Almsgiving in the Later Roman Empire: Christian Promotion and Practice 313–450 (review)

Richard Finn OP provides the first comprehensive study of early Christian almsgiving in more than one hundred years. Based upon his Oxford dissertation, Finn's monograph explores the distinctive forms of Christian almsgiving (episcopal, monastic, and lay) in the later empire and examines how these practices gained meaning from the discourse sustaining them. Each of the forms of Christian almsgiving, Finn argues in the opening chapter, differed from pagan attitudes to charitable giving. This was especially true of the generosity Christians showed to beggars. By redefining the beggar as a friend of Christ, Christians understood generosity to beggars to be a source of honor and leadership.

The second chapter, which explores episcopal almsgiving, is the most thorough. Finn describes the emergence of various forms of episcopal fund-raising for the poor, including special collections, alms-boxes, and tithing, the last of which, he argues, initially developed as a shaming device. He notes the various challenges faced by bishops and maintains that both those who gave generously and those who did not were often criticized for their handling of finances. The recipients of episcopal charity were predominantly the enrolled widows; whatever was left was then divided among virgins without other means, orphans, the destitute, and the non-Christian poor. The actual distribution most often took the form of food or money, but clothing was also included. Bishops, of course, were also at the center of the foundation of hospitals, pilgrim houses, and hostels for the destitute and sick. Though the initial financing often came from a bishop's private resources or through his episcopal coffers, these facilities often drew and depended upon private donations for their continued operation.

The third chapter, which explores the practices of monastic and lay Christians, is thin by comparison to the foregoing. His examination of monastic giving focuses on the ideal of ascetic self-dispossession and the problems that this created for individual monks and their communities. For example, he notes that monasteries attracted alms for redistribution, but this accumulation of resources together with the proceeds from monastic labor could become a source of scandal. Concerning lay giving, Finn notes that all Christians were encouraged to give to the poor. Typically, they supported episcopal charity through their donations at church and gave to beggars either on the streets or at home. For certain, however, they did not give as freely as their preachers instructed.

The fourth and fifth chapters explore the promotion and meaning of almsgiving in the Christian community. Finn persuasively argues that clerical preaching did reach its intended audiences and positively affected almsgiving. He also elucidates the many ways in which the injunctions for and practice of charity in Christian antiquity transformed social and theological understandings of the poor and the advantages of almsgiving. For example, many Christian preachers promoted the salvific benefits of charity such as the expiation of sin. In doing so, they recast the poor as potential benefactors not only because they offered the possibility of spiritual growth but because they could pray on behalf of their patrons. Thus, Finn argues that Christian exegetes, especially Augustine and John Chrysostom, were able to transform classical notions of the patron/client relationship, which had excluded the destitute, and to redefine charity to beggars as an honorable practice.

The final chapter shows how late antique bishops, who were simultaneously members of the aristocratic elite and leaders of the Christian community, could act in ways that confused and/or appealed to multiple constituencies—a reminder, as Finn states, that we should not isolate late antique Christian almsgiving from its Greco-Roman context.

It is not surprising that a study of this scale cannot address every issue. Nevertheless, it is curious that Finn does not explore the question of whether or not Christian almsgiving impacted conversion. And despite his repeated assertions that episcopal and monastic almsgiving led to conflict and competition, he offers few examples. Is it not...