-> And did he advocate preachers getting rich?
-> 
-> Bit of a thorny issue here!

Not even barely; Jesus had an accountant (who screwed him), was pissed off
at the wall street of the time, believed in paying taxes... 
-> 
-> I think any preacher who uses the Gospels to justify getting rich
-> deserves to have to pay TAXES!
A lot worse than that. :-)
 

-> Preacher: Donkey, wise men's gifts, expensive undergarments prove Jesus
-> was wealthy

The Donkey was  a free rental, and...expensive undergarments? C-o-m-e ON!
:-)

-> 
-> Professor: "torturous interpretations" and historical
naivete make Jesus
-> rich
->
Exactly.
 
-> Televangelists have built megachurches by equating piety and prosperity
->
And fear with 'tithing'.
 

-> his expensive undergarments. Even Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, lived
-> and traveled in style, he says.

The Garments were, evidently, the only things Jesus owned. Some rich!

-> 

 
-> A clash of gospels?

A mere sign of greed, a desire for power.

-> 

-> piety with prosperity.

Hell, some people vote Republican. :-)

-> example: The 12th chapter of the Gospel of John says that Jesus had a
-> treasurer, or a "keeper of the money bag."

Ah. Yes. 
-> 
-> "The last time I checked, poor people don't have treasurers to take care
-> their money," says Brown, author of "Devil, Demons and Spiritual
-> Warfare."
He should check again. You do your own taxes? Those who don't are rich?


-> 
-> A debate over the economic status of Jesus may seem nonsensical to some.
-> Does it really matter whether Jesus was rich or poor?

No.

-> 
-> It matters to people like Luke Timothy Johnson, a prominent New
-> Testament scholar and author. He says that a rich Jesus is a distortion
-> of history and a threat to one of Christianity's core teachings: God's
-> identification with the poor.
Recognition of and compassion for is NOT identification with...

The whole topic is distasteful. Caesar and God are differentiated by Jesus.

-> 
-> "If Jesus reveals God...
Wow! Jesus reveals man as he should be, in tune with, but revealed?
 



, there is something powerful about God appearing
-> and working among the poor,"

What profession was Jesus working? Healer? 

 
-> "Jesus' lifestyle is not of one in a gated community or a corporate
-> office," says Johnson, a former Benedictine monk.

Amazing news!


 "You don't have to go
-> through a security gate to get to Jesus. People touch him. He reached
-> out and touched children...

So did a lot of catholic Priests...oops. sorry..

 His accessibility is one of the most powerful
-> messages of Christianity.

Through a priest mainly for a few hundred years - some message!



 In Jesus, God is with us, and the majority of
-> us are poor."

Which neatly says exactly nothing at all.


-> 
-> Some prosperity preachers extract a different message from the same
-> biblical texts.

Noooo kidding!


 
-> "Jesus said you will always have the poor, but you will not always have
-> me," Brown says. "Jesus did not affirm himself as being
part of the poor
-> class...

A fairly simple distortion, but would take time...
-> 
-> "I believe he was the richest man on the face of the earth because he
-> had God as his source," Brown says.

Right! Leap from the actual to the abstract! 

-> 
 
-> The New Testament reports that Roman soldiers gambled for Jesus'
-> clothing while he hung on the cross. They wouldn't gamble for Jesus'
-> clothing unless it was expensive, Anderson says.

Hey Anderson: Would somebody pay $100,000.00 for one glove?


-> 
-> "I don't know anybody -- even Pamela Anderson -- that would have people
-> gambling for his underwear," Anderson says.

Even Pamela Anderson? Even? 

 "That was some fine stuff he
-> wore."

Anderson is possessed. Girls: Don't talk about your panties with Anderson.
-> 
-> Anderson says Jesus never would have had disciples or a large following
-> if he was poor. He would not have been able to command their respect.

There's a neat-o elitist remark.
-> 
-> "The poor will follow the rich, the rich will follow the rich, but the
-> rich will never follow the poor," Anderson says.

Wow. I'd think that would be dependent on exactly what was being followed.
There are no rich people following poor preachers? Rich investors are not
following poor scientists?  
-> 
-> Twisting scripture for personal gain?

A habit (tradition) at LEAST 1,600 years old... 
-> 
-> Johnson, the Emory University New Testament professor, calls Anderson's
-> argument "completely illogical."

Whew! Yes.
-> 
 
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