Many of us are familiar with the KJV rendering of this proverbial statement, “For the love of money is the root of all evil,” (1 Tim. 6:10). However, many modern translations render this as indefinite “a root” (NKJV, ESV, NASB, CSB, NIV, NRSV). They are trying to give the sense that money is not the root of all evil without exception. While loving money plays a significant role in leading people to do evil, it is not the one and only factor. Is the KJV wrong then in rendering “root” as a definite noun “the root”?

Is there something in the original language to indicate whether this should be “a” or “the”? We could get into the weeds of the Greek. We could note how there is no article before the noun translated “root,” but a rule of Greek grammar called “Colwell’s Canon” indicates that because this is a predicate nominative which precedes the copulative verb it does not include the article. But really all this shows is that in cases such as this, context must determine whether this is “a root” or “the root.”

What is the context? False teachers were a problem in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:6, 7). Their warped thinking approached godliness as a means of financial gain (1 Tim. 6:5). Paul, however, maintained that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6) if we will be satisfied with simple food and clothing (1 Tim. 6:8). Desiring to be rich, however, has plunged people into ruin and destruction (1 Tim. 6:9). To establish this point, Paul quotes a proverb, “for the love of money is the root of all evil.” Proverbs are usually set in absolute terms even though there are exceptions. We know this in reading the book of Proverbs. A soft answer turns away wrath, but not always without exception (Prov. 15:1). “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). However, this was not the case with Jesus. He pleased the Lord (Jn. 8:29), but enemies crucified him (Mk. 15:13). The proverbial explanation in 1 Timothy 6:10 is structured like the words Jesus had for Peter in the garden, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt. 26:52). Again, the proverb, though stated in absolute terms, has exceptions. Some soldiers are decommissioned or retire and die of natural causes. Not all who take the sword die by the sword. However, the statement would not be as powerful if Jesus said, “many who take the sword will perish by the sword.” When we understand 1 Timothy 6:10 is a proverb, it makes sense. The question is more an issue of interpretation than translation.

This proverb Paul quotes should make us mindful of greed. Many evils, such as false teaching, are a result of loving money rather than God. Jesus warned of the “deceitfulness of riches” (Mt. 13:22; Mk. 4:19), so a man may think earthly wealth doesn’t affect him when really it does.  However, we recognize there are other spiritual pitfalls than money including the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 Jn. 2:16). Sin is deceitful (Heb. 3:13). We should be on guard against the devil’s schemes (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:11; 2 Cor. 2:11). If one lure doesn’t work with us, he will use another. Let us not be blind to our spiritual ruin by boasting of one sort of sin we don’t have trouble with to the neglect of another sin that so easily ensnares us (Heb. 12:1; Gal. 6:1).

We were created to seek after God (Acts 17:24-27). However, for generations, those in power in the scientific and educational arenas have had a commitment to Naturalism and sought to remove God from our lives like the description in Romans 1:18-32. As Paul noted the implications of the false doctrine which denied the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:12-18, we should also think through the implications of Naturalism. If all that exists is material, then God, who is Spirit (Jn. 4:24), must not exist. All of us, then, must be made entirely of matter, and our conduct must then be a result of physical laws and processes without any mind or spirit above the physical. Free will, then, must not exist for every “decision” would really be the outcome of a physical process which, given our brain states, could not have any other result. People, then, are not morally responsible for their acts any more than a rock is responsible for falling down a hillside.

To be free of God and moral responsibility seems attractive for many, but what results is a lack of purpose in life which leads to despair. Arthur Miller, in his play, “After the Fall” noted this in a statement by his seemingly autobiographical character Quentin, “You know, more and more I think that for many years I looked at life like a case at law, a series of proofs. When you’re young you prove how brave you are, or smart; then, what a good lover; then a good father; finally, how wise, or powerful…I think now that my disaster really began when I looked up one day—and the bench was empty. No judge in sight. And all that remained was this endless argument with oneself—this pointless litigation of existence before an empty bench. Which, of course, is another way of saying—despair.”[1] These are not just misguided conclusions of an artist. Naturalism, with its lack of free will, lack of foundation for right and wrong, and lack of an afterlife leads to Nihilism.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon considers what is the ultimate meaning in all that is done “under the sun”; thus, limiting his scope to just this life with no final judgment, he concludes, “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun” (2:11). His only recourse from this despair was realizing man’s duty to God, the judge of good and evil, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecc. 12:13-14).

Naturalism is missing something. It wants to limit reality to only material processes, but then it finds itself at odds with free will. Determinism is the only way to remain consistent with naturalism. But when determinism is realized to be devoid of morality and meaning, consistency demands that one conclude that reality is not limited to natural processes. God must exist. Our lives do have meaning. The Judge of all is at the bench (Rev. 20:12). We will live beyond our physical bodies and give an account before the Lord of what we have done in our bodies (2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27). We must repent and humble ourselves before Him (Acts 17:30, 31).

[1] Arthur Miller. The Portable Arthur Miller. Edited By Christopher Bigsby. New York: Penguin, 1995. P. 262