Vladimir Petercă: Noţiunea de sărăcie în Biblie şi în lumea de astăzi
The church has always had the conscience of Christ’s Gospel preaching mission’s universality, of its duty to announce God’s kingdom to all mankind, regardless of social status or material wealth. Knowing the social problems that tare apart the contemporary man’s life, the author wishes to determine the impact and the endings that the new evangelization must have on the society’s lowest parts, especially on the poor and needy ones. First of all, the study concentrates upon the biblical concept’s development of poverty. Following the salvation history, the author presents us the material poverty, especially in the Old Testament period, in which many times the prophets’ demands are real social protests (Am 8.4-6; Michae 3.2-7; Is 3.13-15). After this, the study’s accent moves upon the poverty’s social dimension, especially in the New Testament period. The author analyzes closely the Mountain preach (Matt 5.3) and the story of the foolish rich man (Luke 12.16-21). The poverty becomes in this way the fundamental disposition required to all those who wish to enter in God’s kingdom. In the second part of the article, the author follows the poverty concept in the recent teachings of the Church, especially in pope John Paul the second’s document Ecclesia in Europa and in the emitted document of the SE Europe’s Bishops Conference Poverty: a challenge for the Church. So, in order to receive and to serve the poor ones we must receive and serve Christ itself. This means the duty to announce the Gospel of hope bringing proof that all men are loved equally by God.