Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/656

 CHARITY

594

CHARITY

Hence Christ's frequent condemnation of their leaders as hypocrites, self-seekers, oppressors of the poor, and givers of alms in order to be seen of men. While the Koran strongly enjoins the duty of alms- giving, and while the Mohammedans seem to be fairly charitable toward their coreligionists, their treatment of non-believers has been uniformly devoid of either charity or justice. The acts of oppression, cruelty, and murder which they have perpetrated against other peoples, show that Mohammedans have no conception of charity in the Christian sense. It is true that Christian nations have frequently been cruel towards one another and towards unbelieving races, but not in the consistent, unmitigated, and unlimited fashion of the followers of Islam.

Since the body of this article is to be occupied with a somewhat detailed account of the charitable activity of the Church, only a word need now be said concerning its general superiority over that of Pagan- ism, Judaism, and Mohammedanism. This word cannot lie more effectively uttered than in the follow- ing sentences of Lecky: "Christianity for the first time made charity a rudimentary virtue, giving it a leading place in the moral type, and in the exhorta- tion of its teachers. Besides its general influence, in stimulating the affections, it effected a complete revolution in this sphere, by regarding the poor as the special representatives of the Christian Founder, and thus making the love of Christ, rather than the love of man the principle of charity. ... A vast organization of charity, presided over by bishops, and actively directed by the deacons, soon ramified over Christendo,m, till the bond of charity became the bond of unity, and the most distant sections of the Christian Church corresponded by the inter- change of mercy" (History of European Morals, II, 3rd ed., 79, SO).

History of Charity in the Church. — (1) The Apostolic Age. — The conception of love and of brotherhood which Christ brought into the world obtained ample expression and development in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, particularly those written by St. Paul. There is no longer any dis- tinction of Jew and Gentile, Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free; but "Christ is all, and in all" (Col., iii, 11). Even those who are not of the household of the Faith are to be loved and assisted (Rom., xii, 14-20; Gal., vi, 10). In the sight of God the slave is tin equal and the brother of his master (Phil., 16). Labour is no longer dishonourable, but the normal condition of livelihood (II Thess., iii, 10). "Religion clean and undefiled before God ... is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation" (James, i, 27). 'While the Church has especial so- licitude for widows and orphans, she is not to be burdened with those who can be supported by their own relatives (I Tim., v, S, 16). Persons who seek to become rich are exposed to many snares and tempta- tions, " for the desire of money is the root of all evils" (ITim., vi, 9, 10). Fraternal charity done in the spirit of Chri&l effects an equality among :il! tin- members

of the Christian family, for the material gift of the giver is balanced by the love and prayers of the receiver (II Cor., viii, 13, 14; ix, 11, 12). Even the poor can and should contribute their mite (II Cor.,

viii, 11, 12). The rich should give to the ] ■ in the

spirit of Chris! who became poor for our sake ill Cor., viii, 9). Hence charity is tint to be performed as under the compulsion of law, but freely ami sponta- neously. The gift should be from the heart, for "Gm! loveth a cheerful giver" (II Cor., ix, 7).

These doctrines were carried into the everyday life of the new believers. In Jerusalem, "the multitude

of believers had but "lie heart and one soul: neither

diil any "in- saj that aught of the things which he possessed was his own: but all things were common unto them. . . . For neither was there any one

needy among them" (Acts, iv, 32, 34). As soon as the Apostles realized that their spiritual mission was impeded by personal attention to the material works of charity, they appointed as their representatives the seven deacons to serve the tables and provide for the widows (Acts, vi, 1-6). Thus the caritative function of the Church became specialized. Both the spirit and the deeds of charity were exemplified in the agapse, or love-feasts, where rich and poor partook of a common meal to which all had contributed accord- ing to their means. (See Agape.) When some rich Corinthians introduced the practice of consuming their own contributions before the poor had arrived at the place of the meal, they were reprimanded by St. Paul (I Cor., xi, 21, 31). Each congregation had a treasury for the relief of its own poor, and many of them shared their stores with other congregations in times of unusual distress. During a famine in Jeru- salem assistance came from the Church at Antioch, and from the Gentile Churches (Acts, xi, 29; Gal., ii, 10).

(2) The Age oj the Persecutions. — As compared with their numbers and resources, the charity of the Christians of this period seems to have surpassed anything that the world has witnessed since. The explanation is to be found in four principal causes: (a) the principles that were kept constantly before the minds of the faithful: (b) the social and political conditions surrounding them; (c) their excellent ad- ministration of charity; and (d) the manifold sources from which it was provided.

(a) At the basis of all their giving was a thorough grasp of the truth that the human possessor of goods is only a distributor and steward for the supreme owner, who is God. The rich believer recognized his obligation to give to the needy all of his resources that were left after his own wants had been supplied. And he was taught that his own wants were to be in- terpreted rather strictly, that he was to forego lux- uries, and even unnecessary comforts and conven- iences. Like other believers, he was to be distin- guished from his pagan neighbours by his life of con- tentment, simplicity, and moderation. Clement, Cyprian, and Tertullian describe minutely the com- plex and luxurious life of the heathens, and denounce it as wholly unworthy of imitation by Christians who really love their poor neighbours (Ratzinger, "Ar- menpflege", p. 85 sq.; TJhlhorn, "Christian Charity in the Ancient Church", p. 129 sq.). And their interpretation of simple and proper Christian life seems to have been adopted by substantially all the believers. In this respect the latter were far in ad- vance of the Christians of modern times. This duty of distribution was discharged by placing the gifts on the altar, whence they were received and dis- pensed by the bishop. Through this practice the rich were impressed with the truth that they were merely making a return to God, while the poor were taught to look upon what they received as the gift of God. Moreover, they were enabled to accept it without injury to self-respect, and in a spirit of grati- tude both to God and to the human giver who was only God's instrument. By praying for the latter they made an equitable return, were in truth dis- pensers of charity themselves. Two important con- sequences of this method and this view of charity were: first, the faithful gave SO freely and spontane- ously thai no specific definitions of the duty or penal- tie For the neglect of almsgiving were formulated by the Church during this period ; ami second, no

contributions were accepted from unbelievers, public

sinners, extortioners, unjust possessors, or persons engaged in sinful occupations.

il.) The second cause to which the superabundant

charity of the early Christians has been attribute, 1

was tlieir social and' political environment. Refusing

pt the authority of the Roman State in mat-