4 ms·

Self-actualization and spirituality seldom go hand in hand with wealth. Poor people have improved spirituality than wealthier people. Wealth draws your focus aw

Self-actualization and spirituality seldom go hand in hand with wealth. Poor people have improved spirituality than wealthier people. Wealth draws your focus away from those things onto pleasures like sleeping around, or owning the latest i-device because it's the latest. Hence Jesus saying it's easier to thread a fishing line through a needle than for a wealthy person to find the Kingdom of Heaven.

openasocket 10y ago
> Hence Jesus saying it's easier to thread a fishing line through a needle Nit: it's thread a camel through the eye of the needle, not fishing line
- virmundi 10y ago
  Nope. That's just a shitty English translation. The Jews at the time were familiar with different types of ropes/threads. It is most likely that Jesus referred to the type of rope used in fishing which is much larger than a thread. http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm
  - openasocket 10y ago
    According to that link that is just one of several possible interpretations. In fact the author seems to prefer the "camel" translation, as there are contemporary examples of similar hyperbole.
    - gus_massa 10y ago
      I agree. If "nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle" was a expression used previously, it's not so strange that they have a local version with a camel.
spangry 10y ago
If this is indeed the case, does that mean you feel pity for those born into well-off families, and feel happy for those born into abject poverty? The latter, of course, being more likely to live a spiritually fulfilled life?
blacksmith_tb 10y ago
Possibly, though it's often more complex than that. For example, the Gautama Buddha was born into the aristocracy, but renounced his social station[1]. It would be reasonable to suggest that his education and experience of luxury were necessary for his later understanding of the nature of suffering. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Biography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Biography

openasocket 10y ago

> Hence Jesus saying it's easier to thread a fishing line through a needle Nit: it's thread a camel through the eye of the needle, not fishing line

virmundi 10y ago
Nope. That's just a shitty English translation. The Jews at the time were familiar with different types of ropes/threads. It is most likely that Jesus referred to the type of rope used in fishing which is much larger than a thread. http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm
- openasocket 10y ago
  According to that link that is just one of several possible interpretations. In fact the author seems to prefer the "camel" translation, as there are contemporary examples of similar hyperbole.
  - gus_massa 10y ago
    I agree. If "nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle" was a expression used previously, it's not so strange that they have a local version with a camel.

spangry 10y ago

If this is indeed the case, does that mean you feel pity for those born into well-off families, and feel happy for those born into abject poverty? The latter, of course, being more likely to live a spiritually fulfilled life?

blacksmith_tb 10y ago

Possibly, though it's often more complex than that. For example, the Gautama Buddha was born into the aristocracy, but renounced his social station[1]. It would be reasonable to suggest that his education and experience of luxury were necessary for his later understanding of the nature of suffering. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Biography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Biography