One day, a rich man turned to Jesus and asked him about how to inherit an eternal life. Even though he had already followed the particular commandments such as not murdering, stealing, lying and honoring your parents, he still could not keep the law perfectly. Because Jesus asked him to give all his fortune to the poor but he would not like to. Jesus told disciples that it would be easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle than the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God. (Mark 10:17-10:25)
The story from the Bible is not intended to persuade people to stay poor but to uphold the loyalty to God. (The Straight Dope) However, it can be reflected in a different perspective that the reluctance to give up the great possessions exist from the early history of human and all wealth except for labor-made possession is kind of theft because it more or less deprive manual workers of labor and free time which can be used to produce wealth. Moreover, the distribution of wealth is unfair from the emergency of surplus property. Therefore, there is an assumption that property is a kind of theft. (Proudhon, 1840)
The assumption can be explained in history in different human civilizations.
(i) As originated from Genesis, the mark of Cain (Genesis, ) is the sign of slavery according to the views of the Southern Baptist organizations in America. In human history, slavery existed for a long time and is still estimated over 20 million slaves around the world. (Gould, 2012)
After the discovery of the new continent, the colonists brought the black men from Africa to America, driving them to work in order to earn a fortune. In that society, slaves were subject to their owners like property and so exploited that they did not possess any...
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...ery's Global Comeback." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 19 Dec. 2012. Web.
5. Haley, Alex. Roots:. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976. Print.
6. Huang, Zongxi, and William Theodore De Bary. Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince. Columbia University Press, 1993. Page 92
7. "Mark 10:25." New international verson. Bible Hub. Web
Marx, Karl, and T. B. Bottomore. "Wages of Labour." Early Writings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. N. paragraph.16 Print.
8. Waley, Arthur, and Joseph Roe. Allen. The Book of Songs. New York: Grove, 1996. Print.
9. Xinchun, Li. "The People Leaving Their Native Places in the Ming Dynasty: A Perspective from the Ecosystem." COLLECTIONS OF ESSAYS ON CNINESS HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 3 (1998).
10. "Book of Poetry : Minor Odes of the Kingdom : Decade Of Bei Shan : Bei Shan 2 - Chinese Text Project." Chinese Text Project. N.p., n.d. Web.
One can’t automatically assume this scripture in question was meant to excuse inaction or diminish the importance of helping those in need. I believe that this was Jesus’ way of paraphrasing a previous text, with the intent of calling to mind the larger passage it came from. He did this by quoting Deuteronomy chapter fifteen, verse eleven. Likewise, the sole intent and purpose was for the disciples and Christians to remember the instructions on how to deal with the poor and debt. In the Deuteronomic Law their were laws put in place for the purpose of people eluding poverty. If someone owed a debt they had the option of working off the debt for up to, but no longer than seven years. After the debt was paid their land and valuables were then returned to them. In Deuteronomy, perpetual poverty was
For this wicked custom has so taken root everywhere among those who bear the Christian name, and this pernicious doctrine is everywhere so settled and established as though by public law, that men purposely bring up their children even from the cradle with excessive carelessness and laxity. (Celano, 1:1, http://www.indiana.edu/~dmdhist/francis.htm) These opening lines show just how much opulence (and by opulence the means to gain it wealth) were important to people of the era. That like now, the idea of too much money can lead to the idea of sloth and other poor morals. Another important phrase that connects the importance of money/wealth to the period is the idea of the “Hidden Treasure” that Francis speaks of when discussing the kingdom of heaven. (Celano, 3:7-8, http://www.indiana.edu/~dmdhist/francis.htm) In likening the kingdom of heaven to something as material and with such high monetary value as gold it
Although Qiu Ying’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival is a replica, the structure of the buildings and the people’s clothes clearly show the characteristics of the Ming dynasty. This skillful representation is a work of Qiu Ying’s own creation and imagination, in which he captures a more exciting city, Suzhou, compared to the ancient city of Kaifeng depicted in Zhang’s version. Qiu Ying’s version is two times longer than Zhang’s version. Using Suzhou city in the Ming dynasty as the background, Qui Ying’s painting captures the real lives of urban and rural people in Jiangnan during the Ming period. It shows the lively community life and folk customs with grand and magnificent scenes as well as illustrating the economic, political, military and political conditions at that
Marx, Karl and Engels, F. 1847. "Wage-Labour and Capital" Pp. 182-189 in Classical Sociological Theory, edited by Craig Calhoun et. al. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
In Deuteronomy 15:7-11 tells us, “If there be among you a poor man thou shalt not harden thine heart, not shut thine hand” and cautions us to “beware that thine eye be evil against thy poor brother and thou givest him nought, and he cry unto the lord against thee and it be sin unto thee. (DT...15:9) He then reminds us that the poor shall never cease out the land: therefore I command thee saying, thou shalt open thine hand wide to the poor and to the needy.” This is basically saying is to open up to them or let them open up to you, do not go around thinking that you are better then
As in 2 Kings 22 verses 7-9 when the money was entrusted to the workers and supervisors of the temple, we as a society need to entrust our financial needs with the Lord. The attitude of today is to consume and make more money to buy things so enough is never enough. Pretty soon the money is your only focus and you lose sight of Gods plan for us to spread his work. Our need to make more leads to greed and deceit, which you see in the media so much today. The best way to do business is with honesty and integrity, it will go a long way when people can put their trust in you and not have to worry about being misled. In 2 Kings 22 verse 9 “ Then Shapan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “ Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” (2 Kings 22: 9).
Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict. Slavery has existed in the New World since the seventeenth century prior to it being exclusive to race. During those times there were few social and political concerns about slavery. Initially, slaves were considered indentured servants who will eventually be set free after paying their debt(s) to the owner. In some cases, the owners were African with white servants. However, over time the slavery became exclusive to Africans and was no limited to a specific timeframe, but life. In addition, the treatment of slaves worsens from the Atlantic Slave trade to th...
In his poem, “Notes from the City of the Sun”, Bei Dao utilizes obscure imagery consistent with the Misty Poets and veiled political references to illustrate the struggles in Chinese society during the Cultural Revolution. The poem is sectioned into fourteen short stanzas containing imagery that are symbolic of the cultural hegemony in China under the rule of Mao Zedong. Bei Dao, born Zhao Zhen-kai, is an anti-revolutionary poet and one of the founders of a group known as the Misty Poets. The Misty Poets wrote poems that protested the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong. Therefore, a lot of Bei Dao’s poems speak out against the Cultural Revolution and the restrictions that it placed on any form of art. Bei Dao’s poetry is categorized as “misty” because of the ambiguity in its references to Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. An obscure imagery that occurs twice in “Notes” is the sun imagery. Another imagery that depicts the injustice of the Cultural Revolution is the description of freedom as scraps of paper. In the poem, Bei Dao also equates faith to sheep falling into a ditch; this is a depiction blind faith during the Cultural Revolution. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how Bei Dao’s use of the Misty Poet’s ambiguous imagery and implicit political context in the poem “Notes from the City of the Sun” to illustrate the cultural hegemony in China under Mao.
Previously [day-9] I wrote about how James dealt with the way we treat the poor in James 2:1-9. He used them as an illustration for how to make good decisions. In that section, James addressed how people in the church chose to treat the rich and the poor. The distinctions they made between them were based on arbitrary criteria that betrayed a serious lack of wisdom. The fact that Christians were judging others based upon their ability to earn income showed a perspective that gloried in the wrong things. They chose to rejoice in riches instead of godliness.
The rich were taking advantage of the poor and exalting their wealth. “Another main area of disobedience took the form of social injustice, as the rich and powerful exploited the poor and needy. Wealth, possessions, and pleasure took priority over their relationship with God” (Hindson & Yates, 869). The prophet, Amos, went to the Israelites to condemn them of this sin. “For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts” (Amos 5:12). God cares for the poor and has compassion on them. His people were to do the same, yet they disobeyed. Micah also prophesied against social injustice. “Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully. Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins” (Micah 6:12-13). God is just and will judge those who act unjustly to others. God will judge all the nations of their unjust behavior to one another, including Israel and Judah. “Because of their sinfulness, because of their treating others inhumanely, none of the nations…will be able to escape God’s judgment; this included Judah and Israel” (Mamahit,
The Bible says that "the poor will always be with us." An similar statement is
Furthermore, Jesus also demonstrated through this teaching that the poor are not cursed, heaven and hell are both real, and riches have the power to separate a believer from God (Pentecost, 1981). Thus in the case of this parable, the rich man was given one last chance to alleviate one man’s suffering (Lazarus), but in accordance with Pharisaic tradition, the rich man, who enjoyed a life a luxury, saw Lazarus as being cursed and thereby disregarded Lazarus’ needs (Pentecost, 1981). Subsequently, both men died at the same time, and while Lazarus enjoyed eternal life in Abraham’s Bosom, the rich man was sent to eternal damnation in Hades (Luke 16:22-23). Even today many Christian’s believe that heaven can be bought and wealth is a sign of God’s favor; thus as a result of this belief, many Christian’s have bought into the idea of the prosperity gospel. In the secular world, those who are rich continue to overlook the needs of the poor, but as Jesus demonstrated in the teaching of the rich man and Lazarus, a true follower of Christ, regardless of material wealth, will not overlook those who are in need (Pentecost, 1981). Just as Jesus showed offense to the rich man and the Pharisees in this parable so will God be offended if a Christian has the ability to help someone in need and does
Slavery has been a part of human practices for centuries and dates back to the world’s ancient civilizations. In order for us to recognize modern day slavery we must take a look and understand slavery in the American south before the 1860’s, also known as antebellum slavery. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary defines a slave as, “a man who is by law deprived of his liberty for life, and becomes the property of another” (B.J.R, pg. 479). In the period of antebellum slavery, African Americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, homes, out on fields, industries and transportation. By law, slaves were the perso...
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NIV) At the time of Amos the poor were being oppressed by the wealthy, and God used Amos to scold Israel for their lack of justice, towards the poor. “Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. “ (Amos 5:11) According to Hindson and Yates “at a social level Israel’s accumulation of wealth led to a wide disparity between the upper and lower class, and a climate of injustice prevailed as the power of the rich began to take advantage of the poor.” (p.370) Justice was something of utmost importance to God; he created all people to be treated fairly. To exploit the poor and to treat them unjustly was something God was not going to allow the wealthy and powerful to
How should the poor be sheltered against injustice? Marxists would rebel and fight for a classless society. The biblical view is incarnation. Christians should care for the poor and lead them to the Lord. It does not matter about the class a person is in.