The Economic Role of the Christian Church

The dynamically developing Christian religion reshaped the value system of the Roman Empire and provided new directions and goals for human life. During the empire's crisis period, teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven and an impending peaceful world easily resonated with the dreams of the poorer classes.

One of the early church's key tenets was that earthly life was a time of exile and trial. St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, articulated that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between the Kingdom of God and the earthly world. In the former, the chosen ones who follow God's laws live, while the latter is inhabited by the godless and sinners who obey human laws. The human task was to fight against sin, evil, and temptation until the arrival of the Kingdom of God, the civitas Dei, which would be ruled by love and divine justice.

One aspect of this struggle was the fight against dishonorable wealth accumulation. The church, and in many places the Bible, condemned the practice of usury above all other economic activities. The prohibition on lending money at interest is found in the Old Testament in the Book of Exodus, which later appears in a stricter form: "If you lend money to any of my people, to the poor who are with you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him." "You shall not charge interest on money, food, or anything else that is lent at interest." (Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19). The New Testament also speaks about this in the Gospel of Luke, based on which the later church fathers declared that money could only be lent out of brotherly love. "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great..." (Luke 6:35).

By the early 4th century, a system of sanctions had been established. If a priest was caught in usurious dealings, he would be irrevocably excommunicated. Laypeople could receive absolution once, but if they reoffended, they too would be excommunicated. In the following centuries, any activity related to usury was considered a sinful act in the public consciousness. The church did not distinguish between fair interest and usury, condemning both equally.

This shows that during the early Middle Ages, the church was more of a brake on economic life than a driving force. However, the church significantly contributed to saving urban life by establishing its leadership in cities inherited from the Roman Empire. The church developed its own administrative body, similar to the state's, and as its following grew, so did its material needs. It preached that gifts given to the church were gifts given to God, and that through these gifts, sins could be redeemed and erased. Among the gifts, the most valuable were the land estates left to the church. Over time, the church and monasteries became large landowners, similar to the latifundia of barbarian kings. By the 8th century, the church had become the largest landowner in the Christian world.

Robert Latovche The Birth of Western Economy, London, 1961 / ford. László Éva