Description
The church is called to be a “city on a hill,” to be “rich in good deeds,” and especially so to the poor. How has the church fared in this task historically, and how might we heed this calling better in today’s societies? The contributors in this book believe that the Scriptures and our early Christian forerunners can help us understand more clearly how to engage with economics, poverty, and wealth to the end that the church better serves the poor. Readers will encounter a breadth of topics including exegesis and themes of biblical passages, early Christian economic ethics, the prospects of Universal Basic Income, the role of almsgiving, and economic thoughts from Christians of earlier eras. If we are to serve the poor, we ought to do so thoughtfully and effectively, and these chapters will aid the reader toward that end.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Contributors
Preface
1. Mercy as Jesus’s Response to Poverty in Matthew’s Gospel
J. Benjamin Hussung
2. Poverty and the Dynamic Use of Wealth in James 5:1–6
Todd A. Scacewater
3. A Moral Case against the Universal Basic Income
David S. Kotter
4. The Alignment of Modern Economic Theory and Biblical Teaching
Robert L. Plummer
5. Almsgiving in the Evangelical Tradition
Joseph C. Harrod
6. How an Improper Paradigm for Giving Harms the Poor: Toward a Biblical Understanding of Christian Giving
David A. Croteau
7. Carl F. H. Henry, American Capitalism, and Evangelical Engagement
Matthew J. Hall
8. Cocoa for Cloth: The Use of “Our Lands, Goods, and Bodies” in the Life of William Kiffen
Michael A.G. Haykin
9. “Something Divine Mingled among Them”: Care for the Parentless and the Poor as Ecclesial Apologetic in the Second Century
Timothy Paul Jones
10. Dynamics of Benefaction in an Early Christian Martyrdom Narrative
Megan DeVore
About the Editor
Robert L. Plummer, Ph.D., is the Collin and Evelyn Aikman Professor of Biblical Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. Dr. Plummer is host of the popular Daily Dose of Greek screencast and author, editor, or co-author of several books, including 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible (Kregel, 2010, 2021), Beginning with New Testament Greek (B&H Academic, 2020) and Going Deeper with New Testament Greek (B&H Academic, 2020).
