Talk:Materialism and Christianity

message: Noone has ever called themselves a "Christian materialist".  The term is essentially an accusation of insincere faith on the part of some Christian fundamentalists by more liberal Christians.  This accusation certainly deserves an article as a concept, but it should be treated neutrally, and not as a matter-of-fact trend.--Pharos 04:46, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: See my remarks below--Trovatore —Preceding undated comment added 05:42, 30 June 2005 (UTC)

text: No, that's not my understanding of the concept.  I think Christian materialists are materialist as far as human beings are concerned, not so much with respect to God, and perhaps not with respect to angels and demons (I'm not sure on this latter point). --Trovatore 16:01, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

text: Spong explicitly denies theism; I don't think he's what we have in mind here.  You could almost call him a "Christian atheist".  Christian materialists are at the other end of the spectrum; they are extreme Biblical textualists. --Trovatore 16:01, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

text: I think a great many philosophical positions and combinations of positions are possible.  My point is that Spong himself explicitly denies the existence of a "theistic God", his words.  What exactly he means by that I'm not completely sure; it's possible that he's a theist by your definition, even if not by his own. --Trovatore 21:52, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

text: User:Mathcat - I've added your archbishop quote. FatalSubjectivities (talk) 05:34, 3 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: The "Historical background" and "Josemaria Escriva and Opus Dei" sections appear to be talking about ontological materialism, whereas the "Evangelical ministry and capitalist marketing" and "Critique of American religious culture" sections seem to be about economic materialism. These are almost unrelated senses; I don't know if the two notions of "Christian materialism" even belong in the same article. If they're both kept, then a clear distinction should be made. --Trovatore 06:50, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Spot-on observation. FatalSubjectivities (talk) 05:28, 3 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: confusion over meaning of "materialism" in article

message: I'm no expert on Theology but jumping straight in there with a quote by Ratzinger (I assume you mean the pope) seems like poor form. The sentence structure doesn't make sense and it doesn't actually explain the historical background, while the first sentence of the "Josemaría Escrivá and Opus Dei" section refers to the earliest reference. I suggest attempting to make the part about Ratzinger and his quotes more understandable, specifying that this may only be relevant to Catholics if this is the case and putting it below the 'earliest reference'. I also suggest adding a definition section above history.--Senor Freebie (talk) 23:56, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Poor order 

message: Christian materialism was a term current in late 19th century Anglicanism. Anglo-catholic priests with socialist leanings were sometimes known as Christian materialists because the believe the Christian massage was about reforming this material world rather than preparing for some future spiritual world (heaven)
It is probably a subset of Christian Socialism and should link to Stewart Hedlam and said Archbishop William Temple.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.10.41.11 (talk) 03:33, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Christian socialism 

message: This article ventures off into a complete misunderstanding of the quotations from John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Josemaria Escriva.
They would all be horrified to be described in any way as advocates of materialism - it was the complete opposite.
John Paul II's Dominum and Vivificantem talked about the problems of materialism.
Ratzinger/Benedict XVI talked in numerous places about the problems of materialism, both economic, ethical, and philosophical.
Josemaria Escriva talks about "materializing the spiritual life." The point being to bring material realities into contact with the spiritual/supernatural life.
There is no large support for "Christian materialism" by the Catholic Church. It is a complete misreading. 
This should all be deleted. Possibly one of the much earlier versions of the page is closer to an accurate description.
ArtKalb (talk) 07:34, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Complete misreading of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Josemaria Escriva