Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[mlsoft]

"Isn't from them according to their ability to those according to their need a Christian concept? (I know where it comes from.)"
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ergo sum....

Then you know that it comes from the book of Acts, and the only mention of such an idea is during the formation of the very early church in Jerusalem when the new Christians were under severe persecution.

The only way to understand Scripture is to keep it in context (both the immediate and the larger context) and if in doubt that a passage represents something that should be universally applied (as opposed to being circumstantial) the only way to know is to compare the passage in question to other passages that talk about the same subject.

The Bible views legitimately obtained material wealth as a blessing from God, not something evil. It is often quoted that "money is the root of all evil", but the true quote is "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil." You have often correctly heard that the poor are never to be discriminated against, but not many remember that the Bible also admonishes against discriminating against the wealthy. Jesus said that "the poor you will always have with you" and that was a statement of fact from the One who knows all things, including the future.

In general, the Bible teaches that wealth in itself is not a bad thing - it is how we view our wealth that matters and we are to always love and trust in God, not our money. We who are blessed should always be ready to give liberally to those truly in need, older widows, orphans and to support the church, but we are not instructed to always give all our wealth away. We are also instructed very plainly that "to him who is not willing to work, let him also not eat" - in other words do not encourage sloth and idleness.

A book could easily be written about Christian ethics as it applies to money (I am sure there are many) but you cannot take one passage out of context and make a doctrine out of it. Remember that it was the atheists, Marx and Lenin, that built their political framework around that thought.

mlsoft