Am I Still My Brother's Keeper?: Biblical Perspectives on Poverty - Softcover

Wafawanaka, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076185701X ISBN 13: 9780761857013

Publisher: University Press of America, 2012

Synopsis

What does the Bible say about poverty and our responsibility toward the poor? This book examines the concept of “brother’s keeper” in both the ancient Near East and the biblical world. Wafawanaka contends that biblical Israel failed to play the rightful role of brother’s keeper and claims that we, too, have strayed from this responsibility. Am I Still My Brother’s Keeper? reveals what we can learn about poverty from a biblical context and how we might appropriate those insights to fight poverty in our own communities. Beginning with the biblical mandate in Deuteronomy 15, Wafawanaka surveys the Hebrew Scriptures and challenges those with power and resources to reevaluate their response to the poor. Failure to revisit the notion of “brother’s keeper” threatens to create a society that is increasingly disenfranchised and unjust. A glance at our world in light of biblical history suggests that poverty is an endemic global problem that requires a radical global solution.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Wafawanaka is assistant professor of Biblical studies and the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He holds Th.M. and M.T.S. degrees from Harvard Divinity School and a Th.D. degree from Boston University’s School of Theology.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of America
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076185701X
• ISBN 13: 9780761857013
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 242