"If you do not do this you are not now a Christian": Martin Luther's Pastoral Teachings on Money

Kathryn D'Arcy Blanchard

Article Type: Doctoral Essay Contest Essay

Publication Date: 7/1/2006

Issue: Mission in the Congregation (Vol. 26, No 3, Summer, 2006)

“If you are rich and see your neighbor is poor, serve him with your possessions,” wrote Luther; “if you do not do this you are not now a Christian.” And are we not all “rich”? Luther’s teachings on money will make us all squirm. Still, there is promise: genuine faith will manifest itself in an openhanded use of our possessions.

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