Everyman Wealth

“An obsession with possessions enslaves us to the demon of worry. Jesus invites us to change our priorities, focus on the kingdom, and share with the needy” (Kraybill, 2011, p.101). A man’s wealth will be measured by the love, kindness and empathy he has for the poor and the hungry in Gods kingdom. For this matter Jesus wants the wealthy to humble themselves and receive their blessing by offering opportunities to the poor instead of being greedy and celebrating their own wealth.

Money— sweeter than honey but oh so destructive. It facilitates a man’s life, while a lack of it imprisons him in the streets of penury. It raises his social status, while an absence of it leaves him unnoticed. It gives him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches.

Money brings the inequality of possessions, also called “the haves and the have not’s.” We may all be equal in the eyes of God, but here on earth some eyes grow green with envy. Children come home from daycare complaining that Little Jimmy’s truck was bigger than his, husbands and fathers are forever eying the Jones; new corvette, and entire wars have erupted over the “you have it and I’m gonna get it” mentality. Inequality of possessions is not bad though many passages in the Bible teach that even in heaven there are different degrees of rewards. Even God’s spiritual gifts are not given equally to each of us, but this does not mean He loves one person more than the other. It is what we do with

William Hazlitt, in his essay about money, expresses his ideas about wealth while utilizing parallel structure and polysyndetons to demonstrate how striving for wealth contributes to a lower quality of life and afterlife.

28). He describes wealth as a “…blessing to mankind,” (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s perspective of causality dissents from Weber and Sellers; he believes that, “…one effect invariably produced by Christianity upon an uncivilized people receiving it is to multiply the wealth of that people,” (Gladden, 5). He argues, Protestantism, and ultimately Christianity, cause people to desire material goods (Class notes, Feb. 28). Thus, Christianity cannot be against capitalism without contradicting itself (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s evidence for his argument stems from the Bible. Gladden contends that there are statements in the Old Testament in which “…the possession and the increase of wealth are adduced as proofs of the favor of God,” (Gladded, 6). Wherefore, the New Testament supplements this argument by clarifying that is expected for men to accumulate wealth and possessions, but also God admonishes people valuing material goods over spiritual good, but not material wealth itself (Gladden,6). That is, people are meant to value spiritual well-being over material goods, but also remember they are commanded to be “fruitful” on earth and thus produce and amass wealth (Gladden, 7). Finally, Gladden realizes capitalism is not the problem; the problem is the unequal distribution of wealth (Class Notes, Feb. 28). He says, “No possible system will remove all

In this case, an English play called Everyman introduced, “ ‘For ye shall hear, how our Heaven-King Calleth Everyman to a general reckoning:* Give audience, and hear what he doth say’”(Doc B). This medieval play focused on death, sin and the final judgment when God decides whether a person is going to heaven or hell. This reflects Middle Ages perception that living on earth is meaningless; it’s afterlife that really matters. Although, Hamlet by William Shakespeare stated, “ ‘What a piece of work is a man… in apprehension like god!’ ”

Stapleford presents a strong analysis of economic issues with a Christian perception that aligns with Biblical truths. He urges his audience to avoid the temptation of idolatry and materialism but to live a selfless life of sacrifice. Stapleford claims that “there is sanctity in all of labor, and without God’s involvement human labor is futile. In whatever we do, Christians are to do it heartily as unto the Lord, for we do not labor for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to everlasting life” (Stapleford, 2009).

For instance, as noted in document 3, more respect was given to the merchant who did not keep all of his wealth and did not value his wealth as the most important aspect of his life. Earlier, Christians had disliked and rejected the idea of great wealth, however that idea was modified over time. Christianity had instead rejected the idea of someone having great wealth without working for it or putting forth a great effort. Christians then and still today, including myself, believe that wealth is best earned through work and

Wealth is something that not all people have, but most typically want more of it. There are many people on Earth that wish they had more wealth, and there are even a select few that have too much. “The Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie is all about what should be done when there is too much wealth held by an individual. Carnegie begins his essay by describing how the disparity of wealth has changed over the years. He also describes how wealth has simply grown in general over time.

In his article “Wealth”, Andrew Carnegie argues for the wealth to give back their wealth to the community by providing “public institutions of various kinds … [to] improve the general condition of the people” (Foner 30). Carnegie uses this article to promote his Gospel of Wealth idea and provide his interpretation of the changing America. Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth stated that “those who accumulated money had an obligation to use it to promote the advancement of society” (Foner 28). Carnegie’s articles focuses on the themes of Capitalism and Inequality, which continue to shape society.

God has become angry with his people. He complains in the fifteenth century English play Everyman about humans and their obsession with material items, riches, and wealth. Men and women, he feels, have taken for granted their blessings. God wants to reprimand Everyman for his sinful life and sends Death to summon him. At the beginning of the allegorical work where figures and actions symbolize general truths, a messenger shares God’s concerns. The messenger tells the audience to watch and listen closely to the morality play so they can learn a lesson about life. Everyman fears Death, and he desires to know what one must do to earn salvation and enter heaven. The writer then implies that the way to achieve salvation is by doing good works.

In this essay we will discuss the importance of religion in society. We will attempt to explain why societies have religions and what functions their belief system has for them. We will also ask if these functions are now out-dated and if religions have any meaningful function in today's world or are they just stained glass windows into a bygone era? 'Religion' can be defined by two main groupings. 'The inclusive definition' covers all topics and subjects of a persons life including, not only, their belief in a deity but also their belief and belongingness to music, sport and any other interests the person may hold. 'The exclusive definition' refers to just their belief system regarding a 'supra-human' (Browne 2005, p. 311). It is mainly

This essay is going to address what money means and its relation to inequality in society.

Throughout history, religion has proved to be the main source of social stability in different communities and cultural groups. Everything that is part of a societal system, including law, is influenced by religious beliefs and practices of that society. This being said, most religions are based on the theory that there is a single more powerful entity, that has control over aspects of which humans do not. For the longest time in history, sociologists have argued that peer group, political movements, schools and most importantly, the family to be agents of socialization. Because of this reason, they have ignored the role played by religion in the perpetuation of cultural as well as social

There is a religion-based description of “Seven spheres of influence” that some believe can be applied to any society (1). These spheres of influence include home (or family), religion, government (or politics), business (or economics, science and technology), education, media (including marketing) and arts (including sports and entertainment). It is popularly believed the all factors that influence any society fall into one of these seven spheres of influence.