Reviewed by: Wealth, Wages, and the Wealthy: New Testament Insight for Preachers and Teachers by Raymond F. Collins Francis M. Macatangay raymond f. collins, Wealth, Wages, and the Wealthy: New Testament Insight for Preachers and Teachers (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017). Pp. xix + 347. Paper $43.49. Pope Francis has been consistently vocal about economic justice as a mandate in preaching the gospel. His statements on greed and the effects of unrestrained market economies on the poor have drawn heavy criticism, if not downright opposition. His critics, often within the church, claim that the bishop of Rome should confine the preaching of the gospel to matters of abortion and other sexual issues. What his critics miss, however, is the essentiality of economic justice and the proper relationship with wealth to the ethical message of the NT. In the book under review, Collins vigorously provides proof not only that wealth, wages and the wealthy are indeed a paramount concern in the NT but also that it has a consistent and clear message regarding these issues. Unsurprisingly, in this volume C. combs the entire NT corpus for passages that treat or refer to wealth, wages, and the wealthy. He methodically moves through the literature according to the generally recognized historical order of the composition of the writings. C. thus begins with a consideration of pertinent texts from Paul and his authentic letters, and then turns to passages in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, to relevant texts in the Deutero-Pauline epistles and the Catholic letters, and finally to writings in Johannine literature, including the Book of Revelation. The selection of passages included in this book shows that all of the NT writings have something to say about the issue of wealth, either tangentially or directly. The texts are all closely examined, contextualized, and reviewed in light of the purpose of the book, which is to give pastors and preachers a way to understand the ethical teachings of the NT regarding the use of money and the proper disposition toward wealth. A subsection entitled "So What?" concludes each chapter. Here C. brings reflections and recent news reports to bear on the insights uncovered in the biblical texts. In his analysis of the texts, C. displays a particular sensitivity to the metaphorical nuances and financial underpinnings of certain words. He brings in examples and usages of the word under discussion from other writings of the time, providing thus a sociocultural context that helps to elucidate the semantic range of the word. In his discussion of Paul's letters, for instance, the Greek euodoomai can also mean "to profit," adikia can convey "deprivation of justice," koinōnia has a sense of "business partnership" and in 1 John, alazoneia may connote "pride in riches." Second, the analysis is attentive to the OT background that lies behind the NT text. For instance, the discussion of Qorban in Mark 7:1-13 and the claim that it speaks ultimately to greed benefits from bringing the expectations of the OT into the text. Third, C. allows the contexts of the texts, both in the particular book in which they appear and in the NT as a whole, to shape the observations drawn from them. Among the many insights drawn from the study of specific texts, some may be highlighted. First, wealth is indeed a gift from God to whom everything belongs, but the message [End Page 333] of Jesus also makes it clear that riches can imperil a believer's relationship with God. Any preaching then that solely asserts that wealth is a sign of God's blessing, such as proclaimed by the proponents of the prosperity gospel, sidetracks the NT's cautious view of wealth. Second, greed, which is taking or having more than one has a right to, is the most condemned vice in the NT. Greed shows that wealth can compete with God and so is rightly considered a form of idolatry and the root of vices and other untold evils. Avaricious acquisition can endow one with the illusion that one has no need of God as the guarantor of life. In other words, the unjust use of wealth leads to death. Third, wealth used in...