This book examines the views of Greek Church Fathers on hoarding, saving, and management of economic surplus, and their development primarily in urban centres of the Eastern Mediterranean, from the late first to the fifth century. The study shows how the approaches of Greek Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostom, Isidore of Pelusium, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus, to hoarding and saving intertwined with stances toward the moral and social obligations of the wealthy. It also demonstrates how these Fathers responded to conditions and practices in urban economic environments characterized by sharp inequalities. Their attitudes reflect the gradual widening of Christian congregations, but also the consequences of the socio-economic evolution of the late antique Eastern Roman Empire. Among the issues discussed in the book are the justification of wealth, alternatives to hoarding, and the reception of patristic views by contemporaries.
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Author(s): Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis (eds.)
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 263
Managing Financial Resources in Late Antiquity......Page 4
Contents......Page 6
Abbreviations......Page 8
Chapter 1 Introduction and Acknowledgements......Page 13
The New Testament World: Social and Economic Context......Page 26
Intellectual Encounters: The Greek and Roman Literature on Household Management......Page 28
The Synoptic Gospels: Hoarding as Endemic to Human Acquisitiveness......Page 30
The Excesses of Wealth Accumulation......Page 32
Hoarding Denounced: Wealth Employed to Perpetuate Injustice......Page 33
Hoarding Mitigated Through Circulation of Surplus: Alleviating the Needy in Paul......Page 34
Hoarding Abolished: The Ideal of Sharing Possessions......Page 36
Hoarding as a Morally Perilous Practice......Page 37
Hoarding as a Socially Detrimental Practice: Delivering Hoarders to Divine Judgment......Page 38
Hoarding as the Corollary of Rapid Economic Growth: Endangering Faithfulness to Christ......Page 39
Hoarding as a Form of Alienation from Fellow Believers: The Need for Benevolent Aid......Page 40
Economic Pursuits in the Graeco-Roman Urban Centres: The Social Setting......Page 53
Glimpses of Hoarding and Saving in Graeco-Roman Literature of the Imperial Period......Page 54
Work Ethic, Business Activities and Trade......Page 56
The Justification of Moderate Prosperity......Page 59
An Organicist View of Society......Page 61
Welcoming the Rich......Page 63
Universalizing Moral Exhortations for Charity......Page 66
Two Distinct Models of Almsgiving......Page 68
Motives for Almsgiving......Page 70
Sketching Out the Setting: New Responsibilities and Challenges......Page 83
Famine in Cappadocia, 368/9......Page 87
Private Vs. Common Property, Hoarding Vs. Sharing......Page 90
Institutionalizing Poverty Relief: Basil’s Ptōchotropheion and the Bequest of Gregory of Nazianzus......Page 92
The Ideals of Self-sufficiency and Stewardship of Wealth......Page 95
The Monastic Stewardship Paradigm......Page 99
Hoarding as a Socially and Individually Inefficient Practice......Page 101
A Call for Almsgiving......Page 102
Usury in Basil of Caesarea and John Chrysostom......Page 106
Isidore of Pelusium......Page 126
Pelusium......Page 127
Isidore’s Attitude Toward Wealth: Benefaction vs. Accumulation and Luxury Consumption......Page 128
Theodosius II Exhorted to Disperse Wealth......Page 130
Mismanagement of Church Property: “Who Watches the Watchers?”......Page 131
Eusebius, Bishop of Pelusium......Page 133
Presbyter Zosimus......Page 135
Martinianus the Oikonomos......Page 136
An Assessment of Isidore’s Accusations of Ecclesiastical Mismanagement......Page 138
Theodoret as a Civic Patron......Page 141
Theodoret as a Mediator......Page 144
Wealth, Poverty and Divine Providence......Page 145
Economic Exchange Viewed as Social Cooperation......Page 148
Theodoret’s Conception of Social Dynamics: An Appraisal......Page 151
Debasements, Inflation and Reforms in an Age of Crisis......Page 168
Shifting Gradually into the “Byzantine” World......Page 171
The Constantinian Solidus: A Lever for Change......Page 173
The Emperor as the “Lord of the Gold”......Page 175
Imperial Reserves......Page 176
The Formation of a “Golden” Elite......Page 178
The First Steps of Divestment: Italy......Page 183
The Role of Imperial Intervention in the Sale of the Couple’s Property......Page 185
Melania’s “Poverty”......Page 186
Coveted Patrons in Africa......Page 187
The African Bishops’ Advice: A Turning Point in the Couple’s Benefaction......Page 188
Transferring Monetary Capital in the Mediterranean......Page 191
Chapter 7 Conclusions......Page 205
Bibliography......Page 214
Index......Page 247
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