9781579109356

Summary

Ideas pertaining to economics and social order were central concerns of the early Christian church, yet modern theologians and scholars have paid little or no attention to these issues as important theological questions. This brilliant and thorough study is a history of the views that Christians held of the origin, significance and use of wealth. Justo Gonzalez examines early Christian ideas, beliefs and teachings about the use of money, property, communal sharing and the rights and obligations of rich and poor.Setting the Christian community in the political, social and economic contexts of the times, Gonzalez highlights the ideas of such prominent writers as Cyprian, Ambrose, Augustine, John Chrysostom, and the Desert Fathers concerning wealth -- noting what traditional scholarship has overlooked. As the author points out, this book is not a social or economic history of Christianity during the first four centuries; it is a history of the views that Christians held on economic matters.This profound, enlightening and highly readable work of excellent scholarship is a major contribution to the study of the history of Christian thought. It clearly demonstrates that the issues of economics and social justice are central theological concerns, deeply rooted in Christian doctrine and Christian tradition.

Author Biography

Justo L. Gonzalez, a United Methodist minister born in Cuba, is a retired member of the Rio Grande Conference of the United Methodist Church. After his basic college and seminary education in Cuba, he studied at Yale University, where he obtained three degrees: S.T.M. (1958), M.A. (1960), Ph.D. (1961). In 1961, he joined the faculty of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, teaching historical theology, and in 1969 he moved to Atlanta, where he now resides, in order to teach at Candler School of Theology (Emory University). Since 1977 he has been engaged in two main occupations: writing and promoting the theological education of Latinas and Latinos

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. viii
Introduction	p. xi
Background
The Wisdom of the Ancients	p. 3
The Greeks	p. 3
The Romans	p. 14
The Jews	p. 19
The Roman Economy	p. 28
Agriculture	p. 28
Industry	p. 33
Trade	p. 35
Taxation	p. 36
A View from Above	p. 39
A Different View	p. 42
The Crisis of the Third Century	p. 51
The Reforms of Diocletian	p. 57
Constantine and After	p. 61
Before Constantine
The New Testament Koinonia	p. 71
The Setting	p. 72
From the Jesus Movement to the First Urban Churches	p. 75
The Growth of the Urban Communities	p. 78
The Meaning of Koinonia	p. 79
The Later Books of the New Testament	p. 86
The Subapostolic Church	p. 92
The Didache	p. 92
Pseudo-Barnabas	p. 95
The Epistle to Diognetus	p. 95
Hermas	p. 96
Other Apostolic Fathers	p. 100
The Apologists	p. 102
The Old Catholic Church	p. 106
Irenaeus	p. 108
Clement of Alexandria	p. 112
Origen	p. 118
Tertullian	p. 119
Hippolytus	p. 122
Cyprian	p. 124
Preparing the Way for Constantine	p. 132
An Evolving Situation	p. 132
Lactantius	p. 134
Other Currents	p. 142
Constantine and Beyond
The Church Under the New Order	p. 149
The New Order	p. 149
Donatist Resistance	p. 156
The Flight to the Desert	p. 161
The Disillusionment of Athanasius	p. 166
The Cappadocians	p. 173
Ambrose and Jerome	p. 187
Ambrose	p. 187
Jerome	p. 193
Other Western Theologians	p. 196
John Chrysostom	p. 200
Augustine	p. 214
Retrospect
Retrospect	p. 225
Common Views	p. 225
Significant Developments	p. 229
Further Questions	p. 230
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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Faith and Wealth: A History of Early Christian Ideas on the Origin, Significance, and Use of Money

1579109357

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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