Clement of Alexandria c. 150 to c. 215 · Alexandria Clement agrees:
“All things therefore are common, and not for the rich to appropriate an undue share.”
The Instructor
What did the early Christians say about the poor?
They agreed. All 9 on record would say yes to the statement below.
- 9On record
- 9Would agree
- 0Would disagree
The statement in the quiz
“Giving to the poor isn't generosity. It's paying back what's already theirs.”
The quiz puts it in today’s words. Each person below is placed by what they wrote or said. Where their line is clear on its own, it is printed with its source.
You said:
From your result on . See your result
9 early Christians
Would agree
Your side
Clement of Alexandria c. 150 to c. 215 · Alexandria 
Cyprian of Carthage c. 200 to 258 · Carthage Cyprian agrees:
“For whatever is of God is common in our use.”
On Works and Alms
Gregory of Nazianzus c. 329 to c. 390 · Cappadocia and Constantinople Gregory of Nazianzus agrees:
“But look, I beg you, to the first equality, not the later division; not to the law of the one who won the upper hand, but to the law of the One Who made us.”
On Love of the Poor. Our translation
Basil the Great c. 330 to 379 · Caesarea in Cappadocia Basil strongly agrees:
“The bread you are holding on to belongs to the hungry. The cloak you guard in your storerooms belongs to the naked.”
Homily on "I will pull down my barns". Our translation
Ambrose of Milan c. 339 to 397 · Milan Ambrose strongly agrees:
“Not from your own do you bestow upon the poor man, but you make return from what is his.”
On Naboth
John Chrysostom c. 347 to 407 · Antioch and Constantinople Chrysostom strongly agrees:
“Not sharing our own goods with the poor is robbing the poor and taking away their life. What we hold on to is not ours, but theirs.”
Sermons on Lazarus and the Rich Man. Our translation
Augustine of Hippo 354 to 430 · North Africa Augustine strongly agrees:
“The superfluities of the rich are the necessaries of the poor. Thou possessest what belongs to others, when thou possessest more than thou needest.”
Expositions on the Psalms
Boethius c. 477 to c. 524 · Rome and Pavia Boethius agrees.
On record in The Consolation of Philosophy.
Gregory the Great c. 540 to 604 · Rome Gregory the Great strongly agrees:
“For, when we administer necessaries of any kind to the indigent, we do not bestow our own, but render them what is theirs; we rather pay a debt of justice than accomplish works of mercy.”
Pastoral Rule
0 early Christians
Would disagree
Your side
No one in the quiz is on record as disagreeing.
What they said
More questions
your turn
Quiz Which early Christian thinks like you? And which would argue with you? See where you would stand on this and 22 more. Start Suggest a correction. Corrections that are applied are recorded in the public changelog.