Description:
What Difference Does Spirit-Empowerment Make in the Face of Global Poverty?
What is a Christian response to the immense and crushing demands of poverty? How may the poor be empowered within their own context? What answers can be found in Liberation Theology and the Prosperity Gospel?
Scholars and practitioners gathered in Bogota, Colombia, at the 2019 Scholars' Consultation of Empowered21 to discuss these questions from a Spirit-empowered perspective. This book is the combination of these deep and engaging conversations at the Consultation and the subsequently
commissioned studies.
The book is divided into two sections. The first is "Foundational," addressing biblical, theological, and historical considerations of wealth and poverty, as well as a definition and overview of the current state of global poverty. The second section is "Cases in Context," which provides reflections on real-life experiences from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
Through this marriage of foundational and contextual sections, the book engages pervasive issues faced in the majority world today: Civil unrest, policy issues, indigenous identity, urban slums, migration, globalization, education, and other concerns are considered in light of the Spiritʼs empowerment of individuals, churches, and communities.
Review Quotes:
Africa has always grappled with the tension of the potency of the gospel to transform lives and
the debilitating poverty of the many that believe and receive its liberating truths. This book is
a veritable and even-handed overview of this often controversial tension. I recommend it to
those searching for a balanced and holistic approach.
Goodwill Shana
President, Association of Evangelicals in Africa
Co-chair, Empowered 21 Africa Cabinet
Although there has been a steady rise in justice-consciousness among Pentecostals, scholarly
reflections that combine Pentecostal spirituality and justice for the poor are still scarce. This
book will help fill this gap, as it gathers seasoned, global voices that both celebrate the Spirit
and strive to be good news among the poor.
Al Tizon
Executive Minister of Serve Globally
Evangelical Covenant Church
The case studies in this book provide ample evidence of what missiologists call "redemptive
lift." Spirit-led witness always leads to caring for those within and beyond reach of churches.
Melba Padilla Maggay, Ph.D.
Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC)
President, Micah Global