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Poverty and Wealth in the Orthodox Spirituality (with special reference to St. John Chrysostom)
Author(s) -
Dumitraşcu Nicu
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
dialog
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.114
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1540-6385
pISSN - 0012-2033
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6385.2010.00556.x
Subject(s) - john chrysostom , consumerism , spirituality , relation (database) , faith , poverty , meaning (existential) , sociology , property (philosophy) , race (biology) , rank (graph theory) , law and economics , environmental ethics , law , political science , philosophy , theology , gender studies , epistemology , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , database , computer science , mathematics , combinatorics
: This essay deals with the right relation we should have to material wealth in modern society, a society often marked by rank consumerism. Material goods are given to humans only to be managed for the benefit of all people, regardless of faith or race. This ethical stance does not attack or seek to abolish the right to private property, but restores it to its proper place. Specifically, patristic spirituality, such as that articulated by St. John Chrysostom, does not invalidate the principle of individual ownership, but corrects it, meaning that, while owners are owners in relation to the poor, they are only managers of wealth in relation to God.