Christianity began as a religion for the minority that was suited for oppressed outsiders. But over the years it has become a religion for the majority that is theologically suited for both the oppressed and the dominant insiders. Christianity began as a small sect of Judaism that through the acts of Paul became the dominant religion of the world. In the early days of Christianity Jesus’ teachings appealed to the commoners of Galilee. He preached “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God… Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you… for surely your reward is great in heaven (Luke 6:22-24).” Jesus obviously appealed to the poor and oppressed, while his teachings were threatening to the wealthy elite of the Jewish community. Yet again later in the Gospel of Luke Jesus emphasizes his belief that the poor are closer to the kingdom of heaven than the wealthy. Jesus says, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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 (Luke 6:25-26).” At this early stage of Judaism it is hard to believe that any person of wealth would feel inclined toward this small sect of Judaism.
Today people from many different social classes are Christians. In the modern world the oppressed find comfort in Christian teachings. People of higher social status also find comfort in the moral implications of Christianity. Wealthy Christians, to follow the teachings of Jesus, must donate to charity and give away much of their wealth to help the less fortunate. But do many modern-day wealthy Christians give away most of their money to help the poor? If they don’t can they consider themselves devout Christians? If not then maybe Christianity is only suited for the oppressed and poor.
2 comments:
I like how you made the point that Jesus' teachings were a threat to the Jewish elite. I also like how you said that Christianity now comforts people from all social classes because of its basic moral foundations.
Yes, I agree with you and Nikki. Now Christianity is appealing to all classes becuse of its moral foundations; to your question about the actual charities, doing charities is definitely following the Christian teachings, but I don't think absence/lack of actual charity cannot make the person nonChristian as long as the person has belief in that moral. I mean, you can't measure faith by how much money you donate, can you?
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