SAK Stefan - Acta PATRISTICA, volume 15, issue 30/2024
THE STATE OF THE ECONOMIC SITUATION OF CHRISTIANS BY 4. CENTURY
/STAV EKONOMICKEJ SITUÁCIE KRESŤANOV DO 4. STOROČIA/
Štefan ŠAK
associate professor, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Presov, Masarykova 15, 080 01 Presov, Slovakia, stefan.sak@unipo.sk, 00421517724729, ORCID: 0000-0003-3067-2476
Abstract
Taking into account all the facts concerning the state of the economic situation of Christians that we know from the life of the Church, we can make a brief survey from the time of Christ to the period we are examining, that is, to the 4th century. Initially the apostles and, in a later period, the first Christian communities attempted to bear witness through preaching and oral presentation to what they knew and experienced in an indirect or direct way about the life, work and teachings of the Saviour Jesus Christ.
Keywords
Spirituality, philanthropy, repentance, therapy, economics, wealth, poverty, destitution, monasticism
SUMMARY
In conclusion, we need to quote the message of St. Clement of Alexandria to the Christians living in economically developed Alexandria in which he taught that wealth is not a thing that is an insurmountable obstacle on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, nor does it exclude its possessors from eternal life. The real obstacle is the misuse of money, behind which lies greed, avarice, and indifference to the needy, the destitute, and the suffering. On the contrary, when the disposal of wealth is an approach to the most needy social classes, in that case it is a means to salvation. In neither case is wealth to be rejected, but its abuse. Repentance is essential for the salvation of the rich. That is to say, not the rich will be excluded, but the sinner. The Church, as well as the Fathers of the Church, does not set itself as a basis exclusively the formulation of the principles of economic philosophy, but the formulation of an "economic theology" with a clear moral-practical dimension and in accordance with the Holy Scriptures and the teaching of the Church.
(Language: slovak)