![]() ![]() Ancient Israel, early Judaism, Jesus, and the first Christians did not forget the poor, and if believers today wish to be faithful to their biblical heritage, neither can they. Hoppe suggests that just as poverty is not idealized in the Bible, so the poor should be a priority of every community of faith. Even when the Bible speaks of “poverty of the spirit” as a positive religious metaphor, God requires humans to seek social justice. Hoppe describes the various ways the Bible deals with the poor, but his fundamental conclusion is that the Bible never idealizes the reality of material poverty and the oppression of the poor by the rich. Sometimes the text is concerned about material poverty exclusively other times poverty becomes a metaphor for another reality. Sometimes poverty is a curse other times it is a blessing. The Bible describes the poor and poverty in a variety of ways. Hoppe introduces the study with the socioeconomic structures of ancient Israel and Roman Palestine, then proceeds systematically to examine the biblical evidence, including that of the Old Testament, New Testament, Apocrypha, and rabbinic literature. There Shall Be No Poor Among You is a careful and comprehensive but not overly technical study of the biblical portrait of the poor and poverty. ![]() You shall not be poor book by apostle Richard E S Takim ![]()
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