Title: Early Christian care for the poor : an alternative subsistence strategy under Roman imperial rule /
Authors: Richardson, Kristopher Carl, 1970-
Year: 2018
Subjects: Scott, James C. Criticism and interpretation.; Scott, James C.; Charity Biblical teaching.; Church work with the poor Rome.; Poverty Religious aspects Christianity History of doctrines; Caring Religious aspects Christianity; Civilization, Greco-Roman; Caring Religious aspects Christianity; Charity Biblical teaching; Church history Primitive and early church; Church work with the poor; Civilization, Greco-Roman; Rome (Empire)
Abstract: "Beginning with Jesus's ministry in the villages of Galilee and continuing over the course of the first three centuries as the movement expanded geographically and numerically throughout the Roman world, the Christians organized their house churches, at least in part, to provide subsistence insurance for their needy members. While the Pax Romana created conditions of relative peace and growing prosperity, the problem of poverty persisted in Rome's fundamentally agrarian economy. Modeling their economic values and practices on the traditional patterns of the rural village, the Christians created an alternative subsistence strategy in the cities of the Roman empire by emphasizing need, rather than virtue, as the main criterion for determining the recipients of their generous giving."