Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Caner furthers our understanding of how religious and laypeople negotiated relationships with one another and how they defined themselves in relation to their wealth. His book is an outstanding contribution not only to gift-giving practices in early Byzantine Christianity, but also to the establishment of monastic self-identity in this period." * Journal of Early Christian Studies *
"Caner deftly exhibits the difficulty of implementation inherent in each mode of giving. . . . It is a gift to the scholarship of its subject."
* Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
"Deeply learned and carefully considered, Caner’s book is a masterly exploration of 'the first truly affluent, complex Christian society.'" * New York Review of Books *
"
The Rich and the Pure is a welcome and provocative analysis of timeless questions that continue to influence much that is complicated and messy about stewardship, philanthropy, divestment, welfare, social justice, gratitude, and gift wraps." * Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Prologue: What Is a Christian Gift?
Map
Timeline
Introduction
Surviving Sources and Historical Discourses
Philanthropy and Asceticism as Complementary Virtues
1. The Present-Giving World of Early Byzantium
Christian Gifts in the Late Roman Holy Land
Secular Gifts and the Late Roman Imperial Order
Providential Order and the Rise of a Religious Aristocracy
The Christian Ideal of Stewardship
2. "Give to All Who Ask of You": The Challenge of Early Byzantine Philanthropy
The Classical Roots of Christian Philanthrōpia
Christian Philanthropy before Constantine
Constantine and the Extension of Christian Philanthropy
Preaching Philanthropy in Christian Cappadocia
"To Each According to Need": Philanthropic Priorities in Church Institutions
"To Each According to Rank": Philanthropic Priorities in Sixth-Century Monasteries
3. “Bend Your Heart to Mercy”: Almsgiving and the Christian Advocacy of Social Compassion
Preaching Direct Almsgiving in Christian Antioch
The Monastic Middle Way of Communal Ministrations
Monastic Mediation between the Rich, the Clergy, and the Poor
4. "Give It with Your Whole Soul": From Alms to Charity in Early Byzantine Monasticism
Defining Charity in Egyptian Desert Tradition
Gifts of Charity in the Seridos Monastery
Sins of Excess and Redemptive Almsgiving
Almsgiving as Purification in Eastern Hagiography
"Give as Your Alms from the Things Within": Alms, Charity, and Christian Altruism
5. “What God Has Put in Your Heart to Give”: Divine Patronage, Sacred Wealth, and Material Blessings
The Pauline Concept of a Christian Blessing
The Institutional and Lay Provision of Material Blessings
Human Avarice and Divine Patronage
Converting Lay Offerings into Blessings
Ascetic Stewardship and the Multiplication of Monastic Blessings
Gifts of a Sacred Order
Sacred Wealth and Monastic Culture
6. "You Are the Firstfruits of the World": Monasticism, Fruitbearings, and Prosperity in the Countryside
Agrarian and Monastic Expansion on the Rural Margins
A Syrian Village Perspective:
The Letter of Cosmas of Panîr Agriculture and Religious Science in the Roman Near East
The Intercessory Powers of Symeon Stylites the Elder
Ascetic Penance and Lay Prosperity in the Lives of Barsauma and Theodore
Fruitbearings, Gratitude, and Sacred Vessels
7. "Imperishable Remembrance in Heaven and Earth": Liturgical Offerings and the Rise of Patronal Monasteries
Lay Offerings and Church Commemorations
Church Apologetics for Commemorative Rites
Jacob of Serug's
On the Loaf for the Departed Patronal Praise and the Proliferation of Private Monasteries
Monks, Freedmen, and the Perennial Quest for Perpetual Commemoration
Memory, Salvation, and the Economics of Monastic Patronage
Epilogue: When Holy Men Walked the Earth
Notes
Bibliography
Index
