Quotes from the Ancients, Scriptural and/or Religious

 

We welcome additions of quotes and viewpoints on land ethics and policies from all religions of the world. Please send material to Alanna at earthrights dot net

 

 

 

Leviticus 25:23

Nehemiah 5:11    

Ecclesiastes 5:9

Isaiah 5:8

Talmudic Teachings

Tiberius Gracchus

Pliny the Elder

Aristotle

Pope St. Gregory I

Ambrose

St. George the Great

Clement of Alexandria

St. John Chrystostom

Augustine

Basil the Great

Catholic

Methodist

Episcopalian

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Theologian Charles Avila Theologian Charles Avila,

Theologian John B. Cobb, Jr.

Theologian Walter Brueggeman

Father Matthew Fox

 

Islamic Perspectives:

 

Land Reforms & Absentee Landlordism

 

The Islamic Law on Land Tax and Rent: The Peasants’ Loss of Property Rights as Interpreted in the Hanafite Literature of the Mamlu7k and Ottoman Period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leviticus 25:23 -

 

Moses, says the Bible (Leviticus 25:23), heard Jehovah say circa BC 1400:

 "The land shall not be sold forever; for the land is mine;for ye are strangers and sojourners with me." (King James Version)

 

“No land shall be sold in perpetuity, because the land belongs to Me and you are lodgers and tenants with Me.” (Modern Language)

 

“And remember, the land is mine, so you may not sell it permanently. You are merely my tenants and sharecroppers!  (Living Bible)

“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for th4e land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me.” (Revised Standard)

Nehemiah 5:11  -

“Restore, I pray you, to them even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, and their houses, and also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.” (King James Version)

“Restore today, I earnestly ask of you, their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards and their houses, as well as the hundredth part of the money, the grain, the new wine and the oil which you have exacted from them.” (Modern Language)

“Restore their fields, vineyards, oliveyards, and homes to them this very day and drop your claims against them.” (Living Bible)

“Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards and their houses and the hundredth of money, grain, wine, and oil which you have been exacting of them. (Revised Standard)

Ecclesiastes 5:9 -

Wise Solomon declared:  “Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king himself is served by the field.”  (King James Version)

“After all, a king devoted to the field is an advantage to the land.”  (Modern Language)

“And over them all is the king. Oh, for a king who is devoted to