You Are Invited to Take Our Lenten Series: Wrestling with Faith and Money with Miguel Escobar

 

Join us this March for a thought-provoking four-part live series, Wrestling with Faith and Money with Miguel Escobar, in which participants will delve into the complex relationship between Christianity and wealth. Author and scholar Miguel Escobar will guide participants through an exploration of how early Christians grappled with issues of poverty and prosperity, and how their views evolved over time.

  • In the first session, Miguel will explore three stories in the Gospel of Luke that explore wealth’s liberative purpose and the way these same stories were reinterpreted by the Church in the third and fifth centuries.
  • In the second session, participants will examine the ideas of Clement of Alexandria on retaining riches.
  • In the third session, the class will look at ancient definitions of money itself including money as a useful tool, money as a source of temptation, as well as money as a powerful (but highly addictive) medicine during a time of natural disaster.
  • In the fourth session, Miguel will return to the New Testament and explore Paul’s vision of koinonia, a form of economic fellowship which reappears again and again in various forms in later centuries.

The class will meet in four Zoom sessions on Wednesday nights at 8 p..m. E.T. on March 1, March 8, March 15, and March 22, 2023. Participants will be able to view recordings of missed sessions, get optional reading assignments, and download course materials at the the ChurchNext Wresting with Wealth and Poverty course page.

Participants in this course can receive a 25% discount on Miguel’s book, The Unjust Steward: Poverty and Wealth in the Church. This book is not necessary to take the course or follow the discussions, but we will be suggesting readings from it that may enhance your learning experience.

Miguel Escobar is Executive Director of Union Theological Seminary’s Episcopal Divinity School. Hear what he has to say about this course by clicking on the video below.

4 thoughts on “You Are Invited to Take Our Lenten Series: Wrestling with Faith and Money with Miguel Escobar

  1. Pingback: Forward Today: Preparing for Lent - Forward Movement News

  2. My husband and I pledge more than 10% of our income, donate to several charities and donate to worthy causes that we see on television, such as, Ukrainian, and for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Are we doing enough?
    We believe that everything comes from the Lord Jesus and that he has blessed us with the means to help others in his name.

    • This is the exact kind of question we’ll be wrestling with in the course — how Christians have decided how and how much to give; how to determine what our goals are; how other Christians have confronted these issues. Thanks for your comment!

  3. Pingback: Forward Today: New and contrite hearts - Forward Movement News

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