Money and Wealth

Money as we know it today is a kind of illusion, a deception, a far cry from what people meant by money and wealth in the ancient world. In the last century, the very nature of money was corrupted, and scripture’s warnings about money have become all the more urgent.

Understanding what the Bible says about “money” is like decoding ancient views about the Internet or AI -- money in the ancient world was livestock, grain, or precious metals, not the debt tokens we call dollars. Modern “money” is not just broken; it’s unbiblical, an immoral system of control -- money today is a false idol; it is slavery to debt.

Christianity, through scripture and as witnessed by the Church Fathers, demands we reject all idols of money and wealth, and seek true wealth in God.

1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Money

What we call “money” today is a lie, untethered from actual wealth like livestock or precious metals. The Nixon Shock of 1971 killed the last vestige of the gold standard, birthing global fiat money -- debt tokens valued by the dictates of unaccountable central bankers. These bureaucrats "create" money ex-nihilo, devaluing your savings and trapping you into debt slavery. This is theft, cloaked in the illusion of stability, exploiting the trust we naively place in governments and banks.

Central Planners and Fiat

Central bankers decry socialist failures yet practice a subtler form of central planning. The so-called know-your-customer and related policies aim to control who can buy, sell, or own (as the Bank for International Settlements readily admits). This is total-totalitarianism, a system where money becomes a perverse idol, dictating life itself. You cannot control money without controlling the ever-changing subjective deaires of every person on earth -- an impossible task, for only God shapes the soul.

Clement of Alexandria, in Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?, saw the danger of wealth: “Riches, if not used rightly, become a snare.” Fiat money, created without work, is a snare par excellence, confusing man with God. It’s a human construct pretending to divine authority, leading us to worship mammon over the Creator of the universe.

Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Wealth

True wealth is not in bank accounts but in God. Scripture calls us to store “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20), where moths, rust (and central bankers) cannot destroy. Basil the Great declared, “The bread you hoard belongs to the hungry; the cloak in your wardrobe belongs to the naked” (On Wealth). Hoarding wealth while others starve is not just greed -- it’s theft from God’s poor.

Work is the root of godly wealth. God tasked Adam to tend creation (Genesis 2:15), and work remains good, a divine gift. Money, as a social technology, directs labor, but when produced without work -- as fiat is -- it becomes a tool of oppression. The early Church rejected this, sharing all so “there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:34-35). John Chrysostom declares, “The rich man is not one who has much, but one who gives much” (Homilies on Matthew). Wealth is God’s, and we are stewards, not owners.

Tower of Babel

Fiat money is a modern Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), a human attempt to play God, confusing man’s decrees with divine order. God instructed Babel’s fall, just as He allows fiat’s chaos, to teach us to seek Him. Augustine warns, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions). No currency can satisfy our need for God.

Gold and Bitcoin

Is there a money that honors God? Gold, requiring work to mine, reflects creation’s order more than fiat, which is conjured ex-nihilo. Bitcoin, built on cryptography and proof-of-work, goes further. Its fixed supply and decentralized nature resist central control, aligning with honest weights and measures (Leviticus 19:35-36). Unlike fiat, Bitcoin’s issuance and its transactions demand work, echoing God’s design. Bitcoin’s transactions are transparent and verifiable, unlike gold and especially unlike fiat’s opaque manipulations.

What would the Church Fathers say? Clement might see Bitcoin’s work-based issuance as less prone to greed than fiat’s illusion: “Wealth used for good is a blessing; used for self, a curse.” Basil, critical of hoarding, might approve of Bitcoin’s resistance to centralized theft, urging its use for the poor: “Your wealth is not yours, but God’s.” Chrysostom, wary of luxury, might caution against Bitcoin’s speculative frenzy: “Riches tempt the heart to pride” (Homilies on Romans). Augustine, focused on divine order, might view Bitcoin’s mathematical limits as reflecting God’s laws: “All truth is God’s truth” (On Christian Doctrine). Yet all would agree: no money is divine. Bitcoin, like gold, is a tool, and its value lies in its use for God’s glory.

Still, we must ask: Does Bitcoin free us from mammon or merely shift its form? Jesus warns, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Any currency can become an idol if it distracts from God.

Stewardship

We are stewards, not owners, of God’s wealth. “We are unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10), called to manage resources with integrity. A good steward gives generously (2 Corinthians 8:12), avoids debt’s chains (Romans 13:8), pays taxes honestly (Matthew 22:21), provides for family (1 Timothy 5:8), and seeks wise counsel (Proverbs 15:22). Work is sacred -- God created for six days, resting (on His throne) on the seventh (Genesis 2:2-3). Fiat, produced without work, mocks this order. St. John Climacus warns, “The poor envy the rich, a vicarious greed” (Ladder of Divine Ascent). Both rich and poor must trust God, not wealth.

Luke 12:48

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Tithing

Tithing -- literally “one tenth” -- is a call to give God our best. Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20), and Abel offered his “firstlings” (Genesis 4:4), unlike Cain’s half-hearted gift. The early Church went further, sharing all (Acts 2:44-45). Cyprian of Carthage writes, “What we give to the poor, we lend to God” (On Works and Alms). Tithing isn’t a tax but a test of faith. If we met Christ, would we not give everything? Withholding wealth from God -- or mistrusting His Church -- reveals our heart’s idol. True stewardship surrenders all, for all is His.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.