TS: American Protestantism and its Glorification of Wealth Vs. Traditional Christianity and its Glorification of Poverty

Erm.

American Protestantism is pretty much the same thing as Traditional Christianity, in America. Perhaps you meant "prosperity theology" or "megachurch televangelists" or something?

I think the reference is to pre-Reformation Catholicism's mistrust of the 'world' as opposed to post-Calvinist protestantism's (sometime)equation of wealth to being part of the elect, no?

YES YES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism

Correct. Lots of "American protestant" churches that are not publicity hounds do a lot of ministries for the poor both here and abroad. I am not religious myself, but painting all churches with this broad brush is misleading and unfair.

I am making the assumption here that the "pre-Reformation Catholicism's mistrust of the 'world'" was the REAL ORIGINAL CHRISTIAN POSITION

Have fun with that.

TAKE SIDES

rejection of the world is an augustinian position, im pretty sure

both sides are pretty well supported by the bible

nietzsche hates both

can i choose "medieval catholicism's glorification of ostentatious wealth BUT ONLY WITHIN THE CHURCH ITSELF"

Was gonna say, Medieval Catholicism spent a lot of time and effort executing people who took that poverty stuff too seriously.

There's a fatalism in both but the quietism and resignation that early Xtianity recommends has elements that are not biblical as much as related to the Stoicism of certain Roman elites, I think. Lest any Protestant takes umbrage at my broad generalization, I think that the 'faith is not inconsistent with getting wealthy' ethos developped more from Calvinism than Lutheranism, so not all Protestant churches are implicated and being wealthy and helping the needy are certainly not incompatible.

Mormon 'ligion in the mid-1800s when it was just a wee baby of a cult church had a doctrine wherein everyone had to give everything they owned to the church so the church could redistribute it.

Aside: HOW does a church so steeped in 1950s thinking argue away that this isn't communism? A Book of Mormon scripture verse says "there must be opposition in all things." That means, for every good thing, there's an eeeevil copy of it c/o SAINTEN. So 'communism' is Satan's version of this doctrine, designed to make this doctrine look bad.

So, anyway, this plan did not work out very well. In reality, it was one of the many desperate ways Joseph Smith attempted to amass funds to pay off his enormous debts. Consequently, members saw few dividends from their donations. This pissed everyone off. Naturally those with more were also pissed about giving more, "widow's two mites" be damned.

Smith had God say "You fools are like the children of Israel, too dumb to go on! You're not ready for REAL commandments. Just pay tithing until you learn to behave already, sheesh." BUT since it is still a commandment it'll be revived one day when the world is un-corrupted enough to be able to obey it without being a bunch of Greedy Smurfs. It's been explained to me several times that it will not have the bleakness of Communist Russia, and everyone will have the coolest cars and the biggest houses and the jobs they always wanted.

Re:both sides are pretty well supported by the bible

IMHO once you divorce the words from the tradition, you can interpret the words any which way. If look at the early Christian saints, they took to the bottoms of wells, caves and mountaintops, that's what makes me think that hatred of the world is the original Christian teaching.

"Be in the world but not part of it."

they were all reading plato and plotinus, that was their problem

taking sides: painting churches with a broad brush vs using a toothpick with a few strands of horse hair attached to it

voluntary poverty is classic and involuntary poverty in not

(is not in)

Glorifying poverty is some straight-up perverse shit.

Casting one's bread upon the waters is an interesting concept. Ducks seem especially to enjoy it.

Why would you assume American Protestantism is any different from any other form of Protestantism?

http://bp2.blogger.com/_5kCq3IOZOrs/RtDsFyTJc9I/AAAAAAAAAiw/CgwkVI3zLpk/s400/eye+of+the+needle.jpg

http://quoteables.tankgreen.com/index.php?p=26 ??