tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post112767770074133404..comments2024-03-10T10:54:59.776-07:00Comments on Ben Witherington: The Christian's Duty to the PoorBen Witheringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06017701050859255865noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1127935879651014192005-09-28T12:31:00.000-07:002005-09-28T12:31:00.000-07:00Hi Steve and other friends who have spoken on the ...Hi Steve and other friends who have spoken on the timelessness of this message. I agree, and I can only tell you that reading John Chrysostom is a revelation, as he is so in touch with the Word of God that he frequently sounds like a timeless prophet or preacher. For those interested, I would urge you to read the great book on Chrysostom "The Heavenly Trumpet" written by a good colleague and fine NT scholar, Margaret Mitchell.Ben Witheringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06017701050859255865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1127925886171789232005-09-28T09:44:00.000-07:002005-09-28T09:44:00.000-07:00The timelessness of this message is astounding!The timelessness of this message is astounding!Steve Heyduckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16429370781525010342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1127743462830184272005-09-26T07:04:00.000-07:002005-09-26T07:04:00.000-07:00Chrysostom's homily almost sounds as if it could h...Chrysostom's homily almost sounds as if it could have been in a sermon yesterday. He addresses excuses that we still give today for not helping those who are less fortunate. Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us, but we behave as if the poor are less deserving of our generosity than they were were in Jesus' day. May we all repent.R. Mansfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12333586197235312918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1127713563094444122005-09-25T22:46:00.000-07:002005-09-25T22:46:00.000-07:00Dr. Witherington,Thank for this quotation, it reso...Dr. Witherington,<BR/><BR/>Thank for this quotation, it resonates deeply with me. Having spent several years journeying with people who are homeless and marginalised within the inner-cities of Canada (London, Toronto, and now Vancouver) I am often struck by the ways in which Christians (and others) create a superficial distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor.<BR/><BR/>I regularly talk with Christians who do not give their change to the poor because they don't want the money to be spent on drugs or other vices -- yet that judgment is based upon a brief encounter where we have no way of knowing what our few dollars (or few cents) will actually be spent on. I am not willing to call a person "undeserving" on such little evidence (of course, I tend to think that <I>all</I> who are poor are deserving of our change and much more... but perhaps I am biased due to my own experience of homelessness when I was a youth). It seems that in such situations it is best to be faithful to the command to "give to him who begs from you."<BR/><BR/>Grace and peace,<BR/><BR/>DanDanOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06948067607178483096noreply@blogger.com