Posted on 11/04/2006 1:40:19 PM PST by Salvation
Does greed require envy?
**We need to eradicate all forms of selfishness from our lives if we really want to be transformed into authentic Christians. The ultimate goal of the Christian way of life is transformation into Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. Selfishness has to be dealt with very seriously and the terrible sin of envy must be rooted out as the danger it is. We need to die to our egotism so that we may become more and more like the Risen Lord.((
It would seem so since it is a part of selfishness.
Can envy happen between denominations/belief systems, etc.>
Erm. Is it envy if you wish you had as much as someone else has? Without taking anything from them?
Let's say my best friend "Mike" has all kinds of good stuff in life.
Is it envy if I think "More Power to Mike, I wish I was like him!"?
I don't think so. Scott Hahn discusses greed, envy, and jealousy in his "Damnation History" set, and it's very interesting.
St. Paul says that greed or covetousness is idolatry, and that "love is not jealous," but envy is considered the worst by the spiritual writers, because it means that you want to destroy the person you envy.
I suspect that with protestants, if you envy another church you can always go and join it.
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What satisfies envy?
In other words, envy is a social sin.
Wouldn't that be closer to emulation and imitation?
I thought you were on the joke thread. LOL!
I'm not sure what you mean by that. To your other post, "What satisfies envy?" the short answer would be "the destruction of the person you envy," but the long answer is probably, "Nothing, because then you'd find someone else to envy."
Could be, but emulation would be more in the line of "Mike is so doggone smart! I wish I was that smart!"
Now that I have typed that, I guess it could be envy.
I always thought that envy "Thou Shalt Not Covet...." was more like "Mike has that really great Corvette! I wish it was mine!"
Take that back a few centuries. "Michael has a really great ox, I wish it was mine!"
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, ...
I don't think that is envy. Envy would be wishing you had what "Mike" had and that Mike had a feather up his....well, you know.
I think so. It could also be covetousness, if you want Mike's things (particularly unique things, such as his wife :-), rather than similar things of your own.
But it's envy unless you wish to harm him because he has something you don't have.
It's social in the sense that envy doesn't take place without another person as its object. In fact, the vice is the unwarranted animus against the person. Your examples show that a person is involved. Greed doesn't require this.
I mean, "It's NOT envy unless you wish him harm, etc."
Yes, I agree now that you've explained.
"Greed" is about money or things, while envy, jealousy, and covetousness require another person's participation. And envy, particularly, is about your disposition toward the other person, rather than the objects or qualities involved.
The categories of vices need a fresh analysis to understand them in light of popular social habits, modern psychology, sociology, and politics, and its preferred language. You rarely find the word "coveteous" anywhere nowadays. And my neighbor doesn't have an ox. If I want a car or boat like his, I know how to get one.
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