"... it is improbable that Luke would have addressed a word with such narrow application to disciples. Moreover, his reference to the failure of mammon indicates that all wealth is regarded as 'mammon of unrighteousness' (compare Sirach 5:8; 1 Enoch 63:10). A second view regards 'mammon of unrighteousness' as expressing the essential evilness of possessions. Thus Herbert Braun infers: 'The third gospel understands possessions as something fundamentally evil which must be given up in view of the approaching judgment.' This interpretation falls foul of the fact that of all the evangelists Luke is the only one who indicates a positive appreciation of the constructive role which possessions can play, The point of the parable of the unjust steward does not lie in urging disciples to flee possessions, but in persuading them to use them wisely and constructively in the light of their eventual 'failure.' They are called upon to be 'faithful with unrighteous mammon,' an odd turn of phrase if what Luke means is that possessions are to be shunned as inherently evil. He obviously intends that the poor are to be advantaged by the reception of alms, and is proud of the early church's achievement in abolishing want. The leaders of the early church are not pictured abandoning wealth, but carefully administering it for the good of the community. Others have suggested that possessions are characterized as 'unrighteous' because of their tendency to corrupt, or because they are so often tainted with unrighteousness through their acquisition and use or because of their idol-like potential ..."