Introduction

This chapter introduces the book and lays out the main themes that will be explored with regard to poverty and religion in the monotheistic religions. It provides various definitions of both poverty and religion, and explains why these terms are difficult to define and quantify. The chapter provides statistics that demonstrate that both poverty and religion are experienced by large numbers of people in the world, making their intersection a topic worthy of deeper exploration. Then it turns to explaining some of the main theological concepts regarding poverty for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. We see that all of these religions have theological teachings and a long history of ethical questions and practical action on who is responsible for helping alleviate poverty. Finally, this introductory chapter lays out what to expect in the rest of the book.