alt Hacker NewsI believe in the ancient world (roman, jewish, and greek) charity was seen as a moral good but the emphasis was on helping your own tribe. Jesus expanded that to helping the "other".
I believe in the ancient world (roman, jewish, and greek) charity was seen as a moral good but the emphasis was on helping your own tribe. Jesus expanded that to helping the "other".
Sure, I never claimed that Christians invented charity. They're certainly not even the only religion that advocates universal charity.
To be clear, what I see as distinctly Christian is the idea that charity must be purely altruistic -- it's not seen as Christian to desire recognition for your charity, or to perform charitable acts with the hope of being rewarded with eternal salvation. They must be done purely out of duty to God, and love for others (which are essentially identical requirements, since "God is love").
But if there's ignorance behind that thought, I'm open to being educated.