Poverty in the Promised Land: Neighborliness, Resistance, and Restoration

by Walter Brueggemann, Conrad L. Kanagy (editor)

This book provides biblical evidence of the structural and systemic factors that have long been part of the story of poverty. The people of God have often denied such structural claims in favor of the belief that individuals are poor because of personal choice. This absolves the social institutions of society, including the church, from responsibility to address these structural forces, including within the church itself. Charity and benevolence become the antidote for such a diagnosis of poverty, rather than the deeply rooted change that God intended for the Year of Jubilee and that the early church reflected. This book supports the biblical mandate of neighborliness as both a personal and a corporate response to systemic poverty, a mandate that is the second of the two great commandments.

105 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2024

About the author

Walter Brueggemann was an American Christian scholar and theologian who is widely considered an influential Old Testament scholar. His work often focused on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the sociopolitical imagination of the Church. He argued that the Church must provide a counter-narrative to the dominant forces of consumerism, militarism, and nationalism.

Reviews

[Hannah Blanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haiku review:

Generosity.
Future solutions are hard.
Power of neighbor.

[David Smedley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a theological extrapolation of themes in reaction to Matthew Desmond’s excellent and thought provoking brook, Poverty, By America, which Brueggemann originally published in blog posts. Brueggemann posits that the church must be more proactive about “systemic economic injustice”, an argument to which, as a long time higher education administrator working in bursaries, to which I wholeheartedly agree. Giving voice to the voiceless should be an essential tenet of ministry.

He uses texts from both the OT and NT to provide theological bases for Desmond’s arguments. It is a very good and insightful read. If you’ve read Poverty, By America, get this book as a compliment. If not, read it first then read this. It’s an easy and accessible read for lay and ordained.

Desmond’s work, in this book as his previous book Evicted, has been highly influential to me, and I would compliment it with the work of Kathryn Edin. I had not realized, in reading his work, that he is a preacher’s kid and clearly that influences his worldview.

[Becca Feldhacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the short read. Some good points or tying together of convictions, scripture, and reality, but I found myself most often “wowing” or “yea-ing” at the quotes he pulls from Desmond’s book anyway.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate Brueggemann, but this was not as good as his other books. I hadn't realized it is a collection of blog posts reflecting on a book he read. While his thoughts are good, the book could be longer and have more depth. I wanted to see him really dive deep into those themes, and felt a bit shorted. Nevertheless, this is a good primer on the issue.