BMCR 2009.03.50, Susan R. Holman, Wealth and Poverty in Early Church

Susan R.  Holman (ed.), Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society.
Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History.  Grand Rapids,
MI:  Baker Academic, 2008.  Pp. 320.  ISBN 9780801035494.  $32.99 (pb).


Reviewed by Silke Sitzler, Australian Catholic University
([email protected])
Word count:  2063 words
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[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society is a collection of works
originally presented at a conference on "Wealth and Poverty in Early
Christianity" held in 2005. The first book in the series Holy Cross
Studies in Patristic Theology and History, it offers a broad collection
of papers predominantly discussing early Christian responses to poverty
and wealth across the Roman world. Divided into five sections, the
volume presents eighteen essays grouped under the titles: "The New
Testament Period"; "Egypt in Late Antiquity"; "John Chrysostom, the
Cappadocians, and Friends"; "Wealth, Trade, and Profit in Early
Byzantium"; and "Patristic Studies for Today". These sectional
groupings provide a useful and cohesive way to absorb the wide ranging
research presented in the volume. The approaches taken to the topic of
wealth, poverty and early Christianity are diverse and the essays vary
in their depth of interpretation. Different perspectives are taken, and
new insights offered on familiar texts and authors, such as the
Shepherd of Hermas and the homilies of John Chrysostom, as well as on
less familiar texts such as extant papyri from Egypt. The volume is a
welcome contribution to the field of poverty studies, and will be of
interest, and use, to both students and specialists in the areas of
poverty, society, and religion in the Roman empire and late antiquity.

Part 1--"The New Testament Period"--presents four essays that consider
various Christian texts from the first two centuries of the Common Era.
In the first essay, S.J. Friesen discusses early Christian analyses of
the causes of poverty, using the Revelation of John, the Letter of
Jacob (or James), the Acts of the Apostles, and the Shepherd of Hermas.
Providing a framework of Roman imperial economic inequality, Friesen
identifies four distinct commentaries in the texts that portray both an
exploitative and suppressive system that promotes economic inequality,
as well as a system of charity and salvation in which economic
inequality played an accepted, even necessary, role. Buell, in the
second paper, considers those exhorted to give alms and charity in
early Christian communities. Using Didache, 1 Clement and the Shepherd
of Hermas, Buell proposes that donors and recipients usually seen as
mutually exclusive entities could be read as interchangeable. She
suggests that impoverished Christians could both be involved in poverty
relief and be recipients of it. Thus, she argues that the binary
oppositions of rich/poor, donor/recipient presented in Christian
rhetoric should not be interpreted too literally. In the third essay of
this section, G.K. Hasselhoff, presents a discussion of the reception
of James 2:2-7 and its opposition to a social preference of the rich.
Discussing Bede's commentary on the text and the earlier patristic
interpretations available to him, Hasselhoff questions whether the
passage's limited reception can be explained by its radical critique of
wealth. Moore offers the final essay and examines the lures of both
spiritual and material wealth as allegorized in the Hymn of the Pearl.
Through discussion of this text as well as theological commentaries on
poverty in a larger eschatological context, he proposes that in gnostic
thought poverty was an ignorance, a lack of a vision of God, while
wealth was the knowledge of God's all pervasive love and humanity's
journey to God's kingdom.

Part 2--"Egypt in Late Antiquity"--deals with different sources from
the second through to seventh centuries of the Common Era. Van den Hoek
discusses poverty and wealth in the Quis dives Salvetur? of Clement of
Alexandria. She argues that in Clement's exegesis of Mark 10:17-31
material wealth was neither a positive nor a negative asset, the
liquidation of one's assets was an allegorical reference to one's
desire for, and attachment to, money, while the sharing of one's wealth
was an important social duty. This interpretation, she proposes, was a
landmark in reconciling the wealthy with the Christian community.
Brakke's essay considers the semi-eremitical monks of Northern Egypt in
the fourth century, and Evagrius's presentation of the values and
anxieties that concerned their attainment and use of money and charity,
as well as the constant threat of the demon Love of Money. He points
out that for Evagrius economic sufficiency, which still enabled
charity, rather than economic security, was the eremitic aim. Such
sufficiency encouraged an economic vulnerability with fostered
generosity, faith and dependence in God. Serfass's essay examines
extant papyri and what they reveal about the assistance provided to the
needy by Christian communities in Egypt. He discusses papyrological
evidence that shows that these communities operated a well organised
program that included donations to churches, and by churches, of food,
wine and clothing, as well as the activities of various charitable
institutions and individuals. These provided, Serfass argues, a
responsive system of charity and support in small cities and villages
in late antique Egypt. In the final paper dealing with Egypt, Susan
Holman considers the seventh-century text Miracles of Saints Cyrus and
John by Sophronius of Jerusalem, and proposes that four story-sets
rhetorically connect rich and poor within the text. Providing a
historical, narrative, theological and social context for the work and
its subject, Holman suggests that the text moves way from earlier
Christian works through its representation of rich and poor and its
focus on humility and equality in healing, revealing in its narrative
monastic ideals on humility and social justice.

Four of the five essays in Part 3--"John Chrysostom, the Cappadocians,
and Friends"--are concerned with the homilies and society of John
Chrysostom. The first essay, by Rudolf Braendle, presents a Chrysostom
actively engaged in a fight against poverty. Braendle draws upon his
earlier work on Chrysostom, and considers Chrysostom's argumentation of
Matt 25:31-46 as part of the preacher's fight against poverty.[[1]] He
further extends his discussion to argue that Matt 25:31-46 can be seen
to be of central importance to Chrysostom's theology and practices. In
the second essay Wendy Mayer considers voluntary and economic poverty
in Chrysostom's time. Mayer demonstrates that voluntary poverty was a
relative concept that required a personal detachment from, and
appropriate use of, wealth. She argues that, in contrast to economic
poverty, voluntary poverty conformed to social ideals, and thus became
a more attractive recipient of care and benefaction in late antique
society. Further she proposes that these differing attitudes towards
poverty be considered within our understanding of the shifting role of
wealth and poverty in late antique society. Cardman investigates
Chrysostom's homilies on Lazarus and the rich man through the lens of
the theatre, building upon Leyerle's work in this area.[[2]] She
considers John Chrysostom's rhetorical staging of wealth and poverty by
reading the homilies as play scenarios. Cardman argues that ambiguities
in the preacher's theatre of wealth and poverty serve to diminish his
effectiveness in changing his audience's response to the poor. Makris
Walsh's essay also deals with the homilies of John Chrysostom. In it
Makris Walsh focuses on the preacher's concern with widows, arguing for
their important role in the pastoral activities and theology of
Chrysostom's church in Antioch. She proposes that the preacher's
concern for widows, both wealthy and impoverished, was soteriological,
practical and apologetic. In the final essay of this section, D.J.
Constantelos focuses on the transition from Hellenic to Christian
philanthropy. He presents a discussion of the Hellenic and early
Christian backgrounds of philanthropy and proposes that Christianity
extended the traditional form of philanthropy both to include
individuals from a diversity of backgrounds, and to provide a wide
variety of social services.

Part 4--"Wealth, Trade, and Profit in Early Byzantium"--begins with
Siecienski's essay questioning the seeming disparity between the wealth
of church adornment and architecture and the church's rhetoric towards
the wealthy. His discussion demonstrates that the splendor of the
liturgy could be justified as a reflection of spiritual truths, making
it easier for believers to see true beauty and to be transported to the
celestial realm. Daniel Caner turns to voluntary poverty in his paper
on early Byzantine monasticism and discusses the practice and
obligations of monastic stewardship. Considering sources from the
fourth to sixth centuries, including Cyril of Scythopolis, Basil of
Caesarea and Barsanuphius of Gaza, Caner presents an in-depth
discussion of stewardship, charity and surplus that demonstrates how a
flexible notion of a "blessing" allowed even very small quantities of
surplus, such as leftovers, to be distributed as charity. In the third
essay in this section, A. Laiou considers trade, profit, and the
merchant, from the fourth to eleventh centuries, in terms of Christian
values and reality. She proposes that patristic teachings sought
non-economic behaviour, and that hagiographies reflected this ideal
with a focus on charity and the miraculous economy. She further argues
that while patristic sources present negative views of trade, profit
and the merchant, hagiography presents merchants, their profession, and
the marketplace as legitimate and accepted, reflecting their position
within Byzantine society.

The first essay in Part 5, "Patristic Studies for Today", by Timothy
Patitsas attempts to bridge the gap between patristic beliefs and
practices and those of the modern world. He presents a brief discussion
of Basil of Caesarea's philanthropic program, modern poverty-relief
efforts, micro-lending and the economic theory of Jane Jacobs, and
proposes that Basil's program could have relevance for poverty relief
in the modern world. The second paper by B. Matz outlines a research
project being undertaken by the Centre for Catholic Social Thought,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, that deals with the past and future use
of patristic teachings on social ethics in Catholic Social Teaching.

Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society provides a valuable
contribution to the study of poverty in early Christianity and late
antiquity. Several essays offer important insights into the rhetoric of
poverty, and the relative nature of poverty in early Christian texts
and practices. Papers such as those by Friesen, Buell, Brakke, Serfass,
Mayer, Cardman and Caner, are particularly notable for providing
critical and insightful readings of the antique material in their
treatments of poverty and wealth in early Christian communities.
Readers should note that a Christian lens is applied in some of the
papers, as is the question of the relevance of early Christian and
patristic texts to the modern world. Of editorial note, papers such as
Laiou's essay with its focus on merchants and Matz's paper on Catholic
Social Teaching, seem somewhat misplaced within the overall theme of
the volume.

Table of Contents


Foreword--Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis  7
Preface--Susan R. Holman  9


Part One The New Testament Period
1. Injustice or God's Will? Early Christian Explanations of
Poverty--Steven J. Friesen  17
2. "Be not one who stretches out hands to receive but shuts them when
it comes to giving": Envisioning Christian Charity When Both Donors and
Recipients Are Poor--Denise Kimber Buell  37
3. James 2:2-7 in Early Christian Thought--Goerge K. Hasselhoff  48
4. Wealth, Poverty, and the Value of the Person. Some Notes on the Hymn
of the Pearl and Its Early Christian Context--Edward Moore  56


Part 2 Egypt in Late Antiquity
5. Widening the Eye of the Needle: Wealth and Poverty in the Works of
Clement of Alexandria--Annewies van den Hoek  67
6. Care for the Poor, Fear of Poverty, and Love of Money: Evagrius
Ponticus on the Monk's Economic Vulnerability-- David Brakke  76
7. Wine for Widows: Papyrological Evidence for Christian Charity in
Late Antique Egypt--Adam Serfass  88
8. Rich and Poor in Sophronius of Jerusalem's Miracles of Saints Cyrus
and John--Susan R. Holman  103


Part 3 John Chrysostom, The Cappadocians, and Friends
9. This Sweetest Passage: Matthew 25:31-46 and Assistance to the Poor
in the Homilies of John Chrysostom--Rudolf Braendle  127
10. Poverty and Generosity toward the Poor in the Time of John
Chrysostom--Wendy Mayer  140
11. Poverty and Wealth as Theater: John Chrysostom's Homilies on
Lazarus and the Rich Man--Francine Cardman  159
12. Wealthy and Impoverished Widows in the Writings of St. John
Chrysostom--Efthalia Makris Walsh 176
13. The Hellenic Background and Nature of Patristic Philanthropy in the
Early Byzantine Era--Demetrios J. Constantelos  187


Part 4 Wealth, Trade, and Profit in Early Byzantium
14. Gilding the Lily: A Patristic Defense of Liturgical Splendor--A.
Edward Siecienski  211
15. Wealth, Stewardship, and Charitable "Blessings" in Early Byzantine
Monasticism--Daniel Caner  221
16. Trade, Profit, and Salvation in the Late Patristic and the
Byzantine Period--Angeliki E. Laiou  243


Part 5 Patristic Studies for Today
17. St Basil's Philanthropic Program and Modern Microlending Strategies
for Economic Self-Actualization--Timothy Patitsas  267
18. The Use of Patristic Socioethical Texts in Catholic Social
Thought--Brian Matz  287
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Notes:


1.   R. Braendle, Matt. 25:31-46 im Werk des Johannes Chrysostomos,
Beitraege zur Geschichte der biblischen Exegese 22 (Tuebingen: Mohr
Siebeck) 1979.

2.   B. Leyerle,  Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lives: John Chrysostom's
Attack on Spiritual Marriage (Berkeley: University of California Press)
2001.