“According to the New Testament, greed qualifies as one of the most serious of sins. The earliest Christians were told not just to avoid greed, but to watch out for it (Luke 12:15), to flee from it (1 Tim 6:10-11) or to kill it (Col 3:5). Greed is described in most unflattering terms. It is “a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim 6:10), one of the twelve things which come out of individuals and defile them (Mark 7:20-22), and evidence of a darkened understanding or a depraved mind (Eph 4:18-19; Rom 1:28-29). Worst of all, greed is said to be a form of idolatry. Jesus went so far as to tell a parable which is directed specifically against greed, in which God chastises the protagonist with the word, “Fool!” (Luke 12:16-20). Furthermore, greed is thought to lead to other sins, including theft, pride and sexual immorality.”

Brian Rosner