their reward on this earth. Jesus says this many times, most famously in the reply to the rich would-be follower who was unwilling to sell all he had and follow Jesus.

No one who dies rich goes to heaven according to the words of Jesus. Keep in mind, in his day, a spiritual person would not have possessions. The family of Jesus was clearly comfortable -- after all, he was born on a trip where his family was travelling to pay their taxes -- but he himself walked away and relied on people opening their homes to him.

Damn few people have faith enough in God to do this. No rich person does, because if they had such faith, they would give their money away -- and no matter how much one may pretend to believe in theory when it comes to actually giving everything away most of us are willing to trust God only so far.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

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mordarlar

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:15 AM
Response to Original message

20. easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man .

Edited on Tue Feb-08-05 11:30 AM by mordarlar

Christ said...

Matthew 19:24

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.�

Matthew 6:24
24�No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 5:2-9
2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

To the religious leaders he said this.

Matthew 23:13,15,23
13�Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdm of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

15�Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

23�Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices�mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law�justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

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coloradodem2005

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:23 AM
Response to Original message

22. They suffer from a lot of erroneous beliefs.

I can't stand their shit anymore. They think God favors the rich, they think Bush is the messiah. What a bunch of bullshit.

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one_true_leroy

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:34 AM
Response to Original message

23. it's the other way around...

riches and success are taken as sign of God's favor and approval, implying a justification for those riches. It's from the Old Testament promises made to Moses, et. al.

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Hardrada

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Tue Feb-08-05 01:40 PM
Response to Reply #23

28. Adam and Eve

were the happiest folks in the OT when they didn't even have any clothes and just had a simple diet. Mainly fruit off of trees, I think.

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radwriter0555

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:36 AM
Original message

"the rich are blessed by GOLD, not GOD..." they left out the "L"...

:)

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catmandu57

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:36 AM
Response to Original message

24. It's old testament mindset

Job comes to mind, because god loved job so much he gave him much, but then he and satan played their game on him. These chrinos, pay more attention to the old testament than the new, maybe they secretly want to be jewish?

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Squeech

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Tue Feb-08-05 11:58 AM
Response to Original message

25. Parable of the Talents

Note: I know so little about the New Testament that everything I say here should be taken with a Lot's-wife-sized pillar of salt.

But I was looking for that bit where Jesus said "If you do this for the least of my brethren, you have done it for me," which I think is the clearest statement anywhere that Jesus wants you to care for the poor and needy and I found it in Matthew 25. But that chapter begins with this parable: a rich man gives money (talents, archaic coins) to three of his servants. One of them saves the money in case his master needs it later. He is punished by having the money taken back. Two of them invest the money in business, and double their stake. They are rewarded. I confess to not having a clue, either what Jesus intended by telling the story (which is why it's a parable, I suppose), or what Matthew intended by juxtaposing it with what Jesus says in Matt. 25:29-40 or so.

But there's just enough ambiguity in there for a supply-sider to use that parable as evidence that Jesus wants you to go corporate. He also said at one point, "The poor we will always have with us."

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mordarlar

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Wed Feb-09-05 08:42 AM
Response to Reply #25

30. The talents represent the the gifts given to us love, joy, peace, patience

Edited on Wed Feb-09-05 09:08 AM by mordarlar

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Galatians 5
...22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.<<<

We are given these things by God and are to multiply them and spread them forward.

This is shown in Matthew 21:

>>>43�Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.�

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. <<<

(The previous is also entitled the Parable of the Tenants.)

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35

Also explains this as it referes to God's forgiveness, and passing this forward. We have the gift of forgiveness and so we should be forgiving.

This makes me think of bushco. The fool is bush the scoundrel are his advisors.

Isaiah32
>>>3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

4 The mind of the rash will know and understand,

and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

5 No longer will the fool be called noble

nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

6 For the fool speaks folly,

his mind is busy with evil:

He practices ungodliness

and spreads error concerning the LORD ;

the hungry he leaves empty

and from the thirsty he withholds water.

7 The scoundrel's methods are wicked,

he makes up evil schemes

to destroy the poor with lies,

even when the plea of the needy is just.

8 But the noble man makes noble plans,

and by noble deeds he stands.<<<

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Deep13

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Tue Feb-08-05 01:27 PM
Response to Original message

26. Epistles

Some of the Epistles of St. Paul indicate that God created the world as it is and that rulers were installed by him. Under this line of thought anyone who opposes the status quo is against God. This rationale is used to justify slavery and oppression in general. On balance, however, the Bible is pretty critical of the rich.

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Liberal Veteran

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Tue Feb-08-05 01:34 PM
Response to Original message

27. Quite the opposite actually....here's a few words of Christ.

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry." (Luke 6:24,25)

"Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:25)

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15.)

"Truly, I say unto you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." "You cannot serve both God and Money." (Matthew 19:23; 6:24.)

"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." (Matthew 19:21.)

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Threedifferentones

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Tue Feb-08-05 02:01 PM
Response to Original message

29. Many of this country's earliest settlers believed that.

I don't know much about religous history, but I know have heard that Calvinism (and maybe some other early Protestant philosophies) is the root of this philosophy. Calvin believed that you were either blessed to go to heaven or you weren't, but that you might be able to determine which group you belonged to by how successfful you are in this world. Basically the idea is that God's hand is in everything so if you are successful in your mortal life you must be favored by God.

Beliefs like this gave rise to the "Protestant work ethic" which is so prevalent in our country. Im not sure how many people still believe anything like this, but our country has a history of thinking that material success is a sign of God's favor.

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