When money governs
the hearts of men
“For the love of money is a root of all evils.”
(First Epistle to Timothy 6:10)
Root, he says, of all evils is the love of money, because it neither leaves the living unharmed and undisturbed, nor even the dead; for the frenzy of avarice drives some even to open graves and strip the remains of the dead. Avarice incites sons against their parents and brothers against their brothers; it leads people even to steal what belongs to God—that is, offerings dedicated to Him—and makes them sacrilegious. Remove avarice from the world, and surely there would remain among men neither war, nor enmity, nor even fornication; for it is for money that the wars of kings are waged, for money that most human hostilities erupt, and for money that acts of prostitution occur, since even the prostitute betrays herself in order to gain money.
“Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith.”
(First Epistle to Timothy 6:10)
Avarice, he says, blinds the mind and does not allow it to see the path of truth, as it turns its noetic eyes toward itself. For how will the lover of money believe in the Gospel, which legislates poverty? Certainly he will not. From this saying it is also inferred that a wicked and corrupt life gives birth to corrupt doctrines and renders people unbelieving…
“And pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
(First Epistle to Timothy 6:10)
The lovers of money, he says, have transfixed themselves with pains and many griefs; for even in this life, how they lament, how they mourn and weep, all merely to gather wealth! And rightly did the Apostle say “pierced themselves through,” because the cares of wealth are like thorns: from whichever side one grasps them, they wound the hands, make them bleed, and cause great pain in the heart. Therefore the Lord also, in the parable of the sower, likened the cares of life to thorns, when He said: “And that which fell among thorns—these are they who have heard, and as they go on their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14).
(St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite, Interpretation of the Fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul, Vol. II, First Timothy, Chapter 6, Verse 10, pp. 594–596)
