The poor will always be with you, Jesus said - but that doesn't mean Christians have ever figured out how to be with the poor. Pope Francis has emphasized a vision of a "Church that is poor and for the poor." But growing economic inequality continues to spread across the globe. This book takes a fresh look at the role of churches, and individual Christians, in relating to poverty and the poor among them. A strong focus is placed on the biblical and theological roots of the Church's commitment to care for the poor. At times praised as a virtue and blessed as a condition, poverty easily confuses us, and we are often left doing little to nothing to make a difference with and for the poor. As a social evil and a burden, poverty has elicited many kinds of reactions among the followers of Christ. It is time for Christians to figure out what to do about it. Contributors include Pope Francis, Pheme Perkins, Sandra M. Schneider, and Thomas Massaro SJ.

Put Jesus, the risen Jesus, in the middle of your life, your thinking, your living, your work, your pains, your griefs, your anxieties, your hopes, and your fears - put this Jesus in the middle, and work them all around him. Learn to worship him; learn to love him; and learn to live with a new life in his new world' So ends this exhilarating sequence of meditations on the biblical Jesus, and what it means to follow him today. In Part One, 'Looking to Jesus' NT Wright outlines the essential message of six major New Testament books, looking in particular at their portrayal of Jesus - 'the pioneer and perfecter of our faith'- and what he accomplished in his sacrificial death. In Part Two, 'A Living Sacrifice' he takes six key New Testament themes - resurrection, re-birth, temptation, hell, heaven, and new life - and explores their significance for the lives of present-day disciples.

Craig Keener carefully examines the New Testament Gospels and the book of Acts to provide a fuller understanding of what the Holy Spirit meant in the lives of early believers. Christianity did not arise in a vacuum, but rather it appropriated, modified, and utilized the Jewish understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit. By understanding the world in which Christianity emerged, we can better understand the earliest believers' experience of God's empowering and purifying Spirit. This paperback edition contains a new preface by the author.

Tom Wright sets out to clarify our thinking about what happens to people after they die. Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, what it means to pray for the dead, what (and who) are the saints, are all addressed in this invigorating and rigorously argued book.