Towards constructing Paul’s economic vision on poverty: The Jerusalem collection

Abstract

Set against a broader discussion of Paul’s economical perspectives, the emphasis of this article is on some of his directives concerning poverty. As much as the Pauline letters cannot be seen as a textbook for economic theory and practice, they offer no ready-made answers for addressing poverty, ancient or modern, either. It is in particular when addressing poverty – which he never did in abstract - that Paul’s considerable concern for the socio-economical situation of the communities he addressed becomes apparent. For Paul, evidently, poverty is not disconnected from other matters in the community such as righteousness and fellowship. These matters can easily be observed in Paul’s motivation of the collection for the churches in Jerusalem. Some implications of Paul’s treatment of poverty for theological thinking in this regard, are briefly explored.

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