Almsgiving as the Essential Virtue

Download or read book Almsgiving as the Essential Virtue written by Becky Walker and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-11-13 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book seeks to add to common representations in the scholarship on almsgiving in late antiquity concerning the remission of post-baptismal sin, efforts to reform society, and competition between monks and bishops. It demonstrates that John Chrysostom conceptualized almsgiving as not only expiating the sins of the rich, relieving the suffering of the poor, or securing power for its promoters, but also expiating the sins of the poor, unifying the members of his congregation, and making humans like God. Although it could indeed save one from eternal death and physical hunger, it was salvific and transformative on other levels as well.