Global Wealth

We are living in a time of profound change as different national economies become integrated into a global economic system. Is this globalization good and welcome news for the poor or a troubling source of economic anxiety and environmental degradation?

Scripture does not provide a simple blueprint for an economic system, Thomas Phillips writes, but we cannot evade its consistent imperative: "the integrity of the people of God, as the people of God, is dependent upon their sustained and concerned effort to eliminate the affront of poverty from the goodness of God's good creation."

Joseph McKinney examines the new global economy's distribution of benefits and burdens. Douglas Hicks explains why even if globalization is increasing total wealth, the disparities between rich and poor nations (and between wealthy and disadvantaged people) remain morally appalling. Henry Rempel challenges us to reorient our economy to protect things for which there is no market price -- common property (like air and water and wilderness) and the needs of future generations.

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to explore the contemporary trends in global wealth from a Christian perspective. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Global Wealth issue and the set of six Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

• "Global Poverty: Beyond Utopian Visions," by Thomas E. Phillips
• "Global Inequality," by Douglas A. Hicks
• "An Economy for the Earth," by Henry Rempel
• "Is Economic Globalization Good News?" by Joseph A. McKinney
• "A Just and Living Wage," by Jerold L. Waltman
• "Investing in the Global Age," by Laura Singleton

Photographic Essay

• "With Eyes of the Heart," by Roger Varland

Hymn and Worship Service

• "If Only I Had Known," by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
• Worship Service, by Bruce and Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Inspirational Pieces

• "Do Justice-Keep It Simple," by Peter Vander Meulen
• "Visions of Justice," by Scott Hoezee

Book Review

• "Global Ethics for the Global Market," by Willis Jenkins
  • Deen Chatterjee, ed., The Ethics of Assistance: Morality and the Distant Needy
  • Peter Heslam, ed., Globalization and the Good
  • Dennis McCann and Patrick Miller, eds., In Search of the Common Good
  • Manfred Steger, Globalization: A Very Short Introduction

Study Guides and Lesson Plans (Download the set of six Study Guides)

• "Global Poverty: Beyond Utopian Visions"
• "Global Inequality"
• "An Economy for the Earth"
• "Is Economic Globalization Good News?"
• "A Just and Living Wage"
• "Investing in the Global Age"