Economic theories, economists, and financial institutions increasingly play crucial roles in today’s society. Many question whether economics has now superseded both politics and religion as the dominant paradigm in which nearly all public policy and personal decisions are made.

While the financial sector is said to have recovered from the latest financial crash, most people have not and still sense that they are losing ground.

With the increased tension over making ends meet, the human propensity seeks out the causes for one’s lack of prosperity and thus the blame engine gets revved up.

Who is to blame? Is it the super, greedy rich or the lazy, entitled poor?

Is it laissez-faire capitalism or socialism? Large corporations or big government? Or is there a massive breakdown in social order and morals?

As a biblical theologian, Ruckhaus explores a different and baffling question.

How has the influence of economic systems escaped the hermeneutic and theology of the Church for so long? In a time of tectonic social shifts, why is the Christian dialogue more focused on sexuality all the while being strangely mute or blatantly antithetical about economics? Why is the bedroom more important to us than the boardroom? How is that the sins of the poor get so scrutinized while the serious and persistent biblical critiques about wealth are ignored? The Bible not only talks about how to use wealth, but also questions how one gets it and what wealth does to those who acquire it.

Ruckhaus begins this theological inquiry with his book Wicked Rich , Wicked Poor. In it, he not only explicates how the ancient Israelites struggled with these issues as reflected in the book of Job, but also relates the contemporary implications for Christians today. It is past time, Ruckhaus advocates, for economics to come under the scrutiny of the Gospel.