Christianity and Wealth
8/01/2012 Christianity and Wealth
Walt : consider what we need and want and to understand what Christians believe about how wealth should be used.
Definitions:
* A Need:
A necessity – something that is a requirement and without it, a person would live in poverty or extreme hardship. * A Want:
A wish or longing for something that is craved for but which being without would not actually bring hardship.
What do religious people think about wealth?
Most religions teach that money is not a bad thing, (it is necessary to survival and people may have their own wealth as a result of their own hard work. Money is neither right nor wrong but what people do with their own money may be good or bad).
All religions teach that we have a duty to care for people who are in need. “Treat others like you want to be treated yourself,” is something that we are taught from childhood whether or not we have a religious upbringing. For members of religious groups, this is the Golden Rule, as they believe everybody was created equally by God, people should use their money to help those who are worse off. There are scripture teachings and examples of religious leaders to encourage believes to be generous to the poor.
“You cannot take it with you when you go.”
Many religions teach that money doesn’t belong to anybody, it is only loaned to us for our lifetime. This might seem like a strange idea when you know that you have worked hard for it yourself however the arguments is that when a person dies, they leave all of their wealth behind as well as all their possessions.
Q3) “It’s my money, I can spend £10 a week on scratch cards if I like.” A religious believer may disagree with this statement as scratch cards are a form of gambling and gambling is considered a sin in most religions. They may also disagree as this money may be seen as being wasted on scratch cards. This is because the money is being used as on something that potentially would not be beneficial to anybody
Walt : consider what we need and want and to understand what Christians believe about how wealth should be used.
Definitions:
* A Need:
A necessity – something that is a requirement and without it, a person would live in poverty or extreme hardship. * A Want:
A wish or longing for something that is craved for but which being without would not actually bring hardship.
What do religious people think about wealth?
Most religions teach that money is not a bad thing, (it is necessary to survival and people may have their own wealth as a result of their own hard work. Money is neither right nor wrong but what people do with their own money may be good or bad).
All religions teach that we have a duty to care for people who are in need. “Treat others like you want to be treated yourself,” is something that we are taught from childhood whether or not we have a religious upbringing. For members of religious groups, this is the Golden Rule, as they believe everybody was created equally by God, people should use their money to help those who are worse off. There are scripture teachings and examples of religious leaders to encourage believes to be generous to the poor.
“You cannot take it with you when you go.”
Many religions teach that money doesn’t belong to anybody, it is only loaned to us for our lifetime. This might seem like a strange idea when you know that you have worked hard for it yourself however the arguments is that when a person dies, they leave all of their wealth behind as well as all their possessions.
Q3) “It’s my money, I can spend £10 a week on scratch cards if I like.” A religious believer may disagree with this statement as scratch cards are a form of gambling and gambling is considered a sin in most religions. They may also disagree as this money may be seen as being wasted on scratch cards. This is because the money is being used as on something that potentially would not be beneficial to anybody