Wealth and Religious Movements

Many times, rich people have an incomplete feeling when being rich is all they have accomplished in life. Rodney Stark, in his book The Triumph of Christianity, gives a picture of wealth and religious movements:

Buddhism – Buddha was a prince, and 55 of his converts were from nobility.

Zoroastrianism – Zoroaster converted a king, queen, and court of a nearby kingdom.

Taoism and Confucianism – Both began among Chinese elites.

Orphism and Pythagoreanism in ancient Greece – According to Plato, they were based on the upper classes.

Even Moses was an Egyptian prince, but he gave up his position. Compare that to Jesus Christ, who was born to very poor parents in a very simple and poor place. He never owned property or a house. As far as we know, He never traveled by a wheeled vehicle or animal until He came to Jerusalem on a donkey near the end of His ministry, not on a horse as the rich would have.

The twelve apostles and other followers of Jesus did not show the same poverty level as Christ. Fishermen could be considered wealthy in Jesus’ day. Peter (Simon) and Andrew were partners of James and John, who owned a boat and left it with their father Zebedee and his hired servants (Mark 1:20). Peter apparently owned two houses, one in Bethsaida and another in Capernaum. Mark’s mother owned a house in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). Matthew was a wealthy tax collector, and so was Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Joseph of Arimathea was very rich (Matthew 27:57), and Joanna and Susanna were wealthy women who supported Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3).

What is the connection between wealth and religious movements? Why are wealthy people the founders of various religions except Christianity, where Jesus stands out as an exception?  Being rich doesn’t seem to bring the security and satisfaction people desire. In America, many of the wealthiest people have failed marriages and troubled children, with many overdosing or committing suicide. A strong argument for Christianity is the words of Jesus: “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

— John N. Clayton © 2025

Reference: Rodney Stark, in his book The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, page 100