The attitude of a poor person to the benefactor and his gift in the teaching of the ancient Church (1st-3rd century)
Paweł Wygralak
Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu , PolandAbstract
The article deals with the problem of the responsibility of a poor person for the received gift. Analysis of selected writings of Christian antiquity reveals that every poor person who asks the rich for assistance is responsible to God for the received gift. All those who appeal to the benevolence of the rich and extort their help will answer at God’s judgment. In turn a poor person who is in real need is God’s altar. The alms given to the poor are a sacrifice that the rich offer on the altar of God himself. This confers a supernatural dimension upon alms. Moreover, between the benefactor and the recipient the relation of a reciprocal exchange of goods is established. The poor person who is supported with material goods by a rich person reciprocates with spiritual gifts: intercessory prayer and gratitude that continue even after the benefactor’s death. Thus, the rich person who receives the spiritual gifts benefits more than the poor person because in return for perishable material goods he is given eternal life.
Keywords:
I-III century, ancient Church, poor peopleReferences
Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromata
Clemens Romanus, Epistula ad Corinthios
Concilium Eliberitanum
Constitutiones Apostolorum
Cyprianus Carthaginiensis, De opere et eleemosynis
Didascalia, ed. F.X Funk: Didascalia et Constitutiones Apostolorum, I, Paderborn 1905
Gliściński J., Zagadnienia społeczne w pismach Ojców Kościoła, CT 63 (1993) 53-65
Grzywaczewski J., Postawa dojrzałego chrześcijanina wobec skomplikowanych kwestii społecz¬nych według Klemensa Aleksandryjskiego, VoxP 10 (1990) t. 19, 651-657
Hamman A., Życie codzien¬ne pierwszych chrześcijan (95-197), tłum. A. Guryn – U. Suchodolska, Warszawa 1990
Hermas, Pastor
Homerski J., Caritas w Starym Testamencie, VoxP 16 (1996) t. 30-31
Jundziłł J., Czy człowiek bogaty może być zbawiony? Bogactwo i ubóstwo w świetle myśli patrystycznej, w: Patrystyczne dziedzictwo społecznej nauki Kościoła, red. T. Makowski, Gniezno 1996
Justinus, Apologia, PG 6
Musiał D., Asklepiejony jako ośrodki opieki nad chorymi w starożytności, VoxP 16 (1996) t. 30-31
Obrycki K., Problematyka charytatywna w pismach Tertuliana, VoxP 16 (1996) t. 30-31
Policarpus, Epistula ad Philippenses
Rodziński A., Bogactwo i ubóstwo w świetle myśli chrześcijańskiej pierwszych trzech stuleci, VoxP 16 (1996) t. 30-31
Rodziński A., Sprawiedliwość chrześcijańska wobec problemu nierówności majątkowych w II i III wieku, Lublin 1960
Tertullianus, Apologeticus
Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
License
Pursuant to the Act on Copyright and Related Rights of February 4, 1994, the Author of the publication grants the Publisher of the journal "Vox Patrum" a non-exclusive and free license to use the Work submitted for publication for an indefinite period of time on an unlimited territory in the following fields of use:
a. In the field of recording and reproducing the work - producing copies of the work using a specific technique, including printing, reprographic, magnetic recording and digital technology;
b. Within the scope of trading in the original or copies on which the work has been recorded - marketing, lending or renting the original or copies;
c. In the scope of disseminating the work in a manner other than specified in point b - public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting and rebroadcasting, as well as making the work available to the public, so that everyone can have access to it at a place and time chosen by them.
Moreover, the Author allows the Publisher free of charge to use and dispose of the compilations of the Works.
The publisher may grant sub-licenses.
Third parties may use the Works and other materials containing or based on the Works in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (also known as CC-BY-NC 4.0) license pattern.
