in the temples: this image suggests that many of the sick and dying did seek
the aid of the gods up until the very end.
Early Christians contrast their charity with the heartlessness of the
pagan world (Francis and Sampley 1975, 265; Winter 1994). We should
accept this testimony with caution, since it is polemical (cf. Lane Fox 1987,
591). Note that both Cyprian and Dionysus are writing in-house material,
sermons and epistles. Stark recognizes that Dionysus’s text is a “tribute”
(1996, 82) and a “pastoral letter” (1996, 83). It is quite likely that such lit-
erature would not only comment on but also exaggerate the differences
between Christian and pagan behaviour. Stark asserts, somewhat ingenu-
ously, that “it seems highly unlikely that a bishop would write a pastoral
letter full of false claims about things that his parishioners would know from
direct observation” (1996, 83). On the contrary, people like to hear positive
things about themselves and their group, and spoon-fed stereotypes often
are easily digested. While we should not reject the evidence in question, nei-
ther must we accept it at face value. Stark has been criticized for his uncrit-
ical acceptance of the testimony of ancient texts (see Castelli 1998, 237;
Mack 1999, 134; cf. Stark 1998, 259–67).
Stark (1996, 83–84) is on firmer ground when he brings in Julian’s
testimony (cf. G.W.H. Lampe 1966, 52; R.M. Grant 1977, 124). When a
mid-fourth-century pagan emperor, hostile to Christianity, paints an unflat-
tering picture of his own religious world and grudgingly admits the supe-
riority of Christian charity toward the poor and the sick, this is telling
evidence. Julian contrasts the charity of Christians with the failure of
paganism, hoping to inculcate similar values in his revival of paganism
(see Julian, Works289A-293A; 424C; 429D; 453A). The post-Constantinian
date of the emperor, however, must be kept in mind. The institutionalized
Christian charity against which Julian rails is almost certainly more devel-
oped and extensive than that which was practised by Christians in the pre-
vious three centuries. Stark (1996, 84) only quotes Julian in part, failing to
note Julian’s second statement, which also would be helpful to Stark’s
case: “For when it came about that the poor were neglected and overlooked
by the priests, then I think the impious Galileans [i.e., Christians] observed
this fact and devoted themselves to philanthropy. And they have gained ascen-
dancy in the worst of their deeds through the credit they win for such practices”
(Julian,Letter to a Priest337, emphasis mine).
The satirical portrait of Christian charity by another unsympathetic
outsider, Lucian of Samosata (Peregr.12–13), also deserves mention (cf.,
further, Phillips 1930, 82; Ste. Croix 1975, 25; Osiek 1981, 375; Mullin 1984,
58). In Lucian’s account, widows and church officials (perhaps deacons)
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