Location: Home :: Books on Poverty :: General :: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity

Need a quick gift? Try Amazon gift certificates.

Don't Forget To Visit:

The New Social Worker Online

SocialWorkJobBank

Online Continuing Education for Social Workers

Amazon.com Widgets

Related Categories

•

•	General AAS

•

Religion Spirituality

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity

enlarge

Author: Ronald J. Sider
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$15.99~~
Buy New: $10.87
You Save: $5.12 (32%)

New (33) Used (11) from $6.40

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1

ISBN: 0849945305
Dewey Decimal Number: 248
EAN: 9780849945304
ASIN: 0849945305

Publication Date: April 12, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 43

« PREV

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

... 9 NEXT »

What is Poverty? January 17, 2008
I have learned much from this book about POVERTY. Poverty is not justbr /a lack of money. It is a lack of money, lack of health care for evenbr /simply treated diseases, lack of education opportuniites, lack of resources,lack of employment,lack of clean running water, but most of all a lack of hope.... this book is an eye opener about how half of the 6 billion people on this planet are living on $2.00 or less a day!!! It makes one really think about those conveniences and material possesions that WE cannot live without, while there are billions of people who are sobr /desperate for just the simplest of things to make it through another day.br /

2 out of 5 stars

Disagree with his analysis January 7, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

Let me begin by saying I loved the book after 3 chapters. Then the book got redundant and then turned into a very flawed book on economic development. br /br /More than half of this book is on developement economics, which is not a subject of expertise for Ronald J. Sider. I do have a MA in Economics and do not agree with many of his assertions (too many to list). The whole second half of the book is supposed to be an eye-opening lesson on the causes and solutions to poverty, but I recommend reading books by economists to get a better understanding. I would start with Peter Bauer, who, according to Wikipedia, "sought to convince other development experts that central planning, foreign aid, price controls, and protectionism perpetuate poverty rather than eliminate it, and that the growth of government intervention politicizes economic life and reduces individual freedom."br /br /Let me just add that Bauer is a legend in economic development because these theories he had in decades ago were appealing to conservatives and libertarians, but it was empirical economic evidence that proved Bauer to be right. br /br /Free markets are not perfect. With freedom you will get inequality of income, education, and many other things. However, you must consider income mobility. Most of the bottom 20% of income earners today will NOT be in the bottom 20% 20 years from now. We do have a system that offers opportunity to all. br /br /You must also consider one more thing about inequality, which the Sider cleverly ignores. If the richest 20% make over $100,000 today and bottom 20% is $25,000, then in 10 years it is richest 20% at $120,000 and lowest 20% at $35,000, why would some be upset at the growth in income inequality? The incomes of the poor ARE growing, just not as fast as the wealthy. It is ENVIOUS to be unhappy with a $10,000 increase in income just because someone else got a $15,000 increase in income!br /br /The author also uses government aid to foreign countries to say the U.S. is not that charitable. He ignores private charity. br /br /The people that do need government assistance as well as private charity are those that cannot help themselves (elderly, diseased, children, handicapped, etc.). br /br /I do agree, however, that Christians, and people in general, need to be much more charitable. That is what the first few chapters were about and that is what I did like about the book. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett should be recognized for the tens of billions they are giving away. People who drive $20,000 cars should go for the $18,000 car and give the extra $2,000 away. People should sacrifice things like their daily Starbucks or cigarettes and give that $4 a day away. br /br /I do like that part of the book about how we as Christians need to give up a little luxury and be a little more charitable. We also need to look beyond our own borders and examine what real poverty is like in other countries. If you have even an ounce of compassion, you will also pay attention to things like genocide in Darfur and do what you can to help. br /br /I say make as much as you can in honest ways and give as much as you can.

1 out of 5 stars

Jobs not Charity September 16, 2007
3 out of 13 found this review helpful

This is one-sided and economically naive book. I shudder to think how any thinking Christian could not see through Sider's facile presentation of Christians social ethics. Please see David Chilton's "Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators" for a chapter by chapter Biblical and economic refutation of Sider's work.br /br /In a nutshell, while charity may help the giver develop some virtues, it is virtually useless in terms of actually helping the recipient (the poor). The best way to help the poor is to give them work, not charity, and that only happens through uncoerced free market investments and entrepeneurship.

4 out of 5 stars

As balanced as I can be... January 27, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

As a reformed evangelical, and a moderate-conservative democrat, who has read a great deal of Sider, and heard him speak on multiple occasions, I will say this: Do read this book. That's not to say that Sider doesn't, on a number of occasions, go too far, distort the numbers, and even come dangerously close to Socialism (though, I imagine some of this has been revised in later editions - his views have changed somewhat over the years) - he does. But the core of this book is indeed life-changing: a impassioned, Evangelical challenge to our modern-day consumerism. My suggestion, however, after having read this book is to also pick up the absolutely solid (though not as easy to read) "Neither Poverty nor Riches" by Craig Blomberg - a thorough-going Biblical theology of material possessions wealth. Combined, the challenge of Sider, balanced with the solid Biblical understanding of Blomberg, and any believer will walk away with a full-orbed, Scriptural, understanding of what I believe God would have us do with our possessions.

1 out of 5 stars

Marxist nonsense December 4, 2006
11 out of 49 found this review helpful

Years ago in 1982,at least I believe it was 1982, a friend of mine who went to the same Church that I did approached me about this book. I was working for a high end retail store at the time which was located in a very high end mall in Southern California working in undercover security. So I was use to being around very wealthy people on a daily basis. My friend at the time began to really lay it on pretty thick in that Christians had absolutely no business driving Porches or Mercedes or should really own homes that are anything more then either very nominal or just slightly above shacks. He told me about this book and advised me to read it. Well I did read it and was convinced immediately that I was living wrong and that I needed to start giving most of my paycheck to the poor after I payed for my living expenses. I became convinced that my living expenses were too high and that I should cut off many things, like going to the movies, buying new shoes unless it was absolutely necessary, which would be almost never. I really believed at one time that one could not be a Christian and own a Mercedes Benz. I really believed it was a sin to be wealty. However I did believe that Christians should make as much money as they could and give the majority of it away to the poor. At one point I headed a study at the Church that I was attending at the time regarding this book and it definately caused some upset and a stir. Fortunately this was a relatively short period of my life because I came to see this book and its author for what they are. And that is Marxist and pure Marxist junk. I found that this book is not biblical. One only has to read the New Testament to see that this book is complete nonsense. Example Joseph of Arimithea was called a friend of Jesus and he was also wealthy. Not once did Jesus tell him to give all of his money to the poor. Ronald Sider uses the story of the rich man who Jesus said to sell all he had and give to the poor and follow Him. Ronald Sider is so hung-up on his own presupposition of wealth distribution that he misses the point of the story entirely. This book could have done some real damage to my life had I not seen it for what it was early on. Mr. Sider is a liberal as so is Anthony Campola . I wish these guys would take a hike and go peddle their junk to someone else and leave the Christian community alone, we have enough wolves already. br /br /I give this book 1 star because there are no negative ratings. This book is junk and I eventually used it for my cat box.

Copyright 2007 White Hat Communications.
Disclaimer: The products referenced on this site are manufactured and sold by parties other than The New Social Worker/White Hat Communications. We make no representations regarding either the products or any information vendors offer about their products.

Visit our poster store for unique social issues posters.

Amazon.com Widgets