Not long ago I shared a post on Facebook regarding the early church and Economics. It was a brief list of quotes given by three prominent Church Fathers: Basil, John Chyrsostom, and Augustine. I noticed that the post was a few years old, but completely relevant for today in light of so much discussion about capitalism and its growing effect on the poor.

I was later provoked to find the original works of these early Church Fathers; however, this proved to be a more rigorous task than I anticipated since the post provided no citation. Determined to find the sources, I began doing some research and quickly recognized that the quotes given were actually separate pieces compiled as one coherent passage. Even still, it is clear that this was not done in a manner to detract from the original context. Rather, each separate quote is given within a context regarding our duties to the poor and unfortunate members of society.

With this in mind, I want to provide the quotes given in the post I had first read, but with a different translation. After this, I want to incorporate some additional quotes that I believe are also convicting and rhetorically impactful.

I’m using Charles Avila’s translation, which he provides in his, Ownership: Early Christian Teaching. I do not know much, if anything, about the translator, but I found his translations useful along with the original Greek and Latin in the back of the book. In addition, some of the quotes from John Chrysostom come from a dated translation. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a more modern one for his Homilies.

I note these for anyone who wishes to know the source and read further.

Basil the Great

“Whom do I injure,” [the rich person] says, “when I retain and conserve my own?” Which things, tell me, are yours? Whence have you brought them into being? You are like one occupying a place in a theatre, who should prohibit others from entering, treating that as one’s own which was designed for the common use of all. Such are the rich. Because they were first to occupy common goods, they take these goods as their own. If each one would take that which is sufficient for one’s needs, leaving what is in excess to those in distress, no one would be rich, no one poor. Did you not come naked from the womb? Will you not return naked into the earth? (Job 1:21). Whence then did you have your present possessions? If you say, “By chance,” you are godless, because you do not acknowledge the Creator, nor give thanks to the Giver. If you admit they are from God, tell us why you have received them. Is God unjust to distribute the necessaries of life to us unequally? Why are you rich, why is that one poor? Is it not that you may receive the reward of beneficence and faithful distribution? In illud Luc., “Destruam…,” 7, PG 31:276

Basil continues later on in the same work.

Will not one be called a thief who steals the garment of one already clothed, and is one deserving of any other title who will not clothe the naked if he is able to do so? That bread which you keep, belongs to the hungry; that coat which you preserve in your wardrobe, to the naked; those shoes which are rotting in your possession, to the shoeless; that gold which you have hidden in the ground, to the needy. Wherefore, as often as you were able to help others, and refused, so often did you do them wrong. In illud Luc., “Destruam…,” 7, PG 31:276-77

In another work, Basil comments on the exploitation of the poor.

Yet it is plain that you have very many lands. Whence all these? Undoubtedly you have subordinated the relief and comfort of many to your convenience. Therefore, the more you abound in riches, the more you have been wanting in charity. In Div., 8, PG 31:281

John Chrysostom

But if there come to thee a poor man wanting bread, there is no end of revilings, and reproaches, and charges of idleness, and upbraidings, and insults, and jeers; and thou considerest not with thyself, that thou too art idle, and yet God giveth thee His gifts. For tell me not this, that thou too art doing somewhat, but point me out this rather, if it be anything really needful that thou doest, and art busy about. But if thou tellest one of money-getting, and of traffic, and of the care and increase of thy goods, I also would say unto thee, Not these, but alms, and prayers, and the protection of the injured, and all such things, are truly works, with respect to which we live in thorough idleness. Yet God never told us, “Because thou art idle, I light not up the sun for thee; because thou doest nothing of real consequence, I quench the moon, I paralyze the womb of the earth, I restrain the lakes, the fountains, the rivers, I blot out the atmosphere: I withhold the annual rains:” but He gives us all abundantly. And to some that are not merely idle, but even doing evil, He freely gives the benefit of these things. When therefore thou seest a poor man, and sayest, “It stops my breath that this fellow, young as he is and healthy, having nothing, would fain be fed in idleness; he is surely some slave and runaway, and hath deserted his proper master:” I bid thee speak these same words to thyself; or rather, permit him freely to speak them unto thee, and he will say with more justice, “It stops my breath that thou, being healthy, art idle, and practisest none of the things which God hath commanded, but having run away from the commandments of thy Lord, goest about dwelling in wickedness, as in a strange land, in drunkenness, in surfeiting, in theft, in extortion, in subverting other men’s houses.” And thou indeed imputest idleness, but I evil works; in thy plotting, in thy swearing, in thy lying, in thy spoiling, in thy doing innumerable such things. Homily on Matthew X. 34.

God generously gives all things that are much more necessary than money, such as air, water, fire, the sun–all such things. It is surely not true to say that the rich person enjoys the sun’s rays more than the poor person does. It is not correct to say that the rich person takes in a more abundant supply of air than the poor person does. No, all [these] things lie at the equal and common disposition of all…. Ad Pop. Antioch., 2, 6-7, PG 49:43

For “mine” and “thine”–those chilly words which introduce innumerable wars into the world–should be eliminated from that holy Church…. The poor would not envy the rich, because there would be no rich. Neither would the poor be despised by the rich, for there would be no poor. All things would be in common. Oportet Haereses, 2, PG 51:255

Augustine

But we possess many superfluous things, unless we keep only what is necessary. For if we seek useless things, nothing suffices… Consider: not only do few things suffice for you, but God himself does not seek many things from you. Seek as much as he has given you, and from that take what suffices; other things, superfluous things, are the necessities of others. The superfluous things of the wealthy are the necessities of the poor. When superfluous things are possessed, others’ property is possessed. In Ps. 147, 12, PL, 37:1922

Those who wish to make room for the Lord must find pleasure not in private, but in common property… Redouble your charity. For, on account of the things which each one of us possesses singly, wars exist, hatreds, discords, strifes among human beings, tumults, dissensions, scandals, sins, injustices, and murders. On what account? On account of those things which each of us possess singly. Do we fight over the things we possess in common? We inhale this air in common with others, we all see the sun in common. Blessed therefore are those who make room for the Lord, so as not to take pleasure in private property. In Ps. 131, 5, PL 37:1718

Additional Quotes

For those who might charge the poor with laziness, John Chrysostom states the following:

“Anyone who would not work should not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)… But the laws of Saint Paul are not merely for the poor. They are for the rich as well… We accuse the poor of laziness. This laziness is often excusable. We ourselves are often guilty of worse idleness. But you say, “I have my paternal inheritance!” Tell me, just because he is poor and was born of a poor family possessing no great wealth, is he thereby worthy to die? You are often idling at the theatre all day, or in the council-chambers, or in useless conversation. You blame many–but you fail to consider yourself as ever doing anything evil or idle. And do you condemn this poor and miserable person who lives the whole day in entreaties, tears, and a thousand difficulties? Do you dare bring him or her to court and demand an accounting? Tell me, how can you call these things human? De Eleem., 6, PG 51:269

Again, Basil rebukes exploitation and affirms the duty to alleviate the burdens of the poor.

It was your duty to relieve the destitution of the man, but you, seeking to drain the desert dry, increased his need. Just as if some physician, visiting the sick, instead of restoring health to them would take away even their little remnant of bodily strength, so you also would make the misfortunes of the wretched an opportunity of revenue. Homilia II in Ps. XIV, 1, PG 29:268

Augustine perhaps understood better than most what is meant by storing up treasures in heaven.

He sought to satisfy his soul with superfluous things and too lavish banquets and most proudly despised so many hungry stomachs of the poor. He did not know that the stomachs of the poor are safer than his storerooms. For what he has hidden in those storerooms of his has perhaps been stolen by robbers by now: but if he had hidden it in the stomachs of the poor… it would be preserved more safely in heaven. Serm. XXXVI, 9, 9, PL 38:219

It is perhaps unfair to impose the early church’s notion of economics on our modern economy. There is likely much more complexity on the matter than we might be willing to admit. Nonetheless, that should not undermine the conviction of these teachings. Certainly there is still much to be said. However, what cannot be said is that these teachings are out of context or that they do not bear any relevance for us today. We ought to consider what the early church might say about our own economic structure as well as our attitudes toward the poor.

Thankfully, I am reminded of what it means to be a good steward of what God has given me. What I possess is not my own, but God’s, who provides all things and causes the sun to rise on the rich and poor alike.

UPDATE: Before I wrote this article, I sent an email to the website and requested the sources for the quotes, but I did not hear back from anyone. However, a little over a month ago I received an email informing me that the quotes were, in fact, taken from Avilia’s book. Yet, my desire was to find the primary works themselves (which Avilia’s book does provide). The website has now added this information in the article’s footer. You can visit the site and the article here: What Did the Early Church Say About Economic Justice?