Wise Financial Information

Wise financial information that can be applied to our everyday lives and that can be passed on to following generations is a priceless asset. As stated in our “About” section [at the time this post was written] we would love to create an open forum/dialogue so that everyone can benefit from the power of wisdom and understanding. A common source of wisdom for most individuals is found in religious texts…

*Disclaimer* Regardless of religious affiliation The Holy Bible; according to author John V Chapman’s article 10 Most Read Books In The World, is the most read book in history.

Additionally, according to the article The Most Influential Books in History, The Holy Bible (KJV) is the second most influential book in history. The third book on that same list is the [Holy] Qu’ran (also spelled Quran or Koran). This should not come as a surprise as the two biggest religious groups on a global scale in 2010 were Christians and Muslims (pewforum.org).

Another article entitled The Bible vs the Koran: A Battle of the Books, which examines the sales of the Bible and the Qu’ran, states that “The Koran is not only the most widely read book in the Islamic world but also the most widely recited”. “The Bible (according to the same article) is available all or part in 2,426 languages covering 95% of the world’s population.”From the pie graph on the left only 16.3% of the world had no religious affiliation in 2010 leaving a staggering 83.7% of the world that belonged to some type of religion. Of the 83.7% that identified with a religious group, 66% (rounding error) primarily read either the The Bible or the Qu’ran. Yet even with The Bible and the Qu’ran being two of the most widespread religious text the lack of understanding the message contained within those holy books proves troublesome as illustrated from this excerpt (The Bible vs The Koran:The Battle of the Books):

‘There is a difference, however, between getting and understanding a Holy Book. Here both Christianity and Islam suffer from serious problems. Americans buy more than 20m new Bibles every year to add to the four that the average American has at home. Yet the state of American biblical knowledge is abysmal. A Gallup survey found that less than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible (Genesis), only a third know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Billy Graham is a popular answer) and a quarter do not know what is celebrated at Easter (the resurrection, the foundational event of Christianity). Sixty per cent cannot name half the ten commandments; 12% think Noah was married to Joan of Arc. George Gallup, a leading Evangelical as well as a premier pollster, describes America as “a nation of biblical illiterates”.

Muslims greatly prefer to read the Koran in the original Arabic. Yet the archaic language and high-flown verse, while inspiring, can also be difficult to understand even for educated Arabic speakers. And only 20% of Muslims speak Arabic as their first language. Illiteracy rates are high across the Muslim world. Many students of the Holy Book do not understand much of what they are memorising.”

With so much of the world’s population pledging their allegiance with certain beliefs; it is pretty sad to read that very few people truly understand their (or others’) religious texts. Without understanding-how can one adequately apply that valuable knowledge into his/her life? This is evident by the work of author Howard L. Dayton, Jr. who stated in his book Your Money: Frustration or Freedom? that the bible offers “more than 2,000 versus on money and possessions” and that “sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions.” The point of all this is to show that even if you do not personally agree with certain religious sects-it is still worth knowing some of the major principles that are taught as they may (directly/indirectly) affect you.

The successive articles in the “Faith and Money” category are not intended to pass judgement on any religious organization or beliefs. This section will only be used to show the impact that religion can have on our everyday lives especially when it comes to how we handle our finances.

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