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About this Blog

Wealth and Poverty in Christianity is a personal research project exploring Christianity's complex (and often contradictory) relationship with money. From the Gospel of Luke’s dream of a reversal of rich and poor, to Paul’s fury at the way the wealthy separated themselves out from the hungry at the Lord’s Supper, to Evagrius Ponticus’ battles with what he described as the demon Love of Money, to Basil of Cesarea’s railing against predatory lending, to the anonymous Pelagian monk’s meditation on what constitutes “enough” -- this blog explores major moments and figures in Christianity's developing thought on wealth and poverty from the first to the fifth centuries. 

My first book The Unjust Steward: Wealth, Poverty, and the Church Today is available here. I am currently researching a second book which explores ways money is discussed in the Gospels depictions of Jesus' last week. 

Miguel Escobar is the director of strategy and operations at Episcopal Divinity School (EDS). Previously, he served as managing program director for leadership, communications, and external affairs at the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF). He is also in the ordination process in the Diocese of Long Island.  He earned a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2007 and served as communications assistant to then-Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori from 2007-2010. Miguel serves on the board of Episcopal Relief & Development and Friends of Forward Movement. He grew up in Texas and attended Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio where he studied the Roman Catholic social justice tradition, Latin American liberation theologies, and minored in Spanish. 

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On Eucharist and Economic Justice

By the summer of 2005, I knew I was no longer Roman Catholic. The revelations about the child sex abuse scandal that the Boston Globe began publishing in 2002 combined with the conservativeness of the young seminarians I'd met while studying at a small Roman Catholic university in Texas, as well as the prospect of spending any more time arguing for "the basics" such as women's ordination and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, led me to realize that I needed to go elsewhere to find a faith community that shared my core values. One year prior, I'd boarded an Amtrak train for a three-day trip to New York to begin studying for my Master of Divinity degree at Union Theological Seminary. Taking a train was both a romantic and terrible decision that I regretted as soon as I settled into my seat. Nevertheless, the train eventually brought me to Penn Station to begin my life in New York. After a tumultuous year of adjusting to life in the city, I was determined to try to find a ...
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Homily for the First Eucharist of the Rev. Dr. Mary Barber

This homily was preached at St. George's Episcopal in Newburgh, NY on September 19th for the first Eucharist of the newly ordained priest, the Rev. Dr. Mary Barber.  Good evening. First and foremost, I want to say that it is a joy to be here with all of you and, especially, to witness and be a part of the Rev. Mary’s first Eucharist. Today is a great day in the life of the Church.  In today’s Gospel from Mark, Jesus and his disciples are passing through the region of Galilee in secret. Jesus was avoiding large crowds and was instead trying to tell the disciples what was about to happen to him, but we read that “they did not understand what he was saying and they were afraid to ask him.”  For instead of asking what Jesus meant, the disciples were engaged in a heated argument among themselves. When I hear this passage, I imagine the disciples fighting in the way that siblings sometimes do – or at least that I did with my siblings. That is, in secret -- trying to keep one’s ...
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Basil of Caesarea

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