This work fills a large vacuum in biblical research and exposition. On the one hand it makes a serious, critical, and constructive contribution to the search for an adequate biblical theology on the problem of poverty. On the other hand, coming as it does from an evangelical perspective, it strengthens and at the same time corrects many of the opinions articulated within the various political liberation theologies that have sprung up in Latin America during the last fifteen years. Orlando E. Costas, Professor of Missiology and Director of the Hispanic Studies Program, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary