Hunger, Poverty and Biblical Religion

The salvation history of the Ol d Testament is a theology for the

powerless. But in U.S. churches we need to find in our biblical
resources the substance of a theology that speaks to the powerful.
BRUCE C. BIRCH
T HE STARK REALI TI ES of the world food
crisis have made hunger a priority item on the
agenda of American churches. Wi t h television
bri ngi ng the hollow faces of starving children i nt o
our living rooms, it has become impossible for the
communi t y of faith to remai n silent or unrespon-
sive. It is tragic t hat millions must die before the
crisis will capture the attention of the more prosper-
ous peoples of the world; it will be doubly tragic if
the church' s response remains at t he superficial level
of self-righteous charity.
Th e congregation t hat fasts, contributes money
and studies hunger duri ng Lent may feel that it has
discharged its obligation of concern, but the mean-
ing of the church as the people of God is much more
intimately tied to the welfare of the hungry, the
poor, the needy and the oppressed. What is de-
manded is no less t han a renewed underst andi ng of
the church' s biblical and theological resources so
that we mi ght be in the vanguard of the movement
to reorder values and priorities in a suffering world.
As we respond t o the crisis, we must also challenge
the biblical and theological assumptions which have
allowed the church to participate uncritically in
structures that cont ri but e to the root causes of global
hunger and poverty. Only t hen will the church be
free to join the attack on those underl yi ng causes as
it ministers to the immediate victims.
The biblical word on the relation of the com-
muni t y of faith t o hunger and poverty is clear and
unambi guous. It is therefore all the more surprising
t hat in calling upon local churches to respond to
hunger issues so little recourse has been made to
biblical materials. What imperatives for concern
with hunger and poverty are given to the com-
muni t y of faith in the biblical witness? What under-
standings from biblical theology should inform our
acting out of that concern?
God's Love for the Poor
Hunger and poverty cannot be separated in
analyzing the biblical material. Hunger accom-
panies poverty. Fami ne can strike an entire land,
rich and poor alike, but it is still the poor who go
hungry while the well-to-do buy food from other
Dr. Birch is associate professor of Old Testament at Wesley
Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.
lands (cf. Gen. 12:10; 42:1-2). In both the Ol d and
New Testaments hunger is linked with other terms
describing those who have been forced by societal
conditions i nt o a marginal existence the poor, the
needy, the widow, the orphan, the oppressed.
God especially loves and cares for the poor:
" 'Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy
groan, I will now arise/ says t he Lord; ' I will place
him in the safety for which he longs' " (Ps. 12:5).
" The meek shall obtain fresh joy in t he Lord and
the poor among men shall exult in t he Hol y One of
Israel" (Isa. 29:19). "For t hou hast been a strong-
hold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his
distress" (Isa. 25:4). God will not forget or forsake
the poor or the needy (Ps. 9:12, 17-18, 10:12; Isa.
41:17).
It is i mport ant to not e that God' s love for the
poor does not imply an acceptance of their condi-
tion. He loves t hem in order to deliver them from
poverty. It is regarded as an evil (Prov. 15:15), and
God' s response is to deliver his people from it. God
promises not merely to love the poor and the hungry
but to be active in their behalf: "I will satisfy her
poor with bread" (Ps. 132:15).
The Responsibility of the Privileged
Because God has identified himself with the poor,
so too the communi t y of faith is called t o special
concern for these persons. In Israel care of the needy
was not regarded as an act of voluntary benevolence.
The poor were entitled to such benefits. Underlying
this practice was the assumption that poverty and
need were due to a breakdown in the equi t abl e
distribution of communi t y resources or to a social
status over which an individual had no control
(widows, orphans). Thus, the responsibility for
action lay with the privileged rather t han with the
poor themselves. By contrast, in our society it is
commonly assumed that the poor and the hungry of
the world ought to bear the major burdens of better-
ing their own condition.
The rights of the poor are delineated most clearly
in the law codes of the Old Test ament ; here concern
for the poor is taken out of the realm of voluntary
charity. The clearest statement appears in Deu-
teronomy 15:
There will be no poor among you . . . if only you
will obey the voice of the Lord your God. . . . If
June 11-18, 1975 593
there is among you a poor man, one of your
brethren, in any of your towns within your land
which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not
harden your heart or shut your hand against your
poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him,
and lend him sufficient for his need. . . . You shall
give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudg-
ing. . . . For the poor will never cease out of the
land; therefore, I command you, You shall open
wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to
the poor . . .
Thi s passage suggests that if the demands of the
covenant were fully embodied there would be no
poverty, but since Israel, like all human com-
munities, is a "stiff-necked people." some of its
inhabitants will inevitably be poor. Therefore,
God' s people are commanded to care for them. Thi s
task is part of what it means to be the people of God,
and it is not an optional activity.
All of the Israelite law codes provide for the
protection of the poor. Persons were urged to lend
money to the poor (Deut. 15:78), but the law
prohibited the taking of interest. "If you lend
money to any of my people with you who is poor,
you shall not be to him as a creditor, and you shall
not exact interest from hi m" (Exod. 22:25). Gar-
ments or other items necessary for survival, if taken
from the poor as security for debts, were to be
ret urned each night so that a man might not have to
face the night without a cloak (Exod. 22:26-27;
Deut. 24:10-13). So that the poor would not remain
594
permanently in debt, the law called for the remis-
sion of all debts every seventh year (Deut. 15:1-2;
Lev. 25:1 ff.). If a poor man had sold himself i nt o
servitude because of debts, he was to be given
freedom in the seventh year (Lev. 25:39-55), and he
should not then be sent out empty-handed but given
provision from the flocks and the harvest (Deut.
15:12-15). Israel's people were remi nded that they
too had once been slaves in Egypt and in need. Too
often in prosperity the community of faith forgets
that it was not always affluent.
Laws protected the poor man from losing his
family property and ensured that no one could
accumulate an inordinate amount of land (Lev.
25:10, 13, 25-34). The poor person was protected
from exploitation by the rich (Ex. 22:22-23; Deut.
24:14-15; Lev. 19:13). Special emphasis was placed
also on assuring the poor of justice against the rich
in the law courts, though partiality was not to be
given unfairly to the poor (Exod. 23:3; Deut. 27:19,
25)-
The Witness of the Prophets
Major attention is given to provision of food for
those in need. The poor could pluck grain or pick
grapes when passing by a field (Deut. 23:25). They
also had the right to glean in fields and vineyards
and to take any sheaves left behind. Owners were
urged, for the sake of the poor, not to be too efficient
in their harvest (Deut. 24:19; Lev. 19:9-10; 23:22;
Rut h 2:1-3). Anything that grew up in fallow fields
belonged to the poor (Exod. 23:10-11), and they
were to receive the tithe of every third year (Deut.
14:28-29; 26-12).
It has been suggested that these laws were ideal-
istic and that they surely were never put i nt o
extensive practice. To be sure, actual practice fell
far short of these demands, but it would be a
mistake to dismiss them so lightly. We know of two
instances when some of the more radical provisions
of the law were obeyed. In Jeremi ah 34:8-9, persons
were freed from servitude in accordance with the
law; Jeremi ah later condemned the people for
enslaving the former servants once again when the
threat of danger had passed. In Nehemiah 5:6-11,
however, an extensive reform is launched to ret urn
to the poor the land taken from them in payment of
debts, as well as goods exacted in interest.
Even stronger evidence of the seriousness with
which the Old Test ament takes the rights of the
poor is the strong advocacy of these rights in the
prophetic literature. Ti me after time the prophets
announce j udgment because justice has been per-
verted and the rights of the poor have been denied.
' ' Therefore, because you trample upon the poor and
take from him exactions of wheat, you have bui l t
houses of hewn stone but you shall not dwell in
them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you
shall not drink their wi ne" (Amos 5:11). The
the christian CENTURY
prophets call for repentance and urge a program of
justice and equity that will demonstrate concern for
the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the widow and
the orphan (Isa. 1:16-17; Amos 5:24). They an-
nounce God's special concern and care for the
helpless (Isa. 25:4). Ezekiel's picture of the right-
eous man indicates that "[he] does not oppress any
one, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits
no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers
the naked with a garment, does not lend at interest
or take any increase'' (18:7-8).
Nowhere is God's concern for the poor and the
hungry made clearer by the prophets than in Isaiah
58. A better text for preaching on the church's
response to the hunger crisis could not be found:
"Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no
knowledge of it?"
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own
pleasure and oppress all your workers . . .
Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice
to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to
humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread
sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the
Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the
thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free, and to break
every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and
bring the homeless poor into your house;
When you see the naked, to cover him, and not to
hide yourself from your own flesh? . . .
If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy
the desire of the afflicted,
Then shall your light rise in the darkness and your
gloom be as the noonday.
)
The Hazards of Wealth
Old Testament attitudes toward property and
wealth go hand in hand with concern for the poor.
Land is regarded as belonging to God. There is no
absolute human right of ownership. "The land is
mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me"
(Lev. 25:23). God bestows the land as a gift. At first
this is understood as the gift of the Promised Land
(Gen. 12:7; Exod. 3:8, 32:13), but it is later
broadened to apply to all the earth. "The earth is
the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and
those who dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1). Man is but the
steward, not the owner; hence, one's land is at the
service of its rightful owner, God himself. Since God
is the champion of the poor, their rights take
precedence over those of private property.
Wealth, on the other hand, is regarded at best as
an impediment to righteousness and at worst as a
positive evil. Of course, the Old Testament ex-
presses the hope that the faithful shall enjoy success
and prosperity, but such prosperity does not extend
to the accumulation of great wealth. Part of the
resistance to kingship was the well-founded fear that
it would create a wealthy, privileged class (Deut.
17:14-20; I Sam. 8:11-18). In Israel's tradition it was
assumed that great wealth was gathered at the
expense of others in the community. Hence, one
could not be exceedingly wealthy and still fulfill
one's obligation to care for the poor and the needy. It
was the gathering of riches that created poverty
(Mic. 2:2).
The prophets repeatedly characterize wealth as
leading to indifference or to complicity in oppres-
sion. "Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory, and
stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs
from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall;
who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and
like David invent for themselves instruments of
music; who drink wine in bowls, and anoint them-
selves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over
the ruin of Joseph!" (Amos 6:4-6). The parable
Nathan tells David about the rich man and the poor
man (II Sam. 12:1-4) is a good example of the
temptations wealth was thought to bring.
Jesus' Radicalization of the Tradition
Much of the New Testament witness in regard to
the poor and the hungry is a reflection or develop-
ment of the tradition of Israel. Jesus could well be
said to have radicalized that tradition. From the
very beginning Jesus identifies his ministry with the
poor and the oppressed. In Luke 4:16-19, at the
inauguration of his public ministry, Jesus preaches
at Nazareth and chooses as his text Isaiah 61:1-2:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those
who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord.
Jesus often associated himself with the poor and
with society's outcasts and was criticized for it (Matt.
11:19; Luke 7:34). It would seem that Jesus and
the disciples in fact adopted the life style of the
poor. In an incident recorded in all three Synoptic
Gospels (Matt. 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5)
Jesus' disciples pluck grain to eat while passing
through the fields. Although the issue here is that of
the Sabbath law, the disciples seem to be exercising
the rights of the poor, and even the breaking of the
Sabbath law is defended on the grounds that the
needs of hunger outweigh legal strictures. When
Jesus sent the disciples out, he required them to go
in extreme poverty (Luke 9:3; 10:4).
In his preaching, Jesus often spoke with concern
for the poor and indicated that they were especially
June 11-18, 1975 595
blessed by God. " Blessed are you poor, for yours is
the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger
now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that
weep now, for you shall l augh" (Luke 6:20-21).
The parable of the banquet (Luke 14:16 ff.) indi-
cates that the poor may inherit the kingdom before
those ot position in society. Perhaps most striking in
this regard is the passage on the great j udgment in
Matthew 25:31-46:
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you
welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was
sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came
to me.
Jesus makes clear that he is identified with the poor
and the needy to the extent that acceptance of hi m is
equated with ministering to their needs. "Trul y, I
say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these
my bret hren, you did it to me. "
Jesus' attitude toward wealth is correspondingly
negative. Riches are at least an i mpedi ment to the
kingdom and at worst a damnat i on. Along with the
Lucan beatitudes quoted above are included the
woes: "Woe to you that are rich, for you have
received your consolation. Woe to you that are full
now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh
now, for you shall mour n and weep" (Luke 6:24-
26). The accumulation of goods stands as a goal
opposed to the service of God. "No one can serve
two masters. . . . You cannot serve God and
mammon" (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13). The rich man
is depicted as a fool in the parable of the wealthy
farmer (Luke 12:16-21). "Delight in riches" is one
of the thorns that choke out the seed of the Word in
Mark 4:19. The parable of the rich man and poor
Lazarus effectively sums up Jesus' teachings on the
rich and the poor (Luke 16:19-31). Finally, there is
the harsh saying, "It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25).
Naturally Jesus demanded much of those who
would enter the kingdom of God. He appears as a
prophetic figure confronting his hearers with the
radical demands of God' s service. Jesus' teachings in
this regard are too often rationalized or dismissed as
excessively idealistic. Those who would seek the
Priorities
MY lawn
Is green and lush,
By fertilizer fed.
The soil for the crops of the world
Grows poor.
CHARLOTTE MANN.
kingdom of God must renounce their anxiety over
earthly goods and trust in God (Matt. 6:24-33; Luke
12:22-32). "Seek first his kingdom and his right-
eousness, and all these things shall be yours as well"
(Matt 6:33). They are to lay up treasures not on
earth but in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21). Those who
would become disciples must be willing to leave all
possessions behi nd (Mark 1:16 ff.; 10:28 ff.).
The giving up of possessions is not, however, a
righteous deed in itself. Jesus makes clear that this
renunciation enables a life of service to the poor, the
needy and the helpless. Thi s concept is seen most
clearly in his admoni t i on to the rich young ruler:
"You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and
give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come follow me" (Mark 10:21). De-
spite our apparent desire to serve in the present
world food crisis we are often like the rich young
rul er who "went away sorrowful; for he had great
possessions."
'Love Communism'
The early church continued Jesus' stress on con-
cern for the poor and the needy and his view of
individual wealth as an i mpedi ment to the king-
dom. The early church in Jerusalem as described in
the Book of Acts has often been characterized as an
embodi ment of "love communi sm": "And all who
believed were together and had all things in com-
mon; and they sold their possessions and goods and
distributed t hem to all, as any had need" (Acts 2:44-
45). "No one said that any of the things which he
possessed was his own, but they had everything in
common" (Acts 4:32). Thi s sharing was intended to
enable the communi t y to better serve those in need.
"Ther e was not a needy person among them, for as
many as were possessors of lands or houses sold
them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold
and laid it at the apostles' feet; and distribution was
made to each as any had need" (Acts 4:34-35). Thi s
early Jerusalem communi t y adopted the life style of
poverty as appropriate to its mission and is referred
to by the term "the poor" (Gal. 2:10; Rom. 15:26).
The Ebionites (a word meaning "t he poor") were a
later Jewish Christian group in Palestine that con-
t i nued to follow such an ideal.
Outside of Jerusalem the church did not adopt
such a radical practice of sharing communal re-
sources, but the special concern for the poor was
continued. Paul himself adopted the life style of the
poor and gave up personal possessions for the sake of
his mission: "As poor, yet making many rich; as
having nothing, and yet possessing everything" (II
Cor. 6:10). He reports that he was exhorted by the
church in Jerusalem to remember the poor and that
he was eager to do so (Gal. 2:10). Indeed, when the
church in Jerusalem found itself in special need,
Paul undertook an extensive collection for its relief
(I Cor. 16:4; II Cor. 8-9). In this regard Paul refers
the christian CENTURY
to t he special care of God for the poor and t o the
poverty of Christ (II Cor. 9:9; 8:9). He relates this
service to the following principle: "That as a matter
of equality your abundance at the present time
should supply their want, so that their abundance
may supply your want, that there may be equality"
(II Cor. 8:14). The Macedonian church, although in
"extreme poverty" itself, joyfully participated in
assistance to others who were poor (II Cor. 8:1-3).
Elsewhere in the New Test ament there are nu-
merous exhortations to share resources (e.g., Heb.
13:16), but perhaps the clearest statement of the
cont i nui ng need for the communi t y of faith to
identify itself with the poor, even as has God, is t o
be found in James 2:1-7. In this passage it is clear t hat
even in the early church the temptation to identify
with wealth and status had appeared. Thi s neglected
passage should serve as a j udgment on all genera-
tions of the church that succumb to that temptation.
If a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes
into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby cloth-
ing also comes in, and you pay attention to the one
who wears the fine clothing and say, "Have a seat
here, please," while you say to the poor man, "Stand
there," or, "Sit at my feet," have you not made
distinctions among yourselves and become judges
with evil thoughts? . . . Has not God chosen those
who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and
heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those
who love him? But you have dishonored the poor
man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they
who drag you into court? Is it not they who
blaspheme that honorable name by which you are
called?
The witness of bot h Ol d and New Test ament s
makes clear that concern for those forced to live a
marginal existence is not an optional activity for t he
people of God, nor is it only a mi nor requi rement .
Identification with these persons is at the heart of
what it means to be the communi t y of faith.
A Crisis for the Church
If the biblical imperatives concerning the poor
and t he hungry are clear, it has been less clear how
those imperatives are to be acted upon in the life of
the church. Most of our efforts in dealing with
hunger, as with other issues, have been expended in
discussion and i mpl ement at i on of programs or
strategies. The churches have failed to see that the
challenge of world hunger (and the whole complex
of related peace, liberation and development is-
sues) constitutes a theological crisis for the church as
well as a political, social and economic crisis for the
world. Thi s is, in part, what liberation theologians
of t he Thi r d Worl d have been trying to tell us. If
the presuppositions of American influence are to be
re-examined in light of current world problems, so
too must the theological presuppositions of the
American churches be scrutinized. Only with a re-
The domi nant model of Old Test ament theol-
ogy for several decades, owing largely to the influ-
ence of Gerhard von Rad, has been that of salvation
history (Heilsgeschichte). The focus is on God' s
actions in history to redeem his people. The central
event, of course, is the crossing of the sea. Thi s
Exodus event becomes paradigmatic for Israel's life
and faith. Stress is placed on the situations of distress
in which the communi t y constantly finds itself, and
on the community' s inability to deliver itself. Al-
though God may judge his people, the communi t y
can ultimately put trust and hope in the assurance of
God' s deliverance. The communi t y responds in
covenant service to this redemptive action on its
behalf.
Thi s theological picture can be found in large
portions of the Old Test ament , in the Pentateuch,
the prophets, the Deuteronomic writers, and the
Psalms. Thi s theme of God' s working in history to
effect salvation which the communi t y of faith cannot
effect for itself has had a powerful influence in
theology through the mi ddl e decades of the 20th
century. It is currently finding powerful new expres-
sion in the Thi r d Worl d liberation theologies, in
which Old Test ament salvation history themes oc-
cupy a central position. It is an exceedingly ap-
propriate biblical model for theologies founded in
the suffering and oppression of the world' s marginal
peoples. Deliverance, redempt i on and salvation, ef-
June 11-18, 1975
597
fected by God' s intervention against the world' s
hostile forces, provide t he basis for hope in seem-
ingly hopeless situations.
The model of salvation history seems much less
appropriate for the current theological situation of
the church in America, particularly in its efforts to
respond t o global issues. The language of liberation,
with its salvation history themes, seems hollow and
hypocritical in our mouths, bespeaking a new form
of American theological triumphalism. Too often
our proclamation that God is acting in history
appears to place us in the immodest role of God' s
agents bri ngi ng deliverance and salvation, particu-
larly when our efforts seem bent on creating the best
program, offering the most viable strategy or pour-
ing in the most money. Salvation history in the Old
Test ament is a theology for the powerless. Our job
in the American church may be to find in our
biblical resources the substance of a theology that
speaks t o the powerful.
A Theology of Blessing
Salvation history is not the only theological model
in the Ol d Test ament . Recent years have seen a
rediscovery of the wisdom literature and a reassess-
ment of its theological importance. The influence of
the wisdom perspective goes far beyond the Book of
Proverbs. In addition to the work of the wise
teachers, the theological interests of wisdom are also
to be found in the Yahwist prehistory of Genesis 2-
11, the Succession Narrative in II Samuel and in
numerous prophetic books. Significantly, the begin-
nings of wisdom schools, the wri t i ng of the Yahwist
epic and the Succession Narrative all come from that
period at the height of Israel's power and prestige
which we call the Solomonic Enl i ght enment . Thus,
there is a sense in which the perspective of these
diverse Old Test ament materials represents one way
in which Israel tried to reflect theologically on its
own prosperity. It is increasingly clear that these
materials share an alternative theological viewpoint
to that of salvation history.
That alternative viewpoint might be called a
theology of blessing, as opposed to a theology of
saving. It tends not to stress history as the arena of
God' s activity. God appears as Creator and Sustainer
rat her t han as Redeemer. Humani t y is pictured not
as helpless and in distress, but as sharing responsibil-
ity for the well-being of the created order.
A number of insights from this theological per-
spective might be helpful for us.
First, the presence of God is as order, not as act.
For this reason stress is placed on the picture of God
as Creator. Creation provides for the orderly param-
eters in which human existence is lived out. Crea-
tion is affirmed as benevolent, embodying the possi-
bility of goodness. Salvation is found as the people
recognize and actualize the potential for wholeness
already i nherent in the created order. Emphasis is
598
placed on the continuity of God' s presence in
creation rather than on the discontinuity created
by his intervention in history. Our attention is
diverted from the hope for God' s redemptive inter-
vention to the effort to discern the just order which
God intended as the arena of human existence.
Wi t hi n this order humani t y has a special place. We
are given authority within the creation, and our
existence requires us to interact with it.
Second, within the order of creation the purpose
of human existence is life. Whatever does not
cont ri but e to bringing life is characterized as death.
Life is intrinsic in the created order and needs only
to become actualized in its fullness for each indi-
vidual. Hence, the emphasis in wisdom is often on
what seem like mundane matters. The wholeness
(shalom) of human existence is already present as
the promise of God' s blessing on those who seek
life.
In salvation history, existence is given its center of
meani ng by the intervention of God in a particular
history. In the hands of a prosperous people,
whether ancient Israel or America, this notion has
tended to foster a concept of election that claims a
corner on God' s presence. Wisdom, on the other
hand, stresses seeking after life as seeking after the
welfare of the whole human community to which
one is related. For a global society there are obvious
implications. In the Old Test ament this theme
served as a constant corrective to exclusivism and
triumphalism in Israel. The seeking after life in the
wisdom theology is never solely an individual
matter but is the concern of the whole community.
"When it goes well with the righteous, the city
rejoices . . ." (Prov. 11 :io).
Thi r d, great importance is placed on human
freedom and responsibility in the zvisdom literature.
Persons are accorded a greater role in det ermi ni ng
their own destiny. In Proverbs, in the Yahwist epic
and in the Succession Narrative a central role is
given to the notion that persons have choices to
make. Each must decide responsibly by choosing life
or death. If he chooses foolishly rather than wisely,
then he must bear the consequences of that choice,
but it is by no means assumed that he is destined
always to make the sinful choice.
Salvation history, on the other hand, assumes the
helplessness of humanity, the inability to effect a
change in the human situation and, therefore, the
need for God' s deliverance. The long legacy of
Western theology has stressed this biblical theme in
its doctrine of fallen man. Is it little wonder that the
response in U.S. churches to global suffering is
superficial when the theological tradition of those
churches has emphasized human incapacity to do
anything about the human condition? We have been
taught that deliverance is solely in the hands of God.
We pray for peace and justice; we do not work for
it. Wisdom stresses the trust God has placed in his
the christian CENTURY
human creatures and their responsibility and capac-
ity to make decisions that will bring life and blessing
into the created order.
There are limits to human potential, and persons
are called upon to acknowledge their creaturely
status. The limits are defined by the order of
creation. To attempt to transcend those limits and
become "like God" (Gen. 3:5) is to violate God's
creation. God is present in the potential for life as
Creator and Sustainer, and he is present in the limits
of creation as Judge, exacting the consequences of
sinful choices. There are limits to human capacity,
but within those limits persons are not incapaci-
tated, and much is expected of them. Such a biblical
understanding provides a more fruitful base for
reflecting on the use of power than does salvation
history, with its stress on human powerlessness.
Fourth, God intends the fullness of life for the
human community to be a present goal, not the
endpoint of history. The eschatological elements of
the salvation history theme have implied that the
fullness of life lies only in the future; consequently,
American churches have often responded to human
suffering in the present by pointing the sufferer to
God's future. Waiting and hoping have been advo-
cated as primary virtues to marginal peoples by
comfortable church people who have not had to do
much of either. Stress on the coming kingdom has
led us to devalue the present world as of little
ultimate consequence. The old hymn "This world is
not my home; I'm just a-passing through" reflects a
sentiment still with us, and it is the source of
considerable indifference in the church. If God's
coming kingdom will establish justice, how can we
be too concerned that justice is often absent in the
present? Wisdom stresses God's will that his crea-
tures experience the abundant life in the here and
now.
Application to the Hunger Issue
If wisdom theology were taken seriously, it could
be applied to the world hunger issue in many
ways:
1. We would be called upon to abandon the aid
or charity approach to hunger the rescuer-on-a-
white-horse mentality that does not succeed in bring-
ing life out of death in any ongoing fashion but is
merely an intervention of the moment.
2. We would be impelled to work for the estab-
lishment of a more just and harmonious order in the
world. A concern to actualize the fullness of life for
all humankind would demand re-examination of
root causes and the reordering of values and prior-
ities. These are long-term goals requiring the con-
tinuous presence of God's guidance and not his
dramatic deliverance.
3. We would need to place greater importance on
our role as bringers of life or death in the human
order by the decisions we make. Our role in patterns
that have created the suffering of world poverty and
hunger would be exposed, and the church could be
called to repentance for its participation. At the
same time, the church would find itself theologically
empowered to direct its energy and resources to new
patterns of moral discernment in the global com-
munity. It need not accept world suffering merely as
evidence of the broken human condition, and there-
fore opt to minister only to the victims of sin
without addressing sin's sources.
4. Finally, we would be required as the church to
recognize the destiny we share with all humanity.
Wisdom stresses the communal character of blessing
and life. We share this potential with the whole
human family as God's creatures, and where abun-
dant life is not possible, it is a loss we each share. To
be the community of faith is to acknowledge our
interrelationship with all of creation. Too often the
church has taken a stance of concern for the world,
but has understood itself as a delivered community
having little ultimate stake in the fate of the world.
Although there are many insights in the wisdom
perspective that can provide an alternative to the
salvation history theqjogy, wisdom cannot be pro-
moted as the new hermeneutical key. It is one
among many theological alternatives presented in
the Old Testament, and it is the constant critique
and corrective that these perspectives provide in
relation to one another which make the Scriptures
such a rich resource for the church. We are not left
with only one arrow in our theological quiver. We
are not called upon to discard completely the im-
portant salvation history themes of the Old Testa-
ment, but as the church in America we may find
some other viewpoints more helpful in current
contexts. Our choice of biblical foundations ought
to be made as carefully as our choice of ethical
strategies.
If the church is to participate in the moral
renewal of the world order, then it must find its own
theological renewal. The richness and diversity of
the biblical material represent an invaluable re-
source, and for the church to recognize and appro-
priate these scriptural insights is to begin the re-
newal of our theological perspective.
June 11-18, 1975
599
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