THE BIBLE ON POVERTY
"Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:9)
Anonymous
(Investigator 205, 2022 July)
POVERTY ALWAYS
According to the Bible poverty began when the first humans wanted to
decide between good and evil for themselves without God, therefore had
to leave the Garden of Eden:
...cursed is the ground
because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the
plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground... (Genesis 3:17-19)
The Bible foretold: "there will always be poor
people..." (Deuteronomy 15:11) Jesus agreed: "For you always have
the poor with you..." (Matthew 26:11)
Jesus also predicted "there will be famine ... in various places".
(Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:5-8) Famine implies poverty — starvation
level poverty.
No single definition of poverty fits worldwide and across the
centuries. Labor Party speech writer Dennis Glover says: "Labor was
founded to tackle poverty. But you have to remember that 100 years ago
people, even with jobs, could spend their lives hungry, cold and with
no education. That level of entrenched poverty is no longer with us."
(The Australian Inquirer, December 24, 2010, p. 3)
Generally speaking, poverty is inability to satisfy basic needs such as
food, clothing and shelter. Other indicators include homelessness,
unemployment, and unaffordable health-care. In third-world countries
daily income below $2 is poverty.
POLITICIANS VERSUS THE BIBLE
Politicians sometimes disagree with the Bible on poverty's permanency.
In 1987 Prime Minister Bob Hawke declared: “By 1990 no Australian child
will be living in poverty.”
In 2007 The Age newspaper
reported: "Twenty years after pledging no Australian child would live
in poverty, former prime minister Bob Hawke says his comment is one of
his biggest regrets." (June 16, 2007) In 1987 580,000 Australian
children lived in poverty, but 730,000 in 2007, and now above 1
million.
U.S. "official poverty" in 1964 stood at 19% — 36½ million
people out of 192 million. In that year President Johnson called for "all out war on poverty":
Many cornerstones of
the modern-day social safety net (e.g., food stamps ... Community
Health Centers, Head Start) were first established in 1964. The
additional building blocks of Medicaid, Medicare ... followed in 1965,
among many new and expanded anti-poverty programs. (Chaudry et al 2016)
In 1985 the U.S. still had 2 million homeless people! (Time, February
4, 1985, pp 26-27) In 2020 poverty afflicted 11.4% (37 million
people); in 2022 14.4% (48 million people).
U.S. poverty thus declined as a percentage, but in actual number has gotten worse.
Worldwide the situation is similar. The United Nations Millennium
Development Campaign included the goal to: "Halve, between 1990 and
2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger." 1000 million
people were "lifted out of extreme poverty" — one of humanity's
greatest achievements — but 800 million remained "in extreme poverty".
A new campaign began in 2015:
World leaders have pledged to end extreme poverty within 15 years, adopting an ambitious set of UN goals…
Billed as the most ambitious anti-poverty plan ever,
the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets were
adopted at the start of a summit...
The new UN agenda aims to end poverty, ensure healthy
lives, promote education and combat climate change, at a cost of
between $3.5 and $5 trillion per year until 2030… (The Advertiser 2015, September 27)
Time magazine, citing Oxfam,
recently reported: "The impacts of Covid-19, rising global inequality
and soaring food prices caused by the war in Ukraine are set to
send more than a quarter-billion more people into poverty ... by the
end of 2022..."
Political anti-poverty efforts routinely encounter social, political
and environmental obstacles — leaving the Bible correct in predicting
continued poverty.
THE BIBLE
The main Hebrew words for poverty are ebyon (which occurs 61 times in the Old Testament), dal (48 times), ani (75 times) and rush (24 times). In the New Testament the Greek plochos occurs 34 times.
Provisions in the Mosaic Law to reduce poverty in Israel included:
• Gleaning: Harvest leftovers were left for the poor to gather. (Leviticus 19:9, 10; Exodus 23:10-11)
• Sabbath Year: Every 7th year debts
were cancelled, and slaves released and supplied "liberally" for their
new life. (Exodus 23:11; Deuteronomy
15:1, 12-18)
• Jubilee Year: Every 50th year
farming land which had been sold reverted to previous owners; people in
financial hardship were assisted; Israelite
slaves were set free. (Leviticus 25:25-55)
• Laws on usury and pledges: A
pledged outer garment to be returned at sunset for use as a blanket; a
hand-mill, millstone or a widow's clothing
could not be taken. (Exodus
22:25-27; Deuteronomy 24:6, 13, 17)
• Wages paid promptly: (Deuteronomy 24:14)
• Generosity toward the needy: (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)
• Access to impartial justice: (Leviticus 19:14-16; Exodus 23:3, 6-9)
• No interest on money borrowed by relatives: (Leviticus 25:35-37)
• Straying domestic animals returned to owners: (Exodus 23:4)
• Every third year food tithes were stored in towns for widows and orphans to eat: (Deuteronomy 14:28-29)
• Food trees not to be destroyed in warfare: (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)
Israel often disregarded these laws. For example, in Jeremiah's time
slaves were freed, but immediately re-enslaved! (34:13-17) The prophets
denounced such injustice:
He has told you, O
mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah
3:1-3, 8-10; 6:8)
Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. (Isaiah 10:1-3; 1:17)
Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from
the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong
or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed
innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3)
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Render true judgments,
show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the
orphan, the alien, or the poor... (Zechariah 7:8)
NEW TESTAMENT
When Christianity replaced Israel as God's people, Moses' laws ceased
to apply (Psalm 147:19-20) except for their underlying ethical
principles.
Christians in the Roman Empire alleviated poverty by charity,
purchasing the freedom of slaves, assisting elderly widows, and
adopting orphans discarded by parents:
Thieves must give up
stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands,
so as to have something to share with the needy. (Ephesians 4:28)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the
Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and
to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27)
How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's
goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? (I
John 3:17)
In Renaissance-era cities, citizens in organized councils administered
church welfare, hospitals and poor relief. Church legislation invented
the “common chest”, funded by church income, which was the community's
financial resource for supporting the poor, orphans, aged, and
unemployed .
With the industrial revolution country folk crowded into cities where
whole families worked 14 hours per day in dark, airless factories and
earned barely enough for rent and basic food.
Churches began to consider the causes of poverty. This led to
education, prison reform, abolition of slavery, reduced working hours
and charitable organizations such as the YMCA (1844), YWCA (1855) and
Salvation Army. Gradually Acts of Parliament, church charity programs,
mass production, and unions made life better.
Church members also contributed to the rise of modern science including
microscopy, vaccinations, harvesting machines, pain relief, nursing,
electronics, surgery, antibiotics, genetics — a fulfillment of Christ's
words that his followers would do greater works than he did. (John
14:12) When global famine was predicted for 1975 but prevented by the
"green revolution" with better yielding rice and wheat, it was a
Christian who developed the more-productive wheat.
Christianity also produced thousands of schools, hospitals, aged-care
facilities, and ministries targeting disadvantaged groups such as
orphans, lepers, the homeless, disaster victims, refugees, etc.
In the 20th century came the "population explosion". Scottish
missionary J.H. Oldham (1874-1969), concerned about population growth
overtaking food supplies, recommended:
A serious attempt could
be made to abolish poverty. Experience seems to show that those whose
livelihood is precarious and whose sense of responsibility is thus
weakened tend to multiply more rapidly than other classes in the
community; and that the motives which lead to restriction of numbers in
a family operate most strongly when a certain standard of comfort has
been reached. A general improvement in the standard of living therefore
might prove to be the most effective of all means of limiting the
growth of population. (1926)
Ecumenical organizations began to analyze poverty from the standpoint
of justice as taught in the Bible and envisaged the redistribution of
wealth by changing unjust societies.
CAUSES OF POVERTY
Reay (2009) writes: "US households throw away around 30 per cent of
their food, worth $48 billion every year… In the UK 6.7 million tonnes
of food is binned annually."
In developing countries boys get preference over girls in food, medical
treatment, education and jobs. Lunn (2009) says the potential economic
input of 500 million women is largely squandered: "The irony of all
this is … if countries in Africa, South America, Asia and some parts of
Europe invested in their girls rather than discriminated against them,
it would go a great distance to breaking the intergenerational cycle of
poverty so many face."
Nolan & Boersma (2019) estimate the modern world has 40 million
slaves. They are hired under false promises, have passports
confiscated, are underpaid, work long hours, and suffer the worst
living conditions. Slavery is inefficient, entrenches poverty and
prevents highly intelligent people from developing their talents.
At national and global levels causes of poverty include war, crime,
authoritarian government, inflation, natural catastrophes,
population increase, detrimental social policies, inconsistent justice,
systemic corruption, obstructions to education, and climate change. At
individual levels the causes include job loss, sickness, accidents,
intra family disputes, theft, laziness, and income misspent (e.g. on
drugs, alcohol, and gambling).
Most poverty flows from rejecting biblical ethics, especially its
counsel against lies, corruption, thievery, violence, immorality,
ungodly religion, unmanageable debt, and evil men in government.
The Bible warns against "wicked rulers". (Proverbs 28:15-16; 29:2, 16)
Everyone, however, is prone to corruption and limitless evil if given
opportunity. (Romans 3:9-18) The best government therefore is
democratic because incompetents can be voted out. Better is removal by
vote than by fighting a war that kills 40 million (as happened with
Hitler)!
India’s Bengal Famine in 1943 killed millions because India was not a democracy:
…shortfalls
in food supply do not cause widespread deaths in a democracy because
vote-seeking politicians will undertake relief efforts; but even modest
food shortfalls can create deadly famines in authoritarian societies.
(Sachs 1998)
The atheist dictator, Mao, orchestrated "the worst famine in history"
(White 2012) — 30 million Chinese died. Stalin, another atheist
dictator, caused famine in 1932 — 10 million died. Currently Putin,
another democracy-despising atheist, is ruining Ukraine by war, and
hindering its wheat exports causing rising prices worldwide.
War and terrorism increase poverty. The maimed, traumatized, injured
and homeless are less able to produce wealth by work. The Bible in
contrast teaches "peace" which is seen by:
• The human race started peacefully (in Eden);
• The Hebrew word for peace, "shalom", is used 224 times;
• In the future: "nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
(Micah 4:3)
AFRICA
Time magazine (January 16, 1984) featured "A Continent Gone Wrong… Coups, Conflict and Corruption".
The article mentions assassinations, purges, military rule replacing
democracies, decreased per capital food production, decaying
infrastructure, refugees in millions, political oppression,
unmanageable foreign debt, proliferation of "technological white
elephants", livestock diseases, malaria, cholera, greed, elitism,
embezzlement of aid funds, stealing of relief supplies, bribery, and
tribal conflicts.
Somalia is "The country that killed itself" — "Clan war and drought
have knocked Somalia back almost to the Stone Age… Real industries and
public services have been looted to oblivion…" (The Advertiser, August
31, 1992, p. 15)
Corruption, graft, theft, refusal to pay back loans, and lies — all condemned in the Bible — often accompany massive borrowing:
Niger, the country with
the highest infant mortality in the world, is made to pay more on
serving debt than it does on healthcare. (Hertz 2004)
Aid flows destined to
help the average African end up supporting bloated bureaucracies ...
and donor-funded non-governmental organizations… As recently as 2002,
the African Union estimated corruption was costing the continent $US150
billion a year... With few or no strings attached it has been all too
easy for the funds to be used for anything save the developmental
purpose for which they were intended… (Moyo 2009)
In 2005 eight industrial nations cancelled $40 billion of African debt
but benefits were marginal because Africa loses $50 billion per year
through "illicit outflows". (Tafirenyika 2013)
DISCUSSION
Pope Francis got it right when, speaking in the Philippines, he connected poverty to ethics:
"It is now, more than
ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty,
integrity and commitment to the common good," the Pope said in the
speech at the presidential palace.
He challenged "everyone, at all levels of society, to
reject every form of corruption, which diverts resources from the
poor." (The Weekend Australian, January 17-18, 2015)
Consider annual global income, tax revenue and expenditures:
|
Global Income
|
$ Trillions
|
2021
|
GDP
|
94.9
|
2021
|
Tax Revenue |
c. 20 |
|
Global Cost of |
|
2016
|
Organized Crime |
3.6 – 4.8 |
2021
|
Cybercrime |
6.0
|
| 2021 |
Military / Defense |
2.1 |
2021
|
Terrorism |
0.13
|
2021
|
Foreign Aid
|
0.18
|
Notice that crime costs even more than the military; and foreign aid is puny compared to both.
If all people chose to be good (e.g. truthful, honest, caring,
generous, peaceful, unselfish, law-abiding, and trustworthy) crime and
war would cease, saving more than $8 trillion annually. The world could
then end poverty and stop climate change many times over with ample
cash to spare. That's the biblical way. But most people think the
Bible's standards are wrong, or merely ignore them.
REFERENCES:
Baker, T. Can world poverty ever be wiped out? The Advertiser, 18 June, 2005, p. 70.
Beatty, P. Obscenity of feasting while others famish, The Weekend Australian Inquirer, May28-29, 2011, p. 6.
Chaudry, A. et al Poverty in the United States: 50-Year Trends and Safety Net Impacts (March 2016), p. 19
https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/private/pdf/154286/50YearTrends.pdf
Du Venage, G. Hanging on in Zimbabwe, The Weekend Australian Magazine, April 28-29, 2007, pp. 32-35.
Fanelli, D. Special Report Poverty, New Scientist, 20 October, 2007, pp 14-16.
Hertz, N. Drowning in debt, New Scientist, 9 October, 2004, p. 29.
Kelly, P. High Food Prices Feed Unrest In Developing World, The Australian, March 16, 2011, p. 12.
Lunn, S. Woes of deprivation are harsher for girls, The Weekend Australian, September 26-27, 2009, p. 12.
Moyo, D. Despair in money for nothing, The Weekend Australian, April 4-5, 2009, p. 22.
Nolan, J. & Boersma, M. 2019 Addressing Modern Slavery, UNSW
Oldham, J. H. 1926 Christianity and the Race Problem, p. 213. SCM
Pearce, F. The poor will pay for global warming, New Scientist, 11 November 2006, p. 8.
Reay, D.S. Inconspicuous Consumption, New Scientist, 28 November, 2009, p. 47.
Sachs, J.D. Can Extreme Poverty Be Eliminated? Scientific American, September 2005, pp 34-43.
Sachs, J.D. The Real Causes of Famine, Time, October 26, 1998, p. 61.
Tafirenyika, M.
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2013/ aftica-loses-50-billion-every-year
The Advertiser, Pledge to end poverty by 2030, September 27, 2015, p. 34.
Uren, D. Tall order to match Howard on poverty, The Weekend Australian, December 8-9, 2007, p. 6.
Wahlquist, A. Climate change will cause grave world food shortages, The Weekend Australian (Professional), October 10-11, 2009, p. 9.
White, M. 2012 The Great Big Book of Horrible Things, Norton & Co.
Worldwide stats:
https://cybersecurityventures.com/hackerpocalypse-cybercrime-report-2016/
https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/GITOC_ TOCPPrivateSector-web.pdf
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/oda-levels-2021-preliminary-data-detailed-summary-note-endeja
https://statisticstimes.com/economy/projected-world-gdp-ranking.php
https://www.sipri.org/publications/2022/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2021
Other websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Slavery_Act2015
https://time.com/6166028/covid-poverty-hunger-war-inflation/
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/october-2005/ industrial-countries-write-africas-debt
https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml
www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/cabinet-papers/hawkes-attempt-to-crush-child-poverty/story-fnkuhyre-1226792570828.htm