1st century AD

Economic principles of Christianity

The New Test­ament, written in the second half of the 1st century AD and in the early 2nd century AD, as well as the writings of the Church Fathers, incor­porated many of the eco­nomic teachings of the earlier Jewish texts. In par­ticular: the duty of charity (from the Latin caritas, meaning love) towards those in need and the ban on loans at interest (which the Church main­tained for several cen­turies, while allowing certain exceptions). Chris­tianity placed par­ticular emphasis on the spirit of poverty: money was seen as a dis­traction from the essential, which is man’s rela­tionship with God and with his fellow men. Sim­ilarly, Chris­tianity also stressed that there should be a sep­ar­ation between the spir­itual and the The New Test­ament, written in the second half of the 1st century AD and in the early 2nd century AD, as well as the writings of the Church Fathers, incor­porated many of the eco­nomic teachings of the earlier Jewish texts. In par­ticular: the duty of charity (from the Latin caritas, meaning love) towards those in need and the ban on loans at interest (which the Church main­tained for several cen­turies, while allowing certain exceptions).

Chris­tianity placed par­ticular emphasis on the spirit of poverty: money was seen as a dis­traction from the essential, which is man’s rela­tionship with God and with his fellow men. Sim­ilarly, Chris­tianity also stressed that there should be a sep­ar­ation between the spir­itual and the material (as when Jesus drove the mer­chants from the Temple).