• pjhenry1216
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    912 years ago

    Yeah, it’s kind of ridiculous when you consider how at odds Jesus is with most of what capitalism entails. He didn’t stutter when he said it’s impossible for a wealthy person to get into heaven. He was unambiguously against accumulated wealth. His belief was that if you had resources to help people, you had an obligation to do so. If you kept wealth, then you were failing that obligation.

    Granted, I’m an atheist, but I’m tired of the right wing Christianity in the US. Any person who actually followed Christianity, and didn’t just use it as an excuse to support their hatred and biases, would undoubtedly vote against Republicans, abortion rights notwithstanding.

    • bluGill
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      102 years ago

      Jesus never said it was impossible for a rich person to get into heaven. He said that it was unlikely, but not impossible.

      • @[email protected]
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        182 years ago

        In Matthew 19:24, Jesus tells His listeners, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

        (Copied from the Internet)

        While not impossible, we haven’t made any micro camels yet.

        • Buelldozer
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          12 years ago

          Matthew 19:24

          You don’t need a micro camel. Cite the next 2 versus.

          • @[email protected]
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            82 years ago

            “Truly, I say to you, tonly with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 uAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter vthe kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus wlooked at them and said, x“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,2 when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me awill also sit on twelve thrones, bjudging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 cAnd everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold3 and will dinherit eternal life. 30 But emany who are ffirst will be last, and the last first."

            Sorry about all the numbered citations, and random letters. Too hard to edit that out on mobile lol

            Still sounds like they need to give everything up and then they’ll be rewarded.

            • bluGill
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              32 years ago

              No it doesn’t. It says that if you give everything up you will be rewarded, but it doesn’t follow that you have to give everything up. Actually most would argue that giving everything up only works if you then follow Jesus.

              Verse 26 is key here: “with God all things are possible.” Most Christians will agree that there are many different ways to a reward. Some will put more limits on the number than others, but none suggest that the only way is to sell all. We see plenty of people in the bible who clearly didn’t sell all and seem to be saved. Some of them even seem to be rich.

      • @[email protected]
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        162 years ago

        Like a camel going through the eye of a needle, but he never said we couldn’t make a bigger needle!

        • TWeaK
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          42 years ago

          But like, what if the camel was really, really fat, and we name this small valley “the eye of the needle”?

      • @[email protected]M
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        402 years ago

        I mean, I guess you could get that camel through the eye of a needle by liquefying it first. Maybe the same step could be taken to get Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg into heaven.

        • @[email protected]
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          2 years ago

          Eye of the needle was a very narrow gate in ( I think) Jerusalem, through which goods had to pass because of some rule against bringing too much to market and establishing a monopoly.

          Source: probably read it on the internet somewhere

          Edit: yeah totally wrong I get it

          • bluGill
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            32 years ago

            Last time I traced that down (15 years ago), there was a midevil town that referred to their gate as the eye of the needed. However midevil is more than 1000 years after the passage in question. It was in Europe, not Jerusalem. Maybe someone cares enough to research and provide a citation.

            • @[email protected]
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              12 years ago

              Medieval is the word you’re looking for. Not trying to argue anything, just thought you might like the correct spelling.

              • bluGill
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                12 years ago

                The trouble with disgraphia is I know i’m wrong but I have no idea how to get close enough for autocorrect to get the right word. I’d say thanks, hit realistically I won’t remember next time I need medieval

          • @[email protected]
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            2 years ago

            That’s not really substantiated by any evidence. It’s much more likely that the Aramaic word for “heavy rope” was mistranslated as “camel”.

      • @[email protected]
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        72 years ago

        “Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”

        Then prosperity gospel dipshits made up some stupid shit about a particularly narrow gate in Jerusalem called “the eye of the needle” which must have been what Jesus was talking about

      • @[email protected]
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        92 years ago

        Go ahead, thread that camel into a needle. He didn’t say it was possible, he just said it was harder than something impossible

        • @[email protected]
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          52 years ago

          I remember some modern evangelicals saying that the needle is a location or something and that we’re all misinterpreting it. I think these were the ones trying to espouse the prosperity gospel BS, of course.

          • @[email protected]
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            52 years ago

            Yeah and it’s bullshit made up in the modern era completely not backed up by any archaeological or historical evidence

      • pjhenry1216
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        112 years ago

        It’s unlikely because again, Jesus believed you should use your resources to help. If you do not, you are not fulfilling your obligations. So it’s certainly difficult as you need to be spending your wealth on helping, not creating more wealth. Jesus did not believe that you should ignore and refuse to help those in need. This is what a wealthy person implicitly does if they don’t actively use their resources when possible.

        So yeah, it’s insanely difficult. Easier for a camel to fit through a needle.