I’m not religious, but the bible clearly states that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to get into heaven.
There’s debate about the “eye of the needle” being simple metaphor or whether it was an actual, but very tiny, gate to the city of Jerusalem. Regardless, the idea stands.
Not a lot of debate among scholars. There’s no other evidence of the “eye of the needle” being used in a way that refers to the small doorway in a larger city gate or any of the other alternative readings. Conversely, there are sewing needles dated to that time and place that are roughly the same as modern sewing needles.
The statement is exactly as radical as it looks at first glance. Rich people can’t be right with God, period. All the rest is trying to invent a loophole to let rich people be Christians after Constantine made it widespread in the Roman Empire. First century Christians were almost entirely made of the poor people of the Empire, and would have had no problem at all with the statement as read. The modern reinterpretation is often argued by the exact same people who say you’re not supposed to “read between the lines” of the Bible.
The word for Aramaic word for “camel” is basically the same as for “heavy rope”, which is a much more reasonable interpretation. Just as a rope is too big to fit through the eye of a needle, so is the material obsession of a rich person too big.
I’m not religious, but the bible clearly states that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to get into heaven. There’s debate about the “eye of the needle” being simple metaphor or whether it was an actual, but very tiny, gate to the city of Jerusalem. Regardless, the idea stands.
Not a lot of debate among scholars. There’s no other evidence of the “eye of the needle” being used in a way that refers to the small doorway in a larger city gate or any of the other alternative readings. Conversely, there are sewing needles dated to that time and place that are roughly the same as modern sewing needles.
The statement is exactly as radical as it looks at first glance. Rich people can’t be right with God, period. All the rest is trying to invent a loophole to let rich people be Christians after Constantine made it widespread in the Roman Empire. First century Christians were almost entirely made of the poor people of the Empire, and would have had no problem at all with the statement as read. The modern reinterpretation is often argued by the exact same people who say you’re not supposed to “read between the lines” of the Bible.
Here’s a Religion for Breakfast video on it: https://youtu.be/sf0Fm8aVApk
And don’t get me started on Paul’s “the love of money is the root of all evil”. Just totally bastardized for the Prosperity Gospel.
The word for Aramaic word for “camel” is basically the same as for “heavy rope”, which is a much more reasonable interpretation. Just as a rope is too big to fit through the eye of a needle, so is the material obsession of a rich person too big.
The original word means thick string iirc. Still hard, but not quite as ludicrous
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