O amor feito ajuda material: a esmola nos Padres da Igreja

• Autor(a) principal: Duarte, Alexandre Freire
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34632/humanisticaeteologia.2018.9438

This study aims to present the diverse theoretical foundations of the practice of almsgiving, as well as the different practical procedures for that same practice, as they are manifest in the texts of the Fathers of the Church that were written, approximately, until the middle of the Fifth Century. Considering this, the present work is divided into four main sections. In the first of these, the author presents the biblical foundations of patristic theorizing of almsgiving in that chronological framework. In the second one, the author mentions the two wide-ranging structures in which such theorizations, and inherent practical orientations, can be framed. Thirdly, the focus will be placed in the mutations that occurred concerning almsgiving in consequence of the increasing Christianization of the Roman Empire. Finally, the author turns his attention to the connection between the practice of almsgiving, as envisaged and encouraged by the Fathers, and Christian (self-)identification.