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Liz Theoharis

Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor (Prophetic Christianity Series (PC)) Paperback – April 21, 2017

by Liz Theoharis (Author), William Barber (Foreword)

30 ratings

Part of: Prophetic Christianity (8 Books)

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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.

Print length

207 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Eerdmans
Publication date

April 21, 2017
Dimensions

5.9 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches
ISBN-10

9780802875020
ISBN-13

978-0802875020
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS
— NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
"Be ready to be stirred up by this scriptural exploration of the meaning of poverty. It challenged me with the moral demand to end poverty now."

Laura Sumner Truax
— LaSalle Street Church, Chicago
"Provocative. Powerful. Persuasive. Liz Theoharis's fresh reading of a familiar biblical text opens up new ground for preaching, teaching, and activism. This is a book of lived theology and radical compassion."

Karenna Gore
— Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
"Theoharis brings the Bible to life in this exciting study of one of its most famous passages. With a combination of rigorous theological scholarship and personal stories from her life as an organizer, she shows us that the front line in the fight against poverty is not in poor neighborhoods but rather within the assumptions of a society that fosters systemic injustice."

William J. Barber II (from the foreword)
— President, North Carolina NAACP
"The contemporary church has become so accommodative to capitalism that its theology is often viewed as a justification of economic injustice. Dr. Theoharis's work stands as a challenge to such theology and asserts that poverty is an affront to God. The church must be a prophetic witness and actor in the world."

About the Author

Liz Theoharis is founder and codirector of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and coordinator of the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Theoharis has spent the last two decades organizing among the poor in the United States and worldwide.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0802875025
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Eerdmans (April 21, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 207 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780802875020
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802875020
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #148,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #138 in Income Inequality
- #160 in Poverty
- #623 in Christian Social Issues (Books)

Customer Reviews:
30 ratings

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5 star		74%
4 star		18%
3 star		4%
2 star		2%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Stephen T Jones

Pie in the sky when you die? That's a lie!

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017

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Dr. Theoharis takes on, in a helpful and readable way, the supposed theological underpinnings of the claim that poverty is part of God's plan. She persuasively walks the reader through her perspective that Biblical references to the persistence of poverty refer to cases in which communities refuse to follow the path of justice and mutual responsibility advocated by Biblical texts. In this view, the human race is presented both with a "the blessing" and "the curse," and must choose which of these paths to follow. In this view, the "curse" of poverty is the result of human actions, but not of God's.

This Biblical underpinning then relates to fascinating accounts (and lessons learned) of actions in Philadelphia and elsewhere, spearheaded by people of faith and others, to put into action the words of Deuteronomy 15:4, that "there shall be no poor among you."

This book is an engaging call to action to end poverty here and now, particularly to people of faith. It is a vital thread in the fabric of resistance to the claims of the rich, as Joe Hill taught us, that we'll "get pie in the sky when we die."

10 people found this helpful

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JLB

Perhaps too academic for persons expecting a book or directions on how to help the poor.

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017

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Exceptionally well documented monograph related to the specific verses in Matthew. Perhaps too academic for persons expecting a book or directions on how to help the poor.

4 people found this helpful

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J. Howard

Important

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2018

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Interesting read. Every Christian should read it.

One person found this helpful

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Rev. Luther C. Pierce

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2017

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Good. A bit limited as to answers

One person found this helpful

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Staci Ann Williams

Needed perspective on poverty

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2017

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This book offered a different perspective on Jesus`s words in Matthew 26. Theoharis provides strong arguments and textual evidence for her position while using personal experience to make an emotional appeal as well. Strong voice and important perspective. Well written too.

3 people found this helpful

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HankHank

An important book let down by terrible editing

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2017

This would have been a much better book if Rev. Dr. Theoharis had employed a strong editor. It is extremely difficult to read at times, not due to complexity of thought, but rather poor writing. A thorough edit could have made the book read much clearer and would have potentially made this book essential. Although I disagree with Rev. Dr. Theoharis at some points (for example, she holds that Jesus only became the Christ at the anointing at Bethany, a misreading of the text that has been shown to be false teaching since the earliest days of Christianity), I appreciate the deep insights she offers on charity, structural poverty, and her willingness to name sin as sin. Poverty is a sin, being poor isn’t. It’s a shame that this book didn’t get a better edit—as it stands, I cannot recommend it.

6 people found this helpful

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David W. Ewing

Jesus and the Poor

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020

I agree with the need for immense government resources to abolish poverty. But this is NOT the message of Jesus. Jesus did not worry about economics, the material needs of the rich or poor. Jesus had a good reason for this! That's becaue Jesus said he was the harbinger of the end of the world. Based on Jewish prophesy, Jesus taught that God would return to earth in a few months and reign for 1,000 years. During the few weeks of waiting for God, just give away and share whatever you have! After the 1,000 years, the physical universe would be destroyed and humans would become spirits. People who believe this today are called Christians. They are still waiting. Some of us are tired of passively waiting for deliverance. We are called Marxists. David Ewing 9/29/2020

One person found this helpful

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Bruce E. Parry

Review of Always with Us? What Jesus Really Said about the Poor by Liz Theoharis

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2017

The New Poor People’s Campaign, of which Dr. Liz Theoharis and Dr. William Barber are National Co-Chairs, will not just commemorate the 2018 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign; it is to be a New Poor People’s Campaign for today. Never has such a Campaign been more needed. And the Co-Chairs are eminently qualified to make this a national and historic event. The Rev. Dr. Barber, who wrote the Foreword to Theoharis’ book, comes, of course, from the North Carolina NAACP where he created a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-everything movement of the poor in their own interest. The Rev. Dr. Theoharis has spent the last two decades of her life organizing among the poor in the United States and worldwide. Together, they have travelled through more than 20 states, organizing among the poor.

Dr. Theoharis’ book Always with Us? What Jesus Really Said about the Poor is, then, a timely, persuasive, eminently readable, and even inspiring appeal to end poverty forever. Starting with Jesus’ words, “The poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11), Theoharis shows that this quote is regularly used as proof that the Bible says that it is impossible to end poverty. Step by step, she shows that the quote means exactly the opposite: that Jesus’ intent was for us to do God’s work by ending poverty completely.

She begins by pointing out that Jesus himself was poor and homeless, almost certainly illiterate, and a representative of the poor in his time. First, she places the quote from Matthew in its full context (Matthew 26: 6-13) and then shows its interrelation with Deuteronomy 15: 1-11, which outlines God’s laws for the elimination of debt and of poverty. “There need be no poor people among you. … I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” These commandments, which Jesus quotes, are to forgive debts, release slaves, and lend money even when the lender knows he or she will never be repaid. Deuteronomy says that since these commandments will not be followed, there will be poor among you. Jesus is reminding the disciples that God hates poverty and commands them to end it. “Therefore,” concludes Theoharis, “the passage is a critique of empire, charity and inequality, rather than stating that poverty is unavoidable and predetermined by God.”

The contextual analysis that Theoharis employs also shows that during the dinner at which Jesus utters these words (not the Last Supper), an unnamed woman anoints him with expensive oil. It was at that point in the Bible that Jesus was anointed the Christ, the Messiah. There is no other place in the Bible where these words are used. This emphasizes the centrality of the Matthew scripture.

Theoharis devotes an entire chapter, entitled “Reading the Bible with the Poor,” to show she puts Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 26 into action. In this central chapter, which is really the core of the book, she outlines the entire process of contextual Bible study. She explains that the Bible study they practice is not only a lesson in the interpretation of scripture, but also an organizing tool, educating and empowering the participants to follow Jesus by working to end poverty. The process they employ is to have the poor read the Bible themselves and interpret the scriptures. The students, called Poverty Scholars, wind up identifying with the disciples and the challenges they faced. They compared the disciples’ work to the community organizing they themselves are doing among the poor. But more than this, the Poverty Scholars shaped the methodological and contextual aspects of the study of the Bible. She outlines their contributions in identifying what poverty means, who the poor are, and in connecting the scriptures from Matthew and Deuteronomy. They present a searching consideration of the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus at this dinner, feasting in the house of the poor, as described in Matthew, and of the setting in which the dinner takes place. Their contributions were a central contribution to Theoharis’ presentation of the deeper meaning of what Jesus experienced and what he said.

Theoharis also provides a historical analysis of empire in Jesus’ time. The Roman Empire, ruled by Caesar had myriad clients, one of which was Herod, who ruled over Galilee and surrounding areas, oppressing and exploiting the people. Herod, the client, was, of course, beholden to Caesar. The parallels with current-day empire, wealth and oppression – and the creation and perpetuation of poverty – are clear. She points out that while the poor make history, it is the rulers – the rich and powerful – who write history. This is why it is so important that the poor themselves read, study and interpret the scriptures for themselves. The real meaning of the scriptures and of Jesus’ ministry is a powerful tool for those working to eliminate poverty.

The book draws on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King as well. Theoharis begins a chapter with a quote from Dr. King: “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” In other words, as she emphasizes throughout the book, charitable giving is insufficient. The essence of God’s work is to end poverty and this requires the crucial insight that for this goal to be achieved, society needs to be restructured. This is the central economic content of Jesus’ words and teaching, Theoharis suggests.

The final chapter is summed up in its title, “Christ, the Social-Movement Leader.” Jesus, poor himself, was anointed the Christ in a poor man’s home by an unnamed woman specifically because he did minister not just “to the poor,” but “with the poor.” His ministry was to build a society to carry out God’s commandment to end poverty. For that, he was crucified: the death sentence reserved for revolutionaries.

Dr. Theoharis has presented a compelling argument for a New Poor People’s Campaign to continue the work to end poverty. This inspiring work is not only an important theological addition to the literature, but an important tool for those in the trenches today, working to end poverty and to change society. Her description of the organizing work to empower the Poverty Scholars is an especially important contribution. There is no question that the movement has important spiritual and moral components. This book outlines the importance and centrality of morality and spirituality and is for everyone. While the teachings of the book are Christian, the lessons it contains are not only accessible, but applicable to all.
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6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

cjp1002

Stands usual interpretation of Matt 26:11 on its head!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2019

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Exegesis of Matthew 26:11 which stands the usual interpretation of this verse on its head! This is great as I was troubled by this verse and its lack of consistency with other comments that Jesus made about the poor. Loved the book overall, like one of the other reviewers said it is academic though. For putting my mind at ease it is definitely worth 5 stars!

Don Donaghey

A great book. Informative and inspirational

Reviewed in Canada on August 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

A great book. Informative and inspirational. It has inspired me to think about how I can work with the poor to eradicate poverty.