Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: djohnson%beowulf@ucsd.edu (Darin Johnson) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: how rich is rich? Message-ID: Date: 20 Sep 89 08:23:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: EE/CS Dept. U.C. San Diego Lines: 34 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article FRN@psuvm.psu.edu writes: >I've often been perplexed by the number of interpretations of Jesus's >statement that a camel will pass through the eye of a needle before a >rich man enters the kingdom. What's the ambiguity? Jesus makes it clear >that riches lead to hell; This reminds me of a sermon I heard ages ago. The point was brought up that a rich man CANNOT enter the kingdom of God. Of course, people argue about the needle referring to the 'needle gate' somewhere or other, and other similar points. Then the person giving the sermon goes on to who other passages that show that it is impossible for other groups of people to enter the kingdom of God. The sermon was concluded with the tought "Through Jesus Christ, all things are possible". The point being, a rich man (or any one else for that matter) cannot enter the kingdom of God by himself, but only by the intercession of Jesus Christ. I don't think it is clear that riches lead to hell (although the may gild the road to hell :-) in and of themselves. There are many things that can help lead to hell, wealth being only one of them. In fact, being poor can help lead to hell - take for instance the poor person consumed with hate for rich people. Without lots of wealth, a lot of charities would be in a bad position. I think the Bible warns against the temptations that arise from wealth, rather than the wealth itself. For instance, Soloman and David's sins were from temptations that arose from wealth and power. The wealth and power were gifts from God. Darin Johnson djohnson@ucsd.edu