Could the Biblical reference to "the love of money" be about a mental condition such as sociopath?

Question

I'm not a phsychiatrist, but maybe there weren't any mental ilness terms when the books of the Bible were written.

Answer 1

Back when the bible was written people thought that mental illness was demon positions.

Matthew 4:24 (New International Version)

24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

Matthew
Chapter 8

The Healing of Two Demon-possessed Men
28When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[d] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
30Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."

32He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

Matthew 9 (New International Version)
Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute
27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.

29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." 31But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

32While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

34But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."


Matthew 11:17-19 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society



17" 'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge
and you did not mourn.' 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

Matthew 12 (New International Version)
Jesus and Beelzebub
22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub,[d] the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."

25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

29"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.

30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Matthew 15 (New International Version)
21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."

23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."

24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.

26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Matthew 17 (New International Version)
The Healing of a Boy With a Demon
14When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15"Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
17"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

20He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."[a]

22When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.

Mark 1 (New International Version)
Jesus Heals Many
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33The whole town gathered at the door, 34and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Answer 2

Love of money refers to loving money above all things even god. Its about people who think that having money will make them happy. Though many of gods chosen were very rich. David and Solomon.
A sociopath is a person, as a psychopathic personality, whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.
They don't feel right and wrong the way we do.
You can be greedy and still know killing someone is wrong. A sociopath has no idea that murdering is wrong.
Hope that help. Ohhh Harrod may have been a sociopath even though he was king.

Answer 3

No. It's a way of guaging one's effection and priorities, not one's mental faculties. The bible is addressing man's inate quality of loving "tangible objects" (idolatry) more than God.

You are correct however that people in Bible times weren't considered mentally ill, they were considered demonically possessed. Some facets of Christianity and other religions still believe mental illness is the result of demonic oppression, not a physical defect.

Answer 4

No. While you may be right about the terms for mental illness, I think the love of money is a choice, not an illness. And people who love money above all other things tend to be very ruthless in their acquisition of wealth.

Answer 5

There were some mental illness terms (used elsewhere in the bible)...no, in this case, money means money. The love of money is greed and greed is the root of a whole bunch of evil (lying, stealing, murder, coveting,...basically a whole lot of ways to devalue or harm other people). Greed can even cause people to harm those they love...and what it does to those that threaten their wealth can be quite ugly!

Answer 6

A sociopath is not connected by any far stretch in the bible or out, to the scripture reference of "the love of money". The love of money refers to people's thinking regarding money. Monsy to some is worshipped, the loss of money feared and greatly dreaded. Many psople believe themselves to be soley dependent in life upon the amount of money they have and do not have. Money is not to be worshipped. Money is for our defence according to the bible. you will either worship God or money according to scriptures warning. Read the bible and compare all mentions about money, business, stewardship and finance, trading etc. to learn the truth and to learn more.

Answer 7

I think it's a broader philosophical statement. Psychopaths, sociopaths, or anti-social personalities (categories that are roughly equivalent) are not marked so much by love of money as a lack of conscience and a reckless disregard for other human beings.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

No the author was specifically speaking of a monetary system. It is a misquoted reference to money.
What was said; was that the LOVE of money is a ROOT to all kinds of EVIL.
People misquote this and state that money is the root of all evil. It isn't, but it a real hard contender along with hatred, jealousy, lies & deciet.

Answer 10

I think the love of money was literally "the love of money" or wealth.

I think that the mental illnesses were said to be "demons" inhabiting that person.

Answer 11

The love of money is the love of money in any time in history. Greed is ultimately the root of many evils.