Always with us?
Subtitle: what Jesus really said about the poor
By: Liz Theoharis
Series: Prophetic Christianity; Prophetic Christianity
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 185
ISBN-13: 9780802875020
Subjects: Social Issues; SOCIAL SCIENCE; Christian Life; Christianity; RELIGION; Poverty; Church work with the poor; Poverty & Homelessness
Description: A strong theological call for ending the abomination of systemic poverty. Jesus's words "the poor you will always have with you" (Matthew 26:11) are regularly used to suggest that ending poverty is impossible, that poverty is a result of moral failures, and that the poor themselves have no role in changing their situation. In this book Liz Theoharis examines both the biblical text and the lived reality of the poor to show how that passage is taken out of context, distorted, and politicized to justify theories about the inevitability of inequality. Theoharis reinterprets "the poor you will always have with you" to show that it is actually one of the strongest biblical mandates to end poverty. She documents stories of poor people themselves organizing to improve their lot and illuminates the implications for the church. Poverty is not inevitable, Theoharis argues. It is a systemic sin, and all Christians have a responsibility to partner with the poor to end poverty once and for all. - Back of book.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 154-172) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Is ending poverty possible?; title: Reading the Bible with the poor; title: No needy among you; title: Don't laugh, folks, Jesus was a poor man; title: More than flinging a coin to a beggar; title: Christ, the social-movement.