""This concise and readable volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of stewardship. Exhibiting careful and thorough research, John Reumann traces the broad history of the stewardship concept . . . to the present day. While Reumann demonstrates that the term has had many shades of meaning in its history, he also makes clear, helpful suggestions on the meaning of stewardship for today, especially by connecting stewardship with the economy of God. I commend this book to all pastors, seminarians, and laity willing to struggle with what stewardship means for our lives and our world as we approach the twenty-first century."" -WILHAM O. AVERY, Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary ""With his characteristic erudition-biblical scholarship, classical and historical reflection, and contemporary application-john Reumann shows how oikonomia has been a recurring theme in the Christian life. It appears now again as 'stewardship, ' and Reumann' s exhaustive investigation will help the church respond to its far-reaching imperative."" -NORMAN A. HJELM, Faith and Order, National Council of Churches ""For many Christians the term stewardship means fund-raising. Paradoxically, with the advent of the environmental movement, it has acquired another sense: stewardship as care for the earth. In this learned but accessible book John Reumann shows how the modem 'secular' use of the term actually derives from the Bible and Christian tradition... He constructs a theology of stewardship that is at once faithful to the Scriptures and applicable to the lives of Christians today."" -ROBERT L WILKEN, University of Virginia John Reumann was a professor of New Testament studies at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA. He was the author of Righteousness in the New Testament: Justification in the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, and Ministries Examined: Laity, Clergy, Women, and Bishops in a Time of Change.