|
| Christian news worldwide |
 Home |
 Archives |
 Subscriptions |
 Adverts |
 Find a church |
 About us |
 Contact us |
 Site Map |
 PrintableVersion The skeptic's guide to global povertyBe generous to the poorTHE SKEPTIC’S GUIDE TO GLOBAL POVERTY Of the 6.5 billion people in the world nearly half live on less than US$2 per day and 20% of us consume 86% of the world’s goods. The GDP of the poorest 48 nations is less than the combined wealth of the world’s richest three people and the combined economies of all 48 sub-Saharan African countries are about the same as the city of Chicago. These are some of the shocking statistics that you will encounter reading The Skeptic’s Guide to Global Poverty. The book aims to identify the extent and common causes of global poverty whilst also helping the reader to get to grips with the main players on the international stage seeking to respond to the enormous task. (If you struggle to distinguish between the IMF, WTO, WFP, WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, etc., then this book is a helpful jargon-buster.) It is short and easy to read, written in a question and answer format covering wide areas of concern from ‘What is capitalism?’ to ‘What does it mean to be a refugee?’ The resulting answers are necessarily generalised and are presented in a rather detached way, which at times can be frustrating, but equally is a spur to find out more and develop an appropriately Christian response to the stark reality of poverty in our world. This book is written for the average American and not for a specifically Christian audience and therefore lacks an explicitly biblical perspective on the causes of poverty and how Christians should best respond. However, it is a timely challenge to help believers in the UK be more informed and therefore active in combating poverty in God’s world. ‘Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD’ (Proverbs 19.17). Phil Jack, © Evangelicals Now - May 2009 |
|
