Outline Christian teaching, and the teaching of one other religion, on wealth and poverty.
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Outline Christian teaching, and the teaching of one other religion, on wealth and poverty.
Wealth can be utilised of for either good or evil, purely depending on the nature of its use. Wealth can be used to abolish poverty in the world and help to develop LDC’s. Christian’s see wealth as a gift from God, and therefore their money earned should be gained in a lawful and moral way. However, the flaw to wealth is that the sense of power obtained and the greed that blinds people corrupts society as a whole; and distances themselves from God and his teachings. In the bible, there are many teaching on ‘Wealth and Poverty’, emphasising the importance of this aspect of life. For instance, in Acts 4 v 32 – 35, the Christian community us encouraged to share all they have in possession, as if it belonged to them collectively. It is then reissued to people according to their needs. Here, Christians are taught that if you are wealthy, you should never become covetous. You should always be “free of want”, and share your wealth amongst the ones in need. It also underlines the fact that Christians should taken necessities into account before luxuries. Christians also believe that everyone should be equal, and the wealth you be equally distributed as “God created man in his own image…male and female”. Wealth is given from the will of God, and should not go against the will of God by thinking that you are superior because of your status compared to others.