Avarice (from Lat. avarus, from aveo, crave, strive after), an undue love of money. Avarice consists not merely in seeking after worldly wealth too eagerly, or by unjust means, but in loving it excessively, even though it be our own. Avarice is in its nature sin, and, according to St. Paul, a kind of idolatry. Gregory the Great enumerates seven particular sins which spring from avarice, or, as he calls them, "daughters of avarice," viz. treasons, frauds, lies, perjuries, restlessness, violences, hardness of hearts (Mor. in Jobum, lib. 31, cap. 17). The cause of this vice is really unbelief. It "is because men believe not Providence, therefore do they so greedily scrape and hoard" (Barrow On the Creed, Sermon I). It grows by indulgence, and is strongest in the aged, as if, by a penal irony, they who can least enjoy riches should most desire, them (Wesley, Sermons, serm. 130).
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More