God Knows There's Need : Christian Responses to Poverty

In this book, Susan Holman looks at how the Christian tradition, ancient and modern, has contemplated the subject of poverty and encourages the reader to reflect on the social issues of injustice and need. She alternates images from late antiquity and the patristic period with stories from contemporary American life. She builds three broad paradigms: sensing the poor, sharing the world, and embodying the kingdom of heaven. Holman''s embrace of the historical perspective will prove useful in interdenominational and ecumenical dialogue on religious responses to social welfare needs.

In this insightful volume, Susan R. Holman blends personal memoir and deep research into ancient writings to illuminate the age-old issues of need, poverty, and social justice in the history of the Christian tradition. Tying these historical texts to modern responses to need, Holman begins with her own encounters with need and describes her discovery of the existence of never-before-translated early Christian texts on responses to poverty, hunger, and disease. Holman explores, for instance, the stories of fourth- and fifth-century bishops responding to social crises of famine, homelessness, and disease, showing how these early Christian writers can be allies for those of us who want to influence our contemporary dialogue about relief and social justice. Throughout this deeply personal and richly scholarly work, Holman looks in particular at three broad, recurring ideas--sensing need, sharing the world, and embodying sacred kingdom--that allow her to bridge the ancient and the modern, and help readers understand more fully these age-old issues.