The Poverty and Justice Bible (The Bible Society) Paperback ISBN: 0564094536

Not available in bookshops but can be purchased from www.povertyandjusticebible.org

£9.99

“Over 2000 verses in the Bible wake us up to issues of poverty and justice and now there’s no missing them.”

The Poverty and Justice Bible is a contemporary English version of the Bible which highlights all (?) the passages which relate to the issues of poverty and justice. There really is no missing them as they are highlighted in bright orange.

My first impression of this Bible was “WOW!” It truly is an amazing resource. It has brought home to me, as a Christian, my responsibility to address issues of poverty and justice more than I do currently. The essence of Christianity to follow Jesus and love your neighbour is ‘highlighted’ in so much clarity that I cannot fail to readdress my spirituality as a result. The ‘famous’ passages are there, but reinforced seemingly on every other page with passages I have read but never placed into my schema of belief and action before.

But therein lies the weakness of this project for teachers- it is for individuals! Yes, it can help with references for justice and poverty, but its use in the classroom, beyond that, is questionable, On sharing it, and my excitement, with other teachers one was led to make the suggestion of a Bible with different coloured highlights for all of the issues covered at GCSE. It is useful as a reference, but no further really.

The centre section of the book provides a series of activities related to various passages. These contextualise various passages which are really useful to the teacher and devotee alike, but the tasks themselves such as: “Pray for young people in your family” are personal and devotional in nature (though some are good learning from activities: “Look at your clothes. Under what conditions do you imagine they were made?”).

Overall, a wonderful book with immense value for the individual and the Church group. However, for teachers it is limited in its value and application.