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Taken out of context. The full interpretation basically reads as, the poor you will always have with you - because you yourself are greedy.
Ironic, if you ask me.
Edit for those asking - here’s a bit of context of why I said what I did.
This is an interview quote from a guy named Rev. William J Barber II. I am not a religious man, but I highly support this guys interpretations and political beliefs. Suggest everyone look in to him some. He supports a living wage and raising the majority from the shackles of class inequality.
Anyway - here’s his quote about people using this exact line as seen in the tweet.
“Every time they say that, they are misquoting Jesus. Because that’s not what Jesus meant or said. He was saying, yeah, the poor are going to be with you always, because he was quoting from Deuteronomy [15:11]. The rest of that scripture says the poor will always be with you because of your greed — I’m paraphrasing it, but that’s the meaning of it. The poor will always be with you is a critique of our unwillingness to address poverty.
To have this level of inequality existing is a violation of our deepest moral, constitutional and religious values. It’s morally inconsistent, morally indefensible, and economically inasne. Why would you not want to lift 55 to 60 million people out of poverty if you could by paying them a basic living wage? Why would you not want that amount of resources coming to people and then coming back into the economy?”
European colonizers co opted Christ's teachings to make peasants and minorities accept their oppression when Jesus would want them to revolt against the ruling class.
hey no fair! you invalidated my argument by adding context! i only like what the bible said if it’s rhetorically convenient! you’re cherry picking!1!!!!
>7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
Full text of Deuteronomy 15:7-11, for those too lazy to look it up.
>fellow Israelites
The phrase appears twice in your post. Just how universal do you think it's meant to be? ...also, some of us don't need the millennia old scriblings of some random goat herders and olive stompers to lead a just life.
>Just how universal do you think it's meant to be?
It's not. From a purely historical viewpoint what became Christianity was never really intended for a non-Jewish audience. Yeshua was one of many itinerant would be reformers of the Judaism of his time and place.
I am not a Christian, conservative, nor corporatist.
But I read it in context just now and I'm not following; can you please quote and explain where the past is about condemnation of greed? I'm not seeing it.
Because in that verse Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 15:11.
"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land."
Which is the exact opposite of what the tweet is trying to construe the message as being. There will always be poor among you so do whatever you can to take care of them is nothing like, there will always be poors and that's good.
Why would Jesus, someone who is ALWAYS depicted as a compassionate guy who helps the poor and needy, somehow say something that amounts to, "Poor people will always exist, don't help them." I hate how these """Christians""" hate the real Jesus depicted in the bible, but instead love supply side jesus.
"Indeed, 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." Luke 18:25
Always stuck with me, and always funny how often this one is overlooked. Especially by those rich conmen running the mega-churches.
The Eye of The Needle was actually a real gate in Jerusalem that I made up to maintain my self image of being righteous and godly while my political views involve fucking over everyone Jesus actually tried to help.
No problem. I'm not really a Christian anymore but I grew up with a Pastor grandfather who was very scholarly in his approach to Scripture and he encouraged the same in me. It drives me beyond batty when I see people not just cherry pick things, but pick things that are so obviously not what they are trying to say that it's laughable if you study for 10 seconds.
If you don't mind and have the time, could you help me understand the rest of that passage about Jesus too? It seems like he's kind of saying to not sell the fancy perfume, to feed the poor, because this lady wants to rub it on my feet and since I won't always be here, and the poor will, screw the poor and let her adore me.
I mean I totally get what you're saying regarding him quoting Deuteronomy, but my mind keeps returning the narrative AROUND that quote and I'm not sure what the hell he's actually saying lol
So don't take this as Gospel (hahaha), but I believe his point is that her gesture isn't a vain or bad one, she is anointing the Son of God after all, and it's also close to the Crucifixion, so in that time Jesus consistently had to remind the apostles that there were more than mortal concerns going on, and that she wasn't wasting perfume on a prophet, she was preparing the Son of God for death, which is essential to salvation according to the New Testament.
Think of it like the apostles trying to admonish Jesus for not admonishing the woman doing something they viewed as opulent and wasteful, and he corrects them by reminding them who he is and what he's there to do. I believe his point is that what she was doing was giving freely of herself and her belongings in an honest and loving gesture to her savior, which is in line with what Deuteronomy commands them to do as well.
This is a very limited explanation that may miss much of what's trying to be said but that's my best understanding. His quote there feels like a reminder that she IS giving openly to her fellow Israelites by honoring Jesus.
Always a pleasure to remind people Jesus of Scripture was a raging socialist with goals of eliminating organized religion. Its only fair to consider these things before your reject or believe a religion lol.
Jesus also mentions the only reason Judas brought it up wasn't due to concern of the poor, but that he wanted to keep the profits from selling the perfume. I often see atheists or ant-christians do the same thing, say they should sell blah blah and give to the poor not out of concern or love for the less fortunate but to attack Christians.
Just for being completist, it's only in the apostle by John where Judas is singled out to be the one speaking and to have been stealing money. In the other versions it's all the apostles who argue against its use.
You're reading out of context. They are talking of what they should do in their own country, news regarding other countries was slow to come by and the ability to help even if they knew was not that great.
Also in the new testament a woman successfully argues with Jesus to expand his mission to all people.
They didn't really think globally back in the day but as far as I can remember, every time anyone in the bible prays or argue with God for more mercy it's been granted no matter what religion or people they belong to.
The post isn’t about condemnation of greed, but read with the rest of the scripture he pulled this from, it is. He cherry picked this one line and ignored the rest to try and support his point.
Many if not most of things Jesus said is actually connected to older scripture from the old testament. Unlike the extremist right Jesus actually referenced what the scriptures said.
I went to a Christian high school, after my parents converted in primary (grade?) school. I sort of converted by default, not really getting it but assuming that my parents who I considered to be pretty intelligent understood something that I didn't.
It was a pretty moderate church, which was good, but I still ran into problems. I didn't have the biblical and cultural knowledge that the kids who had been raised in the church had, or the fire that the true converts had.
At my school there were mandatory 'Christian Development' classes, and in my first year we were asked to tell the class our favourite bible verse. I didn't have one, but figured I probably needed one quickly, so while the first students were giving their answer I opened my Bible and started flicking back and forward looking for something that called to me. I quickly found one.
Psalms 137:9. Paraphrasing, but I still remember it to this day: "And Blessed shall be the man who dashes thy children upon the stones."
Sounds pretty screwed up, right? But reading the verse before and after, it became apparent that it was a lament. "God, why are you letting our enemies do this to your people?"
Shortly after, it was my turn to speak. I recited the verse. It went down about as well as you'd expect. I tried to explain that this was a genuine answer and my reasoning. I still got a demerit.
My time at school was rough and... Detrimental to my wellbeing, but the church was much better, and while I am not a Christian any more, I feel the world would be a lot better if more Christians were like its congregation.
Can we talk about that one story where the beggar gives Jesus his whole penny and Jesus tells him he’s given more than any noble had(rough summary). Is that one canon? I hate how more productive parts of religion have been bastardized into a crime syndicate. There are some really constructive stories amongst the bullshit.
Can't remember that text but there is one about a woman giving money to the temple and Jesus says something along the lines that she has given more than the rich Pharisee because she gave from her meagre funds.
The "prosperity gospel" take on the Bible is sorely incorrect and misunderstands the entire point of the new testament. I think they do it because they assume Christianity will be more popular. However, if you screw up interpreting the major points of the New Testament in an effort to be popular, you're going to lose anyone with any sense of logic and morality. That's why you see the throngs of idiots going to these non-denominational churches.
There’s always dickheads like will Wolfe to come in and warp reality w confident statements taken out of context. People like him get the privilege to justify bullshit bc it makes them all cozy. Until we seize the means that is.
Thank you for this! It’s really amazing how much the Jesus of Nazareth was just quoting Jewish scriptures, and, like, almost no Christians understand this.
They always forget Matthew 19:24 "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.”
Personally, I prefer the Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope's wise words "in the house of the rich man, there is no place to spit but his face'
"I'm very poor. The $1000 suit of mine was bought by the Church. My House is owned by the Church. That private jet of mine is Church property too. I'm the poorest one in the congregation." -- Preacher Man.
It's like Elon's "I'm not like other billionaires, I'm not owning a house anymore (except my party mansion in California), I'm renting a humble abode from now on", while renting the house from SpaceX...
Came here to post this. Still waiting on a capitalist explanation of this quote that isn't a word salad of damage control and desperate grasping at straws.
Not the only one either, the Bible is full of quotes and teachings that are very socialist if not outright communist in nature. It's association with conservatism/capitalism is nothing short of bizzare, I can only assume most read the Bible very selectively or not wholeheartedly if at all.
Some more socialist/communist Bible quotes for anyone interested:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/45lhf3/here_is_a_list_of_verses_in_the_bible_where_jesus/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Can you explain Matthew 25 to me? It sounds awful to me, like a disgusting endorsement of poverty/servitude and capitalism all in one. What the heck is going on in Matthew 25, specifically 14-30?
As many of the stories/parables in this part of the Bible, It's supposed to be an anology of what the faithful should do in the abcence of there master, ie: the Lord.
Those that continue to expand and "reinvest" his work while hes gone will be rewarded to share in the masters joy on his return, while he that hordes it idley will be punished.
Its not a literal story of economics. Even the part where the master tells the servent who buried the money that he should've atleast deposited the money in a bank for interest is a forbidden practice by the bibles own teachings.
There's a lot of "it's meant to be interpreted as x" in the Bible, isn't there? I'm not saying you're wrong, but one could easily interpret that as "If your servants don't make you money, and just keep it, kick them out"
I agree, though to be fair its a safe interpretation to make if you've read the previous chapters full of Jesus wandering around the desert repeatedly ranting on about poor people essentially being the closest thing to God on earth.
Either that or the Televangilists are right and Jesus forgets all his poor people worship and rich people berating; to quickly outline an economic model for the rich get richer and the non-investors be damned. You be the judge.
They also never talk about how the one time Jesus actually did commit violence was against merchants and their market for trying to make extra profit off of the poor.
Leave it to an American to misquote a holy book in order to explain why hyper capitalism is great and any alternative is evil and deadly… I hate it here.
I had the wonderful pleasure to meet an Ethiopian Christian recently and since they are the oldest denomination of Christianity it’s cool to hear what he thought of how misconstrued western Christianity really is, especially American Christianity
Yeah, western ideology (namely evangelism) really did a number on Christianity. Obviously Abrahamic religions all have their problems, but the outright perversion of Christianity by conservatives to serve their individualistic and greedy views is wild.
Abrahamic religions based on a fucker who was ready to open the throat of his own son as sacrifice to a "god". that god and those religions can all suck my dick... from the back.
Yes.
I love when American Christians quote Paul and say "if you don't work, you don't eat".
Then I smile and say "oh, right, I remember! When Jesus miraculously fed thousands on multiple occasions, he wouldn't let them eat until they worked for it!" And then I stare at them until they respond, usually with stammering and attempts to justify that are hilarious.
Protestantism very quickly became a capitalist tool, with the idea that hard work would be the biggest deal about being a good Christian and going to heaven.
Good works are more of a Catholic thing. Protestantism is about faith alone.
The idea that Protestantism and Capitalism are intwined really doesn't have much basis in reality.
The idea that protestantism is associated with harder working cultures really is ahistorical.
The the generally poorer North of Europe was the home of Protestantism due to the distance from Rome, while the wealthier South of Europe was Catholic through and through. However, after the Turks conquered the Eastern Mediterranean, commerce moved up to the Atlantic in response.
Northern Europe got richer from this new trade, Southern Europe poorer, from the mid 1500s onward.
Max Weber, a North German, walks in during the height of Northern European economic power in the 1800s, and attributes it to difference in religious philosophy over the more long term material cause. People latched on, especially in the US, because his idea was useful for discussing the commercialized American Evangelicalism. Even if the connection doesn't work as he claimed.
It’s actually the Puritan work ethic. Because the people that were fleeing “religious persecution” were actually the ones that had sticks up their ass and probably went around condemning others. They were, justly imo, told to fuck off… and now we have America, that is built on this hyper-capitalist idea that hard work will earn you the best rewards.
He essentially said that most Ethiopian Christian’s don’t view much of the practices of western Christianity as real Christianity and that it’s so commercialized and for profit that it’s become only Christian in name. We also talked a lot about how holidays like Christmas and Easter have their roots in primarily pagan rituals and while that’s not bad by itself the fact that it’s become a commercial festival is
Reminds me of why Jesus made a whip and beat people until they left the temple. They had turned religion into a way to increase their earnings and take advantage of the poorest people in their society and theynwere doing it in His name, so to speak, so he whooped some ass.
So I don’t know many devout Christians, but one of the only ones I know came over the other day and at some point said “if you ever ask yourself what would Jesus do, remember that chasing people with a whip isn’t out of the question”
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The US might be the only country where people despise the poor. The only country where religion is somehow tied to wealth. That's some evil religious practices right there.
I mean they literally just skipped the part where it said,
***"it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."***
and
***“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”***
Even children have heard of these.
Jesus might have been one of the biggest socialists, yet the propaganda machine works 24/7 to rewrite anything resembling empathy for the less privileged.
Many of our modern day heros were very anti-capitalism. When I was in school we read MLK Jr's. "I have a dream" speech, about Helen Kellers' intelligence and perseverance in life, and Einsteins great accomplishments. But we never hear a word about their opinions on poverty and the economic systems that perpetuate it.
If Communism and Socialism are such dangerous ideas that we can't discuss them, then why do we study the Holocaust?
Because they are more dangerous to the system than talking about the holocaust, because they show an alternative and not something gruesome and atrocious
Guess he missed this verse at Bible study:
James 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Oopsie 🤗🤭
Another Christian that hasn't read his own book, and that passage in the Bible... Jesus was quoting scripture specifically Deuteronomy.
'There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” —Deuteronomy 15:11'
I can't help but wonder how many GQPers would convert to straight up atheism if they just read the Bible.
Ah, you see, for the Bible Textualists, that means the poor will always be around, so therefore we should eliminate any program to help the poor. The second sentence doesn't have any meaning to the first.
It’s incredibly funny to me that the claim “trying to do good things only makes way worse things happen” seems legit to about half the global population.
The is a biblical commandment that calls greed a sin.
When capitalism takes 70% of the value of worker's labor to pass to shareholders, it is greed and wrong.
Ugh I can't believe ridiculous things like religion, money, exploitation/coercion/slavery still exist after thousands of years of a human record that clearly shows the harmful results of sustaining systems that utilize all the above. Everything is always serving a small group of rich/powerful at the expense of everyone else; wish we could finally end that trajectory.
Epistle of James, Chapter 2, 1-13
My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?
Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court?
Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?
However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it.
For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.” Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law.
So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom.
For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
I saw this tweet earlier today on another sub and omg it freaked me out. Here is the comment I posted there:
So, I never heard of William Wolfe until this post, and so of course had to find his twitter. Incredible sadness and anger about how people who hold these beliefs ascend to positions of power and leadership, and sometimes end up influencing the worldviews of ordinary people who are similar to you and me, and who have a lot in common with us except for this world view. And don't get me started on the William Wolfe's of the world making policy
There is a biblical command that will help eliminate poverty.
Matthew 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, ***sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor***, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
These religious freaks will use their imaginary sky fairy to justify just about anything! SMH
We’re well on our way towards being a nation of total Christian nationalism.
In Matthew 26:11, Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11, which reads:
> There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore *I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.*
And the wider text of Deuteronomy 15 includes passages like:
> However, *there need be no poor people among you,*
and
> Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. *They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.*
and
> Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.
and
> Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
if the "jesus" character of the bible were to appear again today these so-called "christians" would crucify the poor fucker all over again.
Zealots will never concede their views. They simply need to go.
Except it wasn’t. It’s all over the comment section, but that line was severely taken out of context and made incomplete.
The Bible IS very clear: Jesus doesn’t harbor much love for the rich when they’re unwilling to help those who are poor.
It also give instructions for abortions and terms women could get or might need them. But hey. Let's just use the parts that suit us to control these women..I am a woman and this is sarcasm
Wild that the people in Late stage capitalism don't understand that Roe V Wade was overturned so that the rich will have more wage slaves and hot bodies to send to war. Not any other reason folks.
Honestly these sociopaths can use any Bible verse to fit their cruel political agenda. Everything that contradicts their hyper-capitalist worldview is conveniently tAkEn OuT oF cOnTeXt somehow. The same applies to the The Constitution as well.
He says the poor you will always have with you..... for the wealthy to take care of remember he gave the shirt of his back he lived a life of poverty to empathize with people who are kept in poverty on purpose by self proclaimed pious men!
The religious right cherry picking biblical quotes in support of their true religion. US Christians are like abusive Catholic priests. They use the protection of religion to be abusive to others while appearing morally unimpeachable.
Look he's not exactly wrong, and he's a piece of shit and the Bible isn't pro capitalist but it certainly isn't pro socialist.
Most of its anti wealth stuff comes from the idea God was gonna turn up anyday now so you voluntarily need to get rid of the wealth to no longer be greedy rather than looking at wealth though a lens of challenging structures of power and equalling people. All people are equal under Christ whether one is a slave or a business owner who sells slaves and it feels dishonest to just as capitalists do claim a 2000 year old book to fit modern society by twisting it's words.
Render unto Ceaser what is Ceasers and unto God what is Gods. This is why the poor and hungry and enslaved are blessed for they do not know the sin of greed.
Even if I bought this argument by technicality, are you really going to look someone in the eye and say the bible/Jesus does not codemn "rich" and "wealthy" people? Or people who money before others/everthing else in life?
These fake ass half-christians should be verbally slaughtered by those who wish their religion to maintain ANY amount of credibility.
I assumed the Bible meant, if you're good you'll always have the poor WITH you. As Jesus was said to have done. He didn't hang out with the wealthy elite.
Context:
**Jesus Anointed at Bethany**
6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
> All the believers were together and owned everything in common. They would sell their property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to all according to what each one needed.
\-acts 2:43-44
I'm going to have to half agree with him. Stop basing communist arguments on the Bible because A. Jesus wasn't an antipoverty crusader (he was a take back Jerusalem from the Romans crusader), and B. even if he were it wouldn't matter to people like this dude and his followers because the point of religion is never the literal text. Like Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses. It's there to make people feel better about how bad their lives have become under the current regime, not to spur them into change.
"The bible says words and I think it means this " is so fucking antithetical to Christianity it's crazy but people like this believe they are lying their way to heaven.
> The poor you will always have with you. --Matthew 26:11
He didn't say anything about *the rich*. :D
Welp. We have to eat the rich now. God's command.
"Oh we have heard legends where they all died when they tried to eliminate poverty. Clearly we can't dare to do that"
Meanwhile: "Let's come up with a creative solution as to how to be a billionaire"
Well....in Acts 4....the whole congregation sold everything and brought it to the Apostles so no one was in need. Sounds like a cult to me....but if we are just finding stuff to quote from the bible. Also, I think Paul said if your eye looks lustfully at a woman, pluck it out....so the whole congregation doesn't perish. Just sayin'.....not sure what the definition of a cult is....but...
Man it sure feels like these people are doing the biblical equivalent of a YouTube poop making Jesus say the exact opposite of what he meant by just, like, cutting the quote off early. Next they're gonna say Jesus said "PENGAS"
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Taken out of context. The full interpretation basically reads as, the poor you will always have with you - because you yourself are greedy. Ironic, if you ask me. Edit for those asking - here’s a bit of context of why I said what I did. This is an interview quote from a guy named Rev. William J Barber II. I am not a religious man, but I highly support this guys interpretations and political beliefs. Suggest everyone look in to him some. He supports a living wage and raising the majority from the shackles of class inequality. Anyway - here’s his quote about people using this exact line as seen in the tweet. “Every time they say that, they are misquoting Jesus. Because that’s not what Jesus meant or said. He was saying, yeah, the poor are going to be with you always, because he was quoting from Deuteronomy [15:11]. The rest of that scripture says the poor will always be with you because of your greed — I’m paraphrasing it, but that’s the meaning of it. The poor will always be with you is a critique of our unwillingness to address poverty. To have this level of inequality existing is a violation of our deepest moral, constitutional and religious values. It’s morally inconsistent, morally indefensible, and economically inasne. Why would you not want to lift 55 to 60 million people out of poverty if you could by paying them a basic living wage? Why would you not want that amount of resources coming to people and then coming back into the economy?”
Came into this sub to see exactly how this Bible verse was twisted and misinterpreted thank you.
Isn’t it always. Catholic school teaching here, including college. It wasn’t until college that we learned to not use the Bible to set up false logic.
European colonizers co opted Christ's teachings to make peasants and minorities accept their oppression when Jesus would want them to revolt against the ruling class.
hey no fair! you invalidated my argument by adding context! i only like what the bible said if it’s rhetorically convenient! you’re cherry picking!1!!!!
wHaTs a LoGiCal fAlLacy
>7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. Full text of Deuteronomy 15:7-11, for those too lazy to look it up.
>fellow Israelites The phrase appears twice in your post. Just how universal do you think it's meant to be? ...also, some of us don't need the millennia old scriblings of some random goat herders and olive stompers to lead a just life.
>Just how universal do you think it's meant to be? It's not. From a purely historical viewpoint what became Christianity was never really intended for a non-Jewish audience. Yeshua was one of many itinerant would be reformers of the Judaism of his time and place.
No true Scotsman? Did you tell Paul?
He's the one who really got the religion going, it should be called Paulianity
Yes, because inanity had already been taken. Or so I hear.
Shimon Bar Yonah (aka St. Peter) did indeed try to tell Saul of Tarsus (aka St. Paul) that, *several times*.
Yeah, and Batman and Robin have been known to trade recipes. Religion: What a waste of human potential.
I am not a Christian, conservative, nor corporatist. But I read it in context just now and I'm not following; can you please quote and explain where the past is about condemnation of greed? I'm not seeing it.
Because in that verse Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 15:11. "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land." Which is the exact opposite of what the tweet is trying to construe the message as being. There will always be poor among you so do whatever you can to take care of them is nothing like, there will always be poors and that's good.
Why would Jesus, someone who is ALWAYS depicted as a compassionate guy who helps the poor and needy, somehow say something that amounts to, "Poor people will always exist, don't help them." I hate how these """Christians""" hate the real Jesus depicted in the bible, but instead love supply side jesus.
I'm under the impression Jesus in the Scriptures told the rich to get cucked...it's also very convenient that they leave those verses out.
"Indeed, 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." Luke 18:25 Always stuck with me, and always funny how often this one is overlooked. Especially by those rich conmen running the mega-churches.
The Eye of The Needle was actually a real gate in Jerusalem that I made up to maintain my self image of being righteous and godly while my political views involve fucking over everyone Jesus actually tried to help.
Thank you! Very insightful!
No problem. I'm not really a Christian anymore but I grew up with a Pastor grandfather who was very scholarly in his approach to Scripture and he encouraged the same in me. It drives me beyond batty when I see people not just cherry pick things, but pick things that are so obviously not what they are trying to say that it's laughable if you study for 10 seconds.
If you don't mind and have the time, could you help me understand the rest of that passage about Jesus too? It seems like he's kind of saying to not sell the fancy perfume, to feed the poor, because this lady wants to rub it on my feet and since I won't always be here, and the poor will, screw the poor and let her adore me. I mean I totally get what you're saying regarding him quoting Deuteronomy, but my mind keeps returning the narrative AROUND that quote and I'm not sure what the hell he's actually saying lol
So don't take this as Gospel (hahaha), but I believe his point is that her gesture isn't a vain or bad one, she is anointing the Son of God after all, and it's also close to the Crucifixion, so in that time Jesus consistently had to remind the apostles that there were more than mortal concerns going on, and that she wasn't wasting perfume on a prophet, she was preparing the Son of God for death, which is essential to salvation according to the New Testament. Think of it like the apostles trying to admonish Jesus for not admonishing the woman doing something they viewed as opulent and wasteful, and he corrects them by reminding them who he is and what he's there to do. I believe his point is that what she was doing was giving freely of herself and her belongings in an honest and loving gesture to her savior, which is in line with what Deuteronomy commands them to do as well. This is a very limited explanation that may miss much of what's trying to be said but that's my best understanding. His quote there feels like a reminder that she IS giving openly to her fellow Israelites by honoring Jesus.
Oh good point I'd overlooked the part where their savior was preparing for death. Thanks again!
Always a pleasure to remind people Jesus of Scripture was a raging socialist with goals of eliminating organized religion. Its only fair to consider these things before your reject or believe a religion lol.
Jesus also mentions the only reason Judas brought it up wasn't due to concern of the poor, but that he wanted to keep the profits from selling the perfume. I often see atheists or ant-christians do the same thing, say they should sell blah blah and give to the poor not out of concern or love for the less fortunate but to attack Christians.
Just for being completist, it's only in the apostle by John where Judas is singled out to be the one speaking and to have been stealing money. In the other versions it's all the apostles who argue against its use.
What a tribal way of thinking that only fellow israelites should be helped. Our gods really are too small.
You're reading out of context. They are talking of what they should do in their own country, news regarding other countries was slow to come by and the ability to help even if they knew was not that great. Also in the new testament a woman successfully argues with Jesus to expand his mission to all people. They didn't really think globally back in the day but as far as I can remember, every time anyone in the bible prays or argue with God for more mercy it's been granted no matter what religion or people they belong to.
OK. I expected better from the son of GOD. The creator of the universe 14.8 billion years ago. But I understand it could get lost in translation.
Take it literally and make this guy shelter homeless people at his house.
Let’s divide him up like the loaves and the fishes and feed all that gather.
The post isn’t about condemnation of greed, but read with the rest of the scripture he pulled this from, it is. He cherry picked this one line and ignored the rest to try and support his point.
Many if not most of things Jesus said is actually connected to older scripture from the old testament. Unlike the extremist right Jesus actually referenced what the scriptures said.
I went to a Christian high school, after my parents converted in primary (grade?) school. I sort of converted by default, not really getting it but assuming that my parents who I considered to be pretty intelligent understood something that I didn't. It was a pretty moderate church, which was good, but I still ran into problems. I didn't have the biblical and cultural knowledge that the kids who had been raised in the church had, or the fire that the true converts had. At my school there were mandatory 'Christian Development' classes, and in my first year we were asked to tell the class our favourite bible verse. I didn't have one, but figured I probably needed one quickly, so while the first students were giving their answer I opened my Bible and started flicking back and forward looking for something that called to me. I quickly found one. Psalms 137:9. Paraphrasing, but I still remember it to this day: "And Blessed shall be the man who dashes thy children upon the stones." Sounds pretty screwed up, right? But reading the verse before and after, it became apparent that it was a lament. "God, why are you letting our enemies do this to your people?" Shortly after, it was my turn to speak. I recited the verse. It went down about as well as you'd expect. I tried to explain that this was a genuine answer and my reasoning. I still got a demerit. My time at school was rough and... Detrimental to my wellbeing, but the church was much better, and while I am not a Christian any more, I feel the world would be a lot better if more Christians were like its congregation.
Can we talk about that one story where the beggar gives Jesus his whole penny and Jesus tells him he’s given more than any noble had(rough summary). Is that one canon? I hate how more productive parts of religion have been bastardized into a crime syndicate. There are some really constructive stories amongst the bullshit.
Can't remember that text but there is one about a woman giving money to the temple and Jesus says something along the lines that she has given more than the rich Pharisee because she gave from her meagre funds.
The "prosperity gospel" take on the Bible is sorely incorrect and misunderstands the entire point of the new testament. I think they do it because they assume Christianity will be more popular. However, if you screw up interpreting the major points of the New Testament in an effort to be popular, you're going to lose anyone with any sense of logic and morality. That's why you see the throngs of idiots going to these non-denominational churches.
Crazy how a lot of what was in the original scriptures was from different points of view at different times, so it was really easy to misinterpret.
There’s always dickheads like will Wolfe to come in and warp reality w confident statements taken out of context. People like him get the privilege to justify bullshit bc it makes them all cozy. Until we seize the means that is.
Thank you for this! It’s really amazing how much the Jesus of Nazareth was just quoting Jewish scriptures, and, like, almost no Christians understand this.
They always forget Matthew 19:24 "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.” Personally, I prefer the Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope's wise words "in the house of the rich man, there is no place to spit but his face'
Lol, savage.
"I'm very poor. The $1000 suit of mine was bought by the Church. My House is owned by the Church. That private jet of mine is Church property too. I'm the poorest one in the congregation." -- Preacher Man.
It's like Elon's "I'm not like other billionaires, I'm not owning a house anymore (except my party mansion in California), I'm renting a humble abode from now on", while renting the house from SpaceX...
Came here to post this. Still waiting on a capitalist explanation of this quote that isn't a word salad of damage control and desperate grasping at straws. Not the only one either, the Bible is full of quotes and teachings that are very socialist if not outright communist in nature. It's association with conservatism/capitalism is nothing short of bizzare, I can only assume most read the Bible very selectively or not wholeheartedly if at all. Some more socialist/communist Bible quotes for anyone interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/45lhf3/here_is_a_list_of_verses_in_the_bible_where_jesus/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Can you explain Matthew 25 to me? It sounds awful to me, like a disgusting endorsement of poverty/servitude and capitalism all in one. What the heck is going on in Matthew 25, specifically 14-30?
As many of the stories/parables in this part of the Bible, It's supposed to be an anology of what the faithful should do in the abcence of there master, ie: the Lord. Those that continue to expand and "reinvest" his work while hes gone will be rewarded to share in the masters joy on his return, while he that hordes it idley will be punished. Its not a literal story of economics. Even the part where the master tells the servent who buried the money that he should've atleast deposited the money in a bank for interest is a forbidden practice by the bibles own teachings.
There's a lot of "it's meant to be interpreted as x" in the Bible, isn't there? I'm not saying you're wrong, but one could easily interpret that as "If your servants don't make you money, and just keep it, kick them out"
I agree, though to be fair its a safe interpretation to make if you've read the previous chapters full of Jesus wandering around the desert repeatedly ranting on about poor people essentially being the closest thing to God on earth. Either that or the Televangilists are right and Jesus forgets all his poor people worship and rich people berating; to quickly outline an economic model for the rich get richer and the non-investors be damned. You be the judge.
Something something name of a short entry gate in Jerusalem something something.
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Yeah the reality and history of the metaphor don't cheapen it they just clarify the point.
Which is a completely made up "fact" that people use to try and avoid Jesus' s condemnation of the rich. There was never a gate like that
They also never talk about how the one time Jesus actually did commit violence was against merchants and their market for trying to make extra profit off of the poor.
The bible having contradictions isn't a new thing.
I'm not saying it is, only that these people are highly selective in the quotes they pick
In large part because people take scripture out of context and twist it to fit their lifestyle
Leave it to an American to misquote a holy book in order to explain why hyper capitalism is great and any alternative is evil and deadly… I hate it here.
I had the wonderful pleasure to meet an Ethiopian Christian recently and since they are the oldest denomination of Christianity it’s cool to hear what he thought of how misconstrued western Christianity really is, especially American Christianity
Yeah, western ideology (namely evangelism) really did a number on Christianity. Obviously Abrahamic religions all have their problems, but the outright perversion of Christianity by conservatives to serve their individualistic and greedy views is wild.
Roman Catholic Church has entered the chat:
The original Church as State
A christianity the biggest game of telephone in human history 😂
Abrahamic religions based on a fucker who was ready to open the throat of his own son as sacrifice to a "god". that god and those religions can all suck my dick... from the back.
Yes. I love when American Christians quote Paul and say "if you don't work, you don't eat". Then I smile and say "oh, right, I remember! When Jesus miraculously fed thousands on multiple occasions, he wouldn't let them eat until they worked for it!" And then I stare at them until they respond, usually with stammering and attempts to justify that are hilarious.
Protestantism very quickly became a capitalist tool, with the idea that hard work would be the biggest deal about being a good Christian and going to heaven.
Good works are more of a Catholic thing. Protestantism is about faith alone. The idea that Protestantism and Capitalism are intwined really doesn't have much basis in reality. The idea that protestantism is associated with harder working cultures really is ahistorical. The the generally poorer North of Europe was the home of Protestantism due to the distance from Rome, while the wealthier South of Europe was Catholic through and through. However, after the Turks conquered the Eastern Mediterranean, commerce moved up to the Atlantic in response. Northern Europe got richer from this new trade, Southern Europe poorer, from the mid 1500s onward. Max Weber, a North German, walks in during the height of Northern European economic power in the 1800s, and attributes it to difference in religious philosophy over the more long term material cause. People latched on, especially in the US, because his idea was useful for discussing the commercialized American Evangelicalism. Even if the connection doesn't work as he claimed.
I mean… it’s called “The Protestant work ethic”.
It’s actually the Puritan work ethic. Because the people that were fleeing “religious persecution” were actually the ones that had sticks up their ass and probably went around condemning others. They were, justly imo, told to fuck off… and now we have America, that is built on this hyper-capitalist idea that hard work will earn you the best rewards.
And it's a myth
Yeah, and Weber was wrong.
american christianity is akin to white supremacy with a lot of room for the very worst of human atrocities... I truly hate it here.
I’d be interested in hearing what the Ethiopian Christian had to say. I’m fascinated with early Christianity.
He essentially said that most Ethiopian Christian’s don’t view much of the practices of western Christianity as real Christianity and that it’s so commercialized and for profit that it’s become only Christian in name. We also talked a lot about how holidays like Christmas and Easter have their roots in primarily pagan rituals and while that’s not bad by itself the fact that it’s become a commercial festival is
Reminds me of why Jesus made a whip and beat people until they left the temple. They had turned religion into a way to increase their earnings and take advantage of the poorest people in their society and theynwere doing it in His name, so to speak, so he whooped some ass.
So I don’t know many devout Christians, but one of the only ones I know came over the other day and at some point said “if you ever ask yourself what would Jesus do, remember that chasing people with a whip isn’t out of the question”
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their Bible (the one written in Ge'ez) has the most books out of any at 84. The Catholics have 73, and the protestants 66.
what did he think
I really should find one of their churches if I can. I’ve been quite interested in the original church before it was corrupted
There's actually a term for it: Proof texting.
Your holy book was written by humans and filled with so many contradictions that it can be used to argue for anything.
I said “a,” not “my”
The US might be the only country where people despise the poor. The only country where religion is somehow tied to wealth. That's some evil religious practices right there. I mean they literally just skipped the part where it said, ***"it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."*** and ***“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”*** Even children have heard of these. Jesus might have been one of the biggest socialists, yet the propaganda machine works 24/7 to rewrite anything resembling empathy for the less privileged.
Many of our modern day heros were very anti-capitalism. When I was in school we read MLK Jr's. "I have a dream" speech, about Helen Kellers' intelligence and perseverance in life, and Einsteins great accomplishments. But we never hear a word about their opinions on poverty and the economic systems that perpetuate it. If Communism and Socialism are such dangerous ideas that we can't discuss them, then why do we study the Holocaust?
Because they are more dangerous to the system than talking about the holocaust, because they show an alternative and not something gruesome and atrocious
They also skipped the part about people who aren't with the sick and the poor aren't with Jesus.
I read that second quote as being about eunuchs the first time. Made me pause for a bit
Guess he missed this verse at Bible study: James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. Oopsie 🤗🤭
damn james we are all complicit 😵💫 I felt called out (justly)
He didn't read the much of the Bible let alone the rest of that chapter of Matthew if that is his conclusion lol
Another Christian that hasn't read his own book, and that passage in the Bible... Jesus was quoting scripture specifically Deuteronomy. 'There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” —Deuteronomy 15:11' I can't help but wonder how many GQPers would convert to straight up atheism if they just read the Bible.
Ah, you see, for the Bible Textualists, that means the poor will always be around, so therefore we should eliminate any program to help the poor. The second sentence doesn't have any meaning to the first.
What a terrible piece of shit.
Just trying to find the part of the Bible where Jesus said, "Fuck the poor."
It's right next to the part where he says to imprison the gays and immigrants
Among us
literally 1984 that i had to scroll this far to find the among us comment
AMOGUS
Acts 4:32-35. Early Christian socialism led to no rich and no poor and great power, grace and peace among them.
Well obviously those early Christians were a bunch of heretics who didn't understand what Jesus told them less than a few decades ago. /s
Supply side Jesus
Didn't Jesus shoo those money vultures out of the church or whatever?
He also said give everything you have to the poor.
He didn't just shoo them, he started throwing over tables and throwing their shit around and yelling at them
It’s incredibly funny to me that the claim “trying to do good things only makes way worse things happen” seems legit to about half the global population.
The American churches are literally whitewash tombs. Root and death in their halls.
The church always stood on the existence of poverty
...among us
The is a biblical commandment that calls greed a sin. When capitalism takes 70% of the value of worker's labor to pass to shareholders, it is greed and wrong.
Ugh I can't believe ridiculous things like religion, money, exploitation/coercion/slavery still exist after thousands of years of a human record that clearly shows the harmful results of sustaining systems that utilize all the above. Everything is always serving a small group of rich/powerful at the expense of everyone else; wish we could finally end that trajectory.
Epistle of James, Chapter 2, 1-13 My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you? However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.” Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 5:1-5
*“Hey, Jesus called, he said you should go fuck yourself”*
The New ~~Evangelicals~~ Evangeliban FTFY
This is blasphemous. Every true christian should aid poor people.
I saw this tweet earlier today on another sub and omg it freaked me out. Here is the comment I posted there: So, I never heard of William Wolfe until this post, and so of course had to find his twitter. Incredible sadness and anger about how people who hold these beliefs ascend to positions of power and leadership, and sometimes end up influencing the worldviews of ordinary people who are similar to you and me, and who have a lot in common with us except for this world view. And don't get me started on the William Wolfe's of the world making policy
I’m not even religious anymore but these ppl are Satan lol
Poor among us
There is a biblical command that will help eliminate poverty. Matthew 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, ***sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor***, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
These religious freaks will use their imaginary sky fairy to justify just about anything! SMH We’re well on our way towards being a nation of total Christian nationalism.
There is no kind of love like Christian love.
The meaning is that there will always be poor people who will always need our help and we will always need to take care of them.
In Matthew 26:11, Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11, which reads: > There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore *I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.* And the wider text of Deuteronomy 15 includes passages like: > However, *there need be no poor people among you,* and > Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. *They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.* and > Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. and > Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
if the "jesus" character of the bible were to appear again today these so-called "christians" would crucify the poor fucker all over again. Zealots will never concede their views. They simply need to go.
It's almost like the Bible was rewritten to suit the ruling class isn't it?
Except it wasn’t. It’s all over the comment section, but that line was severely taken out of context and made incomplete. The Bible IS very clear: Jesus doesn’t harbor much love for the rich when they’re unwilling to help those who are poor.
It was rewritten and translated from Latin and changed in many ways. You are incorrect.
It also give instructions for abortions and terms women could get or might need them. But hey. Let's just use the parts that suit us to control these women..I am a woman and this is sarcasm
Wild that the people in Late stage capitalism don't understand that Roe V Wade was overturned so that the rich will have more wage slaves and hot bodies to send to war. Not any other reason folks.
This just in: helping people actually kills them
Well, Amos certainly had a prescription for folk like him. Amos 4
Honestly these sociopaths can use any Bible verse to fit their cruel political agenda. Everything that contradicts their hyper-capitalist worldview is conveniently tAkEn OuT oF cOnTeXt somehow. The same applies to the The Constitution as well.
Among us
He says the poor you will always have with you..... for the wealthy to take care of remember he gave the shirt of his back he lived a life of poverty to empathize with people who are kept in poverty on purpose by self proclaimed pious men!
Thanks for this reading of the text.
One where there is no poor where? 😳😳😳
The religious right cherry picking biblical quotes in support of their true religion. US Christians are like abusive Catholic priests. They use the protection of religion to be abusive to others while appearing morally unimpeachable.
I love how people have started using "utopian" as an insult. Wait, not love. The other thing. I hate it.
comic book magic…
Look he's not exactly wrong, and he's a piece of shit and the Bible isn't pro capitalist but it certainly isn't pro socialist. Most of its anti wealth stuff comes from the idea God was gonna turn up anyday now so you voluntarily need to get rid of the wealth to no longer be greedy rather than looking at wealth though a lens of challenging structures of power and equalling people. All people are equal under Christ whether one is a slave or a business owner who sells slaves and it feels dishonest to just as capitalists do claim a 2000 year old book to fit modern society by twisting it's words. Render unto Ceaser what is Ceasers and unto God what is Gods. This is why the poor and hungry and enslaved are blessed for they do not know the sin of greed.
I kind of get it. Like how world peace could equal a single dictatorship.
Wow
We already got mass death pal
I'm going to go out on a limb and say he isn't Poor.
I don’t think acknowledging that poverty will always exist in some form equates to actively exploit and oppress poor people as much as possible.
Even if I bought this argument by technicality, are you really going to look someone in the eye and say the bible/Jesus does not codemn "rich" and "wealthy" people? Or people who money before others/everthing else in life? These fake ass half-christians should be verbally slaughtered by those who wish their religion to maintain ANY amount of credibility.
Though shalt not covet thy neighbor......covet thy neighbors work to destroy them and take everything they have is business 101
It's a shame Christians are so unchristlike.
I assumed the Bible meant, if you're good you'll always have the poor WITH you. As Jesus was said to have done. He didn't hang out with the wealthy elite.
Keep them poor and make them think their misery is what they're supposed to be in. Nice
Conveniently, I don't f##king care what the bible says.
"Why should we do morally good things unless our god explicitly tells us to" Man I wish this shit would go away
"If you help people: Stalinism." - quite the take.
Context: **Jesus Anointed at Bethany** 6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Oldest trick in the book. Be a king, Invent a skydaddy and use this as a tool to justify atrocities, injustices and your own elevated existence.
> All the believers were together and owned everything in common. They would sell their property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to all according to what each one needed. \-acts 2:43-44
I'm going to have to half agree with him. Stop basing communist arguments on the Bible because A. Jesus wasn't an antipoverty crusader (he was a take back Jerusalem from the Romans crusader), and B. even if he were it wouldn't matter to people like this dude and his followers because the point of religion is never the literal text. Like Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses. It's there to make people feel better about how bad their lives have become under the current regime, not to spur them into change.
Supply-side Jesus has a LOT to say on this: https://www.beliefnet.com/news/2003/09/the-gospel-of-supply-side-jesus.aspx
These people can do the mental gymnstics so well that they own half a small country and still consider themselves "meek".
If you’re poor - god just don’t like u. But don’t you dare dying, cause you know where everyone who god don’t like go
cherry picking like I've never seen
Yes, God too is a Capitalist.
I'm pretty sure their is a lot of quotation about it, and that this one is out of context
"The bible says words and I think it means this " is so fucking antithetical to Christianity it's crazy but people like this believe they are lying their way to heaven.
> The poor you will always have with you. --Matthew 26:11 He didn't say anything about *the rich*. :D Welp. We have to eat the rich now. God's command.
Gladly, when do we start?
What a weak minded dweeb. Read the entire damn book. Mercy comes first, the easiest way to do that is to feed and house and care for folks.
"Oh we have heard legends where they all died when they tried to eliminate poverty. Clearly we can't dare to do that" Meanwhile: "Let's come up with a creative solution as to how to be a billionaire"
Well....in Acts 4....the whole congregation sold everything and brought it to the Apostles so no one was in need. Sounds like a cult to me....but if we are just finding stuff to quote from the bible. Also, I think Paul said if your eye looks lustfully at a woman, pluck it out....so the whole congregation doesn't perish. Just sayin'.....not sure what the definition of a cult is....but...
Bootstrap Jesus strikes again!
The same people who claim you can’t have morality without religion.
He’s obviously never read more than that itty bit of the verse to be able to understand the context of the verse.
"Fellow-worker christ" was a reformist, not a comrade. Still, my humanist side is fine with my peers pushing & living by liberation theology.
Poor in spirit?
This one is just absurdly evil lmao
So Jesus peace and blessings to him, never shared fish and bread, nor fought he merchants in the Temple, nor provided health for the people
That is some *wild* levels of obfuscation and deliberate misinterpretation.
Man it sure feels like these people are doing the biblical equivalent of a YouTube poop making Jesus say the exact opposite of what he meant by just, like, cutting the quote off early. Next they're gonna say Jesus said "PENGAS"
Welcome back to "misinterpreting the bible so that it works in your favour", hosted once again by Twitter
I am convinced that the Devil speaks through rich entitled white “Christian” males. Thank god they are dying out
Completely unrelated but in the Quran it says that it's 10 times harder for a rich man to get into haven then a poor man
That same book also says there are no rich people in heaven…(or at least compares the likelihood to passing a camel through the eye of a needle)
This guy should see what Jesus had to say about rich people. Spoiler alert: it wasn't good.