RootOfAllEvil

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Added: 9a10,11

::Dante's interpretation of the seven deadly sins (which may or may not be based on something earlier; I don't know) sees them all as different perversions of love. Gluttony, for example, is excessive love of food and other earthly things, while envy is love perverted to focus on other people's things rather than what is good and true; and sloth shows insufficient love of goodness. This fits with the general Christian view that evil is incapable of innovation: only good things can be created, and evil consists of enjoying good things in the wrong way or at the wrong time. Therefore all evil is based on good, and as the greatest good is love the greatest evils are perversions of the same.

Added: 10a13

:: e.g. NIV: Matthew 6: 24 --Bobacus

"The love of money"

Not just "money". It's a common mistake. :)

Why do people single out "money"? I'm sure that the love of anything can be equally bad. Might as well say that "Love is the root of all evil". -ColinLeung

: I [once argued] something similar. Or at least it isn't much of an extension from that essay to argue that love is the root of all change. Whether or not this makes it the root of all evil is rather a matter for debate.
: That said, the love of money is worse than love of almost anything else because money is of itself nothing - it is neither an ideology nor a person. It cannot act as a moral compass in any reasonable manner. --SF
: I think you're missing the point here, Colin. "The love of money is the root of all evil" is a biblical quote. KJV: 1 Timothy 6: 10, if you interested. It's not that people single out "money", it's just that it's a quote. Now, if you want to ask about why Paul singles out "money", that's another matter, probably best answered by reading around the verse I've linked to. Try NIV: 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 --M-A

: Dante's interpretation of the seven deadly sins (which may or may not be based on something earlier; I don't know) sees them all as different perversions of love. Gluttony, for example, is excessive love of food and other earthly things, while envy is love perverted to focus on other people's things rather than what is good and true; and sloth shows insufficient love of goodness. This fits with the general Christian view that evil is incapable of innovation: only good things can be created, and evil consists of enjoying good things in the wrong way or at the wrong time. Therefore all evil is based on good, and as the greatest good is love the greatest evils are perversions of the same.

"Money is the root of all evil" is something of an English folk saying. The Bible spends a lot of time talking about what appear at first glance to be either-or choices between Jesus? and Mammon?. The two may be related. - MoonShadow

: e.g. NIV: Matthew 6: 24 --Bobacus

I believe that the origin of the saying is alteration of these words: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Tim 6:10). The meaning is definitely substantially changed by said alteration, especially the change from "a root" to "the root"... MJ
Be careful about picking out single words, like "a" and "the", especially with the NIV version - it's not overly renowned for getting passages right to that level of accuracy in places. That said, I don't know which is right for this verse. The origin of the saying is an exact quote from the KJV, as linked above. --M-A

PeterTaylor's literal translation of 1 Tim 6:10a is "The love of money is a root of all the evils". There are no textual variants recorded in Nestle-Aland.

SubtleHeresy