Ricos y pobres en el cristianismo primitivo. La administración de recursos en común en las primeras iglesias en el libro de los Hechos y el corpus paulino

Abstract

Old Testament literature considers wealth as a blessing associated with the
possession of the land promised to the patriarchs and occupied after the death of
Moses. However, not everyone is wealthy in the world of the Bible: the Torah assumes
the coexistence of rich and poor and prohibits usury, partiality and oppression. The
prophetic books warn that the unfaithfulness toward God would lead the whole
nation to the loss of the promised land and, consequently, of their freedom—that is
to say, into undesired poverty.
In the poetic and wisdom books we see that, although wealth is considered a
blessing, poverty is not necessarily a curse, given that God takes care of the poor.
The New Testament shows how the Christ of the Gospels loves the poor and
sees to their health and sustenance, although he also devotes time to the influential
Nicodemus, to a wealthy young man and to noble women. The tomb in which he was
buried belonged to a member of the Council.
This dialogue between Jesus and the poor and the wealthy transcends the four
Canonical Gospels.
The second chapter of Acts tells us that the believers “had everything in common”
and that those who owned properties sold them to give to anyone in need.
The increase in the number of believers brought about certain difficulties related
to the administration of community resources, which were solved in part with the
designation of deacons.
In this article, I intend to analyze—based on the biblical account—the context
for community property in the primitive church of Jerusalem, and investigate
whether this community administration extended (and if so, to which extent) to the
congregations founded by Paul of Tarsus.