www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Spirituality vs. Material wealth

I am curious as to other poster's thoughts on this. The topic has been touched on in other threads, but I wanted to start a thread that is devoted to this subject. Can one be a good Christian and be well off financially? Like I said before, this is not really an issue for me due tot he size of my family. I do think that if one day I were to fall into money, I would probably give much of it away! What about you?

I don't have that problem, either!

My husband once read in the Church Fathers that: 1) most of us cannot handle wealth AND be spiritual, but
2)some people need the wealth in order to BE spiritual, and
3)some people are SO spiritual they can be wealthy without it damaging their faith.

Or something to that effect. I'd have to get the quote from him.

I'm in a 4th group - not wealthy financially OR spiritually! I suppose that fits most Americans.

Tammy

From what I have observed in my short life of 23 years, most people who have lots of money live for money.

I recently watched a special on the Home and Garden channel (HGTV) that featured some of the fanciest houses in America. While these people are living like Queen Elizabeth, others are starving and homeless.

Among many Pentecostal groups, there is the "Prosperity Gospel," the belief that Christians are supposed to live in luxury and have the best of everything. I read about one preacher who claimed that Jesus wore designer clothes... (how retarded can you get?)

While I have no doubt there are many good Christian people who are wealthy, I am a die-hard believer in the old saying that "money is the root of all evil."

Dear Orthodox Dutchman,

The verse 1Tim 6:10 is probably one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. It actually says "The love of money is the root of all evil".
Other translations have used the word covetousness or some the desire of money. So it's not the money but the heart of the individual which is at fault.

Just my two cents.

Terry