equality
in Biblical perspective all people are equal in the eyes of God, irrespective of gender or status Gal 3:28, and this may give rise to political upheaval, as celebrated by Mary in anticipation of the birth of her Son Luke 3:46-55 ‘The Magnificat’. However, in the course of the history of the churches, there has been both deference to wealth and position and search for radical equality. On the one hand, there has been: "The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate. God made them, high or lowly, and ordered their estate." On the other hand, successive generations of monks and nuns have abandoned all worldly goods and status to affirm a condition of equal sharing. Variations in abilities between individuals means that their strengths and weaknesses, their needs and capacities, can be quite different. Christians recognise that. Equality cannot therefore in Christian perspective entail literal sameness, but it must include a bias to the poor.



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