When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition

Panteleev, Aleksey

doi:10.18254/S207987840026776-2

Home>Issue 5 (127)>“When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition

“When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition

Table of contents

Annotation Estimate Publication content

References Comments

“When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition

Annotation

PII

S207987840026776-2-1

DOI

10.18254/S207987840026776-2

Publication type

Article

Status

Published

Authors

Aleksey Panteleev Send message

ORCID: 0000-0003-3333-7980

Affiliation: Saint Petersburg State University
Address: Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

Edition

Volume 14 Issue 5 (127)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of ideas about charity in early Christianity, Judaism and in the Greco-Roman pagan tradition. The focus is on the formation of the doctrine of “correct” alms in the New Testament texts, “Didache”, in Clement of Rome, Polycarp of Smyrna, in the “Shepherd” of Hermas, in the writings of Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria. These authors discussed questions about who and how to help, and what kind of reward awaits benefactors. At this time (1st — 2nd centuries), two discussions were going on in parallel in early Christian literature: about martyrdom “according to Christ” and about “correct” alms, and comparison of these discussions gives interesting results.

Keywords

Roman Empire, early Christianity, early Judaism, charity, alms

Received

31.05.2023

Publication date

31.07.2023

Number of characters

30916

Number of purchasers

Views

211

Readers community rating

0.0 (0 votes)

Cite Download pdf 200 RUB / 1.0 SU

To download PDF you should pay the subscribtion

GOST	Panteleev A. “When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition // ISTORIYA. – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 5 (127). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840026776-2-1/. DOI: 10.18254/S207987840026776-2
MLA	Panteleev, Aleksey "“When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition." ISTORIYA. 14.5 (127) (2023). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840026776-2
APA	Panteleev A. (2023). “When You Give Alms, Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing”: Alms and Salvation in the Early Christian Tradition. ISTORIYA. vol. 14, no. 5 (127) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840026776-2

Full text is available to subscribers only

Subscribe right now

Only article and additional services

Subscription benefits

200 RUB / 1.0 SU

Whole issue and additional services

Subscription benefits

820 RUB / 10.0 SU

All issues and additional services for 2023

Subscription benefits

5000 RUB / 50.0 SU

References

1. Armitage D. J. Theories of Poverty in the World of the New Testament. Tübingen, 2016.

2. Benefactors and the Polis: The Public Gift in the Greek Cities from the Homeric World to Late Antiquity / ed. by M. Domingo Gygax, A. Zuiderhoek. Cambridge, 2021.

3. Buell D. K. “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 // Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society / ed. by S. R. Holman. Grand Rapids, 2008. P. 37—47.

4. Coleman R. L. The Lukan Lens on Wealth and Possessions. Leiden, 2019.

5. Countryman L. W. The Rich Christian in the Church of the Early Empire: Contradictions and Accommodations. N. Y., 1980.

6. Downs D. J. “Love Covers a Multitude of Sins”: Redemptive Almsgiving in 1 Peter 4:8 and its Early Christian Reception // Journal of Theological Studies. Vol. 65. 2014. P. 489—514.

7. Downs D. J. Alms: Charity, Reward, and Atonement in Early Christianity. Waco, 2016.

8. Downs D. J. Redemptive almsgiving and economic stratification in 2 Clement // Journal of Early Christian Studies. Vol. 19. 2011. P. 493—517.

9. Garrison R. Redemptive Almsgiving in Early Christianity. Sheffield, 1993.

10. Hays C. M. By Almsgiving and Faith Sins Are Purged? The Theological Underpinnings of Early Christian Care for the Poor // Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception / ed. by B. W. Longenecker, K. D. Liebengood. Grand Rapids, 2009. P. 260—280.

11. Hays C. M. Luke’s Wealth Ethics: A Study in Their Coherence and Character. Tübingen, 2010.

12. Lampe P. From Paul to Valentinus. Minneapolis, 2003.

13. Poverty in the Roman World / ed. by M. Atkins, R. Osborne. Cambridge, 2006.

14. Rhee H. Loving the Poor, Saving the Reach: Wealth, Poverty, and Early Christian Formation. Grand Rapids, 2012.

15. Van den Hoek A. Widening the Eye of the Needle: Wealth and Poverty in the Works of Clement of Alexandria // Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society / ed. by S. R. Holman. Grand Rapids, 2008. P. 67—75.

16. Volchkov A. Rannekhristianskaya obschina v antichnom polise. M., 2019.

17. Panteleev A. Martyrs and Martyrdom in Eusebius’ Church History // ISTORIYA. 2020. Vol. 11. Issue 4 (90). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840009847-0-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840009847-0

18. Panteleev A. D. Rimskij namestnik, mestnaya ehlita i khristiane: «Muchenichestvo Polikarpa» // Mnemon. Vyp. 21. 2021. S. 99—116.

19. Panteleev A. D. Bednost' i bogatstvo v rannekhristianskoj traditsii: ot Novogo Zaveta do nachala III v. // Vizantiya, Evropa, Rossiya: sotsial'nye praktiki i vzaimosvyaz' dukhovnykh traditsij. Arkhiv konferentsii. Vyp 2. SPb., 2022. S. 329–340.

20. Ehkzemplyarskij V. I. Uchenie drevnej Tserkvi o sobstvennosti i milostyne. Krasnodar: Tekst, 2013.