The Amazing Creators Camel

[Panda Rosa]

Originally Posted by Dasla

There is also no information on wether this camel can fit through the eye of needle.

Oh that's no trouble at all... you'll notice the Bible never specifies the size of the needle.

[Hummelcat]

Originally Posted by Dasla

...There is also no information on wether this camel can fit through the eye of needle.

Originally Posted by Panda Rosa

Oh that's no trouble at all... you'll notice the Bible never specifies the size of the needle.

From the OP:

In fact, I've been known to go eight days without a drink, but then I look like a wreck. I lose 227 pounds, my ribs show through my skin, and I look terribly skinny. But I feel great! I look thin because the billions of cells lose their water. They're no longer fat. They're flat.

He waits until he's been on the wagon for a while, THEN he slides right through that ol' needle. The rich guy has to wait for the camel to travel through the desert to find out if he (the rich guy) can get into heaven.

[Richard W]

And anyway, isn't "the eye of the needle" supposed to be some gate in the walls of Jerusalem, that was renowned for being particularly wide so that rich people could bring big carts overflowing with massive bags of gold through it, or something?

[Alarm]

Originally Posted by Richard W

And anyway, isn't "the eye of the needle" supposed to be some gate in the walls of Jerusalem, that was renowned for being particularly wide so that rich people could bring big carts overflowing with massive bags of gold through it, or something?

Goes to show you can be rich, and not be smart. Just melt the gold, pour it into thin bars and then you can have very slim carts carry it around.

Tadah! You can get into heaven!

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by Richard W

And anyway, isn't "the eye of the needle" supposed to be some gate in the walls of Jerusalem, that was renowned for being particularly wide so that rich people could bring big carts overflowing with massive bags of gold through it, or something?

The story is often told, but there is no evidence such a gate existed. See:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...ye-of-a-needle

Nick

[Panda Rosa]

I've heard of the Camel and Needle Gateway idea; I've also heard that the "camel" could also refer to the thickest size of rope (like a ship's hawser) even as the needle is just a sewing needle, possibly one used for embroidery.
Personally I wonder if Jesus was either making a joke, ala, "When pigs fly", or asking us to think about things, think outside the box.

[crocoduck_hunter]

My favorite hypothesis is that it was a typo: the original phrase was supposed to be about the difficulty of getting a needle through the eye of a camel.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

Originally Posted by Panda Rosa

Oh that's no trouble at all... you'll notice the Bible never specifies the size of the needle.

I always though of it that way.

May be it was one of the needles God used to sew the univers together and left lying around.

[Lainie]

If the eye of the needle isn't small enough to make it difficult for a camel to pass through, what's the point?

[GenYus234]

To make the poor think that it is difficult for the rich to get into heaven so the poor wouldn't decide to rise up and take the rich's money. IE, the Bible was the Fox News of the time.

Karl Marx: "Religion is the opiate of the masses."
Calvin's TV: "Karl Marx hadn't seen anything yet."

[erwins]

But the poor wouldn't think so if it referred to a wide gate.

[GenYus234]

If the rich knew it referred to a wide gate, but the poor thought it referred to an actual needle (because the guards only allowed the rich to use the gate) then it would still work.

[erwins]

So the poor wouldn't know the name of the gate because they weren't allowed to go through it?

[GenYus234]

Right. It was called a different name, but had the correct name in gold inlay in the underside of the arch. Only someone passing under the arch could read it.

[erwins]

According to?

[GenYus234]

Ecclesiastes 10: 11-15

[erwins]

The idea of it being an example of dog-whistle politics/religion is good though.

[Panda Rosa]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

My favorite hypothesis is that it was a typo: the original phrase was supposed to be about the difficulty of getting a needle through the eye of a camel.

If anything, that's even more difficult.

[Tom o' Bedlam]

I could swear I've heard or read or seen something about someone who had a giant needle constructed specifically to circumvent the camel/needle problem. I even have a vague recollection of seeing a photograph of the thing sticking up out of the ground so that the eye essentially formed an archway.

Anyway, while a Google search shows that a lot of people have jokingly suggested (and in at least one instance, painted) the idea, I can find nothing about anyone who's actually followed through with it, so maybe I'm just confused.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Panda Rosa

If anything, that's even more difficult.

Especially for the camel.