No. The sentence people quote is a shortened version of 1 Timothy 6:10, and every word that
went missing matters. Paul does not write that money is the root of all evil. He writes that
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Money is a tool. Loving it is a condition
of the heart. And a root, not the root: greed is one source of evil among several, which is
why cruelty and pride manage fine without a bank account.
That correction is not a loophole. Read the whole paragraph and it gets less comfortable,
not more. The positive core sits in verses 6 to 8: godliness with contentment is great
gain, we brought nothing into the world, food and covering are enough. The warning in verse
9 lands on people determined to be rich: the wanting, not the having. Some who reached for
it wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
So the honest reading cuts both ways. You cannot use this verse to call every wealthy
believer corrupt, and you cannot use the correction to excuse a life organised around
getting more.
The passages
Printed in full from the public-domain World English Bible, resolved from a local copy of
that text before this page was built. Read them before you take our summary on trust, and
see how we read Scripture on money for the ten rules
every page here follows.
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. 8But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
10He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. 11When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? 12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
5Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” 6So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”