On the pages of the Bible you can read an explanation that serving several gods at once is simply impossible. This concept means that one will have to serve less diligently, which means that it will not be a full fulfillment of one’s duties. The Bible gives an example that service cannot be to the Lord and Mammon at the same time. But few know who Mammon is. This is exactly what we are going to find out in this article.
So, who is Mammon? Perhaps this is a god or a demon?
Is Mammon a god or a demon?
If we take into account the translation from the ancient Greek language, then “mammon” is a word symbolizing wealth and luxury. The ancient Romans worshiped a similar god, believing that he would help them in trade or simply make a person rich.
By studying the Bible, one can come to the unequivocal conclusion that this creature is certainly a demon. If a person allows him into his life or, moreover, calls upon him, then God leaves his heart. A person becomes callous and cold towards all his loved ones. Christianity has an ambiguous relationship with wealth. It condemns people who work dishonestly and earn money other than their own. But at the same time, money is an important aspect, and without it a person cannot live in the modern world, and the church will turn into ruins. Therefore, from a Christian point of view, money should be used without any partiality, otherwise you can really settle the very spirit of Mammon in your heart. This, as Orthodox ministers say, can be extremely dangerous.
But people on Earth are all different, each has their own attachments and their own worldview. There are people who prefer to worship this so-called deity. Often people begin to resort to actions to enrich themselves, and in most cases the person does not recognize cooperation with evil spirits.
If you delve into history, you can learn a huge number of interesting facts. The understanding of the essence, and the very meaning of the word “mammon” in the modern world is distorted. There is an opinion that Mammon, on the contrary, is capable of making a person a beggar. Starting contact with him, a person settles him in his home, thus he drinks all the financial well-being from him.
Mammon
“No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).
Mammon (Matt. 6:24, Luke 16:13) is a Syriac word meaning wealth or earthly goods. Tertullian translates the word "mammon" as "nummus" ("coin"). That mammon is the name of a pagan god is a medieval fable. The Holy Fathers explain in the following way the impossibility of simultaneously serving God and earthly goods.
John Chrysostom
:
“Do you see how Christ little by little removes the attachment to real goods, and by offering an extensive word about the contempt of wealth, overthrows the dominion of the love of money? He was not satisfied with what he had said before, although he spoke a lot and forcefully; but he also adds other motives, more formidable. What could be more striking than the words now spoken, if wealth, in fact, can separate us from serving Christ? And what is more desirable if, despite despising wealth, we can have true disposition and love for Christ? What I have always said, I will say now: namely, just like a skilled doctor who shows that illness comes from inattention to his advice, and health comes from obedience, Christ is to both, i.e. benefit and harm, encourages listeners to obey His words. So, see how Christ, destroying the obstacle, indicates and arranges our benefit.
Not only, He says, is wealth harmful to you because it arms robbers against you and completely darkens your mind; but mainly because it, making you captives of soulless wealth, removes you from the service of God, and thus harms you both by making you slaves of things over which you should dominate, and by preventing you from serving God, whom you must serve most of all. Just as He previously showed a double harm for those who gather wealth on earth - both that they collect wealth where aphids smolder, and that they do not collect it where the guards are the safest, so now He shows a double harm - and the one that wealth removes us from God, and the fact that it enslaves mammon. However, he does not immediately show this, but expresses general thoughts in advance, saying in this way: “no one can serve two masters.” Here, by two masters, He means masters who command something completely opposite to one another: otherwise they would not even be two. After all, the multitude of those who believed “had one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). Although the faithful were divided in body, they were one in mind. Then, reinforcing what was said, the Savior says: not only will he not serve, but he will also hate and turn away. “Or he will hate one,” He says, “and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other.” In these two sayings the Savior seems to express the same thought; but it is not without reason that He says this, but with the intention of showing how convenient it is to change for the better. Whatever you say: I am once and forever enslaved by wealth, oppressed by it, He shows that it is possible to change, it is possible to go over to both sides.
So, having expressed a general thought in order to force the listener himself to be an impartial judge of His words and to pronounce judgment on the basis of the matter itself, Christ, as soon as he saw that the listener agreed with His words, immediately revealed His thought: “You cannot,” he says, “serve God.” and Mammon." Let us think and be horrified at what we made Christ say - to compare wealth with God! Even if this is terrible to imagine, isn’t it much more terrible to actually work for wealth, and to prefer its autocratic dominion to the fear of God? So, what, someone will say, couldn’t the ancients have had this? Not at all. How did Abraham and Job please God, you ask? Do not mention to me the rich, but those who slavished to wealth. Job was rich, but did not serve Mammon; had wealth and possessed it, was its master and not its slave. He used it as a steward of someone else's property, not only not stealing someone else's, but also giving his own to the poor; and most of all, he did not enjoy what he had, as he himself testified to this, saying: “Did I rejoice that my wealth was great” (Job 31:25)? That is why, even when he lost his wealth, he did not grieve.
But these days the rich are not like that; they, being more unhappy than any captive, pay tribute to mammon, as to some cruel tyrant. The love of wealth, having taken possession of their hearts, as if with some kind of fortress, constantly gives them its commands from there, breathing lawlessness, and not one of them resists these commands. So, don't overthink it! God once and for all said that serving God and mammon cannot be combined together. Therefore, don’t say what can be connected. When Mammon orders us to steal someone else’s property, and God commands us to give away our own property; when God commands to lead a chaste life, and mammon - to live a prodigal life; when Mammon commands one to get drunk and be satiated, and God, on the contrary, commands to bridle the belly; when God commands us to despise real worldly goods, and mammon to cleave to them; when mammon makes you marvel at marbles, walls and roofs, and God makes you despise all this and honor true wisdom: how do you say that serving God and mammon can be united together?
Further, Christ called mammon mistress, not because mammon was a mistress by nature, but because of the pitiful state of those who servile her. In the same way, the womb is called god not because of its dignity, but because of the plight of those who serve it, which can torment the captive worse than any punishment and even before torment. In fact, what condemned people will not be more unhappy than those who, having God as Lord, overthrow His meek power and voluntarily submit to the most severe torment, despite the fact that the greatest harm occurs from here in real life? Hence the unspeakable harm, hence the quarrels, insults, strife, labor, spiritual blindness; and, what’s most intolerable, serving mammon completely deprives you of heavenly blessings.”
Evfimy Zigaben
:
“So I discovered the names of the two mentioned gentlemen. The Hebrews call Mammon wealth, which He called master because of the weakness of those over whom it dominates. What? Wasn't Abraham rich? Or Job and others (the righteous)? Yes, they were rich, but they did not slavish wealth, but were masters of it and distributed it to the poor. You cannot work for God and mammon, because God commands not only to abstain from someone else’s, but also to give your own, but mammon is the opposite: not only not to give your own, but also not to abstain from someone else’s. God commands to bridle the womb, and Mammon to yield to it; God commands one to be chaste, and Mammon commands to commit fornication, etc.”
Theophylact of Bulgaria
:
“By two masters he means those who give opposing orders. We, for example, make the devil our master, just as we make our womb god, but our God is by nature and truly Lord. We cannot work for God when we work for mammon. Mammon is all untruth. Do you see that it is impossible for the rich and unrighteous to serve God, for greed separates him from God?”
What is Mammon, and how does it influence human life?
An example of the negative influence of Mammon on a person can be the following example. A person works tirelessly and constantly experiences failures in his affairs. Here it is worth thinking about the invasion of otherworldly forces. In other words, the spirit is the inspiration of man's poverty. Thus, it is necessary to get rid of it, and for this we need to turn to history.
Story
The image of a demon named Mammon arose from a false interpretation of the word "mammon", or "mammon", borrowed from the Aramaic language and meaning "wealth" or "property", as well as "that which can be relied upon." In the New Testament, this word is used in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24) and in the parable of the unfaithful steward (Luke 16:13), both times as part of the same expression: “You cannot serve God and mammon.” In the Christian tradition, it was first used as an insult - to denote greed and money-grubbing, then it began to be understood as the name of a certain pagan deity (which did not actually exist) and, finally, turned into the name of one of the princes of hell, retaining, however, a common meaning (in In many languages, the word “mammon” is still used today as a synonym for greed, wealth, money, earthly goods, etc.).
As the name of a demon, the word “Mammon” already appears in the works of the church fathers (for example, Gregory of Nyssa in the 4th century identifies Mammon with Beelzebub), and in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Mammon became widely known as the personification of greed and ill-gotten wealth. He is mentioned either as a deity (for example, in “The Vision of Peter Plowman” by William Langland) or as a demon (in the works of many theologians and demonologists). In the visions of Saint Francis of Rome, Mammon, the demon of greed, seated “on the throne of this world,” occupies one of the highest places in the hierarchy of hell - the second in the trinity of spirits subordinate directly to Lucifer. Thomas Aquinas writes about “Mammon, who rides out of the underworld on a wolf to inflame human hearts with Greed”; in The Witches' Hammer, Mammon is defined as "the demon of stinginess and wealth"; and in Peter Binsfeld’s classification, this demon personifies the same sin of acquisitiveness.
In E. Spencer's poem "The Faerie Queene" (1590-1596), Mammon appears as the guardian of a shelter in which untold riches are stored; he is ugly and covered with black soot, like a miner or a blacksmith, but in his boastful monologue he calls himself “the god of this world” and claims that all mortals work tirelessly for him. The idea of Mammon as a spirit that encourages people to predatory extraction of earthly treasures is developed by Milton in Paradise Lost:
...Squad
Mammon leads;
Of all the fallen Spirits, he is the least exalted. greedy gaze - and in the Kingdom of God before was turned to the base and there not captivated by the contemplation of the blessed shrines , but by the riches of Heaven, Where gold was trampled underfoot. He set an example for people, taught them to look for treasures in the womb of the mountains and to plunder sacred treasures, for which it would be better to remain forever in the bosom of mother earth. A cut immediately appeared on the slope, and the craftsmen began to rip out the golden ribs. No wonder that gold arose in Hell. Where could there be more favorable soil
to grow this brilliant poison?
In Agrippa’s occult classification, Mammon, “the personification of greed,” is also given the last place among the rulers of hell - at the head of the lowest, ninth rank of “tempters and catchers of souls; One of these demons lives in every person, and that’s why they are also called evil geniuses.”
The image of Mammon has become widespread not only in literature, but also in the visual arts. In particular, he inspired English symbolist artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: in George Watts's painting Mammon (1884), this demon is dressed in royal robes and sits on a throne, holding bags of gold on his knees and trampling on the naked bodies of men and women crushed by his devilish power, and Evelina de Morgan in “The Adoration of Mammon” (1909) depicted him as a giant, whose face is hidden behind the edge of the picture - apparently as a sign that the thirst for profit dehumanizes a person and deprives him of individuality.
The story of Mammon
In ancient times, people were more connected with faith. It was quite difficult to meet a non-believer because religion was an important aspect of any person's life. The existence of the spiritual world was an indisputable fact, everyone wanted to have their own spiritual teacher and fill their soul with spiritual truths.
People did not worship a single god, but a large number of different deities. Each god was in charge of his own element. Such ceremonies of worship were absolutely normal, and the Bible bears witness to this. Bloody sacrifices were made, which, of course, were related to the tricks of evil spirits. Mammon is one of the most unpleasant creatures, because for their material well-being, people even sacrificed their own children to him.
Curse of Mammon
Ancestors sacrificed their children in hopes of gaining material wealth. Perhaps Mammon gave what was asked of him. However, in return for this, he took children from each subsequent generation. He did this in various ways. Someone had an abortion, someone's child died in the womb, someone's children died as a result of illness or an accident. These are all the machinations of the demon Mamon. He's just collecting his debt. This curse can pass from generation to generation. It is believed that if there have been cases of death of children in the family or there is a fear that the child may die, then these are all the actions of Mammon.
Therefore, it is necessary to always turn to the Lord with repentance and prayers. Only he can destroy the influence of Mammon. That’s why the Bible says that you cannot serve both the Lord and Mammon at the same time.
Consequences of serving Mammon
Such a sacrifice did not pass without a trace, because killing one’s own child is the greatest sin. This was some kind of curse on the whole family. Then this demon took children from subsequent families of the clan. Perhaps he carried out the person's desire, but the price of this money was too high. In any case, the women of the clan lost their children, this happened for various reasons. The demon himself pushed some to have abortions; other children got sick and died in the womb or shortly after their own birth.
Therefore, the demon takes payment in multiple amounts for his help. And such mysterious situations in the family can indicate the presence of a demon. Only God can stop this; it is he who is able to interrupt the action of the demon. But this should be facilitated by sincere prayer, and then everything will certainly work out. The children will be healthy and happy, and the demon will leave the souls of their parents.
Whom to worship?
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was also not a poor man. But he was easily able to sacrifice this to save his soul. It was through his death that Jesus was able to completely break the curses of this creature and other unclean creatures. Faith in God gives selfless happiness, real peace and health to one’s own children.
God will not leave his child in trouble, and this includes financial well-being. Of course, no one talks about untold riches, but still, everything necessary will definitely be provided through a person’s prayers. And in this situation, you don’t need to look for any demons in order to be just a happy person.
But you shouldn’t let demons into you, because this is a straight road that leads to hell. Moreover, such actions will certainly leave a mark on subsequent generations and will bring misfortune. The same statement can be made about a person who serves God. Subsequent generations of this person will receive special grace; they will have goodness in their hearts, which, if desired, they will want to develop and infect others with this grace. It is the Lord God who is able to give a person selfless love and grace, which is so necessary for peace of mind. This is how Mammon is described in the Bible.
The Hidden Truth of the Bible
The Son of God Jesus Christ was a rich man, He left it all in the name of the Lord. He showed that God and service to him are higher than self-satisfaction. By his untimely death, Jesus broke the curse of Mammon. When a person serves the Lord, prosperity, happiness, and wealth come into his life. And there is no need to worship someone else in the hope of gaining material wealth. All this carries certain consequences that can lead a person to hell. Moreover, this will negatively affect all subsequent generations. But if at least one person in a family serves the Lord, then all generations immediately receive great benefits.
Only God can selflessly bestow his mercy on people; the main thing is to sincerely turn to him and glorify his holy name.
Love of money
This human quality belongs to the sin list. This is quite simple to explain and quite understandable. The presence of excessive financial well-being in a person gives him enormous opportunities; he can fulfill all his desires, even the worst ones, which is a bad sign. To the question of who Mammon is, we can answer that he is the one who provokes a person to fulfill his sinful desires. Moreover, he also provides funds for them. Big money is an opportunity to commit your own sin. Although if a person is reasonable, then he can use his financial surplus to help people, but not everyone follows this path.
Is money a curse or a blessing?
For many, money has become a tool for committing sinful acts. Sometimes a person even ceases to understand that he is committing a terrible act. Sin takes away the mind, and feelings are controlled by other forces.
The thought of impunity arises in the head of a rich man. He thinks that he can do any act and buy it off with money. But this means nothing to God. After all, he sees the heart and thoughts, which means he knows the truth. A rich person begins to rely on his own well-being and forgets about God. This, of course, does not mean that you need to throw all your achievements into the trash, you just need to think with your heart.
