We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People's Campaign
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible proclaims justice and abundance for the poor. Yet these powerful passages about poverty are frequently overlooked and misinterpreted.
Enter the Poor People's Campaign, a movement against racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and religious nationalism. In We Cry Justice, Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the campaign, is joined by pastors, community organizers, scholars, low-wage workers, lay leaders, and people in poverty to interpret sacred stories about the poor seeking healing, equity, and freedom. In a world roiled by poverty and injustice, Scripture still speaks.
Organized into fifty-two chapters, each focusing on a key Scripture passage, We Cry Justice offers comfort and challenge from the many stories of the poor taking action together. Read anew the story of the exodus that frees people from debt and slavery, the prophets who denounce the rich and ruling classes, the stories of Jesus's healing and parables about fair wages, and the early church's sharing of goods. Reflection questions and a short prayer at the end of each chapter offer the opportunity to use the book devotionally through a year.
The Bible cries for justice, and we do too. It's time to act on God's persistent call to repair the breach and fight poverty, not the poor.
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Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis is a theologian, pastor, author, and anti-poverty activist. She is the executive director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Rev. Dr. Theoharis has been organizing in poor and low-income communities for thirty years. Her books include We Cry Justice, We Pray Freedom, You Only Get What You're Organized to Take, and Always with Us?, and she has been published in the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Sojourners, and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is co-pastor of the Freedom Church of the Poor, and teaches at educational institutions across the country, including Union Theological Seminary in New York City, Episcopal Divinity School, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and more.
"Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis is a towering love warrior and freedom fighter for precious poor people in the bowels of the American empire. This rich collection of essays is a powerful cacophony of prophetic voices that prefigure our beloved community." --Cornel West, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair, Union Theological Seminary, New York City
"Put down what you are doing and read this book now. It is a bridge between what Muslims call deen and dunya the cosmic world and the material world. We Cry Justice will inspire you to organize for the world that God calls us to create." --Eboo Patel, founder and president, Interfaith Youth Core
"As we read [God's Word] together, we are reminded that the gospel is 'good news to the poor'--if it's not good news to the poor, then it is not the gospel of Jesus." --Shane Claiborne, author, activist, co-founder of Red Letter Christians
"If you are inspired by the Poor People's Campaign, We Cry Justice is a must-read. It will inspire spiritual practice, scriptural reflection, and social action to transform your life--and the world." --Valarie Kaur, Sikh American civil rights leader, author of See No Stranger: A Memoir & Manifesto of Revolutionary Love
"We Cry Justice is good news! Read cover to cover or dip into random chapters; each chapter is an encounter with people living the Scripture with vibrant truth. This clarion call is the encounter that is needed to agitate and heal our nation and our planet." --Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, lawyer, advocate, and former executive director of NETWORK
"In these pages, an impressive group of contributors reminds us that we cannot talk about the love of God without taking seriously the need for justice for all God's children, especially the poor, the vulnerable, and the voiceless." --The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church and author of Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times
"The book is an invitation to reflect in fresh ways on the urgency of faith and on the demanding crisis we face concerning issues of justice. This book is not to be 'scanned.' It is to be lived with while the justice-working, world-transforming Spirit of God does its relentless, indefatigable work." --Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
"Whether used as a personal devotional or as the foundation for communal discernment, We Cry Justice is an immediate must-have for anyone who takes seriously the biblical call to work for a just and abundant life for all of creation." --Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto and former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
"The writers of We Cry Justice bring alive the meaning and the challenge of 'God's preferential option for the poor' for our world today. The message is clear: Doing justice is not an option for people of faith; rather, it is the work of God." --The Very Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas, PhD, dean, Episcopal Divinity School at Union, Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology, Union Theological Seminary
