The Editor, Sir:

There is a great deal of ambiguity among Christians concerning money and wealth. One just needs to look at the wisdom writings such as Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, the Old Testament and even the New Testament to see how positive the Bible is about wealth and money. Still you find that people read the Bible with blinkers on and sadly these blinkers can be counter-productive.

The Bible takes a holistic approach to life and, as such, is deeply relevant to every aspect of people's life. The sad fact is that we have taken on an approach to Christianity that allows us to 'compartmentalise' our lives. We separate the economics of life from the spiritual, except when on a collection drive. It is this type of separation that causes the fact that churches are a part of or forming investment clubs to be even newsworthy. I am convinced this would not have been the case among the ancient Hebrews or in Jesus' days. It also points to another fact, that is, Jamaican Christianity has a high standard and strict interpretation of holiness, tied to the idea of being 'separate', 'called out' and 'different'. Yet, there is a part of us that rejects the compartmentalisation to which I have alluded, believing that our faith must inform the way we live.

Our perception of money is influenced by our reading of the Scriptures and our ideas of economics. For the most part, we understand the Bible in a literal way except when it comes to such thorny issues as money, wealth and prosperity. For centuries, some churches have tried to find meanings other than literal ones when money and wealth are raised in the Bible. From whence cometh these things?

The European churches have largely to be blamed for this tendency in Christianity. During what is called the Middle Ages, the Church sought to cement its hold on people's lives through the teaching of certain doctrines. The church directed persons' lives to the point where it was believed that the church actually owned the bodies of its members. People were Christians by birth rather than by belief.

Control by the church

The way people made a living and what they did with their earnings were controlled by the Church. To perpetuate this control, it became necessary to restrict their reading of the Bible. This happened both in terms of getting access to the Bible and in how the Bible might be interpreted. Even though there is now widespread access to the Bible in nearly every language of the world, there is still a certain control over how the Bible is read and interpreted. The realm of money and economics is one such area where the powers that be have colluded to control our understanding of God's intention towards us.

The idea that we need to separate the things of the world such as money from the things of God such as going to church and praying is a dangerous but common one. We are told that the things of God pertain to the soul and the everyday issues of life pertain to the world. So we misguidedly take Jesus' words 'Render to Ceasar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's' totally out of context.

This general perception is repeated when commentators and those with their own special interest argue that the Church has no right to agitate against casino gambling but should be marching about crime and poverty and other issues. Foolishness! The Church has the duty and demands the right to speak to and agitate on any of these issues.

I am, etc.,

GREGORY JOHN ROBERTS

gregrb6@aol.com

University of Birmingham

West Midlands

United Kingdom