Jesus and Poverty: A Look at Some Difficult Texts

When we want to think about Jesus and some ethical issue (like wealth and poverty) we do well to remember to look at both the biblical texts that shaped Jesus (which you have been doing for the last several weeks) and also the biblical texts about Jesus (the early Christian writings of the New Testament). The Gospels (written about 40-70 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus) are theological portraits of him with interesting minor differences in emphasis. But one place where they are very close is on questions about wealth and poverty. Both the stories about what Jesus said and did and the stories that Jesus himself told are important sources for us. This presentation will focus briefly on some of the scriptures of Israel that Jesus knew before turning to the traditions about Jesus on the subjects of wealth and poverty. A particular focus will be on interpretations of scripture and arguments that have been used to escape the biblical commandments to care for those in need.

Speaker: The Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb, Director of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies and the Meade Professor of Biblical Interpretation and New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary