Rich Christians in an age of hunger : a biblical study

內容簡介

Introduction -- Two scenarios -- The background -- The future and our response -- Famine redefined -- Part I: Poor Lazarus and rich Christians -- 1. A billion hungry neighbors -- The third world and fourth worlds -- Infants, brain damage, and protein -- 2. The affluent motility -- A widening chasm -- Poverty at 15,000 dollars a year? -- Promises, promises -- How generous are we? -- Rationalizing our affluence -- Part II: A biblical perspective on the poor and possessions -- 3. God and the poor -- Pivotal points of revelation history -- God identifies with the poor -- God's special instruments -- Is God a Marxist? -- God's concern and ours -- 4. Economic relationships among the people of God -- The jubilee principle -- The Sabbatical year -- Laws on tithing and gleaning -- Models to follow and avoid -- Jesus' new community -- The Jerusalem model -- Economic koinonia -- Conclusion -- 5. A biblical attitude toward property and wealth -- Private property -- A carefree attitude toward possessions -- The rich fool -- The ring and the beloved -- Righteousness and riches -- 6. Structural evil and world hunger -- The Bible and structural evil -- Institutionalized evil today -- How much coffee buys a jeep? -- Consumption of nonrenewable resources -- Feeding America's one and a half billion -- Making fair profit? -- Why are bananas cheaper than apples? -- The repentance of Zacchaeus -- Part III: Implementation -- 7. The graduated tithe and other less modest proposals: toward a simpler lifestyle -- The God of North America and its prophet -- The graduated tithe -- A liberated family -- Communal living -- Practical suggestions -- Criteria for giving -- 8. Watching over one another in love -- A sociological perspective -- New patterns of Christian community -- A congregation of house churches -- The individual house church -- The Christian commune -- 9. Structural change -- Who will be helped? -- International trade -- A new food policy -- Giving bombs or bread? -- Ringing the liberty bell -- Epilogue.