Wealth and Poverty in Christianity is a personal research project on 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 thoughts on wealth and poverty from the first to the sixth centuries. My hope is to draw out practical applications from these writings for economic justice work today, and turn a collection of these posts into an accessible book for community leaders. This book is now available for pre-sale.
Miguel Escobar is executive director of Episcopal Divinity School at Union. Previously, he served as managing program director for leadership, communications, and external affairs at the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF). 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 is chair of the board of directors of Forward Movement and serves on the board of Episcopal Relief & Development. 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
This sermon was preached at St. Mary's in West Harlem on June 25, 2023. Good morning, St. Mary’s. Thank you for this invitation. It is truly an honor to be back here in this holy sanctuary and especially to be back on Pride Sunday. St. Mary’s holds a special place in my heart as it is the parish through which I joined The Episcopal Church back in 2005 and I carry a lot with me from this place. Or at least I thought I did. Coming here this morning, I realized that I’ve been misremembering St. Mary’s mission statement for some time now. Whereas St. Mary’s mission statement is the “be not afraid” church, at some point over the past twenty years I refashioned it in my mind into the “We are not afraid church.” A small but crucial difference. Either way, what I’ve always liked about St. Mary’s mission is that it has never claimed to be the “I am not afraid” church. If you know me, you know that I could never actually live into such a mission statement. I listen to way too much news and
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