talityduring the plague of 250CE; also Phillips 1930, 89; Budde 1931, 572;
G.W.H. Lampe 1966, 53). Similarly, threats of eternal punishment are prom-
ised those who fail to act charitably toward the needy (see, e.g., Apocalypse
of Paul,NTA 2.733). Christian charity is a topic difficult to discuss ade-
quately in a single chapter (cf. Harnack 1908, 1:120–23, 149–83; Phillips
1930, 20–39, 79–82, 99–100, 121–23; Budde 1931, 562–72; Ste. Croix 1975,
25–27; R.M. Grant 1977, 127–33; Banks 1983, 312–19; Mullin 1984; Osiek
1981; González 1990, 93–125). Here I will summarize only a few key gen-
eral points.
The New Testament injunctions to practise charity and to love one
another are well known. Christian writers from the first to fourth cen-
turies CEreiterate the importance of almsgiving, individual and group care
for the sick and the poor, and love of the community (e.g., 1 Clem.54.4; 55.2;
Justin Martyr, 1 Apol1.67;Herm. Sim.1.5, 8–9; 3.7; Herm. Mand.8.10; Aris-
tides,Apol. ANF277;Diogn.10.6; Hippolytus, Trad. ap.20, 25–27, 30; Tertul-
lian,Apol.39.5–6, 16; 42.8; Scap.4; Clement of Alexandria,Quis div.; Apost.
Const.3.4; Lactantius, Div. Inst.6.12). From an early date, specific roles
within the Christian community were established for the performance of
practical service to the sick and needy. In Christian discourse, we find many
references to deacons (hoi diakonoi,who likely served men primarily) and
to “widows” (hai cherai,a group of older single women, who were in serv-
ice to other women and children) (Cranfield 1966, 37–39; G.W.H. Lampe
1966, 48–63). An interesting and little-known post-Constantinian service
group is the parabolani,a Christian order of male nurses in Alexandria,
who tended the sick, and which probably originated in response to a plague
(Anonymous [ODCC] 1997; Venables 1908).
Charitable activities within Christianity were seen as a religious act
and a duty. They were thought to be pleasing to God, a means of sanctifi-
cation, a way of repaying the debt owed to Christ, and they were enacted
both informally (in an ad hocmanner) and formally within liturgical and
ritual settings (stressed by G.W.H. Lampe 1966). Such charitable acts were
community-building and community-maintaining activities, and they put
the group in a good public light. Bruce W. Winter (1994) argues that the
good works urged in the New Testament were public benefactions. The
aim of early Christians was to be judged well by outsiders in view of their
public generosity. Stark’s (1996, 78–79) comments about revitalization
movements mobilizing people to attempt collective action are therefore
appropriate vis-à-vis early Christianity. Nonetheless, would such charity
automatically have made for a more attractive religious product in the
ancient world (cf. McCutcheon 1999, 128)?
“Look How They Love One Another” 219