What we call charity was an invention of God, not man. As Μιχαήλ (Michael) Wilson’s post shows, both the Old and the New Testaments command us to be generous to the poor. Here Michael talks the homeless, perhaps the poorest of the poor.
The Bible acknowledges the fact of homelessness and instructs us to help those who are poor and needy, including those in homeless situations.
Jesus could identify with the homeless in His itinerant ministry. In Matthew 8:20, Jesus states that even animals have a place to call home, but He had nowhere to lay His head.
When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He stayed in the homes of whoever would welcome Him and sometimes outside. He was born in a stable and even spent His last night before His crucifixion outside in a garden. The apostle Paul…
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Great post! Thanks for raising awareness about the homeless. I worked at a homeless shelter for a few years. Yes, they do need all of our help!
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“What we call charity was an invention of God, not man.”
The first modern charity organisation may have been religiously inspired; however, charity was not an invention of any religion, the Christian God or any man.
King Athelstan of England (reigned 924-939) evidently founded the first recorded almshouse in York in the 10th century. He was Christian, however, to be a king and to literally keep your head you had to be of the current dominant faith. It is also true that the very early humans worked together in an altruistic manner.
We are all charitable or altruistic as individuals in the form of compassion that is our primary instinct. Compassion is natural trait of animal and human development and an instinctive reaction ensuring our survival. Darwin believed the social and maternal instincts were stronger than any other.
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@sklyjd
I think both the Old and the New Testaments predate King Athelstan of England (reigned 924-939) by more than a few years. So I don’t know why you brought that up. Is only government-run charity charity?
More often than not government-run “charity” is about buying popular support or demonstrating the bigness of the Dear Leader. The Roman Empire’s Bread and Circuses provide an obvious example of buying popular support. The dictator throwing money out the window of his limo provides an example of demonstrating the bigness of the Dear Leader.
Christian charity is based upon agape love. Agape love has nothing to do even in the most remote way with evolution. Christian charity is about helping the needy just because like “us” they too are made in the image of God, and they need our help.
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Been reading Deuteronomy, Tom. Something I found fascinating, charity really is being “invented by God and not man.” They are receiving instructions on how to live in the Promised Land, how to be just, take care of your widows and orphans, even your slaves and captives. There’s an interesting part about giving them a town some distance away, so those who commit manslaughter will not be homeless, they will have somewhere safe to flee. There is great concern that those who are cast out socially not be persecuted by others seeking revenge or possessing blood lust, and that they have a place to go, a safe refuge away from the others,so they are not homeless.
I just found it kind of fascinating. The Lord, through Moses, I think, seems to have thought of everything. You really don’t want rootless people on the outside looking in, cast out due to injustice and people’s emotionalism. So they are given an entire town to flee to. Manslaughter of course, is an accidental killing or an unintentional one. Murderers you were just supposed to execute outright. But those who were innocent under the law were supposed to be removed and yet given a home of their own in a nearby town so they could establish new roots.
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@IB
Good observation. Thank you for sharing It.
It is kind of sad that our schools have stripped out so much of what use to be part of our history, what once made this country a good place to live. Still, if we can learn about the Bible, share our insights with each other, and help our children to do the same; I believe God will reward the effort.
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