Philanthropy and Human Flourishing in Patristic Theology

Helen Rhee

doi:10.3390/rel9110362

Abstract

This article grounds early Christian theologies and practices of philanthropy in their varied complexities in a larger patristic vision of human flourishing. For patristic authors (second to fifth centuries), human flourishing is grounded in God’s creative intent for material creation, including nature and material goods, that are to be shared for common use and common good, and also to be a means of distributive justice. Based on God’s own philanthropia (“love of humanity”, compassionate generosity), when Christians practice it mainly through almsgiving to the poor and sharing, they mirror the original image (eikon) of God, undo their crime of inhumanity, retain a Christian identity and virtue, and thus restore a semblance of God’s creative intent for the common good. This fundamental social virtue, philanthropia, is, in fact, an attendant virtue of salvation (the goal of creation, including humanity), in reversing the effects of the fall and restoring human flourishing. I then examine patristic authors’ presentations of how wealth presents Christians in concrete situations with a unique challenge and opportunity to demonstrate their spiritual state and persevere in their salvation by eliminating vices (e.g., greed) and cultivating virtues (e.g., detachment), and thereby to affirm and confirm their Christian identities. Finally, I explore the institutional aspect of philanthropy in the (post-) Constantinian era as the Christian church took on the task of caring for the poor of the whole Roman society as a result.

Highlights

Material things exist to assist with life; surely they were not given as a provision for wickedness? They constitute a ransom for the soul; surely they were not provided as an occasion for your own destruction?—Basil the Great, Hom. 7.7Human flourishing always encompasses both external and internal dimensions of life; the “external” or communal dimension includes material circumstances, social systems and relations, and physical conditions of a person whereas the “internal” or individual dimension involves the very soul and spiritual and affective aspect of a person
God’s creative intent for material creation, including nature and material goods, that are to be shared for common use and common good, and to be a means of distributive justice
While patristic authors in general hardly denied legitimacy of private property,2 they considered it as a share of the common creation that was intended for the common use and the common good; all material goods are God’s gracious gifts intended for sustenance and sufficiency of all humans through common access

Summary

Introduction

Material things exist to assist with life; surely they were not given as a provision for wickedness? They constitute a ransom for the soul; surely they were not provided as an occasion for your own destruction?. Human flourishing always encompasses both external and internal dimensions of life; the “external” or communal dimension includes material circumstances, social systems and relations, and physical conditions of a person whereas the “internal” or individual dimension involves the very soul and spiritual and affective aspect of a person. In patristic theology, these two dimensions of human flourishing naturally work in relation to each other and are closely interwoven as Basil’s opening words show. I will explore the institutional aspect of philanthropy in the (post-) Constantinian era as the Christian church took on the task of caring for the poor of the whole Roman society as a result

Results

Conclusions

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