When you hear of a devastating earthquake thousands of miles away, you might reach into your pockets to make a donation. That’s the fault of an itinerant Jewish preacher from Palestine, an obscure backwater of the Roman Empire, otherwise known as Jesus Christ.
Kindness to strangers is not hardwired in our DNA. Nor was it esteemed by the great canon of ancient Western philosophy – the Greeks and Romans prioritised generosity to your friends and family. When Jesus told his followers to give up everything they owned to the poor, he heralded a moral revolution. The needy, the sick, the outcast were to be cared for – even if they were unknown to you. This was a tough pill to swallow for early Christians, and to this day, many insist Jesus didn’t really mean it. Nonetheless Jesus’ most radical commandment transformed the moral conscience of the West: its legacy lives on in public hospitals, the billions given in charity each year and even government welfare.
- 272 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
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Information
Topic
Theology & ReligionSubtopic
BiblesTable of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- A Note on Translations
- Introduction: Strange(r) Altruism
- Chapter One: Does Altruism Exist?
- Chapter Two: The Ancient Quest for Happiness
- Chapter Three: Love, Charity, and Forgiveness in the Greek and Roman Worlds
- Chapter Four: The Jewish Roots of Jesus’s Ethics
- Chapter Five: Love, Charity, and Forgiveness in the Teachings of Jesus
- Chapter Six: The Afterlife of Jesus’s Ethics
- Chapter Seven: Love after Jesus
- Chapter Eight: Charitable Giving and Forgiveness after Jesus
- Conclusion: Altruism in the Conscience of the West
- Notes
- Index
- Copyright Page
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Yes, you can access Love Thy Stranger by Bart D. Ehrman in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Bibles. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.