Analysis Of ' The Rich Official ' Essay

I also think the verse of the rich young man could be connected to how Jesus would spend his money. In Matthew 19:21-23, Jesus preached to a rich young man to sell his possessions and give to the poor, and then that young man would no longer be rich on earth but he would be rich in heaven. The young man did not want to sell his possessions, and I think that rich young man is the type of person who would spend money living in excess. The rich young man would spend his money on a concert, which is the complete opposite of what Jesus would do.

If you examine a vehicle, you may agree that it is greater than the sum its parts. Individually, the engine, battery, tires, steering wheel, and steel body can’t haul a teen to school or an associate to work like they can when they are all working together as a cohesive unit. Just like any vehicle, the common wealth of a community is greater than the needs of the individuals that make up the community. When the individuals of a community entangle themselves in a web of wants and selfish desires, they tend to loose sight of the well being of the people who surround them, the environment in which they thrive off of, and, in the long-run, themselves. In conjunction, author Scott Russell Sanders’ article titled “Defending Our Common Wealth” highlights these points as well as emphasizes creating a new vision of wealth, encouraging community over consumption and consumerism to his audience.

of oppression, understanding the central core of the Gospels as Jesus' identification with the poor

Luke’s Gospel greatly emphasizes the social justice aspect of Christian living. Throughout the third book in the New Testament, the story and history of Jesus Christ is written, and Luke preserves the many sayings of Jesus warning that those with material possessions have a

In warning about the evils of greed, Jesus used a parable: “There was a rich man blessed with [fertile land.] He thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to keep all my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘I know what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns! I will put all my good things together in my new barns. Then I can say…Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!’“But God said to that man, ‘Foolish man! Tonight you will die!... Who will get [your things] now?’ This is how it will be for anyone who saves things only for himself. To God that person is not rich.” (Luke 12:13 21)

While the attitudes of Christianity and Islam toward trade differed greatly in the beginning, their views evolved and changed over time. In the beginning of the trade movement, Christianity had originally opposed it, while Islam chose to embrace it. As time went on, both Christianity and Islam took on a more moderate stance. Christianity chose to embrace it more while Islam began to reject it.

In his article “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich”, Warren Buffett criticizes the fact that billionaires in United States actually pay less percentages of taxes than those working-classes. Buffett believes the government needs to stop protecting the “super-rich”.

(Luke 10:25-37). Jesus taught this so that Christians would treat everyone the way that they would want to be treated. In Luke 6:20-26, Jesus said. “That the poor were special to him and that their suffering would be rewarded in heaven.” He also went on to say, “The rich who ignored the suffering of the poor would be punished.” One of Jesus’ most important teachings on poverty was in Matthew 25:31-46. To the affect Jesus said “Whenever you help anyone in need you are helping me.” Christians believe that when they help someone they are helping Jesus and that they will be rewarded for it. These are the main Christian teachings on wealth and poverty.

He is mentioned to by Paul as "Luke the beloved physician" (Col. 4:14). Luke fixed forth the humanity of the Son of Man and cites it in chronological order the life of Christ. Being a physician, he is more precise when using language. For example, when he indicates a leper he uses the identical medical term to describe the circumstance, for example "full of leprosy" (Luke 5:12). Luke’s gospel is particularly focused towards an individual named Theophilus and is focused on the complete story and past events of Jesus Christ from his birth and ministry to his crucifixion and resurrection. A major theme in Luke’s gospel shows how important the poor were to Jesus and how we should not neglect the poor. Examples of this are seen when the book talks about the distinctive beatitudes “blessed you are poor…hunger now...weep now...” and the distinctive woes “woes to you that are rich...that are full...that laugh now…” which overall say, money and power will tend to bring judgement upon you. In addition, the gospel of Luke refers to certain parables like the Rich man and Lazarus. This sends a message to warn the rich who tend to trust in their riches more than in God, wealth tends to pull us away from God and that if we neglect the poor and prioritize our riches more we will go to hell. Asking oneself- is your existence a blessing for the

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come,

All throughout the beatitudes there seems to be the theme that it does not matter what is on the outside, but God sees and is only concerned with the inside of his children. Their hearts and their souls. It doesn't appear God cares much for material wealth or success in the world, but more so for what is in mans heart. Luke suggests ‘the poor' should be monetarily poor, and if they have any wealth they should give it all up to those more needy to give glory to God. Money and wealth may be seen by some as a sign of being in God's favor with darker signs and adversity a sign of some sort of punishment. Which should not be the case at all, Matthew seems to add "in spirit" more to identify wealth and social status is not the standard by which God will judge. Money and wealth do have an

Unfortunately, this fact is so true of our society today, but Yancey goes on to show how Jesus makes an extra effort to reach out to he poor. He gives a list, which he got from another writer, on the advantages of being poor. This list really made an impact on me. It showed me how I need to be more open to what God has to say, and not so involved with the materialistic and secular views of today. I need to focus on what God has planned for me, and not make my focus to be what other people think of me. “Strength, good looks, connections, and the competitive instinct may bring a person success in a society like ours, but those very qualities may block entrance to the kingdom of heaven” (Yancey 114).

     Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the first Beatitude. It tells us that we should accept people for who they are and not the material things they have. You should not treat a person who lives in a nice house and drives a nice car any different then someone who lives in a less desirable house and drives an old car. You should treat everyone how you would like to be treated. Just because someone can not afford some of the things as you might be able to does not mean that they are a bad person. We should accept everyone into our community.

In the Bible, the four Gospels push different ideologies, views, lessons and different stories that center around the central figure of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke main themes center on Universalism, social justice, compassion for outcasts, the role of woman and the Holy Spirit.(Hauer and Young) These parables are able to connect to the context of when Luke was able bring these stories together in 85 CE. The Gospel was most likely written in Greek speaking area located in the Roman empire.(Coogan et al.) This time of stability allowed for the proliferation of Christianity and Gospels such as Luke. The passages that will be discussed will mainly focus on compassion for outcast seen in Luke 16:19–31 and warning against greed in Luke 12:13-34. Luke 13:6-9 focuses on a fig tree talks of the opportunities people and if they use them properly. Finally, the last parable is 7:11-17, which focuses on holy spirit and the possibilities for miracles and the importance of life. These parables in Luke are able to give a social justice commentary that can make a person feel compassionate for the poor and the reckoning they would receive in the afterlife if they didn’t follow Jesus’s teachings. As, well the story is able to push across a message that will everlasting importance to people. This has led to the Gospels of Luke becoming one of the main 4 Gospels and one of the most highly regarded of the Gospels. (Hauer and Young)

Neoliberalism is defined as the way in which our government approaches the economics and social hierarchy in our society. (Neoliberalism, 2015) states that it is an approach to economics and social studies in which control of economic factors is shifted from the public to the private sector. Neoliberalism are giving more attention towards schools that do not necessarily need this as much as the other schools, in order to make the government look better and are more in support of neoliberalism. Schools that are not getting as much funding and support from the government may start to wonder why that is the case. This issue may cause competitions between the schools in New Zealand. Capitalism is how a government chooses to use money as a power to control or sway people’s decisions; this is done in a way where the result is usually beneficial to one group within a society. Codd (2004) describes that education in New Zealand has changed as it has begun to be strongly influenced by capitalistic and economic policies. Peter McClaren (Tristan, 2013.), says that, “teachers need to support sustainable alternatives to neoliberal capitalism with its emphasis on economic growth; protect nature’s resources for future generations; protect ecosystems and help support biodiversity; support a community-based economics, and a grass roots democracy that includes participatory and direct forms, embody anti-racist, anti-ablest and anti-homophobic pedagogies that respect diversity and work from a