For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty

While much progress has been made toward poverty alleviation, many well-intentioned efforts have led Christians to actions that are not only ineffective, but leave the most vulnerable in a worse situation than before. Is there a better answer? Combining biblical exegesis with proven economic principles, For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty equips Christians with both a solid biblical and economic understanding of how best to care for the poor and foster sustainable economic development. With contributions from fourteen leading Christian economists, theologians, historians, and practitioners, For the Least of These presents the case for why markets and trade are the world’s best hope for alleviating poverty.

Click here to read Rev. Dr. Art Lindsley’s presentation slides.

Click here to read Dr. Anne Bradley’s presentation slides.

Books mentioned during the lecture:

• For the Least of These:A Biblical Answer to Poverty by Anne Bradley and Art Lindsley
• Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism by Anne Bradley and Art Lindsley
• Set Free: Restoring Religious Freedom for All by Anne Bradley and Art Lindsley
• When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett
• Books by Peter Greer
• Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, And How to Reverse It by Robert Lupton
• Poverty Ink (documentary film)
• Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo
• The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else by Hernando De Soto
• The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence by Gary Haugen and Victor Butros

Rev. Dr. Art Lindsley is the Vice President of Theological Initiatives at The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, where he oversees the development of a theology that integrates faith, work, and economics. Most recently, he had served as President and Senior Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987. Prior to that, he was Director of Educational Ministries at the Ligonier Valley Study Center and Staff Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also co-founder of Reformed Theological Seminary’s Washington, D.C. campus.

He is an editor of and contributing author to IFWE’s Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism (Abilene Christian University Press, 2017), and For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty (Zondervan, 2015). Dr. Lindsley’s key research in these books deals with two biblical passages commonly used to promote socialism, Leviticus 25 and the topic of Jubilee, and Acts 2-5.

He is also the author of C.S. Lewis’s Case for Christ, True Truth, and Love: The Ultimate Apologetic. He is co-author with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner of Classical Apologetics, and he often writes articles on theology, apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and the lives of many other authors and teachers.

Rev. Dr. Lindsley earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Seattle Pacific University, Master of Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife Connie live in Arlington, Virginia and have two sons, Trey and Jonathan.

Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley is the George and Sally Mayer Fellow for Economic Education and the academic director at The Fund for American Studies. She also serves as the Vice President of Economic Initiatives at The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, where she develops and commissions research toward a systematic biblical theology of economic freedom. She is a visiting professor at Georgetown University, and she also teaches at The Institute for World Politics and George Mason University. Additionally, she is a visiting scholar at the Bernard Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy. Previously, she has taught at Charles University, Prague, and she has served as the Associate Director for the Program in Economics, Politics, and the Law at the James M. Buchanan Center at George Mason University.

She is an editor of and contributing author to IFWE’s Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism (Abilene Christian University Press, 2017), and For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty (Zondervan, 2015). In her contributions to these books, Dr. Bradley has examined income inequality from both an economic and biblical perspective and provides guidance to Christians on how to respond, particularly through our vocations.

Dr. Bradley’s other academic work has focused on the political economy of terrorism with specific emphasis on the industrial organization of al-Qaeda. Her research has been published in scholarly journals and edited volumes. She is currently working on a book that analyzes the political economy of al-Qaeda post 9/11. Based on her academic research she also worked as an economic analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Terrorism Analysis.

Dr. Bradley received her Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University in 2006, during which time she was a James M. Buchanan Scholar.