This article explores how the early church’s evolving social position and social responsibility affected Christian views of resources, almsgiving and charity, and administration of charity. From the first to second centuries, Christian views of wealth became more positive due to the church’s rising social responsibility for the poor, where almsgiving and charity were elevated and seen as redemptive, and the institutionalized class of “holy poor” helped to administer charity. These developments in the second century constitute a significant trajectory from the pessimistic views of wealth in the apostolic era to the Church’s political and economic power in the Middle Ages.
Todd A. Scacewater, “The Economic Ethics of the Apostolic Fathers,” Journal of Markets & Morality 27, no. 2 (2024): 169–179.