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When I was a Christian I could never understand why churches often forbade it. I know the Catholic Church had prohibitions against it and then subsequent churches followed its lead, but where in the bible is it EXPLICITLY prohibited?
Last edited by InsaneInDaMembrane; 12-13-2009 at 05:48 PM..
Gambling is not a sin, unless it becomes the reason to live above and beyond ones responsibility to his /her family, it is then an addiction, a compulsion which, imo, often is cured with counseling and a real longing to stop..
Moderation is the key to a pleasant past time becoming a sinful act..
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said ``If you are perfect, go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me`` Jesus does not want your money, it is useless to him, but if the money you have is the the money the Lord God got you than Jesus will be interested. You get money through a wager which is an unfair way to get money because of the competition is not fair. And all things of the good God are fair and togetherness. Gambling is not fair because of the wager, givaway there is no wager and you can get a pass. In Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus went to the temple and cast out them that sold and bought in the temple. and overthrough the tables and said`` It is called , My house shall be called the house of prayer , but you have made it a den of thieves`` The house of prayer that Jesus is in today are anointed of oil of Holy Spirit Christians Believers, Temple of the Holy Spirit
We tend to look for the "Thou Shalt Nots" for everything. The Bible doesn't say "don't beat your wife" does it? But we can "DEDUCE" that it is wrong from other principles sited in the Bible, that it's wrong to do so.
It's the same with gambling:
Gambling violates at least 5 principles of the Bible:
For these reasons as well as others, theological disapproval does not always translate to social or political opposition. Christians seem to be just as uninformed and unconcerned as everyone else.
THUS SAITH THE LORD
There is no "Eleventh Commandment" in the Bible saying "Thou shalt not gamble." However, gambling violates at least five doctrines of Scripture: the sovereignty of God, stewardship, covetousness, brotherly love, and God’s instruction not to be brought under the power of anything.
Sovereignty of God
Belief in luck and belief in a sovereign God are mutually exclusive, for if an omniscient, omnipotent Creator God exists then luck makes no sense. Things don’t "just happen." Nothing — including the secondary causes operative in the universe (the "laws" of nature and human choices) — happens outside of God’s will and disposition. So belief in God not only dispells any idea of luck, it also rejects any idea of chance as a determining factor in natural events or people’s destiny. "Depending upon luck and chance is a philosophy which deifies an impersonal view of life and of reality."32 Any trust in luck rather than God is therefore a form of idolatry.
[SIZE=2]What appears to be chance to the finite human mind is known to a sovereign God. Casting of lots, for example, is a biblical illustration not of gambling (for no money or other value was placed at risk in hopes of greater gain) but of individuals trusting a sovereign God to direct the "chance" disposition or direction of the lay of the lots. People used "chance" to understand God’s will. Their faith was not in chance but in God. But belief in chance as fate stands in direct opposition to a purposeful creation, ordered and directed by the Sovereign God of the universe. Chance without God is the personification of anarchy and nihilism. God controls, not chance (Amos 3:6).33
The idea that events are ultimately disposed merely by chance is akin to superstition. Pagan superstition is a violation of God’s will. Worshipping the gods of luck and chance is an offense to His character. Gambling is a kind of "secularized divination."34 It promotes a world view in direct contradiction to biblical Christianity.
Stewardship
God says in Proverbs that "he who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment" (12:11). People often chase fantasies, yielding to the lure of quick riches, the "something-for-nothing" enchantment. But God gives people time, talent, and treasure with an expectation of accountability (Matt. 25:14–30). The Bible teaches that we are to use our God–given wealth to support our families, God’s work, the government, and the needy.
Gambling can undermine the foundations of Christian stewardship — work, rationality, and responsibility. But work is both a command and a gift of God (2 Thess. 3:6–12). And reason is an essential part of being human. "Irresponsibility is man’s abdication of his humanity. We are made to be moral decision-making creatures."35
Covetousness
Gambling feeds covetousness, the opposite of God’s call for contentment (Phil. 4:11–12). It masquerades as harmless fun while it eventually sucks the dollars and sometimes the life out of those who embrace it (1 Tim. 6:6–10). The basis of all antigambling legislation is the necessity of curbing or controlling covetousness, the very natural and selfish desire to get something for nothing.36
Love Thy Neighbor
Gambling creates a condition in which one person’s gain is necessarily many other persons’ loss. As such, gambling militates against brotherly love, justice, and mercy (Matt. 22:37–40; Mic. 6:8
Gambling substitutes love of self or love of money for love of neighbor (Rom. 14:21; 1 Tim. 6:6–10). Martin Luther said that "money won by gambling is not without self seeking and love of self is not without sin."37 Gambling, unlike legitimate business practices wherein both parties gain, creates a condition in which individuals are willingly duped of their resources in a something-for-nothing exchange.
To take from one’s neighbor in an unfair exchange is not love, to set up a system in which those least able to afford it lose their livelihood is not justice, and to continue operating a system that exploits human weakness while promoting personal pleasure and profit over others’ pain and loss is not mercy. While it is true that the legitimate marketplace can operate without regard for the Christian value of love of neighbor, this is not an essential and unavoidable character of business. In gambling, love of neighbor is not only impossible, it is systematically suppressed.
Mastery of the Will
Gambling is potentially habitual, what Pascal called a "fatal fascination," like a moth’s fascination for the candle.38 Some even label the problem an addiction. Yet God makes it clear in His Word that Christians are not to allow their minds or bodies to be mastered by anything other than the Holy Spirit of God (1 Cor. 6:12). Anything else leads to idolatry.
The Bible’s doctrines pertaining to the use of money indicate that morality and money are not mutually exclusive. God reveals the former so that mankind will know how to use the latter. Too often, though, people want the money without the morality.
Since governments are comprised of people, it should come as no surprise that they want money without morality too. In gambling, that’s exactly what they’ve got.
its not.......and if done in moderation,and you can afford it I don't see a problem with it.That in my mind applies to a lot of other things too.
When we don't look to the scriptures, our minds and hearts always do the opposite of what God intends. Plus, it's not your money....it's His. You just manage it.
We tend to look for the "Thou Shalt Nots" for everything. The Bible doesn't say "don't beat your wife" does it? But we can "DEDUCE" that it is wrong from other principles sited in the Bible, that it's wrong to do so.
When I was a Christian I could never understand why churches often forbade it. I know the Catholic Church had prohibitions against it and then subsequent churches followed its lead
Umm no or to be more accurate it's complicated.
"On certain conditions, and apart from excess or scandal, it is not sinful to stake money on the issue of a game of chance any more than it is sinful to insure one's property against risk, or deal in futures on the produce market."
"Theologians commonly require four conditions so that gaming may not be illicit.
What is staked must belong to the gambler and must be at his free disposal. It is wrong, therefore, for the lawyer to stake the money of his client, or for anyone to gamble with what is necessary for the maintenance of his wife and children. (My note: This is the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia so women rarely had control of the money, hence the gender assumed will often be male)
The gambler must act freely, without unjust compulsion. (this might include addiction, although the wording may go against that, as gambling addiction is seen as something of potential scandal to be treated)
There must be no fraud in the transaction, although the usual ruses of the game may be allowed. It is unlawful, accordingly, to mark the cards, but it is permissible to conceal carefully from an opponent the number of trump cards one holds.
Finally, there must be some sort of equality between the parties to make the contract equitable; it would be unfair for a combination of two expert whist players to take the money of a couple of mere novices at the game."
However it does go on to say
"The 79th canon of the Council of Elvira (306) decreed that one of the faithful who had been guilty of gambling might be, on amendment, restored to communion after the lapse of a year. A homily (the famous "De Aleatoribus") long ascribed by St. Cyprian, but by modern scholars variously attributed to Popes Victor I, Callistus I, and Melchiades, and which undoubtedly is a very early and interesting monument of Christian antiquity, is a vigorous denunciation of gambling. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215), by a decree subsequently inserted in the 'Corpus Juris', forbade clerics to play or to be present at games of chance."
Mostly though I'd say Catholic laity are not outright forbidden from gambling and that this may well go back a long ways. That priests should not gamble, per St. Paul's remarks on idleness, seems to be the main issue it discusses. Apparently priests were not even supposed to play cards for amusement, at one time, but this stopped being true in the nineteenth century if I read it right. I don't know what the current rules are concerning priests and gambling, but I could imagine something still being in force or being part of some orders.
That said excessive gambling, or "hustling", is apparently forbidden in general as harmful to family or loved ones or as an act of injustice.
Last edited by Thomas R.; 12-17-2009 at 03:20 AM..
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