Charity : the place of the poor in the Biblical tradition / Gary A. Anderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, Gary A., 1955-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Charity--Biblical teaching.

Charity.

Christianity.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

1. The Challenge of Charity

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

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

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780300183733

0300183739

OCLC:

855020302