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Since money has been at the center of human society for 5,000 years, it's no wonder that all the major religions have a lot to say about it. No major religion today actively encourages wealth and greed. However, a quick look around you will reveal many wealthy believers. Are they hypocrites? It depends. Each religion has a complicated and nuanced approach to money that may not be so scary.
"Because the love of money is the root of all evil"
Whether it's the numbers on the ATM screen or a bag of fairy tale gold, the desire for wealth is as old as human society itself. According to the best archaeological evidence, "money" dates back at least 5,000 years. And given that the oldest holy books we have—a cross between Hinduism's Rigveda and the Jewish Tanakh—were written around 1300 BCE, it makes sense that the world's major religions would have a lot to say about money.
But as you can imagine, the messages are often not clear. While Timothy 6:10 is a famous Bible passage, it is clear to anyone who has even glanced at the Catholic Church or Christians around the world that there is a great love of money. Likewise, while the Koran, Dhammapada, Bhagavad Gita, and Tanakh all contain prohibitions against excessive wealth, the world is filled with very wealthy Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews.
So are these people all hypocrites? Before we cast the first stone, perhaps we should examine what those religions actually say.
One thing must be made clear from the outset: No sacred text today is in favor of unbridled greed, brazen wealth, or evil methods of profit. But that doesn't mean they learn that money is always bad.
Perhaps the most active proponent of wealth is Hinduism. In Hinduism, there are four goals in life (known as Purusharthas), but they are perhaps best understood as three paths to a single destination. The final end of life, the goal of goals (parama-puruṣārtha), is Moksha, which means liberation from the cycle of rebirth. The path to Moksha, then, requires three things: Kama (pleasure and joy), Dharma (righteousness, good deeds and duty) and Artha (material wealth and prosperity).
What Hinduism makes clear is that without wealth or money, it is much more difficult to enjoy life and be fully Dharmic. Those who are completely poor have few resources to satisfy Kama. The expression: "Money can't buy happiness" is probably untrue. Of course it helps. For Hinduism, only when we have money can we fully enjoy life and fully help other people.
In Buddhism, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with money in itself, but there is something wrong with the desire for it. One of the central teachings of Buddhism is to detach ourselves from the world of material things as much as we can. We should aim to focus on transcending our ordinary reality (which is probably illusory, anyway) and pursuing enlightenment. As the Dhammapada advises us, "There is no fire like lust, no chain like hatred, no snare like deceit, and no stream like unbridled desire." Attachment to family, friends, wealth and, yes, money is a sure way to never leave Samsaran (the cycle of rebirth).
But there is another piece of Buddhist advice that is quite subtle. While you don't have to be attached to money, you can also recognize the great potential of money for good. In the same way that Hindus believe that Artha is necessary for Dharma, some Buddhists maintain that making wealth is good as long as it is redistributed and used virtuously.
There is nothing wrong with wealth in both the Hebrew texts and the Tanakh. Money and possessions, like all things, must be given and received from God. As Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth." Unlike Christianity and Islam, Jews were never forbidden to give money, so historically they took on the role of bankers and moneylenders.
But nowhere in Judaism is greed or selfishness encouraged. While Leviticus 19 allows land ownership and wine production, it also tells Jews to leave a portion of their wealth "for the poor and the foreigner." While Exodus 22 allows the lending of money, it also says, "If you lend to any of my people who is poor...you shall not demand interest from him." Charity, kindness, and the use of wealth for good appear again and again, from the scholar Maimonides to today's rabbis. Central to many practicing Jews is the idea of tzedakah. Tzedakah is not just charity (it is too), but also social conscience and justice – an awareness and passion to make the world a better place.
Because Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world, much has been written about the hypocrisy in the way it approaches money. Jesus was the poor son of a poor carpenter in a poor province of the Roman Empire. In Matthew, he clearly said, "You cannot serve God and money" and, "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." One of the greatest Church Fathers – Augustine – even compared the love of money to idolatry (which, at the time, was punishable by death).
And yet, the Catholic Church today has $3 billion in financial assets and immeasurable wealth if you consider the sale value of its church property, art, relics and other objects. Bill Gates, Beyonce and Chris Pratt are all practicing Christians. Everyone has a penny or two saved. How do Christians understand this? As with Judaism, many Christian theologies focus on the idea of "stewardship." God gives wealth and (in some strains of Protestantism) even reward to those who work hard. It is up to us to use that money well and for good deeds. Timothy (famous for the phrase “the root of all evil”) even implies that being rich is good, as long as it is not accompanied by arrogance and a departure from God. Wealth and money are not bad, but they should be used well. They may even allow you to do well.
Do not consume each other's wealth unjustly
Given that it is the last of the three Abrahamic religions, it should come as no surprise that Islam is similar to Judaism and Christianity in the way it views money. Like them, wealth is not bad in itself (Harām), but it can be ill-taken (mal-Harām), ill-spent (tabdhir), or squandered on vain things (israf). The Qur'an says: "Wealth and children are the ornaments of this world's life" and advises: "Do not allow your wealth and children to distract you from the remembrance of Allah."
One of the "Five Pillars of Islam" (which are the basic beliefs and behaviors of Muslims) is known as Zakat. This is obligatory charity, where all Muslims must give a portion of their wealth (traditionally 2.5% of their wealth) to charity or the poor. Foolish are those who do not give their zakat, because as the hadith (Bukhari) says: "Whoever is enriched by Allah and does not pay the zakat of his wealth, then on the Day of Judgment his wealth will become like a poisonous snake with two black dots above the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck, bite his cheeks and say: "I am your wealth, I am your treasure".
Which is the nightmare of nightmares. / Big Think – Bota.al
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