Money, so they say, is the root of all evil. It’s one of the best-known biblical phrases and yet it is a misquote. Even when quoted correctly, I believe it is misunderstood.
First, let’s look at what the bible actually says. It comes from Timothy Chapter 6 Verse 10. According to the King James bible, it says:
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
So, it is not money but the love of money that is the root of all evil, but the King James is not the only translation. Here is the New International Version.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Did you spot the difference? In the King James version, Love of money is the root of all evil, but in the New International Version it is a root of all kinds of evil. Which is correct? I’m not a scholar of biblical Hebrew or Greek. I don’t know if either of those languages made a distinction between the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a). Logic, however, suggests that the NIV is more accurate. It is certainly not true that all evil in the world can be traced back to a love of money, in fact I would argue that most of the evil in the world has nothing to do with money. Nonetheless, it is true that love of money gives rise to a great deal of evil in the world.
Does that mean money is evil? No, we’ve already dismissed that. Is it evil to want money? I don’t think so.
I would argue that far more good has been done in the world not by people who set out to do good but by people who set out to make money. The antibiotics and vaccines that prevent disease, the safe water we drink, the air conditioning that keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer, the computer you are reading this on, the electricity that powers everything, all are brought to you not by churches or benevolent societies but by companies driven largely by profit. Conversely, the road to hell, as they say, is paved with good intentions. It’s not that churches and charities necessarily want to harm those they try to help; the problem is ignorance of what is actually needed. For more on this, see my columns The Good Conservative and If I Have Not Love.
How does making money help society? The way to make money is by giving people what they want at a price they are willing to pay. People often talk about ‘Greedy businesspeople’ but in fact greed as we understand it plays very little role. I am an aspiring author; suppose I become greedy and refuse to sell the rights to my new novel for less than an advance of one million dollars and fifty percent of royalties. What will happen? I remain poor and unpublished. The monetary value of a thing is an amount greater than or equal to what the seller is willing to accept and less than or equal to what the buyer is willing to pay. If there is good money to be made selling a particular item, competitors will be drawn into the market, driving prices down. To preserve profits, manufacturers seek to cut costs and establish new markets. The cost of goods decreases. Once, air conditioners were fantastically expensive. The 1920’s New York factory worker sweating through the long summer nights could only wish for one, now they are in practically every home in the western world. This extends not only to high tech goods but to basic commodities. In 1919, an American blue-collar worker would have to work for about an hour and a half to earn enough money to buy a dozen eggs. In 2019, his great grandson could buy a dozen eggs after working only two and a half minutes (Superabundance, by Tupy and Pooley). Clearly far more poor people have been helped by supposedly greedy businesses who made everyday necessities cheaper than by charities who gave out money.
So, money is good then? Not necessarily.
Firstly, you can always make money by giving people what they want, but human nature being what it is, people often want things that are not good for them: drugs, prostitutes, pornography, overprocessed foods, the list is endless. In any business it is essential to consider the ethics of what you are selling. Does your product enrich people’s lives or diminish them?
Secondly there is the issue of how the money is come by. The verse from the King James Bible says that some people who have coveted money have wandered into evil. In my last two items I discussed covetousness and why I think it refers to wanting to have a thing but without earning it. Wanting to make money is, I believe a noble ambition, but wanting to get money without making it does indeed lead to all kinds of evil: theft, fraud, prostitution, false evidence and so on.
Money once accumulated has its own temptations. Money brings status, and status is easily abused. With enough money, anything seems possible. Money, I believe is power in its solid form. Accumulation of power, again is not a bad thing; it is impossible to survive without power just as it is impossible to survive without money. The question is what you want the power — or money — for. The temptations of power are well known. In Matthew 9:8 when The Devil tempted Christ, we are told:
Again, The Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. “All this I will give you,” he said “if you will bow down and worship me.”
The Devil makes the same offer to the very rich. “What do you want? Women? Boys? Drugs? Political power? Your enemies dead or ruined? It can all be yours and why not? Who is to stop you?”
I believe it is because of these temptations that Christ said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter Heaven. The rich young man was asked to choose between riches and Christ; he chose riches, and The Devil laughed.
This is why 1 Timothy also says:
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 New International Version
I do not condemn executives, CEOs and other businesspeople, they have probably done more material good in the world than all the churches in history. But it is just as important for a rich man to pursue faith in God as it is for a priest, and to pray for the strength to resist temptation. Money is good, and valuable, but some things are far more valuable.
There is a so called ‘prosperity gospel’ which holds that those who are rich have the favour of God. It is possible, but Christ tells us that those who are rich, whether through the favour of God or not, have obligations to those who are not. I will talk about the obligations on rich people next time.
In the meantime, it is up to me to do my best and to know myself and understand my own sinful nature.
Perhaps it’s just as well that I’m not rich.
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