Customer Reviews

The Good of Affluence: Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth

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When I was growing up, many well-meaning people talked to me about my obligation to care about global poverty, but their message was so extreme it was unlivable. The message was simple: as long as there is one child dying of hunger in the world, you have no right to enjoy the wealth and privilege you've been given as a citizen of this country. You should feel guilty for everything you have and live on as little as possible. As a college teacher, I see many of my students receive this same message, and many of them respond as I did: because the burden of guilt is too heavy to be borne, they give up on caring for the poor at all. John Schneider's book is a much-needed antidote to this guilt-ridden message. Schneider begins with a careful reading of Scripture and demonstrates how we should care for the poor while at the same time enjoying the goodness of God's abundant creation. This book is not a glorification of self-indulgence, but a call for a biblically-grounded attitude of generous delight in the gifts of God. I have used this book as a classroom text, and it was very well received.
Full disclosure: I'm acquainted with John Schneider, since we teach at the same college. However, I have many other colleagues whose books are for sale on Amazon, and this is the only such book I've ever bothered to review. I personally found the book to be a helpful word of grace.

Author John Schneider answers the question with a resounding, NO! This book provides Christians with a Godly vision to live with integrity and humility in our capitalist society. Schneider eloquently describes how well off Christians can live in faith while enjoying life to the fullest. Schneider posits that God created man to delight in God's glory, including material delight. Schneider helps us properly achieve and enjoy affluence as God intended, in a God-centered, not self-centered, way.

Our delight includes compassion for our neighbors, especially the poor and powerless. This is an essential part of God's vision for us. But God does not require Christians to sell all of their possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. Schneider rejects as unbiblical critics of wealth who would impose the doctrines of asceticism or utilitarianism on Christians. However, God does call on us to use our affluence in a creative and redemptive manner to help the poor and powerless. Schneider persuasively argues that this directive is limited by the principle of moral proximity, which he describes at length.

Abundance is a condition that God intends for all of us. This book deftly helps Christians remain faithful to God while enjoying the fruit God provides in this capitalist culture. I highly recommend this book.

When I first saw the title, The Good of Affluence, I was excited. I remember thinking how appropriate the title was, since most North Americans are affluent by world standards. I assumed that this Christian author's primary focus would be the scriptural mandate that those who are affluent must be "generous and willing to share" and a reminder that "to whom much is given, much will be expected".

I was surprised when I learned that a book, written by a Calvin College professor, suggests that the good of affluence is that the owner of this affluence can "delight" in his affluency.

In The Good of Affluence John R. Schneider sets out to build the case that God wants to lavish his riches on his children and wants his children to "delight" in all the good things they receive from him. So far so good but when he suggests that "it is the condition of affluence alone that makes full delight possible" (Pg. 61) I disagree.

As I read and reread The Good of Affluence, I kept looking for Schneider's insights on Biblical passages that indicate that the affluent need to help those who are not.

I never found it.

Instead Schneider specifically suggests that affluence does not necessarily put a moral burden of significant responsibility on the affluent.

Furthermore he introduces us to an argument that pretty much relieves us of sharing with anyone we do not know. He builds this argument on a concept he calls Moral Proximity. His argument is that even in today's global society we have no responsibility to anyone who is not morally proximate to us unless we feel some special kind of call.

Schneider argues that if we were responsible for or had an obligation to all poor people "the vision and blessing of material delight would be impossible to accept". (Pg. 89)

He further argues that moral proximity makes sense because without it we would have to help everybody worldwide and wouldn't have any wealth left in which to delight. Here he uses a gross negative exaggeration to support his conclusion. Scripture does not say that all Christians must give away all their wealth. It does say that all Christians must be generous and willing to share. It also says: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

The concept of moral proximity is a powerful but incorrect argument that gives Christians in North America a convenient excuse for their abysmal giving record. The pathetic giving record of most Christians is evidence that they do not need additional rational for not giving.

Schneider attempts to bolster his position by claiming that Christians already give "1 or 2% of their income to people in remote parts of the world". (Pg. 98) This can hardly be true in light of the evangelical giving average of 2.9%, most of which the local church spends on itself.

Schneider's book does a great disservice to the cause of Christian charity. Based on his arguments there is no compelling need for us to support our global Christian family or the poor and disenfranchised in developing countries unless we happen to feel a particular call to do so.

God wants to bless us with every good thing but he then expects us to share with the poor, wherever they are, so that they too will have every good thing.

Diddn't like the book at all! Disagreed with the author, thought it had a very selfish, and haughty view of wealth and affluance.

A very worthwhile an informative study on the theology of work and economics. Written fromm a Christian perspective, it debunks the common thought that believers should divest themselves from possessions. The author also engages in a survey of Old and New Testament thought and how it relates to current thinking about monetary matters. Strongly defending capitalism as the reason for why the USA became a strong country, this book is highly recommended for those interested in current economic developments.

Of all the issues that hold ideological significance in my life, none reach the level of gravity that the subject of faith and capitalism do. I am convinced that there are more souls to be won by demonstrating the compatibility of free market economics with the Judeo-Christian worldview than any other mechanism on the planet. Likewise, I am convinced that there are more societies and nations that can be won over to prosperity and freedom, if but only for the faith community's stubborn inability to embrace such. Dr. John Schneider's remarkable work, The Good of Affluence: Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth, is a huge first step in seeing this dream become reality.

I do not know what impact the book will end up having, as I do not believe it has received the audience it deserves. I am determined to change that. But allow me to comment a bit on what the book has successfully demonstrated:

- That God, as part of his normative will, desires for His people to live in delight. Our covenantal journey is one of starting at, and returning to, Edenic conditions. This is an economic journey, just as it is a spiritual and moral one. Schneider's thesis ought not be confused with prosperity theology. Schneider does not argue that all Christians will live in prosperity; he merely argues that those who do are called to such, and ought not be ashamed.

- The doctrine of moral proximity. That is, that believers are most responsible for the things most proximate to them. After reading Schneider's elaboration here, it is almost too obvious to be profound. But I believe it has gigantic implications in the Christian life.

- That the "problem texts" for rich Christians are 100% of the time "problems" only for those abusing the poor - not those whose hard work and ambition has created material abundance. Schneider carries us through Eden, the Exodus, the prophets, and the age of Jesus' own earthly ministry. He powerfully posits that riches are not only not condemned in the Scriptures, they are encouraged. This is where Schneider's credentials as a theologian become very valuable. Pagans like Adam Smith, F.A. Hayek, Joseph Schumpter, and Ludwig Von Mises have done yeoman's work in demonstrating the superior capabilities of free market ideology. Contemporary economists like Milton Friedman and Larry Kudlow have elaborated on such, and done so with a certain appreciation for faith and values. But theologically pedigreed scholars have been few and far between in the movement to advocate a decidedly capitalistic culture. Schneider gives us the best of all worlds.

The notion that all Christians belong in the "promised land" is rank heresy. But so is the idea that all Christians belong in the "wilderness". The sociological benefits of capitalism are so clear and so persuasive it is remarkable that the discussion still has to take place. The Proverbial message of hard work leading to prosperity is not merely descriptive - it is prescriptive as well. Schneider goes beyond the historical, sociological, and economic arguments for free market capitalism. He intertwines such with the theological prescription that has been so massively absent from the works of Ron Sider, Jim Wallis, and Brian McClaren. No theology professor in the country has written a book as important as Schneider's this decade. I commend it wholeheartedly, and even more so, commend the efforts of all people of faith to bridge political and economic ideology with theology.

Initially I was looking forward to reading this book, I was hoping for something that was perhaps the opposite of the "God wants you to be rich" message. But I kept getting hung up on the choice of words the author (a professing Christian) kept using to make his points. For instance on page 2 John Schneider says that capitalism is "the greatest liberating power in human history." Really? Even above the cross? I felt in his rush to get me on his side, Schneider never stopped to consider his tone of voice. Schneider's over all point was that capitalism was "good." But I had a hard time giving that definition to a "system." Capitalism left to its own may have the potential to be good, but the truth is that people are always the catalysts behind everything - so capitalism can only be as good as the people who wield it.

Another thing I took issue with was Schneider's defining of the words poverty and oppression. It seemed as though he was arguing that the two words were always interchangeable; and I would disagree. He even tried to argue that the Israelites in Egypt were "poor" (top of page 69) God wasn't trying to liberate the Jews from "poverty" he was (and is always) trying to liberate his people from a system of oppression. If it were only God's endgame to eradicate poverty, then I feel Jesus would have come with sacks of money. Instead Jesus came with a message of freedom and of loving one's enemies.

On page 90 Schneider says that "affluence is a cosmic good." In other words "having more than enough" for your purpose (page 76) is a good thing. But if that is the case, why did the creator of the cosmos come to earth as a man of no means? Jesus was quoted as being homeless (Luke 9:58)

There were also instances in the book where Schneider made claims that I never saw supported. On page 117 Schneider says, "Jesus Christ identified himself with the poor and powerless of the earth and united with them against the rich and powerful people who oppressed them." When? I don't remember that story. Or Schneider would say things like "recent discoveries have shown that.." (page 126) but there was no footnote to say where he got his data from.

The book as a whole wasn't bad. It did generate a lot of good discussion amongst my peers, and it does present a lot of ideas that I had never thought about. For instance Schneider's chapter on moral proximity really stuck with me (page 88). As well as his argument that it is in fact the rich who do more to eradicate global poverty than anyone else. (page 30)

In closing I must agree with Schneider that it seems only right to wish that everyone could enjoy life at a level of affluence (page 38) but the hard reality is - where it might be a nice idea, it's not important that we all achieve those levels of abundance. There are millions of people who live fulfilled lives and who are living in poverty. And certainly it could be argued that Jesus didn't do much to alleviate poverty in the world either - but he certainly did change it for the better.

ASIN:0802847994 The Good of Affluence: Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth.
Every Christian and Phianthrophist ought to read this well reasoned book!

I am reading these reviews in 2011, after the worldwide economic implosion, after we've learned just how much the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer in this country. CEO's bonuses have been in the multi-millions while the poor and middle class have seen their wages stagnate for decades. Banks aren't making loans and the rich, after a decade of tax cuts, don't seem to be generating jobs for the 10 percent+ of our country who are unemployed.

If God is on any side here, I can't imagine it is on the side of the rich, no matter how much "delight" they find in their circumstances.

This book is an apology for capitalism. Not an apology in Justin Martyr's sense of "a defense," but an apology as in "I'm sorry." At every turn, Schneider attempts to distance himself from those whom his leftist academic colleagues may not approve of: greedy plutocrats, health and wealth gospel charlatans in shiny suits, Republicans, etc. As much as I disagree with Christian Reconstructionists about some issues (including Calvinism, post-millennialism and theonomy), they are the only Christians willing to take on the statist assumptions of the intellectual elites. Schneider published this book in 2002 and I fear now in 2009, after the longest recession since WWI, he would be even more tentative in his assessment of the virtues of capitalism. Instead of apologies, we should be asking angrily: after over a century of the Progressives telling us that wise government monetary, fiscal and regulatory policy (controlled by the self-same Progressives, of course) would "tame the cycle of boom and bust" in Bill Clinton's famous phrase and would lead to consistent growth (along with the benefits of a more even distribution of wealth), hasn't it become clear that the Progressives' policies simply do not work and cannot deliver what they have promised? Isn't it clear that all they have done has empower government, which has undermined civic virtue and the American character, as each interest group jockeys to take its place at the public trough? And shouldn't Christians, most of all, who are warned against the self-deifying nature of the State in the Apocalypse, express the greatest skepticism about the motives behind, and the effects of, this rise in State power? Apparently not - it is capitalism that is in the dock, while the State is on the bench.