Download or read book Poverty the Bible and Africa written by Isaac Boaheng and published by HippoBooks. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poverty reduction is a worldwide concern, yet if the church is to play an effective role in its alleviation, an approach that is both biblical and contextual is required. In Poverty, the Bible, and Africa, Isaac Boaheng formulates a theology of poverty that engages Scripture, African traditional wisdom, and contemporary African concerns to create a paradigm for understanding and alleviating poverty in Africa. Boaheng highlights that, whatever our cultural context, God frowns upon materialism, extravagance, and love for riches; yet the author also demonstrates why a contextual theology must address people’s societal and cultural needs alongside spiritual ones. If we desire a model for poverty reduction that is both theologically sound and contextually appropriate, we must facilitate an encounter between the teachings of Scripture and the socio-economic, political, and religious realities of a particular context. Combining in-depth cultural analysis with careful exegetical reflection, this book offers refreshing insight into the challenge of confronting poverty in Africa. Boaheng’s approach, however, is relevant far beyond the continent and is transferable to any context where others are seeking to effectively understand and combat poverty.
Download or read book The African Biblical Approach to Poverty written by Leonard Thomas Nyirongo and published by . This book was released on 2019-06-17 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Were the indigenous Africans rich before colonialism came to Africa? Did colonialism spread poverty to the indigenous Africans? Before the colonial era came, how did the rich indigenous Africans perceive and treat the fellow Africans who were poor? How did precolonial and postcolonial Africans define or describe poverty and prosperity? Why, in spite of the abundant natural resources God has given, is Africa still poor since its nations became independent from colonialism? Is the African's worldview the root cause of poverty among the Africans? What is the difference between the African and biblical view of poverty and prosperity and what are the implications of this difference? This book tackles these questions candidly in order to present true hope to Africa. Africa is considered the poorest continent on earth. Almost every second person living in the states of sub-Saharan Africa lives below the poverty line in spite of generous endowment of natural resources and direct aid. Particularly affected by poverty in the continent are the weakest members of society, their children and women. This book begins with a review of the problem of poverty in Africa during the precolonial times in order to challenge the claims that there were no poor Africans until colonialism came to Africa. Then in the second chapter, it reveals the common causes of poverty during the precolonial and post-colonial eras. In the third chapter it narrates how - even today - Africans have tried to address poverty through traditional religion, witch doctors, diviners and ideologies only to end up spiritually bankrupt. Chapter 4 examines the pseudo Christian approaches to poverty and the spiritual harm they are causing in the African churches. The last chapter is the climax of the book. It focuses on the biblical approach to the problem of poverty, based on the living hope which is in Christ alone. The book may be used as part of an introduction to the African worldview in theological colleges. It is also recommended for church leaders, parachurch organisations and Christian NGOs serving needy communities in Africa.
Download or read book Poverty in the Book of Proverbs written by Lechion Peter Kimilike and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2008 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western interpretations of poverty proverbs in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs have tended to see a status quo acceptance in the ancient texts, thus neglecting existential challenges of the poverty issue. In contrast, Lechion Peter Kimilike argues that African proverbial material on poverty may - when used comparatively to interpret the corresponding Old Testament poverty proverbs - create a more dynamic analysis. The author's new and thought-provoking interpretation suggests «an African transformational hermeneutic» that balances between the questions and methodology of the «global [i.e., western] guild» and the concerns of the African interpretative context.
Download or read book Religion and Poverty written by Peter J. Paris and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-25 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Ghanaian scholar of religion argues that poverty is a particularly complex subject in traditional African cultures, where holistic worldviews unite life’s material and spiritual dimensions. A South African ethicist examines informal economies in Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, and South Africa, looking at their ideological roots, social organization, and vulnerability to global capital. African American theologians offer ethnographic accounts of empowering religious rituals performed in churches in the United States, Jamaica, and South Africa. This important collection brings together these and other Pan-African perspectives on religion and poverty in Africa and the African diaspora. Contributors from Africa and North America explore poverty’s roots and effects, the ways that experiences and understandings of deprivation are shaped by religion, and the capacity and limitations of religion as a means of alleviating poverty. As part of a collaborative project, the contributors visited Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, as well as Jamaica and the United States. In each location, they met with clergy, scholars, government representatives, and NGO workers, and they examined how religious groups and community organizations address poverty. Their essays complement one another. Some focus on poverty, some on religion, others on their intersection, and still others on social change. A Jamaican scholar of gender studies decries the feminization of poverty, while a Nigerian ethicist and lawyer argues that the protection of human rights must factor into efforts to overcome poverty. A church historian from Togo examines the idea of poverty as a moral virtue and its repercussions in Africa, and a Tanzanian theologian and priest analyzes ujamaa, an African philosophy of community and social change. Taken together, the volume’s essays create a discourse of mutual understanding across linguistic, religious, ethnic, and national boundaries. Contributors. Elizabeth Amoah, Kossi A. Ayedze, Barbara Bailey, Katie G. Cannon, Noel Erskine, Dwight N. Hopkins, Simeon O. Ilesanmi, Laurenti Magesa, Madipoane Masenya, Takatso A. Mofokeng, Esther M. Mombo, Nyambura J. Njoroge, Jacob Olupona, Peter J. Paris, Anthony B. Pinn, Linda E. Thomas, Lewin L. Williams
Download or read book Preaching in a Context of Poverty written by H. J. C. Pieterse and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All South Africans are free under the new political dispensation. But there is one enormous problem which makes it impossible for most people in this country to achieve and enjoy a good life. This obstacle is the problem of poverty.
Download or read book Christian Approaches to Poverty written by David T. Williams and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2001-10 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is a sad fact that the majority of the world's people still lives in poverty, with all the problems of hunger and disease that goes with it. What should Christians do about this? Various things have been tried, all with their own advantages and problems. Here is an overview of these approaches, and a suggestion for a synthesis based on Christian teachings.
Download or read book New Hope for the Poor written by Pieter Verster and published by UJ Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empowering the poor remains an essential part of the Christian Gospel. The way in which the absolute poor in informal settlements in Africa can be empowered by the message of the Bible, needs to be researched. During research completed in informal settlements near Bloemfontein, Free State Province, South Africa, it has been established that the churches present in the situation are best equipped to relate to the poor and interpret the message of the Bible to them.
Download or read book Bible and Poverty in Kenya written by Maurice Matendechere Sakwa and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2008-02-28 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many strategies have been formulated to reduce poverty, the most recent being the need to include the poor as co-agents in the development process. Culture, understood as commonly shared values, then becomes an important element in poverty alleviation. Likewise religion becomes an important element of culture when the values of that religion are considered as widespread in the society. Additionally, political and economic factors are equally important for poverty alleviation. This work is centered on a conceptual model postulating that cultural attitudes influence attitudes towards ends of poverty alleviation directly and indirectly through political and economic attitudes. The study maps out the paths of influence of cultural (religious values), political and economic attitudes on those towards ends of poverty alleviation.
Download or read book Helping Without Hurting in Africa written by Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestseller When Helping Hurts has changed the way thousands of church and ministry leaders approach poverty. Designed to equip you to begin effectively helping low-income people, When Helping Hurts articulates a biblical framework for poverty alleviation. Learn how to walk with the materially poor in humble relationships instead of just providing them temporary handouts. Now adapted specifically for African contexts, Helping without Hurting in Africa is a 400-page manual to guide the pastor and lay working alike to meaningful ministry. Helping Without Hurting in Africa is designed to inspire churches, pastors, community leaders, missionaries, development workers, NGOs, government institutions, and donors to foster transformation in their communities. This training teaches a holistic approach, explaining how to preach the gospel through word and deed. It aims at changing people's mind-set and helping them apply biblical principles to care wisely and compassionately for poor people without unintentionally hurting them. Most Christians have a heart for poor people, but this training seeks to help Christians also have a mind for poor people.
Download or read book Theology of Work and Poverty Alleviation in Mozambique written by Xavier Massingue and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication seeks to determine the need, possibilities, and strategies, necessary to alleviate urban poverty in Mozambique through the tool of transformational business, understood out of a Contextual Theology of Work (CTOW). Focusing on the Maputo metropolitan area, but also wider contexts, the author examines the dynamic relationship of urban poverty, unemployment and work. Recognising that unemployment is the main factor behind poverty in Mozambique and placing great emphasis on kingdom theology the author recommends that evangelical churches need to embrace CTOW and engage positively with urban poverty to create real economic change.
Download or read book Global Poverty written by Justin Thacker and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christian authors have argued either for a free market solution to global poverty or for a radical reform of global capitalism but the theological underpinnings of such conclusions are noticeable by their absence.Justin Thacker offers a new way forward. He suggests deeply theological answers to questions around the effect of capitalism on global poverty.
Download or read book When Helping Hurts SAMPLER written by Steve Corbett and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enjoy these SAMPLE pages from When Helping Hurts- Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. Don't let this happen to you, your ministry or ministries you help fund! A must read for anyone who works with the poor or in missions, When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications. The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel. "Initial thoughts" at the beginning of chapters and "reflection questions and excercises" at the end of chapters assist greatly in learning and applying the material. A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and economic development strategies appropriate for North American and international contexts are presented, including microenterprise development. Now with a new preface, a new foreword, and a new chapter to assist in the next steps of applying the book's principles to your situation, When Helping Hurts is a new classic!
Download or read book The Option for the Poor in Christian Theology written by Daniel G. Groody and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the publication of Gustavo Gutiérrez's 1973 groundbreaking work, A Theology of Liberation, much has been written on liberation theology and its central premise of the preferential option for the poor. Arguably, this has been one of the most important yet controversial theological themes of the twentieth century. As globalization creates greater gaps between the rich and the poor, and as the situation for many of the world’s poor worsens, there is an ever greater need to understand the gift and challenge of Christian faith from the context of the poor and marginalized of our society. This volume draws on the thought of leading international scholars and explores how the Christian tradition can help us understand the theological foundations for the option for the poor. The central focus of the book revolves around the question, How can one live a Christian life in a world of destitution? The contributors are concerned not only with a social, economic, or political understanding of poverty but above all with the option for the poor as a theological concept. While these essays are rooted in a solid grounding of our present “reality,” they look to the past to understand some of the central truths of Christian faith and to the future as a source of Christian hope. Following Gustavo Gutiérrez's essay on the multidimensionality of poverty, Elsa Tamez, Hugh Page, Jr., Brian Daley, and Jon Sobrino identify a central theological premise: poverty is contrary to the will of God. Drawing on scripture, the writings of the early fathers, the witness of Christian martyrs, and contemporary theological reflection, they argue that poverty represents the greatest challenge to Christian faith and discipleship. David Tracy and J. Matthew Ashley carry their reflection forward by examining the option for the poor in light of apocalyptic thought. Virgilio Elizondo, Patrick Kalilombe, María Pilar Aquino, M. Shawn Copeland, and Mary Catherine Hilkert examine the challenges of poverty with respect to culture, Africa, race, and gender. Casiano Floristán and Luis Maldonado explore the relationship between poverty, sacramentality, and popular religiosity. The final two essays by Aloysius Pieris and Michael Signer consider the option for the poor in relationship to other major world religions, particularly an Asian theology of religions and the meaning of care for the poor within Judaism.
Download or read book A Theology of Poverty Reduction in Tanzania written by Abednego Keshomshahara and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Power Poverty and Prayer written by Ogbu Kalu and published by Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften. This book was released on 2001 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Power, Poverty and Prayer: The Challenges of Poverty and Pluralism in African Christianity, 1960-1996 inquires into the role Christianity plays in African political and socio-economic life. Colonialism is over, but the drums of liberation are still throbbing. Christianity paved the way for colonialism, but also produced the champions of independence. What role, if any, is Christianity playing towards the Second Liberation of the continent? The author writes on a topic that is at the heart of the Second Liberation of Africa, analyzing the dialectics of power, poverty and prayer in post independence Africa in general.
Download or read book The Poverty of Nations written by Barry Asmus and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2013 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We can win the fight against global poverty. Combining penetrating economic analysis with insightful theological reflection, this book sketches a comprehensive plan for increasing wealth and protecting stability at a national level.
Download or read book For the Least of These written by Zondervan, and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, many thoughtful and compassionate Christians are addressing the challenge of alleviating poverty. But while much progress has been made, many well-intentioned efforts have led Christians to actions that are not only ineffective, but leave the most vulnerable in a worse situation than before. Is there a better answer? Combining biblical exegesis with proven economic principles, For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty equips Christians with both a solid biblical and economic understanding of how best to care for the poor and foster sustainable economic development. With contributions from fifteen leading Christian economists, theologians, historians, and practitioners, it presents the case for why a multi-faceted approach is needed, and why a renewed focus on markets and trade are the world’s best hope for alleviating poverty and serving those in financial need.
