Charity in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions [Paperback]

This collection of essays by a team of international scholars addresses the topic of Charity through the lenses of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The contributors look for common paradigms in the ways the three faiths address the needs of the poor and the needy in their respective societies, and reflect on the interrelatedness of such practices among the three religions. They ask how the three traditions deal with the distribution of wealth, in the recognition that not all members of a given society have equal access to it, and in the relationship of charity to the inheritance systems and family structures. They reveal systemic patterns that are similar--norms, virtue, theological validations, exclusionary rules, private responsibility to society--issues that have implications for intercultural and interfaith understanding. Conversely, the essays inquire how the three faiths differ in their understanding of poverty, wealth, and justifications for charity.

Julia R. Lieberman is professor of Spanish and intercultural studies at Saint Louis University.

Michal Jan Rozbicki is professor of history and director of the Center for Intercultural Studies at Saint Louis University.

Charity in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions presents wide-ranging and nuanced perspectives on the centrality of charity in the three Abrahamic religions, with a strong emphasis on the ways in which these traditions have influenced and shaped one another throughout history. These well-written and provocative essays offer equal parts theoretical framing and particularistic illustration. Each of the pieces included in the volume engages important questions that challenge simplistic formulations of faith and practice in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. How is religiously applied charity both supported and contravened by the intervention of the state? Why must the proper conditions for the receipt of charity be so carefully delineated in sacred slCt