Almost impossible for rich to enter heaven?

Amen Sis! There's this, too:

"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
(Rev 3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

For all you who are against having money, how is it you are on the internet, posting on this board? I presume you're at the public library, using tax dollars to waste your precious time here then, am I right? Because poor people don't have internet access or computers.

Tobias said:

Wealth is relative. When Jesus was talking about a "rich man" not being able to enter heaven, how rich was rich? I think by their standards most all of us would be considered rich. No amount of money back then could buy (or rent) a house with hot and cold running water, flushable toilets, or air conditioning. Not to mention electric lights and appliances! What He was talking about had to have been the attachment to money.

Either that, or perhaps the fact that there were hundreds of extremely poor people dying of starvation in the streets. For someone to be rich and fat means that they did so at the expense of the lives of those outside their gates. Every day they would have to walk past these people as they slowly starved to death, refusing to offer them aide. And anybody with such a cold callous attitude toward other people cannot possibly enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

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We have that today as like 1 to 3% of the people have near all the worlds wealth. This is satans systems working great for his followers.

Gods systems have been tossed aside by near every nation and people on earth if not all peoples and nations.


Satan's children will gladly mass-murder near everyone on earth to keep their wealth, power and control.

mindfulness said:

For all you who are against having money, how is it you are on the internet, posting on this board? I presume you're at the public library, using tax dollars to waste your precious time here then, am I right? Because poor people don't have internet access or computers.

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There are lots of poor people that have a computer and internet access.

I think they are giving away laptops to school children in some states.

Wally Cleaver said:

'Cuz you have to be corrupt, pretty much, to be rich.

When Jesus told that one dude to give his possessions to the poor and follow Him, the guy wouldn't because he owned much land.

According to the law, you have to return land to the original family on the Jubilee. So....this guys family probably hadn't returned the land, since he owned much land...so he's basically robbing the poor of their inheritance.

The Law and "free market" democracies are two totally different economic realities. If you love Roman law (Greek, democracy hybrids etc), you'll hate God's. If you hate God's law, he's not going to let you in.

I suppose there might be exceptions to this "rich mans dilemma", and also the question of what constitutes rich. But, I just don't really see how someone living his simple life of farming on his 7 acres or whatev Law style, can get obscenely wealthy like todays pyramid scheme, international banker ran nightmare governments.

So...in short, rich people don't keep the Law.

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The so called Christian people and churches do not keep Gods Law.

...hey..that butterfly is sooo pretty....so so pretty....
Mommy...why don't people see? If the truth is out there...why don't they see? The butterfly is right in front of them...but they don't see it.

I don't argue with anyone...I just don't....but what I am sure on...




I STAND

TamaraLynne said:

I would also like to add....a rich man(one with lots of money) who is rich in Gods eyes will will make it into heaven just fine.
Not to mention if he is rich in Gods eyes then he is probably spreading his wealth to help those in need...not only monetarily to help others but also he is spreading Gods love.

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There was a hit song on the children's network some years back called "Smile Billionaire." The gist was what you say here. It was written by secular parents who simply didn't want their children growing up listening to what was popular, not even the songs they had written.

My Sister sang that song, as well as most of the songs on that CD.

LLWHA said:

There are lots of poor people that have a computer and internet access.

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At the library you can get that here. Provided the libraries are open at any time you can get there. And there is transportation to get there. And there is a computer available when you get there.

Which for a poor person where I live may mean that you can't get at a computer at all, because the library is not open while you're working for a pittance. On the off chance you might have a little time on the weekend when the library is maybe open, it will take you probably an hour to get to one of the larger libraries, and then when you get there the machines will be signed up for hours.

And that's in a city of 5 million. If you live in a rural area...uh...good luck?

I think they are giving away laptops to school children in some states.

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That would be in India.

Although I hear there is a pilot program of some sort in S. Carolina.

There are a few individual schools where students are given the use of a laptop. They are not the normal schools near me, though. One of my friend's sons is in such a school -- it's a special themed very technical school and the laptop is set up in such a way to accomodate the extra and very specific sorts of work these kids are required to do.

And not one of those kids is so poor they don't have a computer at home already.

The other way for poor kids to access a computer is at the school, either before or after regular school hours.

Of course that means you will not be able to be transported by your bus. Which means either someone can drive you in a car or you'll be spending easily 90 minutes, not to mention money that would buy a meal for you, on public transportation to get home.

So, I'm not sure where you live, bit if you're poor in this metro area of 5 million where I live, good luck. If you have internet access it's likely to be via a smartphone and cellphone plan if you have anything, and if you're trying to feed a family on one paltry income, you won't have money for that.

Jane_the_Bane said:

Let's start with the "camel"-bit: there have been several attempts at explaining this weird imagery throughout the millennia.
The most popular is probably the claim that one of the gates of Jerusalem was called "the eye of the needle", and that it was so narrow that a merchant's camel needed to be relieved of its burden before it could fit through.

However, it's also been suggested that this is actually a very early misprint, substituting "kamelos" (= camel) for "kamilos" (= rope, cable).
That doesn't render the task easier, but it makes for a much more congruent (if less humorous) picture.

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Reminds me of this saying by Jesus concerning beam vs speck

http://www.olivetree.com/cgi-bin/EnglishBible.htm

Rotherham) Matthew 7:3 "Why moreover beholdest thou the mote in the eye of thy brother,--
while the beam in thine own eye, thou dost not consider?
4 Or how wilt thou say unto thy brother 'let me cast the mote out of thine eye'
when behold! a beam is in thine own eye?"
[Luke 6:41,42]

O ye rich ones of the earth! Flee not from the face of the poor that lieth in the dust, nay rather befriend him and suffer him to recount the tale of the woes with which God's inscrutable Decree hath caused him to be afflicted. By the righteousness of God! Whilst ye consort with him, the Concourse on high will be looking upon you, will be interceding for you, will be extolling your names and glorifying your action.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 314)

The rich must wish to give! Life in man should be like a flame, warming all with whom it comes into contact. The spiritually awakened are like to bright torches in the sight of God, they give light and comfort to their fellows."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 91)

AskTheFamily said:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 18:25)

Comments on this. Why is it so hard for a rich man to enter heaven? Also since it's impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, doesn't that it mean it's actually impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and actually makes the verse not make sense?

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I have heard that the 'eye of a needle' referred to a landmark near Jerusalem
The "eye of a needle" has been interpreted as a gate in Jerusalem, which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could only pass through this smaller gate if it was stooped and had its baggage removed. This story has been put forth since at least the 15th century, and possibly as far back as the 9th century. However, there is no evidence for the existence of such a gate
Eye of a needle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The funny thing about your question is it's reflected in the Koran too...

Koran 7:40
To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance, no opening will there be of the gates of heaven, nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle: Such is Our reward for those in sin.
Surat Al-'A`raf [7:40] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم

mindfulness said:

For all you who are against having money, how is it you are on the internet, posting on this board? I presume you're at the public library, using tax dollars to waste your precious time here then, am I right? Because poor people don't have internet access or computers.

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Being a socialist is not being in favour of poverty

Someone said along the lines of "I'd rather be a socialist in a car than a fascist in a tank"

Wealth and riches do not have to be material, they are attachments of other sorts too. A person blessed with riches of family, loved ones etc. They would find it very difficult to become un attached to them and thus shed the ego and find the kingdom of heaven. Remember Jesus says that people should leave family and follow him.

ALLorNOTHINGatall4CHRIST said:

The more money you have the more likely you are to trust in it to save you, rather than Christ, that is why it is so hard for the rich to enter Heaven. It is not that they cannot, but rather that they tend to trust in "stuff" as opposed to God.

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I was wondering if you could explain what you mean by having more trust in stuff. I don't think anyone believes they can buy a secure place in the afterlife. In the mundane world, I would think a god would want people to be able to support themselves and their families without having to rely on god. Does your god frown on self sufficiency?

I forget if I commented already in this thread, if I did I may be repeating myself; but Jesus doesn't say anything about "Heaven" here, but rather about the kingdom. The "kingdom of heaven/God" isn't "Heaven", i.e. a celestial place somewhere "up there", but is rather God's reign and dominion which, as prayed in the Our Father, says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". In Luke Jesus says, "the kingdom of God is in your midst".

It's the in-breaking of God into our world, initiated and inaugurated by Christ who was crucified and rose from the dead, by which He is redeeming, restoring and renewing the world. It's turning this world up upon its head, subverting the dominant power systems here and inverting them to announce the salvation (soteria)--the rescue and recovery--of this world.

The rich young ruler had much, and Jesus calls him to sell all that he owns and donate the money to the poor and to follow after Jesus: δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι ἄρας τὸν σταυρόν ("Be here! Be at My side, bearing the cross." [my less-than-eloquent attempt at translating]). To be part of the kingdom means to pick up this cross-burden, and participate in Jesus' work--God's work in the world--but far too often our comforts stand in the way of this. Now of course the disciples then asked Him, "how then can anyone be saved?" to which He responds, "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible". Whether or not the rich young ruler could be saved or not (I'd reckon) is different matter, with God all things are possible, even something more difficult than camel going through the eye of a needle; but what Jesus was more interested in (I'd argue) is that we come and be part of the work of God breaking into the world which was alive and active through Jesus and to which He called His followers and likewise sent them out--as apostoloi, apostles.

-CryptoLutheran