| Abstract | Paper -a:
Illustrations showing how Augustine refers to the poor from his youth onwards would be taken not only from his earlier writings but from much of his sermons and letters, in which he does not seem to show his readers the poor as the real constructs within the social and economic structure of the late antique world. But, how exactly does Augustine provide the theological basis for which the truly poor is defined as those who possess wealth in this present life? It is my intention in this paper to consider his view of wealth and poverty and of the eschatological spiritualisation of the problem.
Paper -b:
This paper will examine Augustine of Hippo's concern that disparity in the wealth of church members might rupture the community of love. Our specific interest is the bishop's theology of almsgiving. Based on Matthew 25:35-45, Augustine regarded care for the poor as inseparable from love of God. At the same time he emphasised that almsgiving was a possibility and obligation for all (regardless of wealth) and a transaction from which both parties benefitted. In this we see Augustine's concern about the possibility of bitterness and pride being taken in poverty and almsgiving, and a theology which might go some way to avoid resultant disunity in the church.
Paper -c:
Poverty became one of the most important ideals in Late Antique Christianity and a frequent topos in hagiographical and Episcopal literature. However, the praise of poverty was together with the emphasis on the renunciation of richness and status. In a word, poverty was only worthy when it was a voluntary choice.
Hilarius of Arles was a good example of this rhetoric of the ascetic poverty. From his privileged position as bishop of the main see of southern Gaul, both his writings and his own Vitae after his death focused on his deliberate rejection of goods.
On the other hand, changes at the end of the Roman Empire seem to have caused other kind of poverty among the aristocracy. At the end of his life, Paulinus of Pella remembered with bitterness his easy life as a young aristocrat, and lamented his fall into poverty as a consequence of the uneven political climate. Nevertheless, this nostalgic view contrasted with the Christian ideal of poverty he supported.
This paper shall analyse comparatively these two conflicting models of the rhetoric of poverty, giving attention to the reception of the message by the target audiences of the speeches.
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