Are You Going Broke With Jesus?
The Bad Bible Detective Investigates The Theft Of Your Money Power

The Role Of Women, Bible Authority, And The Missing Verb In Ephesians 5:22

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson 

Those who use the Bible to define “the role of women” in biblical marriage often cite Ephesians 5:22 as the primary requirement for biblical marriage.

My earlier post, “The Role Of Women And Bible Interpretation: Why Ephesians 5:22 Does Not Command Wives To Submit To Their Husbands,” had one intention.

The post referred to the Greek text to make the point that there is no verb in Ephesians 5:22. This means that every translation that turns a verbless phrase into a complete sentence is mistranslating the Greek. Read more…

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Bible Money Verses And The Prosperity Gospel: Kenneth Copeland’s “Parable About Three Sermons On The Mount”

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson

Do Bible money verses promise that God wants you to become a millionaire? Or do they  tell you that money is evil? 

Do they tell you that you will be rich if you tithe? Or do they tell you that being rich will keep you out of heaven?

These are the types of conflicting claims about money in Christian money teachings. Read more…

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Bible Money Verses Make The Difference Between Rich Christians and Poor Christians

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson

Bible money verses can make the difference between rich and poor. While some Christians read their Bibles and believe that God wants them to be poor, other Christians read the same Bible and determine that God wants them to be rich.   Read more…

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Christian Money Teaching About Debt: How Does Christian Debt Relief Relate To Teachings About Prosperity And Tithing?

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson  

Christian money teaching about debt relief has become a significant topic in Christian churches as more and more Christians struggle with debt, foreclosure, and bad credit. How does Christian debt relate to Christian money teachings about tithing and prosperity? Read more…

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Jesus Money Teaching About Taxes: Render To Caesar What Belongs To Caesar

Jesus money teachings are always mixed up with political power. Of all the sayings of Jesus, the words, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” (Matthew 22:15-22; Luke 20: 19-26) demonstrate clearly that money is always more than a matter of personal morality. Read more…

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Christian Money Teaching About The Poor Widow: It’s Not What You Were Taught In Sunday School

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson

Jesus money teaching about the poor widow is not what you were taught in Sunday School. Much Christian money education uses the poor widow as a model of sacrificial Christian giving.

This is what I learned in Sunday School. When I went to Sunday School, the major topic of many of our opening exercises was raising money for the poor. We made little church-shaped cardboard boxes to hold our nickels and dimes so that we could help buy chickens or a cow for people in some poor village somewhere. Every Thanksgiving, we were supposed to collect food for the poor. And so we brought in cans of green beans and boxes of Jell-O to donate to the poor. We heard many times about the poor widow who gave everything she had to live on as an example of what God wanted us to do. Read more…

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Christian Money Teaching About Poverty: Do The Beatitudes Teach That Christian Believers Must Be Poor?

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson

What is Christian money teaching about poverty? In the Bible-verse oriented approach to Christian teaching, one Bible verse is singled out above all others to claim that Jesus advocated poverty for believers, based on the words “blessed are the poor” from the “Beatitudes” in both Matthew in “the Sermon on the Mount” and in Luke in “the Sermon on the Plain.” Read more…

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Jesus Money Teaching In the Lord’s Prayer: When Bread Is Scarce and Debts Are High

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson

Jesus money teaching is an important part of the “Lord’s Prayer,” which are probably the most well-known words from the Bible.

Versions of the prayer occur in both the “The Sermon On The Mount” in Matthew 6:9-13 and “the Sermon on the Plain” in Luke 11:1-4. Although it is not immediately obvious to most people who pray this prayer, this prayer is deeply concerned with economic issues. This is a prayer about money and debt. Read more…

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The Role Of Women And Bible Interpretation: Why Ephesians 5:22 Does Not Command Wives To Submit To Their Husbands

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson

The role of women in biblical marriage and church leadership is often defined by a handful of Bible verses and Bible interpretation that restrict human beings to the social practices of ancient societies.   

As a prime example of this kind of Bible interpretation, many Christians confidently point to their Bibles and claim that Ephesians 5:22 commands wives to submit to their husbands. Read more…

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Christian Money Beliefs: What Does The Bible Really Teach About Money?

Christian money beliefs are controversial because they claim to be based on Bible money teachings.  The Bible is a controversial book. People have such different beliefs about the Bible. Some treat it as literal truth. Some regard it as literature and moral guidance. Others think that it is all nonsense.

No matter what you believe about the validity of the Bible, the Bible continues to affect what people believe about many important topics, such as the meaning of human life, human worth, marriage, slavery, war, sex, government, and money. Let’s pick just one topic that affects all of us. What is the Biblical teaching about money? Read more…

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