Money, mania, and morals : the churches and gambling

Abstract

Protestant and Orthodox Christians — with the assistance of the Jewish communities — have often been vocal in their opposition to gambling. Some of this opposition has been for the wrong reasons. The teaching of a negative, legalistic ethic in the churches has decreased in recent years; yet constructive teaching on gambling has seldom taken the place of the negative. Churchmen are for or against the practice with little awareness of the Christian issues involved. Churches have declared their positions and often left them buried in books of church law. Pamphlets have been published on the issue, but seldom with enough length to do justice to the subject. No thorough study of gambling from the biblical and theological perspective of the churches has been made. No attempt to compare and evaluate the positions of the churches and synagogues has been published. It is hoped the present volume will fulfill this need for churchmen who seek to understand and respond to the problems from a Christian perspective. Churches and synagogues, councils of churches, may find here new grounds of cooperation in fulfilling their citizenship responsibilities in the world. Public officials faced with gambling legislation will also have here a guide to the teachings of the churches.