Matthew's Charity: Righteousness, Almsgiving, and the Greek World
In this article, I examine the issue of charity in Matthew's Gospel, and specifically his directives on almsgiving as it is described in the Sermon on the Mount in 6:2-4. While almsgiving was a standard form of piety in Judaism, Matthew's particular version of the practice has significant...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
The catholic biblical quarterly
Year: 2025, Volume: 87, Issue: 1, Pages: 102-123 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Matthäusevangelium 6,1-4
/ Fund raising
/ Alms
/ Stoicism
|
| IxTheo Classification: | BE Greco-Roman religions HC New Testament HD Early Judaism NCE Business ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
Hellenistic Philosophy
B Righteousness B Matthew B Sermon on the Mount B Charity B Stoicism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this article, I examine the issue of charity in Matthew's Gospel, and specifically his directives on almsgiving as it is described in the Sermon on the Mount in 6:2-4. While almsgiving was a standard form of piety in Judaism, Matthew's particular version of the practice has significant differences that eventually redefined charity and delineated the Christian practice. Although there has been much discussion on this topic, the role that the Greek world and especially Hellenistic philosophical thought played in the formation of Matthew's views has been ignored. Here I examine Matthew's discussion of almsgiving in chap. 6 in order to determine how this material fits into broader ancient Mediterranean contexts, including Hellenistic Judaism and Greco-Roman philosophical traditions. While there are clear Jewish influences present, I suggest that reading this chapter through a Stoic-infused moral philosophical lens provides a more accurate picture of the passage. |
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| ISSN: | 2163-2529 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The catholic biblical quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/cbq.2025.a950619 |