Charity

The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition

Gary A. Anderson

• Editore: Yale University Press
• Anno: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780300183733
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Teología y religión
• Categoria: Historia de la religión

A leading biblical scholar places charity back at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition, arguing for its biblical roots

It has long been acknowledged that Jews and Christians distinguished themselves through charity to the poor. Though ancient Greeks and Romans were also generous, they funded theaters and baths rather than poorhouses and orphanages. How might we explain this difference?

In this significant reappraisal of charity in the biblical tradition, Gary Anderson argues that the poor constituted the privileged place where Jews and Christians met God. Though concerns for social justice were not unknown to early Jews and Christians, the poor achieved the importance they did primarily because they were thought to be “living altars,” a place to make a sacrifice, a loan to God that he, as the ultimate guarantor, could be trusted to repay in turn.

Contrary to the assertions of Reformation and modern critiques, belief in a heavenly treasury was not just about self-interest. Sifting through biblical and postbiblical texts, Anderson shows how charity affirms the goodness of the created order; the world was created through charity and therefore rewards it.

Indice dei contenuti

• Contents
• 1. The Challenge of Charity
• Part 1: Charity as an Expression of Faith in God
• 2. Charity as Service to God
• 3. A Loan to God
• 4. Material Wealth and its Deceptions
• 5. Deliverance from Death
• 6. Is Charity Always Rewarded?
• 7. Charity and the Goodness of Creation
• Part 2: Charitable Deeds as Storable Commodities
• 8. Can Merits be Transferred?
• 9. Storing Good Works in Heaven
• 10. Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving
• 11. Sacrificial Giving
• 12. Deliverance from Purgatory
• 13. Conclusion: Your Alms Are a Memorial
• Notes
• Acknowledgments
• General Index
• Index of Ancient Sources