The causes of poverty: Is a biblical understanding reflected in the experiences of today’s poor?

Abstract

In September 2000, the United Nations adopted their Millennium Declaration: a commitment to improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. Of the eight Millennium Goals declared, the foremost was to “Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger,” with a target to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than US $1 per day. Many have attempted to address this problem, yet debate rages as to what causes poverty in many communities. Dr. Christopher Wright, a Church of England minister, contends that the root causes of poverty are indeed identifiable from Old Testament texts: natural disasters, laziness, and oppression. While Wright presented a brief overview of this biblical approach to the causes of poverty, he did not elaborate on whether it would be reflected in the experience of poor people. This study therefore presents a critical synthesis of Wright’s model with contemporary field research. We conclude by reinforcing the importance of the Church engaging with the causes of poverty—not just the expressions of poverty—in order to fully demonstrate the love of God to the world.