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Mammon, meaning “wealth” in Aramaic, is often used to personify greed. The New Testament warns against serving both God and Mammon. While some religions prioritize a spiritual life over wealth, others recognize the need for money to survive. Striking a balance between acquiring what is needed and accumulating wealth is challenging for many people of different faiths. Western culture remains obsessed with those who acquire great wealth.
Many are familiar with the word Mammon, which translates from Aramaic to “wealth.” Some translate Mammon as greed or avarice, but most often the word Mammon is used to personify wealth or greed. Although some consider him to be a lost Syrian god, no evidence exists of a Syrian god or demon named Mammon. Later, Mammon was used as a demon in Piers Plowman and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
The name Mammon is often thought of in relation to the New Testament. In Matthew 6:19-24, Christ is quoted as stating, “No one can serve two masters; for he will either hate the one and love the other… You cannot serve God and Mammon.’ Again in this passage Christ exhorts people “not to lay up treasures on earth…but lay up treasures in heaven”.
In essence, the passage can be seen as a refusal to acquire wealth, or mammon, rather than serve God first. The passage is often used specifically to mean those who claim to be Christians but then seem to posit the “take and spend” as before priorities in life. Many Christian denominations scorn the portrayal of Christianity by some televangelists who appear to “serve two masters,” focusing on donations rather than converting people to Christianity, and holding God’s work above what leads to prosperity.
For many religions other than Christianity, the problem of reconciling the need to serve mammon while continuing to practice a religion based on good works is challenging. If mammon or money is needed in a global economy, how is anyone supposed to live without occasionally serving mammon?
The answer given by many is that while piety and charity are paramount, God, or a person’s conception of God, also wants people to live, and sometimes life requires money for food or shelter.
Some religious practices other than Christianity definitely favor a spiritual life rather than one in search of mammon. For example, many orders of Buddhist monks and nuns take vows of poverty and depend on the charity of others for a livelihood. However, depending on someone else’s charity means someone has to make money to have enough to give to charity, so someone still has to serve Mammon.
The same goes for Catholic nuns who take vows of poverty. They have to depend on someone, somewhere in the service of Mammon to survive. However, many distinguish between being a servant of Mammon and a slave to greed, rather than simply operating within an economy based on money.
For many, Mammon is evil, while it is necessary to “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s”, also from the Gospel of Matthew. Basically, you do what you have to do, pay your taxes, feed your family, and so on. However, you give God the full part of yourself by leading a spiritual life.
Striking the balance between acquiring what you need and accumulating money is precarious and affects many people of different faiths, and many who practice no religion. In a sense, to serve Mammon is to be greedy, or to have wealth far exceeding one’s needs. Yet Western culture remains somewhat obsessed with those who acquire great wealth. Forbes magazine’s list of the richest people in the world gets a lot of attention, as do shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
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