There are three rules in the Bible that can help formulate what a Christian attitude to the poor should be. They are gleaning, release and jubilee.
Gleaning laws require those with farms to leave some of their crops in their fields when harvesting for the poor to gather for themselves.
The laws of release require that debts be forgiven every seventh year
The laws of Jubilee require that all lands be returned to their ancestral owners every fifty years.
These laws lead us to conclude that:
God cares that there is not a permanently dispossessed underclass of those who live on the margins.
All three laws are aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty. Gleaning laws provide a means for the poor to get food. Release laws make sure individuals do not become permanently trapped in debt. Jubilee aim to prevent the permanent loss of land.
These laws imitate God who cares for those on the margins.
Simply importing these laws into our world will not work. But they lead us to think about what kind of laws are needed to meet these same objectives.
Some notes from the penultimate chapter of "Christians and the Common Good: How Faith Intersects with Public Life" by Charles E. Gutenson
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