And There Was No Poor Among Them: Liberation, Salvation, and the Meaning of the Restoration

by Ryan D. Ward

While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expanded many fundamental Christian doctrines, salvation is still understood as pertaining exclusively to the next life. How should we understand salvation and what does the timing of the Restoration reveal about God’s vision of salvation for a suffering world?

To answer these questions, author Ryan Ward traces the theological evolution of salvation from the liberation of Israel from oppression to the Western Christian development of salvation as an individualistic, transactional atonement. This evolution corresponded with the shift of Christianity from a covenant community to an official state religion aligned with imperial power structures. Ward also explores the economic and social movements in the centuries leading up to the Industrial Revolution, which solidified the power of propertied elites at the expense of the poor, plundered entire continents, and killed millions.

Synthesizing these theological and historical threads, And There Was No Poor Among Them: Liberation, Salvation, and the Meaning of the Restoration asserts that the Restoration is God's explicit rejection of social and economic systems and ideologies that have led to the globalization of misery. Instead, Ward shows how the Restoration and the gospel of Christ is an invitation to a participatory salvation realized in Zion communities where “there are no poor among us.”

Genres: Religion

265 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2023

Reviews

[Deborah Brunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for who is seeking and curious about how they might re-imagine their faith and their understanding of the life of Jesus through. Liberation theology lens in the context of the LDS tradition.

Ryan Ward traces original concepts of salvation as a communal reality, the safeguarding of human relationships, particularly from the experiences of poverty, marginalization, and oppression.

He writes how Jesus of Nazareth's life embodied this practice of salvation, continually advocating for and providing for real physical needs, including food, healing, and healthcare to those marginalised by their society. He challenged those in power who perpetuated traditions that marginalised women, foreigners, and impoverished people.

Ward describes how Christianity became the official religion of empire, and the concept of salvation became attached to an idea of a christ who died for individual sins as a debt for sin, a remote idea from the life of Jesus and the early Christians.

Liberation themes in the Book of Mormon are explored such as liberation from captivity and bondage, zion communities and our baptismal covenants, our promise to the body of Christ to bear burdens, and comfort those in need.

Ward proposes how the restoration was one of God's responses to suffering in the world, that has largely been brought about by economic systems and ideologies which have created havoc to our human relationships and our care for one another.

This book is truly captivating, heartwrenching, devastating and hopeful.

It is essential reading for anyone who aches for a greater depth of connection to divinity and humanity.
For those who seek to embody a faith that creates a world with less violence, trauma, suffering and injustice.
For those who yearn for and work towards peace and equality.
For those whose eyes are open to the impossible for the crucified peoples of the world,

It captures the essence of a God of Love working through imperfect people "towards restoration..."

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such important work. I am so glad to see LDS liberation theology being done.

[Walter Swingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an impressive book that brings together a wide range of scholarship to reinterpret the meaning of many core assumptions in the church, including the atonement and restoration. In outlining the history of the idea of salvation, the author highlights its original communal meaning and how Jesus’ ministry focused on breaking down barriers for groups of people that were excluded from access to spiritual rites. It was only in subsequent centuries under the influence of individuals like Augustine and Martin Luther that the significance of Jesus was reinterpreted as primarily bringing about individual, rather than communal, salvation. The idea of salvation as communal and relational leads to a rather surprising reinterpretation of the LDS/Mormon Restoration. Rather than viewing events such as the discovery of the Americas or the economic growth brought forth by the Industrial Revolution as paving the way for the Restoration, this reading instead suggests that the Restoration was a response to the incredible human costs and inequality that such events had on some of the worlds most marginalized communities. The Restoration, according to Ward, was in effect a response to the brutality of what Sven Beckert calls “war capitalism.” Overall, Ward’s book is an important contribution to existing discussions/scholarship that centers the marginalized in interpretations of LDS scripture and history. One might disagree with his conclusions. But I think this book is an important step in advocating for a theology centered less on dogma and more on working now to establish a community of care, compassion, and equality.

[Sergio Barrios · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that will spark many new and important discussions about how we are "Laying the Foundation of Zion", whether in a fully spiritual way or whether we are taking the necessary steps to build a more just and equitable society with real and measurable action.
The author does not use empty phrases or cheap concepts to present this "New Theology", Ward begins by analyzing the meaning of salvation both in Old Testament times and its immediacy in the Jewish imagination during the personal ministry of Jesus, then he dives deeply into the evolution of Christian theological thought from the disciples after Jesus to how the early Christian church began to establish more metaphysical and metaphorical meanings to Salvation and human suffering.
Finally, using the Christological concepts of help and salvation, he uses the Book of Mormon and the beginnings of the restoration to close with a flourish that the restoration is not only a metaphysical, spiritual exercise focused on a future of peace and prolonged prosperity, but it is the return of personal, real, physical care at the moment of those who are hungry, of the destitute, of those who do not have because of the injustices of life.
In moments like the ones we have to live, it is this change in focus on "salvation" and its daily reality that we must be living more than practicing.
Book fully recommended to those who have always thought that the miracle can not only be spiritual but also material and urgent.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read much liberation theology, so it was really interesting to view familiar parables and stories through that lens. I definitely believe we could do better at consecration and sharing and lifting others up and building Zion, so this is important to read, even though it is at times difficult. Not only is there the matter of our past failures, but there are stark descriptions of poverty and consequences of selfishness that may be hard for sensitive souls to read about (slavery, rape, torture, etc).

The one thing I would have liked to see is concrete examples of how to actually do this in the world we live in... I'm a practical person. Would it be better to "sell all, and give to the poor" or "invest all, and give the dividends to the poor"? What's the best way to "give to the poor" in our society, anyway? While sometimes governments try to level things, is that preserving people's agency? If you have extra, where's the best place to give it to - the Church? NGOs? government programs? While it may seem I'm thinking too small, grassroots changes begin with small actions by individuals, so what small actions make the biggest difference here?

I will definitely be thinking about this book as I study and read in the future.

[Lizzylou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with liberation theology. It was such a nice primer - especially for an LDS audience. I have heard the author speak about the book on all of his podcast interviews and like the book even more after getting to know him. Definitely worth the read.

[Ryan Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book but I think it’s really good.

[Joseph Cosgriff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it’s worth the read if only for Chapter 2, containing Ward’s very powerful exegesis of many of Jesus’ parables within a liberation theology framework, as they related to economic and political conditions that existed at the time of their writing. Ward turns on their head, many commonly held beliefs about the meaning of such parables. However, Ward goes much further than explicating Biblical scripture in this book. He also delivers a powerful treatise on ancient and modern history, the meaning of Christ’s atonement, and the powerful truths of the restoration as found in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
For example, in Chapter 6, Ward writes “True to the prophetic pattern that was established anciently, in Joseph Smith, God had called a prophet whose job it was to wake the people up to the reality of their situation, to help them contemplate and understand a new vision of reality, to liberate them from anything that would keep them from entering into covenant community with one another, and to establish laws and ordinances to solemnize this relationship and protect the communities it established.”
Further along in the same Chapter 6 he quotes extensively from D&C 104:
….Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (vv. 13–18)
And then Ward provides this cogent commentary:
“Here, emphasis is placed on the fact that God has created all things and is therefore the sole owner of the earth and its abundance. Twice God states this. Humans are made stewards of God’s property, but they are not owners and cannot dispose of the gifts as they wish. Instead, they must do so according to God’s purposes. And God makes clear that this purpose is to provide for the children of humanity, God’s children. The provision, however, must be done in God’s way. What is this way? “That the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low” (v. 16). This is a levelling. It is God’s purpose to provide for the poor by levelling the rich. We must make absolutely clear here that nowhere in this revelation (or scripture generally) is a distinction made between the rich who gain their wealth through “honest” means and those who amass wealth through explicit exploitation of the poor. In a world with “enough and to spare,” if there are poor, the justice of God demands a levelling of the rich. The simultaneous existence of both rich and poor indicates an enmity and inequality that is contradictory to and incompatible with the kingdom of God.”
“The significance of this revelation is further underscored when we consider that the original copy that was transcribed by Orson Pratt had a slight but profound difference in the wording. The statement regarding the fate of those who “take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and needy” was originally dictated as “he shall, with Dives, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.” This obscure reference seems inscrutable, but it is actually a Latin word that was translated in Joseph’s day as “rich man.” Furthermore, the capitalization indicates that this translation was held colloquially within Christian communities as the name of the rich man in Jesus’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus.”
The book is challenging in a wonderful way. Hugh Nibley once said that reading the Book of Mormon leads one immediately to get on or stay on the right path. I believe Ward’s writing, in focusing on temporal salvation in this world in relation to our covenants, is close to doing the same: helping saints get on the covenant path both temporally and spiritually—the two, in fact cannot really be separated. Although I don’t necessarily agree with all of Ward’s conclusions, or even all of his premises, many of which are based upon liberation theology, about which I was only superficially familiar, I am certainly grateful to Ward for having sparked my new interest in learning more about the topic.
I think it is imperative for all people to grapple with the topics that Ward analyses, because they truly are at the heart of the Restoration.

[Tom Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated Ryan’s insights and his likening the scriptures to how we can better serve those around us. This book really made me ponder how we can do better and be better in serving those around us. In the author’s words:

“The main premise of this book is that we have focused on this individual view of salvation to the detriment and abandonment of those who need communal, liberative salvation in the Salvadoran context and others like it. This need is enormous, and I believe that the neglect of the poor and oppressed by Western Christianity, and the approval and support of political and economic systems which depend on and produce massive exploitation and inequality, is what the Lord refers to when he says that the world “lieth in sin” (D&C 49:20). This is a travesty. It is outrageous. It is counter to everything we claim to believe in as Christians. It is the true face of the Satanic in the world. The world does not need salvation at some unspecified point in the future, after this life. The world needs salvation now.“

I enjoyed how he weaved many scriptures together to illustrate a theme that appears over and over again: God doesn’t approve when we fail to reach out to the outcast, poor, and marginalized. Ryan says it best when describing events in the books of Amos:

“As if anticipating Israel’s exoneration of its own sins and abuse of its people by comparison to the war crimes of its neighbors, Amos puts any question of relative guilt to rest: “Are you better than these kingdoms?” (6:2). The answer is emphatically in the negative; the scope of God’s abhorrence for social injustice and violations of human rights crosses political and national boundaries, and God identifies with the vulnerable and oppressed regardless of their nationality or covenant status.”

I would highly recommend this book - it makes you think about what you can do to become better. Thank you, Ryan.

[Josiah Ensing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving, motivating, and discomforting

I had grown to understand salvation in almost solely spiritual terms. In the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, when someone talks about the Plan of Salvation, they are rarely talking about a plan to rescue people in mortal danger, save people from oppression, or feed the physically hungry. And There Was No Poor Among Them shows, using a scriptural framework, and historical examples, how God’s liberation and salvation very much include mortal and physical rescue and relief. There Was No Poor Among Them explores ways Christianity lost this and how the Restoration reveals it anew, and how latter-day saints can build the Kingdom of God through physical liberation, mortal rescue, and temporal service.

I found the book quite persuasive. Some parts were less persuasive. I didn’t fully accept the author’s rejection of capitalism. Despite this, I feel like the book has changed my heart and given me an inspiring framework with which to approach life and a new perspective to interpret scripture. Well worth reading.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ryan D. Ward has written a thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between religion, social justice, and the pursuit of equality. Drawing inspiration from the scriptures and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ward delves into the concept of the Restoration and its implications for alleviating poverty, among other things. Through a combination of theological insights, historical analysis, and personal anecdotes, Ward presents a compelling case for a more inclusive and compassionate interpretation of the Restoration. He challenges traditional notions of wealth, power, and privilege within religious communities, urging readers to embrace a radical vision of economic and social equality. With a balance of intellectual rigor and heartfelt conviction, Ward invites readers to reimagine the meaning of salvation and its connection to building a just society.