Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society (Paperback)

Wealth and poverty are issues of perennial importance in the life and thought of the church. This volume brings patristic thought to bear on these vital issues. The volume begins with explanations of poverty in the New Testament period, continues with developments among Christians in Egypt and Asia Minor and in early Byzantium, and closes by connecting patristic theology with contemporary public policy and religious dialogue.

"Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society" is the first volume to appear in Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History, a series that represents a deliberate outreach by the Orthodox community to evangelical, Protestant, and Catholic seminarians, pastors, and theologians. These multiauthor books include contributors from all traditions but focus on the patristic (especially Greek patristic) heritage.

"This is a splendid book, a substantial contribution on a topic of perennial import for scholars of religion and theology. The essays collected here offer important reassessments of scholarship to date. They present fresh, vivid material and provide revised models through which to study, reflect upon, and respond to deprivation and surplus as realities in antiquity and in our own time. Practical, pragmatic considerations are interwoven with cultural, historical, and theological analyses. Excellent work throughout!"--Susan Ashbrook Harvey, professor of religious studies, Brown University