The Pain of Gain
How Much is Enough? describes how we turn to fleeting satisfactions and away from God
Cindy Crosby
April 1, 2003
How Much Is Enough? Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture
Arthur Simon
Baker, 208 pages, $11.99
Hunger is a scandal, Arthur Simon writes in this probing take on the problem of "affluenza." Simon, founder and president emeritus of the anti-hunger lobby Bread for the World, discusses the ways an affluent culture turns toward fleeting satisfactions and away from God. He draws from the wisdom of Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic writers and activists, blending anecdotes, Scripture, and personal musings. Simon writes that attempting to slake a spiritual thirst with materialism is like drinking water from the sea: "It turns immediate gratification into a life-threatening condition."
Simon acknowledges that following Christ is not easy, details the adverse consequences of affluent living on poverty-stricken people, and suggests ways to reverse those consequences through simple living. "There are no shortcuts, no quick fixes, no 'one-size-fits-all' when it comes to living as a faithful disciple," Simon writes. Yet, if taken to heart, this book promises to transform the reader.
Related Elsewhere
How Much Is Enough?: Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture is available at Christianbook.com.
Recently Christianity Today columnist Andy Crouch wrote "We're Rich | But why is it so hard to admit?"
For more book reviews, see Christianity Today's archives.
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