The Mirage Shall Become a Pool A New Testament Theology of Social Justice and Charity

Description: Few things are as important as our notions of justice and mercy. Yet how are we to make sense of our moral treatment of the poor given all the political, philosophical, and theological voices? While Christian Scripture is not silent on the matters of social justice and charity, even here our variously conditioned presuppositions cause us significant interference. Only a careful hermeneutical reset can move us beyond our personal and cultural situatedness. This requires a thorough exploration of both interpretative strategies and pertinent scriptural witnesses. So how would the New Testament witness have us treat the materially needy? How do we act justly and love mercy in walking humbly with our God? Endorsements: "This is easily the best discussion of the relation between social justice and mercy in the New Testament. With judiciousness and insight it considers all the relevant passages. It is theoretically and hermeneutically sophisticated, and thoroughly informed in the secondary literature. Altogether, a splendid contribution to an important and charged issue." --Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University "Justice and helping the poor is a contentious area in biblical studies . . . What is needed is a careful walk through this discussion in terms of what has been said, hermeneutics, and a close look at the texts with discernment on how the entire scope of texts works individually and together. Here is a solid study that does just that. It orients the reader to the levels of the discussion, walks through the texts, and gives categories of classification." --Darrell L. Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary "Blending the skills of a somewhat philosophically inclined ethicist with those of a careful exegete, and writing with a certain artistic flourish, Hron offers a very different treatment of New Testament teaching on social justice. He offers to cut through the existing impasse with the austere, highly disciplined, and acutely analytical hermeneutic he has developed. This is a book to be read and pondered." --John Nolland, Trinity College "A true biblical theology on social justice is desperately needed. There are few topics more emphasized in Scripture, and Hron's work aptly fills this need. This is a book for the church both to study and put into practice." --Grant Osborne, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School "The Mirage Shall Become a Pool is perhaps the most hermeneutically sophisticated and exegetically thorough work on the theme of social justice and poverty in the New Testament that has been written to date . . . This is a critical work for anyone interested in the biblical view of social justice and the Christian obligation to the poor." --J. Daniel Hays, Ouachita Baptist University About the Contributor(s): Ondrej Hron (ThD, Universitas Carolina Pragensis; MTS, Trinity Western Seminary) is Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary.