originally published 9/2/2013

Historian Peter Brown explains that in spite of having had access for centuries to the Church fathers’ numerous writings, only recently have we come to understand the social and material context within which they lived. The debate about wealth and poverty, which was once considered primarily theological, can now be seen as worked out among the less educated lay people. Brown describes how the remnants of small churches from ancient times were mostly lost next to the splendor of the gothic cathedrals. Because of their rediscovery through excavation, we are able now to study the life of the average Christian: what the Church was doing for the poor, and the consequences in the lives of the rich. Brown discusses Augustine’s teachings regarding the integration of the wealthy into the Church, and seeks to correct the mistaken assumption that spectacular renunciations were seen by the Church fathers as the only way to gain God’s grace. Brown instead argues that the greatest and steadiest almsgiving was often done by wealthy, who didn’t give up everything yet took seriously the responsibility of almsgiving. He reminds us of Augustine’s teaching that “you give to the poor because you recognize that you yourself are poor” and that rich and poor alike are mutually dependent on God’s mercy.

18 minutes

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Two interviews with Christian Pohl are presented in this Feature. In a 1999 conversation, Pohl talks about her book Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (Eerdmans). Then she discusses her 2012 book Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us (Eerdmans).

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