February 10, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America
By Ronald J. Sider
Christians have the opportunity to eradicate poverty in the United States, writes the author, if they can work with government and charities while keeping Scripture as their guide.
“We must combine a biblical framework of values with careful social analysis to create … proposals for reducing poverty,” writes Mr. Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, in Philadelphia.
He calls for increasing the federal tax credit currently available to low-income families, implementing a public-works program, offering school vouchers to poor families, and expanding welfare.
He writes that Christians should cooperate with secular institutions to increase wages for low-paid workers. In Los Angeles and Baltimore, for instance, faith-based groups joined with labor unions in a successful campaign to persuade those cities to increase the amount paid to contractors.
The Bible’s position on economics is clear, he writes: Extremes of wealth should not be so far apart as to crowd out the poorest.
Publisher: Baker Book House Company, P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, Mich. 49516-6287; (616) 676-9185 or (800) 877-2665; fax (616) 676-9573 or (800) 398-3111; http://www.bakerbooks.com; 266 pages; $11.99; I.S.B.N. 0-8010-6015-x.
