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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » Per the Bible (i.e. per GOD) a camel can pass through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man can get into heaven! Is GOD wrong?
RosieG

Per the Bible (i.e. per GOD) a camel can pass through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man can get into heaven! Is GOD wrong?

GOD doesn't seem to think very highly of the wealthy. GOD seems to think more highly of the poor.

So this is a conundrum wrapped in a mystery encapsulated in the unknown then isn't it? How to reconcile what GOD says with what GOD says and skew it to uplift the wealthy and downlift the poor. Have y'all figgered a way out yet? You sorta gotta hafta don'tcha ya? GOD favors the wealthy according to y'all. HE rains HIS blessings down upon them. HE chooses them to lead. HE calls them to service. YET according to the BIBLE not so much. So where did the wealthy get the idea that GOD is on their side against the poor on whose side the wealthy(rarely) ever are?

If GOD doesn't take sides then why do the wealthy truly believe HE favors them? Wishful thinking? Thinking makes it so?  Whistle a happy tune?

Posted - March 31, 2019
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Responses


  • 6098
    What that means is the wealthy have so many more worldly responsibilities and temptations than the poor they can't spend as much of the time praising and praying to God as the poor theoretically can.  So the poor with simpler lives are closer to getting God because they have fewer distracting choices. 
      March 31, 2019 7:03 AM MDT
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  • 34964
    It is harder for a rich person to get into Heaven because they have options. They can rely on their money instead of God. 

    Money is not evil. Money is a tool which should be used to help others. 
    Loving money is evil and causes people to do evil things to get it (do not have to have money to love it) and/or to keep it.

    There are many theories about what exactly the camel and the eye of the needle means. Some say it was a small gate on the back entrance of a gated town. Some say the needle is a literal needle and the camel is a thread made from camel fur (much thicker than other threads). And some say both are literal but if a rich person keeps their heart right and follows God they will still be able to enter Heaven. 
      March 31, 2019 8:17 AM MDT
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  • 3719
    The "Eye of a Needle" was apparently a real street gateway in Jerusalem, metaphorically-named because it was much too narrow for large draught animals; in fact I recall reading somewhere that it still exists.

    That makes the story immediately much more sensible - all those parables used contemporary real-life experiences as models to teach the religious message to people who were not stupid, but probably largely illiterate.  

    Trying to compare the challenge to a sewing-needle would have been as risible to its intended Judaean  audience  two millennia ago, as it would be to us now.

    I think the point was not being rich as such, but how you become rich or how you use your wealth, that matters to God. 
      March 31, 2019 3:20 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you bunches for your thoughtful (and more important to me very informative) reply Durdle. I knew naught of that at all. I know the Bible is full of parables that some take LITERALLY rather than as a way to access meaning. Parables are lost on many just as is nuance or subtlety. Sadly. That makes far more sense...your take on it. Not that one is wealthy but HOW one became so matters greatly. Happy April Fool's Day Monday Durdle! :)
      April 1, 2019 2:42 AM MDT
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