Ezekiel 16:49
" 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

Amos 5:11
You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.

Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

John 2:15
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

Matthew 19:24
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

Luke 6:20
Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 11:41
But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.





Lets take Amos 5:11. Do you know that the monetary food aid that the US gives to other countries that are in the midst of a famine must be spent on US grown food. So that means any amount of food that the farmers in the poor country have manged to grow is now worth nothing. It could have had a great value when our US tax dollars got there and boosted things up but instead it went to impoverish the poor man and possibly make him worse off then he was before. Possibly put many farmers out of business for good and make the country poorer in food production then it was.

Amos 5:11
You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.



http://www.heritage.org/research/TradeandForeignAid/bg665.cfm

Nay - Abraham was rich - It is rich to know God

Obviously you do not understand that I am referring to monatary wealth.

don't think it's about money...but rather attitude/way of being

So Jesus was saying sell your possessions and give it to the poor. You think he meant if you just "feel like it " it is ok? No need to really give them anything. Your attitude olf wanting to give is enough

You're taking it the wrong way.

It isn't a sin to be rich. He says it's harder for a rich man to get to Heaven. That simply means that a lot what rich people do isn't glorifying to the will of God. Typically, if you're rich then you aren't giving to the poor; you aren't helping others. There isn't a verse in the Bible that says if you're rich then you wont go to Heaven. It's what you do with your money that isn't in alignment with the God's will for us that may send you to Hell.

Still not a sin to be rich. The rich have many vices. The rich do not seek God being one of them.

the quote reads..."if you want to be perfect"...but as my mom always says.... there was only one perfect person, and he was crucified

Show me how you put a Camel through the eye of a needle one time. Then I will believe one rich person can make it in.

Hey someone with a brain!!!

Its ALL about the attitude and way of being!

Money itself is NEITHER good or evil.

As the Bible states, its the LOVE of money (GREED) is the root of all evil.

The Gates foundation (Bill gates & wife) and Warren Buffet are doing good things with thier billions and helping people and causes around the world. So no evil there..just money doing some good things.

Well there you go. No reason to try. Do what ever you want. Sleep around, have many wives, go crazy. Sounds like you got one fun religion figured out

If you take it as far as you're saying then you shouldn't be wearing that shirt in your profile picture. God gives to the wealthy. If we, literally, gave everything then we'd be poor--also, a burden on others.

they eye of a needle referred to a gate in the wall of....forget the city...jeruselum???...but the camel...would have to get on it's knees and "crawl in" so it was possible...just difficult

How about the whole Eye of a needle thing. That is pretty clear.

attention all literalists.....The Bible was rewritten more than once....Be good to each other, if your rich with firune share some of it, quit looking for the afterlife and help out here on Earth there are plenty who could use it.

You are too busy looking at the "letter of the law" instead of ther "intent of the law".

The MEANING behind that again is what is in the person's heart. The attitude, as the other user put it.

Look at King David or King Soloman .. they both had great riches.. did they make it to heaven..I believe so.

Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

This does not say that. No ifs, ands, or buts, here

look above

I do not follow the Bible for this very reason

Jeez, calm down. He didn't say he does any of those things you just accused him of doing.

Actually, if you want to get into specifics then I can. There is much debate about what He meant when he said that. There was a passage way that was called the same thing. Odds are, he was referring to that passage way then an actual eye of a needle. Especially considering that metal fabrication wasn't mastered to that level of detail at that time. So, if he was talking about a difficult-to-navigate passage way then it was very well possible that a camel could make it through.

Whatever... I'm sure you knew that.