Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1866 edition. Excerpt: ...goods are common." " Consider," said Julian the apostate, when giving instructions to the priets of the Paganism he had undertaken to restore, " that nothing has so much contributed to the progress of the superstition of Christians as the charity they show to strangers. I wish hospitals to be established in every city, for it would be shameful in us to desert our poor when these impious Galileans not only provide for their own, but even for ours also." It was a mystery to the heathen world that these persecuted Christians, hunted to death by their enemies, could support themselves, and maintain their worship. Their liberality abounded, not only towards their own, but the world also. Justyn Martyr said " Of those who are rich and willing, each one contributes according to the purpose of his own heart." That was at the beginning of the second century. Tertullian wrote, " Each of us, if able, puts in a moderate contribution of his own accord. Thus is formed a trust--a fund--for religious purposes." In the fourth century Chrysostom wrote, " Consider our church.... how many widows and maidens it supplies the daily needs--nearly 3000, and after that the prisoners, the sick, the maimed, and such as come to her, day by day; and for all this her substance is not diminished. These are the ministrations wherein we ought to be engaged; these are the precious heirlooms of the church; and this is the kind of treasury which it befits her to possess." Mosheim, the historian, writes--" The custom of bringing with them to their solemn assemblies gifts or offerings for the use of the community in general, but more especially the poor, and publicly presenting them previously to the celebration of the Lord's Supper, is of the highest antiquity among...
