Boro Nut

..if he gains the whole world, but loseth his soul?

Of all the bible passages quoted to me by Christians, this is the one that I find most difficult to answer. Does anyone have any idea what the world was worth in - say - AD25(ish), and what the compound interest rate has been since then?

Boro Nut

beachbum

About $37.50

-DM-

These two possibilities don't begin to exhaust the myriad of possibilities.

One could as meaningfully ask, "What doth it profit a man if he gains Christianity and loses the world and his soul?"

--Don--

madmax2976

I prefer the straight forward question: "Whats a soul?

emotional

"What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loseth his soul?"

IMO, an excellent phrase. And why so? Because it's great ammunition against theists when they say that the natural/carnal man doesn't understand in the heavenly things because they're spiritually discerned.

My answer to the verse, anyway:

"It doesn't profit, and I don't care about profit, because I'm not here for doing business with my life, I'm not for wagering on my life, I value my life as a spiritual opportunity, and I won't cave in to your businesslike arguments".

-DM-

"Oh Lord, if there is a Lord, save my soul, if I have a soul."
- Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1890), French philologist, philosopher, historian, author of the series "History of the Origins of Christianity."

sidewinder

1. If Jesus actually said this, it means in the context of his preaching about the Kingdom of God which was imminent, that people should stop going after worldly things because the end is near so it doesn't matter. There are other statements along these same lines in the Gospels. He was telling them that it was redemption time NOW, and if you go after worldly things, then your soul is lost when the Kingdom arrives, which is coming very shortly.

2. If this saying was invented by the Gospel writer, it was a way of telling Christians that if they go after worldly things then they would lose their soul. There were probably many in the young Christian community who were lured away by worldly things, so it was a warning that if you turn to worldly things, then you lose your soul. Which apparently means you don't get to enter into the Kingdom of God, which is coming very shortly, by the way. This type of saying is in line with the Christian idea that the world is evil and it's Christians vs. the world.

Most Christians don't know much about their own writings so this should shut them up because they won't know how to respond.

Bobzammel

A lot of the disdain for material wealth and possessions is mainly part of Greco-Roman philosophy--most notably the cynics. It is also to be found quite extensively in Eastern Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.
However it is completely out-of-line with the OT. In the Law, Yahweh explicity promises material prosperity to those who follow the law; and for those who don't, severe punishment. And all this is within *this* life, not the next. Take Job for example. After undergoing his test God gives him material prosperity. Not to mention the incredibly wealthy Jewish kings.
The only anti-materialistic philosophy in the OT is mostly found in Ecclesiates. Apart from that it is mostly unknown.