Buying insurance for the purpose of changing what God wanted to happen would be no less than a rebellious act, since it would be a plot to change what God willed. It is paramount to planning to take back whatever God decides to take from you.

The difference between insurance and gambling is that gambling is exchanging a small sum for the chance at a large payout - to the better, and insurance when it pays out it only replaces a loss that has occurred. Insurance is purchasing peace of mind - that you don’t have to set aside large sums of money to replace your stuff should you lose it to a catastrophe.

The biblical world view towards gambling is that Christ followers believe there is no such thing as luck. That God knows all and controls all, if there were such as a thing as luck, that would be admitting that God wasn’t in control of everything. The common sense part is with most studies I’ve read about in news articles and from faith based organizations have come to the conclusion that gambling leads to higher crime rates, higher substance abuse rates, family dysfunction. I don’t have anything to link to that would back this up, but a Google search should find plenty.

The only difference I can discern between gambling and insurance is the amount of pleasure involved. Traditional gambling is placing money against the odds of a random(ish) event happening in your favour. Insurance is placing money against the odds of a random(ish) event happening to your detriment. Both involve a monetary payout. Both are calculated against odds. One is fun, one is not.

So, I think the question is a valid one and there’s no need to get upset about it.

Perhaps the fundamental difference is that if you don’t gamble you don’t stand to lose anything but if you don’t insure you stand to lose a lot?

Those here who state a moral issue with gambling: is your reasoning Biblically-based or is it just common sense based on how some people can become addicted to the buzz of gambling and thus waste money? If so, what would be the issue with receiving money from someone who’s won (especially if you can see that they don’t have an addiction to gambling)?

My definition of insurance is widely accepted in the world of business and finance, for pete’s sake I even work for a large insurance company. I’m not going to participate anymore in this discussion because you are throwing out straw men.

Now, what’s the difference (other than semantics) between this and car insurance?

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