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

by Liz Theoharis (Author), William Barber (Foreword)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 55 ratings
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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.
Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Prophetic Christianity
  2. Print length
    207 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Eerdmans
  5. Publication date
    April 21, 2017
  6. Dimensions
    5.9 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780802875020
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0802875020
  9. See all details
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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
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 55 ratings

About the author

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Liz Theoharis

Liz Theoharis

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The Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis is a theologian, pastor, author, and anti-poverty activist. She is the Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival with the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. Rev. Dr. Theoharis has been organizing in poor and low-income communities for the past 30 years. Her books include: We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign (Broadleaf Press, 2021) and Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor (Eerdmans, 2017) and she has been published in the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Sojourners and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and teaches at Union Theological Seminary. She has been awarded the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, the Selma Bridge Award, the Women of Spirit Award from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and many others.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
55 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Hal B. Orensky
5.0 out of 5 stars Earth shaking step by step process
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Rev. Dr. Theo-Harris has made the Gospel of Matthew make sense to me in a new way that heals and inspires me. I bought this book for use as the text to teach a group Bible Study. While it is a deeply thoughtful and challenging read, we have been forever shaped by her exegesis. We see how important reading scripture with the poor is and are excited to continue our journey on this topic. Jesus is more alive to us, as is the woman who anointed him with oil.
One person found this helpful
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Rcoghill2
4.0 out of 5 stars Our book group choice for a 6 week study
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021
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This is our choice for a six week study for Episcopal Churches in my region. It is the densest book we have entered into during the pandemic. It is more than an awareness book. It is a call to action. Most of our choices have been one or the other. This is more of a combination. We begin Tuesday. We will see who zooms in.
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Jerermy
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading in the Bible's teachings about God, Jesus, Poverty and discipleship
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2023
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Essential reading in the Bible's teachings about God, Jesus, Poverty and discipleship. Written by a top level academic who also puts her body where her mouth is by living out the conclusions of her scholarship.
One person found this helpful
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Stephen T Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Pie in the sky when you die? That's a lie!
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017
Verified Purchase
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."
14 people found this helpful
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Staci Ann Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Needed perspective on poverty
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 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.
4 people found this helpful
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JLB
4.0 out of 5 stars 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.
5 people found this helpful
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J. Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars Important
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2018
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Interesting read. Every Christian should read it.
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Bruce E. Parry
5.0 out of 5 stars 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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Top reviews from other countries

cjp1002
5.0 out of 5 stars Stands usual interpretation of Matt 26:11 on its head!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2019
Verified Purchase
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!
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Don Donaghey
5.0 out of 5 stars 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.
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