Abstract
The title, an homage to Ron Sider's classic Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, signals that constructing Christian wealth ethics is the purpose of this book. To tackle the broad theme of wealth and what to do with it, the book follows the tripartite format common for all works in Zondervan's Biblical Theology for Life series: Part 1. Queuing the Questions; Part 2. Arriving at Answers; Part 3. Reflecting on Relevance.
In Part One, Blomberg utilizes relevant studies to paint a picture of a nation whose discretionary income is devoted far more to leisure activities than to aiding others and whose contributions to churches have steadily declined over the last century. In short, this section establishes that American Christians are living in an “Age of Wealth” but not of generosity.
Part Two contains five chapters tackling questions about the goodness of wealth, wealth's seduction to sin, generous giving, tithes and taxes, and the spiritual significance of how one handles wealth. In the first three of these chapters after surveying relevant biblical texts, Blomberg concludes:
There is an inherent goodness of material possessions; therefore, some level of economic prosperity should be available to all;
An overabundance of wealth can seduce one into many spiritual and societal sins with the idolatrous worshipping of mammon topping the list;
Therefore, the solution is that “God's people should give generously from their surplus” (96) so that everyone may have enough but not too much to be tempted to vice.
By surveying examples of ways in which communities in the Bible enabled such redistribution of wealth, Blomberg tries to stimulate his readers toward “Generous Giving.”
In “Troubles with Tithes and Taxes,” Blomberg outlines the “triple tithe” of Mosaic legislation that would equate to 23.3% of one's yearly earnings and not just the 10% traditionally preached. However, since tithing was never commanded in the NT, Blomberg argues that it is not incumbent on Christians and in fact can be dangerous because it quantifies righteousness in a way that places an unnecessary burden on the poor while falsely reassuring the rich that they have already “done their duty.” Instead, Blomberg encourages qualitative ideals, such as stewardship, sacrificial giving, and proportionality and champions the “graduated tithe” model.
The final chapter in this section, which perhaps would have made a better introductory chapter, asks the “So what?” question to convince readers of the topic's spiritual importance. Through another canonical survey of biblical texts, Blomberg establishes that how one handles wealth is one of the most important barometers of one's spiritual maturity.
Part Three focuses on stewardship by individuals, by governments and businesses, and by the Church. Each chapter begins and ends with relevant case studies and offers practical advice for how the above entities can become more generous in their support of others. The book concludes with an encouragement to readers to be ruthlessly honest about their surplus, learn to sacrifice, and give generously.
This very informative and well-researched work is written by an evangelical author for a specifically American evangelical audience, in which laity, pastors, students, and scholars alike can benefit from Blomberg's labor. Those outside of either the States or the evangelical camp can still learn from the breadth of Scripture surveyed here and from the extensive bibliography of fine resources, but may struggle more at times with Blomberg's methodological approach to biblical theology or with relating to his own cultural situation.
Because the target audience is an evangelical American population, certain assumptions about the Bible are granted, such as its historical reliability and the ultimate theological harmony, or at least resolution of tensions, one needs to find in Scripture. Both assumptions affect what one thinks biblical theology should be and how one handles certain biblical texts when constructing theology. If all Scripture must equally be given a hearing when constructing biblical theology and ethics and yet there are serious tensions between biblical texts, particularly between the two Testaments as Blomberg does note, then he has the unenviable challenge of somehow navigating and smoothing those “discrepancies.” He does so by arguing that many of the OT teachings on wealth were only for covenant Israel and cannot be universally applied. Ergo the “health and wealth gospel” proponents do correctly observe a correlation between faithful obedience and material blessing in the OT. But those Scriptures can no longer be claimed by Christians today since the Spirit's coming at Pentecost fully inaugurated a new covenant, which includes changed expectations for material blessings and how one handles them. For Christians and scholars who place a greater emphasis on the cultural influence of an ancient Near Eastern worldview on Israel's theopolitical and social interpretations of reality and whose communities are more open to a multiplicity of voices within the Bible, such hermeneutical moves will prove unnecessary.
Since this book does have a particular audience, Blomberg should be applauded for speaking into his own community and attempting to widen worldviews. Even providing precise definitions of socialism rather than allowing it to remain a scare word and honestly acknowledging that neither capitalism nor socialism can be claimed as the biblically sanctioned system no doubt are pushing the envelope for some of his readership. Blomberg attempts to meet his audience where they are and hopefully nudges some to take a few steps forward along the path of generous giving modeled by the early Church and prophetically exhorted by Jesus.