Dartmouth Events

Jaclyn Maxwell, Ohio University

Thursday, January 25, 2024
4:30-6:30 PM 
Rockefeller Center 003
Free and open to all

Lecture title: "Work Ethic, Sloth, and Prosperity: The Intersection of Economics and Virtues in Late Antique Christianity"

Abstract: "For Christians living during the late Roman Empire, economic behavior was a central moral and spiritual concern. During this period (~350-430 CE), Christian communities were merging with mainstream Roman society and wealthy, upper-class men began to dominate church leadership. Numerous Biblical passages focused on wealth and poverty meant that these topics came up frequently in biblical commentaries and preaching. So, during this time, theologians and bishops engaged increasingly with issues related to wealth. The growing influence of Christian ascetic communities in households, hermitages, and various types of monasteries would also focus particular attention on poverty, almsgiving, consumption, and labor. This lecture will examine several texts from this period that reflect discussions among laypeople and Church authorities centering on questions about the intersection of economics and virtue: does God favor the rich or the poor? Is idleness sinful? Is productivity virtuous? How did the views of ordinary (working, non-elite) Christians differ from those of the church authorities?"
 

The Hardigg Family Fund was established in 1993 by James S. Hardigg '44.