Economic Disparity In Religion

The struggles caused by economic disparity and the concentration of wealth has impacted people since the beginning of time. The imbalance can be examined through many different lenses and time periods. Examples can be traced from the days of Jesus to the present time. The problem of economic disparity will likely never go away, but it should not worsen throughout the years like it has especially in recent years in America. The church is not immune from this issue. The Christian church has even gone through dark days in which it took advantage of people for money. This caused a huge split in the church. Economic disparity has had huge impact on society and the church. This impact will likely continue to be felt forever.
The dangers of concentrated wealth can be found throughout many stories in the bible, especially in the gospels. Christian scholars view the gospel as the most important conversation between God and humans. In the gospel, we find the good news and the stories or sayings from Jesus’ life. The stories of Jesus’s dealings with the poor are numerous throughout the bible and the gospels. In one story from Mark, a man asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”(Mark 10:17). This is a question that makes sense to ask and it is seemingly the million-dollar question to which all humans want to know the answer. Jesus responds with something very interesting after talking about the commandments. Jesus says, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven”(Mark 10:21). Jesus tells us that we must give to the poor in order to enjoy the rewards of heaven and eternal life with him. This lesson should be one that sticks with most of us, especially the wealthy. It is important to not neglect those who are less fortunate in society. Instead of basking in excessive wealth, we should be donating and helping the poor because that is far more important in the eyes of Jesus. Jesus later on says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”(Mark 10:25). Those are powerful words from Jesus that really drive home the point of the dangers of excessive wealth. Jesus throughout that story really wanted to emphasize that the kingdom of God does not look at wealth when you pass away but instead, at how one used his or her wealth to help others. The problem lies in the fact that the wealthy often do not help others in need like they gospels instructs them to do, which makes it harder and harder for them to experience the true reward in the end with God. The gospels provide some important rules and lessons one should live by in order to experience the true reward of heaven. During some of the darker days of the church, it seemed that church was very hypocritical in their ways and went against the teachings we find in the bible. Martin Luther blasted the church for selling indulgences in his 95 Theses. Martin Luther exposed a huge wrong that directly goes against the church’s teachings. In Luther’s writing he said, “Christians are taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives his money for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God”(Luther 45). Luther argues that just because a person buy these indulgences that are not free from God’s wrath if they live a life that goes against God’s commandments. These indulgences are truly flawed thinking especially for the Church, but the main of goal of the church was clearly to obtain money. They were clearly taking advantage of these people by selling the idea of eternal life for himself or herself or a family member. Luther also says, “Christians are to be taught that unless they have more then they need, they are …show more content…
Gustavo Gutierrez highlights the issue and the causes in A Theology of Liberation. Gutierrez calls for the teaching of the gospel with regards to the poor to be more prevalent. He believes that the people in power have been taking advantage of the