Why does Christian religion go against worldly success, hedonism and intellectualism?

Question

I've read and heard countless of preachings on how if you're of the Christian religion and believe in Jesus Christ, that accomplishing worldly success/money/business connections, leading a lavish/hedonistic lifestyle, and developing vast knowledge/intellect is a bad thing. (Not sure about the intellect thing).

It's said in the Bible, "keep your hearts simple, for your rewards will come in Heaven, etc" Yet it's impossible to adopt this, and other Bible sayings, without LITERALLY going BROKE and not succeeding in life, which will make you feel like a failure, a loser, is horrible for your self-esteem, and ultimately does NOT work.

There are people creating computers, space programs, etc, and this religion wants us to be stupid and poor!?!?!

What the F*ck?

If I'm misinterpreting it, and we're allowed to be smart and rich, and it only attacks the MORAL sense, then fine.

I'll be successful rich and moral.

Why is religion so strict and what is it REALLY saying?

My problems with this are:

A) The poor, those who suffer and feel wronged want revenge and justice, so they use religion for their crutch (instead of drugs, complaining and alcohol) and target better off people, like ALL of us are evil and the reason they're down, condemning us to hell.

I don't think so.

B)Who says the Christian religion is right? There are many other religions out there. Why should I believe a religion that claims its the ONLY way to heaven? A bit extreme, rude, and self-important, not to mention S C A R Y


Why should I follow something that tries to make me deny myself and my mind, and take everything you learn growing up and having to shove it?

And scaring me for eternal torture in hell?

F*CK that. that's scary stuff. it sounds like satan to me.


Sometimes I wonder if evil people turn to religion to control the masses and if jesus isn't really satan in disguise.

I mean seriously, if religion was such a good thing and if this Jesus guy was such a good man,

why is the bible very scary and puts emphasis that humanity is F*cked up, instead of creating a more rosy picture ?

Not all humans are born sinful, I"ve met MANY good kids and many good people.

This is a very scary teaching, and it only seems to apply to the "scumbags" out there.

Not ALL are scumbags.


If I ever have kids, I'm not exposing them to this dangerous crap.

Tonight I have to go to church for Xmas eve, and I have to be exposed to even MORE crap, the weird stench of the church, you know, that weird churchy smell, "holy water" which in all honesty is dangerous because HUNDREDS of people touch that water, and it's contaminated with germs, and you have to put stuff in your mouth given to you by another man. More germs.

Can we say, simple science anyone?

RELIGION IS DANGEROUS. It's a Freaking cult.


if you want to spread morals, do so at your own home.


Why must religion be so...insane?

Answer 1

God wants us to rely on him instead of the world. We live here but our true home is heaven. God is not against a person gaining wealth or knowledge,he does not want you putting the wealth and knowledge before him. Making idols of them. For some people their pride gets the better of them and can lead to their destruction.

Answer 2

You might pick the Bible up and actually read it because it does not command us to be poor and stupid and I hate to break the news to you but yes we are all born sinful. That does not mean you are the scum of the earth like a rapist or a murderer. It means all are sinful if you lie and I think we can all fall into that category if you have ever done one thing against God you are sinful and need forgiveness from God.

Solomon in the Bible was a very wealthy King and selected by God to be King he denied himself nothing and that is when King Solomon realized that all the riches on earth cannot make you happy. So what can? How many times have we seen rich people who are famous rich successful kill themselves or end up in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.

God did not create you to be poor stupid and unhappy. You created you to find pure joy it is up to you to discover what pure joy is you can only achieve that through Christ and if you close your mind to him you will never have that pure joy no matter how rich or smart you become. Take the time to research him yourself. A good book to read is A Case for Christ it was written by a former atheist who was tiring to prove there is no God

Answer 3

dude, the christian religion says none of that. All it says is that if you're a Christian, then worldy things shouldn't matter. Why would they? All this worldy "stuff", is so transitory. This life is so short compared to eternity. I don't know if you believe in heaven or hell, but you can't deny the concept of time. It's never going to stop. I know that you don't want to be in hell or, even rotting in the ground forever. Also, Christianity is a hope-filled religion. Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins. Nothing you do in life can't be forgiven, and you should find great joy in that. Now, don't get me wrong, if we can really call ourselves Christians, then we should just want to do good in life, but that is not what is getting us to heaven. Faith alone will do that. If you do know some Christians who are saying that is wrong to be rich or succussful, tell them that they are wrong. If you are rich, just make sure that you do not get greedy with it. In the bible, Jesus commanded us to tithe 10% of what we earn. And if you are successful/powerful, just don't use your blessings living contrary to God's word. You have a misguided view on Christianity and I think that you should talk to someone about it. (Preferably a Lutheran Pastor)

I just read that you thought that some people are born sinless. That is not true. There are only two ways to get to heaven. 1) Have faith in the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins. 2) Live a perfect, sinless life. Now, Only Jesus lived a perfect life, the rest of us are born into sin. This world is sin. That is why we need Jesus. You actually think that these people are completely sinless. You think that they have never said, done, or thought anything that is a sin? I would like you to e-mail me a [e-mail] to talk about this.

Answer 4

Let me make it simple for you: There are two kingdoms; the kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness... oftentimes religions fall within the kingdom of darkness because they are man's institutions....

You need to look outside the "box". I do not know what religion you are talking about, but I can guess... it's not important... It's obvious that you have seen the hypocrisy that is almost everywhere... Look beyond! Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater?

The Bible makes clear distinctions between two kinds of wisdom, for instance. In James 3:15-17 it refers to the wisdom from below, the wisdom which comes not from above, but is earthly, sensual, & devilish. Then it goes on to describe the the wisdom that is from above: First it is pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated (reasonable), full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Jesus berated Peter once, because he was operating in "man's wisdom"; he didn't understand the big picture, and Jesus actually said, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matthew 16:23)

Jesus was always bringing to light the two kingdoms and their differences.

If you seek Jesus, not religion, you will be on the right track.

Jesus isn't against intellectualism, He's against lies upheld to be truth and "posing" as intellectualism. Three big ones I can think of right off the top of my head are evolution.. what a joke!, then reincarnation, another big lie touted as some kind of "Deep mystery" Ha!, and then there is the "Woman's right to choose..." to kill her unborn baby, as if that little person has no rights just because it is so small and tiny. It's still a person... it has its OWN DNA!

He's not against a person prospering, He's against compromising your soul to be prosperous.

He didn't say money was evil, but He said that the LOVE of money is the ROOT of all evil. When people will do things that destroy their beautiful made-in-the-image-of-God souls to try to get ahead, be rich, pay their bills etc, then that is where Jesus would have a problem. He will make a way so that a person does not have to go the wrong way, but then it is up to the person to choose. He said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?"

Answer 5

evidently you have never heard of the many rich and successful christians, the bible does not say that you can not have wealth, become knowledgeable, or anything else. God allows us to choose how we want to live. Now we can not live a hedonistic life because it does violate Gods basic rules on how christians should live, but I can make as much money as I want, have my boats, cars,nice house, beautiful wife and kids and live a wonderful life taking advantage of all that life has to offer, with a few exceptions, as long as I keep God in my life and heart and keep him first. That just means I give to my local church, and because I can afford it I give to other charities, but in no way am I obligated to do so, but your heart changes when you know the Lord as your savior and you want to give and do things and not live the life of this world.

Answer 6

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the things you say. The problem is putting those things ahead of spiritual matters. Luke was a physician. Was he uneducated? Some of the pharisees who came to believe in Jesus were highly educated and wealthy.

The Apostle Paul, in a letter to Timothy shows that there WERE wealthy individuals in the congregation and showed the attitude they had to have...

1 Tim. 6:17 Give orders to those who are rich in the present system of things not to be high-minded, and to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment; 18 to work at good, to be rich in fine works, to be liberal, ready to share, 19 safely treasuring up for themselves a fine foundation for the future, in order that they may get a firm hold on the real life.

Answer 7

The Bible is not teaching that success or intellectual pursuits are bad. The Bible makes clear that Christians must put God first in their lives. I heard it said that the suffix -ism is something that is put in front of God in one's life. Hedonism puts the pursuit of pleasure before the pursuit of God. Same idea with intellectualism. Seeking to learn or to experience pleasure in appropriate ways are not bad things unless they supercede living for God first. God does not guarantee material blessings, but He is not against them necessarily either. Christianity is NOT trying to keep people stupid and poor.

Answer 8

The God Yahweh wrote The Bible to keep the "scumbags" in line not the ones who aren't.

Answer 9

It goes against narcissism, too. You might want to make note of that.

Answer 10

This is what it boils down to. Religious institutions want to be able to control people by any and all means. Therefore to do so they opose any and all forms of pleasure.