why do some people think that love of money is the root of all evil?

Question

I don't see how anyone can argue that ALL evil is caused by the love of money - there's plenty of evils that surely can't have been caused by love of money, what about religious wars or mass murder by a serial killer? Can anyone please explain this? Thanks for helping!

Answer 1

its just a saying, and like most folklore, it gets repeated and repeated, and those who choose just to accept what society tells them, without using their own minds to analyze sayings like this, continue to believe it
another one is "spare the rod, spoil the child" , some accept this as a reason to continue to hit children, without considering if its really true

Answer 2

That's an interesting question. Even though I have heard the phrase before, I don't believe I have ever encountered someone who actually believed it, versus just saying it. If anything, in America today, it seems to be the oppisite. I agree, to an extent, with Don though. Money=greed. And the greedy man is alone and in his isolation he does not care for anyone but himself. Most people do not think their actions are "evil", but when you only care for yourself, screwing someone else for a small benefit might still be reasoned as "good". Objectively, it is "evil" though, if such a term has any real meaning.

Answer 3

That's actually a common misquote from the Bible. The actual quote is:

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Timothy 6:7-10

Money isn't the root of all evil, but it's a pretty common cause.

Answer 4

Perhaps they are identifying the wisdom of granting love to human beings a greater priority and significance than love for a material thing... In other words, money or material prosperity should not be considered an end in itself, but a means toward assuring the generosity that is essential for human flourishing.

Answer 5

Fear = greed = the idea that money is the root of all evil.

They just never follow the logic to the root cause. There is a reason for this.

It is just too frightening to admit that we are afraid, so we blame money.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 6

"...did you say it's the love of money that's the root of all all evil? To love a thing is to know and loves its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money--and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it.
"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it."

Answer 7

i think within the limit money is essential for us but after that limit

it can be evil

Answer 8

The "mind" does not like this statement. Although it is "Totally" true, the mind is in a constant justification of, why it is not "evil".

Answer 9

People never learn to think correctly. They can't identify principles and parrot what they hear other people say.

They could never understand this:

http://www.working-minds.com/money.htm

Answer 10

In most places today it takes money to eat, to buy clothes, to have a home. So efforts must necessarily be made to earn money. Yet to have as your purpose in life the accumulating of riches simply is not wise. It does not bring happiness. God’s Word is accurate when it says: “Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.”—1 Tim. 6:9, 10.

“Become imitators of God,” is the divine will. (Eph. 5:1) But the love of money insidiously prompts one to imitate this wicked world and its ways. Instead of imitating God’s qualities—his slowness to anger, his long-suffering, his loving-kindness, his mercy, his generosity, his faithfulness—the lover of money adopts selfish, grasping, cruel and unscrupulous ways. Kindness and generosity get in his way of making money, and so such benevolent qualities he squelches; he forces and trains himself to be hard and ruthless, inuring himself to every manner of unkindness his cleverness can contrive. Love of money thus readily leads one into the injurious practice of telling lies. Anything to make a dollar! What are promises to the money lover? They mean nothing; they are just something to break when more money is to be made. Agreements? Keep them when it is expedient; break them when it is financially expedient—this is the money lover’s policy.

Money lovers often obtain a superabundance of money, and yet, despite this, they will lie, cheat and defraud even their best friends to get more—only to add greater burdens to their already wearisome load and to heap upon themselves the scorn and hatred of those whom they have defrauded.

What a horrible thing to die without being rich toward God! But the lover of money dies, like the man in Jesus’ illustration, having laid up treasure only for himself. Warning against this unreasonable course of action, Jesus said: “Be on the alert and on guard against every kind of covetousness, because even when a person has an abundance his life does not result from the things he possesses.”—Luke 12:15

The difference between normal desire and greed might be likened to the difference between the small campfire that cooks food and the blazing inferno that consumes a forest. Wholesome and well-placed desire can be constructive. It motivates us to work and to be productive. Proverbs 16:26 says: “The soul of the hard worker has worked hard for him, because his mouth has pressed him hard.” But greed is dangerous and destructive. It is desire out of control.

Control is a core issue. Will the money we accumulate or the material things we want serve our needs, or will our needs serve money? That is why Paul says that being a “greedy person . . . means being an idolater.” (Ephesians 5:5) To be greedy for something in reality means that we surrender our will to it—in effect, we make it our master, our god, the thing we serve. In contrast, God insists: “You must not have any other gods against my face.”—Exodus 20:3.