"Is God on the side of the poor?"

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Matthew Pitt L6W

19/2/2003

                             "Is God on the side of the poor?"

        

        Is God on the side of the poor? There are obviously many different views and answers given to this question, either derived from the Bible, from one's own opinion or a cohesion of both. But how can it be answered from the simple form of this question? Further Biblical knowledge as well as a greater understanding of Liberation Theology is required to provide a substantial answer to this, which can be obtained by looking at the individual aspects that arise when questioning God's position in relation to the poor. These are things such as the concern God had for the poor at the Exodus, The Exile and the Incarnation; The sense in which God identifies with the poor; Gods frequent work through the poor and the oppressed; The Biblical teachings that God constantly demolishes the rich and elevates the poor; and the question of whether God commands his people to have a special concern for the poor and oppressed but not the rich. There are three main points or stories in the Bible when God uses his power to intervene and Liberate the poor and oppressed, they are 1) The Exodus, 2) The Exile and 3) The Incarnation.  

        The Exodus is the story of Moses, the burning bush, the ten plagues and the Ten Commandments. In this God shows his power by freeing oppressed slaves from the Egyptians. God refers to these poor and oppressed slaves as 'his' own people, " I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt...and i have come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians" (Exodus 3:7-8). This blatantly shows God saw the poor and oppressed people as being his own, and that he was going to free them because they were his own people. But was this the one and only (main) reason for him doing this? It would be naive to think so. There was his Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fact that he may have done it to show everyone not only how powerful he was but also how merciful and caring he was - which shows he could have done it simply for himself, to make himself look virtuous to 'his' people, so he could be known as the One who freed these people from slavery. The whole story of the Exodus is the first time in which God selects the 'chosen' people, as he calls them 'his' people and then frees them from slavery and oppression; these people are poor people because they are slaves - therefore this story would suggest the poor are God's chosen people, 'his' people. What also must be taken into consideration is the fact that God forsaken idols and the Egyptians had created idols for Gods, so this could be another reason for God releasing the slaves and destroying the Egyptians.

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        The Exile is another story in which God shows his preference of poor and oppressed people. The story shows how he would free them when they were oppressed, but if they themselves became the oppressers then a fate of destruction he would impose upon them. God called Israel out of Egypt and made an agreement with them, he said they could live together in justice and peace. But this did not happen. Israel broke God's covenant so God destroyed Israel and sent 'his' chosen people into captivity. This shows how God destroyed Israel because the poor were wrongly treated; and ...

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