The Big Questions About ChristianitySample

Did Christianity invent charity?

There are many things we don't think about in our culture. We take them for granted, and this is one of them: where did charity come from?

What I mean by charity is selflessly helping others. A visible aspect of charity we see in the world is the existence of not-for-profit charitable organizations.

There was no concept of charity in ancient times to be found anywhere. It is the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and particularly Christianity itself, that introduced charity into the world.

People have been saying you should be helpful, even merciful, to others and do good to them, but the reasons were always self-centered. By giving to others or helping them, you became a better person, helped the community so you could have a nicer existence, made the gods take notice of you and be nice to you and grant your requests, and so on. Do you see what I mean?

That's not charity. These are like business transactions: I'll do something for this person because I get something in return. Because these ideas were essentially self-centered, they were never strong enough to become pervasive or universal.

That's why there were no charitable institutions in the ancient world. There were no hospitals in ancient times. Another example: There were no orphanages in antiquity. If your baby was disabled or you didn't want it for any reason, you just exposed them, leaving them in the wilderness to die. Such a world seems unimaginable to us today, but that's how it was. These early Christians didn't offer charity to others to get brownie points with God, but they thought this different way of living was the right way, although it was completely contrary to their culture.

Although – and I want to emphasize this – there are many good things to be learned from other cultures and religious traditions even today, the idea of charity, based on indiscriminate kindness, is inherently unique to Christianity. The historical evidence from both Christians and pagans shows from its origins, charity was one of the key things that set Christians apart from other people. This was in an ancient world that was essentially uniformly mean, cruel, and heartless. If you don't live in a world like that today, it's mainly because of Christianity. It's because of those who saw Jesus' example, followed his teachings, and how they influenced the development of civilization.

It was only through our Judaeo-Christian tradition that the idea of charity, and the emergence of true charitable practices, came into the world. It was there in Judaism. However, it was amplified and universalized by Christianity. It's still true that almost all of the charitable institutions we have in our country today are faith-based Christian organizations or else have Christian roots.

I know some want to cut Christianity from our society, blaming it for everything bad and crediting it with nothing good, but that's not what the evidence of history shows. Our society has a lot to be grateful for to the Christian faith.

– Eliezer Gonzalez