Back to the Future:
Christian Charity in the Early Church as
Guidance for the Body of Christ Today
Many Church historians have noted that similarities to the climate and culture in which the Church finds herself today are more like the environment of the Early Church (prior to the legalization of Christianity in AD 313) than to the Medieval Church. This observation is probably true. The rise of secular paganism, the increase of those ignorant of Christianity and the Bible, the persecution of Christians around the world, all of these bare remarkable similarities to the life of the earliest Christians. In the midst of this there is great need: hunger, poverty, homelessness, both among us and among the first generations of Jesus’ disciples. Their mercy and compassion, love and charity, can serve as a guide for us today. What was the shape and scope of Christian charity (charitas) in the first centuries after the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ? Consider these Scripture passages:
All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need (Acts 2:44-45)
The churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord (2 Cor 8:2-3).
Is this not the fast I chose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Is 58:6-7)
Examples of Zaccheus (Luke 19) and Tabitha (Acts 9) and St Paul’s collection for the saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16; 2 Cor 8; 9; Gal 2) were prescriptions for the character and behavior of the early Christians. For they were following in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Charity of God Incarnate; “in Him personally love was manifest, that moved by love He came to us, and lived upon earth a life which from its very first breath to its latest was spent in the service of love, and that He finally, through the greatness of His love, gave Himself for us to the death of the cross” (Ulhorn,Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, p57).
The Didache, an early Christian catechism of sorts, states, “You shall not hesitate to give, nor shall you grumble when giving, for you will know who is the good paymaster of the reward. You shall not turn away from someone in need, but shall share everything with your brother or sister, and do not claim that anything is your own. For if you are sharers in what is imperishable how much more in perishable things!” (4:7-8).
I quoted last month and above from a work by Gerhard Ulhorn, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church. This 19th century scholar researches and presents the shape and scope of Christian charity from the time of the Apostles until the legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in AD 313. This is the first of a three volume set on charity in the Church, each covering a period of church history. It is an eye-opening text. The following are all quotes from this book:
“Let us remember that there could not be any real charity in the heathen world because there was no community. There is one now; our Lord has founded it. The day of Pentecost was, as it were, the birthday of the Church; and it was also the birthday of that Christian charity which is inseparable from the Church.” (p72)
“A healthy charity is only possible where healthy moral views of work and property prevail, as inversely, a false moral appreciation of labour and property inevitably produces a morbid phenomena in the sphere of charity” (p126)
“The more heartily the heavenly blessings of the kingdom of God were embraced, the more must earthly goods have lost their value. The more intently the eye was directed to another world and to a speedy termination of this dispensation, the more must earth have appeared a foreign country, and earthly property an uncertain possession” (p127)
“Simplicity, contentment, moderation, are required of every Christian.” (p131)
“The individual Christian lived entirely in and for the Church. The churches were still small and like a family; each Christian knew all others. Even Cyprian in a town like Carthage knew all the members of the church.” (p137)
“The individual gave to the Church what love impelled him to bestow; gifts were collected for the poor in the meetings of the Church, at public worship and at the Lord’s Supper; the officers of the Church dispensed them. The relief of the poor by the Church is the special characteristic of the charity of this age.” (p133)
“Where the Church learnt of the highest love, the love of Christ, who died for His people and feeds them with His body and blood, there love was not merely preached about, extolled and inculcated, but also practised, and there too it was not merely symbolically represented, but an act of love was actually performed, the act of giving to the poor and needy.” (p146)
“The whole life of a Christian is a festival, a continuous sacrifice, and this sacrifice consists on the one side in payer and thanksgiving, on the other in imparting of his substance to the needy.” (p150)
“It is not in resources but in individual energy, that charity has its centre of gravity.” (p160)
“The history of Christian charity can only be understood in connection with the entire development of ecclesiastical, nay of secular history.” (p219)
“The government proper was in the hands of the bureaucracy. The people sick unto death were no longer in a condition to rule themselves, all self-government having long ceased. Whatever was done, was done from above. Of these thoroughly deceitful and intriguing officials, but few had the good of the people in view; the majority were only bent upon their own advantage, accessible to every kind of corruption, striving only to raise themselves to large incomes, to brilliant positions, to the utmost possible nearness to the imperial sun, the dispenser of all benefits.” (p221)
The quotes continue! As I said, this book is an eye-opener when it comes to the scope and shape of Christian charity, not only in the ancient Church, but for our mileau and setting today. As the Church struggles against the devil, the world, and our own flesh, she struggles to remain in her true identity - the living Body of Christ in a dying world. Life is received and given only in the Word of Christ, for His forgiveness of sins is life! Yet life does not stop there. When the ultimate is known, the penultimate is not so scary or deadly. Heaven is ours now by faith in Christ! Our neighbor is in need, both of physical care and comfort, but also, of that saving Word, that true “charity” of the Gospel that claims sinners and makes them princes!
Your unworthy servant,
Pastor Mierow
Feast of St Michael and All Angels
Russian Icon of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Christian Charity in the Early Church as
Guidance for the Body of Christ Today
Many Church historians have noted that similarities to the climate and culture in which the Church finds herself today are more like the environment of the Early Church (prior to the legalization of Christianity in AD 313) than to the Medieval Church. This observation is probably true. The rise of secular paganism, the increase of those ignorant of Christianity and the Bible, the persecution of Christians around the world, all of these bare remarkable similarities to the life of the earliest Christians. In the midst of this there is great need: hunger, poverty, homelessness, both among us and among the first generations of Jesus’ disciples. Their mercy and compassion, love and charity, can serve as a guide for us today. What was the shape and scope of Christian charity (charitas) in the first centuries after the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ? Consider these Scripture passages:
All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need (Acts 2:44-45)
The churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord (2 Cor 8:2-3).
Is this not the fast I chose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Is 58:6-7)
Examples of Zaccheus (Luke 19) and Tabitha (Acts 9) and St Paul’s collection for the saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16; 2 Cor 8; 9; Gal 2) were prescriptions for the character and behavior of the early Christians. For they were following in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Charity of God Incarnate; “in Him personally love was manifest, that moved by love He came to us, and lived upon earth a life which from its very first breath to its latest was spent in the service of love, and that He finally, through the greatness of His love, gave Himself for us to the death of the cross” (Ulhorn,Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, p57).
The Didache, an early Christian catechism of sorts, states, “You shall not hesitate to give, nor shall you grumble when giving, for you will know who is the good paymaster of the reward. You shall not turn away from someone in need, but shall share everything with your brother or sister, and do not claim that anything is your own. For if you are sharers in what is imperishable how much more in perishable things!” (4:7-8).
I quoted last month and above from a work by Gerhard Ulhorn, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church. This 19th century scholar researches and presents the shape and scope of Christian charity from the time of the Apostles until the legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in AD 313. This is the first of a three volume set on charity in the Church, each covering a period of church history. It is an eye-opening text. The following are all quotes from this book:
“Let us remember that there could not be any real charity in the heathen world because there was no community. There is one now; our Lord has founded it. The day of Pentecost was, as it were, the birthday of the Church; and it was also the birthday of that Christian charity which is inseparable from the Church.” (p72)
“A healthy charity is only possible where healthy moral views of work and property prevail, as inversely, a false moral appreciation of labour and property inevitably produces a morbid phenomena in the sphere of charity” (p126)
“The more heartily the heavenly blessings of the kingdom of God were embraced, the more must earthly goods have lost their value. The more intently the eye was directed to another world and to a speedy termination of this dispensation, the more must earth have appeared a foreign country, and earthly property an uncertain possession” (p127)
“Simplicity, contentment, moderation, are required of every Christian.” (p131)
“The individual Christian lived entirely in and for the Church. The churches were still small and like a family; each Christian knew all others. Even Cyprian in a town like Carthage knew all the members of the church.” (p137)
“The individual gave to the Church what love impelled him to bestow; gifts were collected for the poor in the meetings of the Church, at public worship and at the Lord’s Supper; the officers of the Church dispensed them. The relief of the poor by the Church is the special characteristic of the charity of this age.” (p133)
“Where the Church learnt of the highest love, the love of Christ, who died for His people and feeds them with His body and blood, there love was not merely preached about, extolled and inculcated, but also practised, and there too it was not merely symbolically represented, but an act of love was actually performed, the act of giving to the poor and needy.” (p146)
“The whole life of a Christian is a festival, a continuous sacrifice, and this sacrifice consists on the one side in payer and thanksgiving, on the other in imparting of his substance to the needy.” (p150)
“It is not in resources but in individual energy, that charity has its centre of gravity.” (p160)
“The history of Christian charity can only be understood in connection with the entire development of ecclesiastical, nay of secular history.” (p219)
“The government proper was in the hands of the bureaucracy. The people sick unto death were no longer in a condition to rule themselves, all self-government having long ceased. Whatever was done, was done from above. Of these thoroughly deceitful and intriguing officials, but few had the good of the people in view; the majority were only bent upon their own advantage, accessible to every kind of corruption, striving only to raise themselves to large incomes, to brilliant positions, to the utmost possible nearness to the imperial sun, the dispenser of all benefits.” (p221)
The quotes continue! As I said, this book is an eye-opener when it comes to the scope and shape of Christian charity, not only in the ancient Church, but for our mileau and setting today. As the Church struggles against the devil, the world, and our own flesh, she struggles to remain in her true identity - the living Body of Christ in a dying world. Life is received and given only in the Word of Christ, for His forgiveness of sins is life! Yet life does not stop there. When the ultimate is known, the penultimate is not so scary or deadly. Heaven is ours now by faith in Christ! Our neighbor is in need, both of physical care and comfort, but also, of that saving Word, that true “charity” of the Gospel that claims sinners and makes them princes!
Your unworthy servant,
Pastor Mierow
Feast of St Michael and All Angels
Russian Icon of the Rich Man and Lazarus
RSS Feed