Chrysostom
frequently spoke about poverty and wealth, themes which were set for him by
life in the large, noisy city. For him, these and all other social themes had
primarily a moral significance, and he dealt with them in relation to the rules
of Christian behavior. He judged the life around him on the basis of its
morality. Everywhere he saw injustice, cruelty, suffering, and misery, and he
understood that this was caused by the spirit of greed and by social
inequality. He warned against idle luxury and also against wealth as a source
of temptation, since money threatens to corrupt the man who possesses it.
Wealth by itself has no value but is only a theatrical mask which covers the
true image of man. However, the wealthy man comes to value his riches. He
begins to deceive himself and he becomes attached to something which is good in
appearance only. In Chrysostom's opinion there is danger not only in wealth
which has been acquired by dishonest means but in all forms of personal
property. These are not harmful in themselves but they may stimulate the will
to desire things which are perishable and transient. "The love for wealth
is an unnatural passion," Chrysostom writes. "The desire for wealth
is neither natural nor necessary. It is superfluous." This movement of the
will is dangerous and riches are a dangerous burden. "Wealth is harmful
for you not because it arms thieves against you, nor because it completely
darkens your mind but because it makes you the captives of soulless possessions
and distracts you from the service of God."
The
possession of wealth involves an unavoidable contradiction. By the spirit of
greed men are attached to material things, but God teaches us to despise things
and to renounce them. "There is harm not only in trying to gain wealth but
also in excessive concern with even the most necessary things," Chrysostom
writes. "Christ has demonstrated what kind of harm can come from the
passion for money but His commandment goes even beyond this. Not only does He
order us to scorn wealth, but he forbids us to be concerned that the food we
eat is the best we can possibly get: 'Do not worry your soul about what you
eat'." This does not exhaust the subject. "It is not enough to
despise wealth," Chrysostom writes, "but you must also feed the poor
and, more importantly, you must follow Christ." Thus another contradiction
is revealed: the worldly drive of greed and the desire for the accumulation and
preservation of material goods is opposed to the command of the Gospels to
"give all you have to the poor." Against this background we see with
greater clarity the injustice of the social inequality in the world. In the
face of poverty and misery, all wealth is an unjust and dead thing. It
testifies to hard-heartedness and the absence of love.
It is
from this point of view that Chrysostom disapproves of the magnificent
decoration of churches. "A church is not a place in which to melt gold or
forge silver," he writes. "It is a triumphant assembly of the angels.
Therefore it is souls which we demand as an offering because it is for the sake
of souls that God accepts our other offerings. It was not at a silver table and
it was not from a golden vessel that Christ offered His blood to His disciples
to drink but nevertheless everything there was precious and called forth
reverence, for it was filled with the Spirit. Do you want to honor the body of
Christ? Do not scorn to see Christ naked. What good does it do you if here you
honor His silken coverlings while outside the Church you continue to tolerate
the coldness and nakedness of others? What good does it do you if the altar of
Christ is covered with golden vessels, while Christ Himself suffers hunger? You
make a golden goblet but you offer no cooling water to go with ft. Christ as a
homeless pilgrim wanders and asks for shelter, but you, instead of accepting
Him, adorn your floors, your walls, and the tops of your pillars, and you put
silver harnesses on your horses. But Christ remains bound in the dungeon and
you do not even want to look at Him."
It seemed
to Chrysostom that each thing that one man puts aside is taken away from
someone else who needs it, for there cannot be a man who is rich without
another man being poor because of it. "The source and root of wealth must
definitely be hidden in some act of injustice," he writes. Chrysostom did
not consider that poverty as such was a virtue. Poverty attracted his attention
as a form of need and suffering, and he considered that Christ is present among
the poor, since He comes to us in the image of a beggar and not in the guise of
a wealthy man. Furthermore, when poverty is voluntarily chosen for the sake of
God and accepted with joy, it can be a path to virtue. This is primarily
because a man without possessions is freer than a wealthy man and has fewer
attachments and worries. It is easier for him to live and to strive to perfect
himself.
The basic
premise of Chrysostom's thought is that strictly speaking there can be no such
thing as "personal property" because everything belongs to God and to
Him only. All things are given by Him as a gift in the form of a loan.
Everything is God's, and all that man can claim as truly his own are his good
works. Everything God gives is intended for common ownership. "If the good
things we enjoy belong to the Master of all of us, then they all belong equally
to our fellow slaves. That which belongs to the Master belongs to everyone in
common. Do we not see a similar arrangement in great houses?"
"The
possessions of the Emperor, the city, the squares, and the streets, belong to
all men, and we all use them in an equal degree. Look at the economy that God
has arranged. He has created some things that are for everyone, including the
air, sun, water, earth, heaven, sea, light, and stars, and He has divided them
equally among all men, as if they were brothers. This, if nothing else, should
shame the human race. The Emperor has made other things common to all,
including the baths, cities, squares, and streets. There is not the slightest
disagreement over this common property but everything is accomplished
peacefully. If someone tries to take something and claim it as his own personal
possession, then quarrels arise. It is as if the very forces of natures were
complaining, and as if at that time when God was gathering them from everywhere
they were trying with all their might to separate among themselves, to isolate
them selves from each other, and to distinguish their own individual property
by coldly saying that 'this is yours but that is mine'. If this were true,
quarrels and bitterness would arise, but where there is nothing of this sort
neither quarrels nor disagreements occur. In this way we see that for us as
well a common and not an individual ownership of things has been ordained, and
that this is according to nature itself. Is not the reason that no one ever
goes to court about the ownership of a public square the fact that this square
belongs to all?"
It seems
to Chrysostom that in this respect even the animals are better than men.
"They hold everything in common, the earth, and springs, and pastures, and
mountains, and forests, and not one of them has more than the others. But you,
O man, the most gentle of animals, have become more fierce than the beasts. In
a single one of your houses you store up enough to feed thousands and even many
thousands of the poor. How can this be, when we have one common nature, and
much else in common besides this? We share a common heaven, sun, moon, choir of
stars, air, sea, fire, water, earth, life, death, youth, old age, sickness,
health, and the need for food and clothing. Our spiritual goods are also common
to all: our holy altar, the body of our Lord, His sacred blood, the promised
Kingdom, the bath of renewal, the purification of sins, truth, sanctity, redemption,
and ineffable bliss. Is it therefore not madness for those who share so much in
common, their nature, grace, covenant, and laws, to have such a passion for
wealth that it causes them to forget their equality and to exceed the
savageness of beasts? This is all the worse since they must of necessity soon
leave these things behind them."
Chrysostom
sees the source of inequality in man's free will and desire for personal
property. Free will determines how an individual will manage the gifts he had
been given, and Chrysostom considers that this is the heart of the problem. He
does not recommend poverty for all men and, although he denounces superfluous
luxury, it is primarily inequality to which he is opposed. Chrysostom demands
equality and justice. Material goods are given by God and for this reason there
can be no cause to abominate them. However, they must not be used to the
personal advantage of one man in such a way that another man suffers for lack
of them. Chrysostom believes that the problem can be solved by love because
"love seeks nothing for itself." It seems to him that this solution
was realized by the earliest members of the Church in the manner described in
the Acts of the Apostles. "They renounced property and rejoiced greatly
because in this way they gained blessings that were even greater. The cold
words 'mine and yours' did not exist, and there was joy at the altar . . . The
expression 'mine and yours', which is so harsh and has caused so many wars in
the world, was driven out of that holy Church, and men on earth lived like
angels in heaven. The poor did not envy the rich, for there were no rich, and
the rich did not despise the poor, for there were no poor. At that time things
were not the way they are now. Now those who have property give to the poor,
but at that time it was not so . . . All of them were equal and all wealth was
shared among them." This example has been frequently cited by the
supporters of communal monasticism who absolutely reject the right to personal
property.
Chrysostom
wanted to realize the example provided by monastic communities in the world,
having in mind a comparatively small society in Antioch or Constantinople. In
his homilies he tried to demonstrate how the voluntary renunciation of property
and its equal distribution could provide for the needs of all. This is the way
in which the property of the Church was organized at that time. It was held in
common and was distributed by the bishop. Part of it was devoted to upkeep of
churches and to the support of the clergy, but most of it was the
"property of the poor." Chrysostom emphasized that such a
socialization of property could be truly effective only if it was voluntary and
if it was the expression of true self-renunciation and love.
All of
this would presuppose a high degree of moral development and perfection. It
would be the ultimate and ideal expression of Christian charity. However,
Chrysostom was content to limit his demands to generous almsgiving and works of
charity. His conception of charity was very broad, extending from material
contributions to consolation and comfort. "Is it not also an act of great
charity when a soul, which is overwhelmed by grief, threatened by extreme
danger, and held in thrall by the flames (of passion), is freed by someone from
this affliction?"
An article by Fr. George Florovsky
Source: johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/09/st-john-chrysostom-on-poverty-and.html
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