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Wealth– 1) spiritual and material given to a person; 2) material benefits in general, which accrue to a person regardless of whether he obtains them in accordance with God’s wishes or not; 3) something that is dear to a person in some respect (example: children are our wealth; my years are my wealth).

The highest wealth is spiritual wealth - this is life in, the possibility of union with God.

Spiritual wealth in the exact sense of the word is God Himself, the grace of the Holy Spirit abiding in man, which is more valuable than anything in the world. This is incorruptible, enduring, inalienable wealth. With him a person goes into eternal life. Spiritual wealth is depicted in the parables of the Savior in the form priceless pearl, having found which a person sells everything he has, is called the inexhaustible heavenly treasure ().

Earthly, material wealth is a set of material goods given to a person in excess for temporary use. Earthly wealth is incomparable with heavenly wealth, and therefore is called small (). It is also called unrighteous (), because any wealth that remains with us becomes unrighteous, is retained and is not alienated to the needs of the poor.

Earthly wealth can be understood as God's gift only when certain condition. Namely, if a rich person distributes it to benefit those in need. A rich person initially has no advantage over. " A person’s property status in itself cannot be considered as evidence of whether he is pleasing or displeasing to God". Moreover, a rich person is not an owner in the strict sense of the word. " According to the teachings of the Church, people receive all earthly blessings from God, Who has the absolute right to own them. The Savior repeatedly shows the relativity of property rights for a person in parables: this is either a vineyard given for use (), or talents distributed among people (), or an estate given for temporary management ()". The True Owner of everything is the Creator of everything, God. And therefore, the correct disposal of property is possible only through observance of His commandments.

The divine commandment requires helping those in need. The Christian norm of attitude towards property must be based on the Gospel principle of love for one’s neighbor, expressed in the words of the Savior: “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another." (). This commandment should serve for Christians and, from the point of view of the Church, for other people as an imperative in the sphere of regulation of all types of interhuman relations, including property relations. " Owning significant property, he does not sin who uses it in accordance with the will of God, to Whom all things belong, and with the law of love, for the joy and fullness of life is not in acquisition and possession, but in giving and sacrifice» .

The very process of giving gifts to a person in need, the act of helping him, is the direct duty of a wealthy person. Possessing an excess of property, a wealthy person possesses not his own, but someone else's. He has God-given goods that God gave him to meet the needs of the poor. Ultimately, he has the property of the have-not, which he must simply return. And here the paradox of the Christian ethic of serving the poor arises. " You do not give to the poor from yours, but give back to him from his own.", teaches the saint. And the one who distributes wealth is not a philanthropist in the strict sense of the word, but even a guilty one. " Therefore, the one who distributes the money he has collected to everyone should not receive a reward for this, but rather remains guilty of the fact that he had previously unjustly deprived others of it.", says the saint.
teaches that, without helping his neighbor, the rich turns into a robber. Interpreting the Savior’s teaching about unrighteous wealth (), the blessed one emphasizes that all wealth that remains with us becomes unrighteous, is retained and is not alienated to the needs of the poor. Moreover, such behavior has serious social consequences and provokes social instability, tension and conflicts. " A sinful attitude towards property, manifested in oblivion or conscious rejection of this spiritual principle, gives rise to division and alienation between people» .

Thus, economic inequality, expressed in the division of society into rich and poor, is not some static reality justified from above. It is allowed to humanity as a test, as a given, which it must not cultivate and preserve, but change and overcome. Kept as a given, economic inequality is tantamount to the dominance of passion. And when overcome in the unity of love, it testifies to the fulfillment of duty to one’s neighbor.

Apostle James says: Listen, my beloved brothers: has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?(). True, spiritual wealth is available to any person, the Lord immeasurably grants it to everyone who wants it, regardless of their social status, innate abilities and business qualities.

Do not be grieved when a man becomes rich, or when the glory of his house increases; for when he dies he will not take anything with him, and his glory will not go down with him into the earth. ().

When wealth increases, do not put your heart on it” ()

Wealth will not help in the day of wrath ().

good name better than great wealth, and good fame better than silver and gold” ().

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and into a snare and into many reckless and harmful lusts” ().

Don't worry about acquiring wealth; leave such thoughts of yours. You fix your eyes on him, and he is no longer there; because it will make wings for itself and, like an eagle, will fly to the sky ().

Hastens to wealth envious person, and does not think that poverty will befall him ().

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness ().

How difficult it is for those who hope for wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! ().

Wealth in itself is nothing. But in a sense, it is talent... Talent, which can either be increased or buried in the ground. Either acquired for eternity, through waste in this temporary life, or, conversely, lost in its selfish preservation...
Hieromonk Methodius

I was once amazed (this was before perestroika, in the 80s) when my spiritual father- Archpriest Vladimir Rozhkov, seeing a large family with five children at the entrance to the temple, said: “Look - a rich man, he has five children.” Since then, my attitude towards this word has warmed. Real wealth, of course, is not in what kind of car a person has (especially since in one second it can simply turn into nothing, into junk), but in something more...
Archpriest Andrey Lorgus

Even while we are still outside the Kingdom of God, we are already amazingly rich. God has given us so much: we are gifted mentally and emotionally, our lives are so full that it may seem to us that nothing more can be done, that we have reached completeness, wholeness, the limit of our search. But we must understand and we must remember that there is always something more. We can rejoice that no matter how poor we are, we So rich, but at the same time strive for the true treasure of the Kingdom of God, not allowing ourselves to be carried away by what we already have, so as not to turn away from what is still ahead.
We must remember that everything we have has been given to us as a gift. The first beatitude speaks of beggary, and only if we live by this commandment can we enter the Kingdom of God. This commandment has a double meaning; on the one hand, it is obvious that, whether we like it or not, we have nothing that we could hold; we discover that we are nothing and have nothing: endless, gaping, hopeless poverty. We exist because God called us into being, brought us into being; we had nothing to do with it, it was not an act of our free will. We do not own life in such a way that someone could not take it away from us at any moment, and in this sense, everything that we are and everything that we have is short-lived. We have a body - but it will die; we have a mind - but it only takes a tiny vessel to burst in the brain for the greatest mind to fade away; we have a sensitive living heart, but a moment comes when we would like to express all our sympathy, all our understanding to someone who needs it - but we only have a stone in our chest...
So in a sense we can say that we do not possess anything, because we are not free in anything that we have. And this could lead us not to the feeling that we belong to the Kingdom of God, and to joy about this, but to despair - if we did not remember that, although nothing is ours that could not be taken away from us, - however we have all this. We are rich, and everything we possess is a gift and evidence of the love of God and human love, everything is a continuous flow of Divine love; and because of this (and because we possess nothing) the love of God is manifested with constancy and completeness. And everything that we grab into our own hands in order to appropriate is thereby taken out of the realm of love. Yes, it becomes ours - but love is lost. And only those who give everything receive the experience of genuine, complete, final, inescapable spiritual poverty - and possess the love of God, expressed in all His gifts. One of our Russian theologians, Father, said: “All the food of the world is the love of God made edible.” I think this is true; and the moment we try to get rich by holding something in our hands for safekeeping, we find ourselves a loser, because while we have nothing in our hands, we can take it or not take it, or do whatever we want with it.
This is the Kingdom of God: we feel that we are free from possession; and this freedom establishes us in a relationship where everything is human love and God’s love.
So if you think in these categories, you can transfer this to what I already talked about earlier. Yes, we are rich; but we should never be deluded by this property and imagine that it is possible to destroy old granaries, old barns and build new ones in order to store more and more there. more good(cm.

Every person, deep down in his soul, dreams of becoming rich, so as not to think about tomorrow and live for his own pleasure. But what is wealth? Do people interpret this concept correctly? And is it only material goods that are meant by this word? Perhaps the category of wealth is not as narrow as is commonly believed in society?

The meaning of "wealth"

There are many definitions of this term. Thus, wealth can be understood as monetary security or as the breadth of capabilities of the human mind and body, nobility, the ability to compassion, kindness and many other spiritual qualities. Wealth is, on the one hand, a large number of all kinds of material goods a person has that contribute to a comfortable life. In this meaning, this term is usually synonymous with the income of a member of society, which allows him to spend a lot of money on image and acquisition

On the other hand, wealth is its intellectual capital, variety of emotions and various positive traits. In this sense, the term is not tied to any material objects, be it money or the attributes of a luxurious life (luxury houses, yachts, designer items, etc.). Wealth becomes something that cannot be noticed at first glance without penetrating into the essence of human nature.

Synonyms for "wealth"

Synonyms for the word “wealth” mainly describe this term from the material side. Thus, the most common synonymous concept is “luxury”. Luxury is the presence of expensive items of clothing, things that raise prestige in society and increase the level of social status. This word implies only material benefits that are designed to make a person’s life more comfortable.

Another synonym is abundance. Abundance means a huge, innumerable amount of something. This concept, of course, can describe both the material and spiritual wealth of a person, but more often it is still used to describe monetary income.

The word "prosperity" can also mean wealth in some cases. This happens if we're talking about about something inanimate (city, area, field, region, etc.). The phrase "prosperous city", for example, can describe locality With high level people's lives, favorable conditions for its development.

Antonyms for the word "wealth"

The lexical meaning of the word “wealth” can also be explained through antonyms. So, the most common of them is “poverty”. This word can be understood as the absence Money to create comfortable living conditions, as well as a narrow outlook, a paucity of spiritual qualities.

Another antonym is “poverty.” This word describes the worst material and spiritual state person rather than poverty. And again, this term describes the external and internal spheres of life of society and its individual members.

Another antonym of wealth is need. This word speaks for itself. It includes in its meaning the concept that a person lacks something for a comfortable, well-fed life, that his income is too small to purchase expensive household items, prestigious clothing models, technical innovations, etc.

Wealth symbols

IN human culture Quite stable ideas about wealth have developed. Depending on the customs and traditions of each particular nation, certain symbols and talismans have appeared that help to attract wealth and prosperity to the home.

The theme of wealth is revealed especially widely in eastern cultures. For example, in China, the Feng Shui movement explains not only what talismans should be kept in the house to attract wealth and good luck, but also how they should be positioned so that the energies of water, air, fire and earth do not extinguish. Thus, the symbol of wealth in China is this is the hieroglyph of the same name. It is believed that this image must be placed next to the money so that its quantity multiplies and increases, for example, draw on a wallet, put a piece of paper with such a design in the safe, and also next to valuables(in a jewelry box or with important papers). Another talisman of the Celestial Empire is coins with square slots. It should be hung on a string in the house or worn around the neck. A toad with a coin in its mouth will also help attract wealth. According to Feng Shui, it is necessary to place several figures in each room in the southeast with their backs to the entrance. This will create the illusion that the toad has just jumped into the room and brought money with it.

Russian culture also has a symbol of wealth. This is a horseshoe that is traditionally hung over front door. It is believed that this talisman brings wealth, happiness and good luck to the house, and also drives away evil spirits that spoil people's things and relationships.

Gods of wealth

Eastern peoples worship a large number of gods who can give people prosperity, wealth and happiness. IN Indian mythology the god of wealth is Kubera. This deity not only increases wealth, but also keeps the secrets of underground treasures and precious metals.

Which god to worship depends not only on the preferences of each person, but also on what zodiac sign he was born under and in what year. eastern horoscope. Thus, the Buddhist deity Dzambala is recommended to pray to people born in the year of the Rooster or Monkey.

IN ancient greek mythology god of wealth - Plutos. He was brought up with early childhood two goddesses: Tyche and Eirene. Plutos brings prosperity and profit only to those who work hard. He himself did not know how to properly manage material wealth, for which he was punished supreme god Greeks by Zeus.

Sayings about wealth

Many great people have mentioned wealth in their quotes. These are quotes filled deep meaning. "The most great wealth“live and be content with little,” this is what the Greek poet and writer Plato said about prosperity. This statement can be interpreted as follows: wanting a lot, a person becomes greedy and stops appreciating what he already has.

“All wealth is the product of labor,” is how John Locke, an English philosopher, described luxury and abundance. From his quote it is clear that great material wealth cannot be achieved without effort. Nothing in life comes easy.

Wealth as a material category

The first meaning of the word wealth is the presence of material wealth, namely money. A large number of monetary units allows a person not to think about what to buy, what to eat, where to relax. On the other hand, wealth does not have to be selfish. For example, many famous people donate a lot of money to charity, help international organizations, sent to zones of armed conflict. These are all examples of how wealth can benefit the entire community rather than the individual.

Wealth as a spiritual category

The material component is only a small part of what is included in the concept of “wealth”. This is also the ability and desire to do good deeds, extensive knowledge in various fields life, high moral principles and strong moral principles. This is what every person should truly strive for, not limited to narrow ideas of wealth as a lot of money that can be thoughtlessly spent left and right on all sorts of pleasures.

Wealth (Wealth) is the totality of all material and intangible values ​​of a person or society as a whole.

The wealth of society in the traditional sense, which goes back to the founders classical school (A. Smith , D. Ricardo etc.), was considered as a set of material wealth accumulated by the labors of both previous and present generations. Modern economics is critical of the position about the material content of wealth alone. Today, there is a different approach to understanding this category, namely, that wealth is everything that people value. Such a definition of wealth allows us to include in it Natural resources, and innate human abilities, and professional knowledge, And free time. From a theoretical perspective, this definition of wealth illuminates the various intricacies of this economic category. On the other hand, when it comes to international comparisons of national wealth and statistical calculations, such a broad definition of wealth makes it difficult (if not impossible) to calculate specific figures. We must also not forget that all the wealth of society can be represented both in monetary and in kind form. Therefore, when the value of the money one can come to different results of assessments of the same set of material goods. In addition, a change in the assessments of people themselves can lead to a change in the real size of the wealth of a certain state. For example, in the USSR a quantity of shoes was produced per year that far exceeded similar indicators in England, Germany and France combined. Production metal-cutting machines, cement, etc. also exceeded the most developed countries in the world. But are these indicators reflecting production? good , real creation wealth in the country, if, for example, people bought shoes from domestic manufacturers only when they could not find imported ones? Is Russia poor or rich? You can always hear exactly the opposite answers to this question. Yes, we are poor, because... we don't have enough housing affordable prices, domestic clothing, domestic food, etc. Yes, we are rich, because we have enormous reserves of natural resources, a priority in many scientific research, qualified personnel. Sometimes the question is posed differently: if we are so rich, then for what reason are we so poor? Have we become richer if, for example, we increased gas and oil production at the cost of pollution? environment?

It should be noted once again that the understanding of wealth largely depends on people’s assessments. In many ways, this is a normative category and does not exist outside of people’s judgments about the value of any good. Wealth can also be represented as everything that expands a person’s choice, his alternative possibilities. From this point of view, money, things, free time, natural resources, and knowledge expand people's choices and can be equated to wealth.

It must always be viewed in the context of need satisfaction. For example, if goods are available in quantities in which they are able to satisfy all our needs to the point of complete saturation and are accessible, then we can say that we are rich. But more and more we are turning our attention to the normative context in defining the concept of wealth. Is a millionaire rich who is bedridden by illness and has lost physical and mental capacity? Is a yogi rich who lives on a minimum of food and is busy understanding God? What does pretty mean? popular expressions“the main wealth is freedom” or “the main wealth is health”? Is it possible to be free without having the amount of goods called the subsistence minimum?

All these questions, when analyzing the concept of wealth, are posed in order to emphasize the importance of normative, evaluative categories in economic theory.