The Eastern Christian Fathers (a.d. 350-400) on the Redistribution of Wealth
研究了公元4世纪后期东方教父如何从宗教和经济角度提出道德劝诫，试图通过增加利他行为来缓解财富分配极端不均的问题。
In the second half of the fourth century A.D., the Eastern Christian Fathers developed some interesting economic ideas and suggestions, scattered throughout their religious texts, the majority of which focused on solving the problem of the extreme maldistribution of wealth. Though they blamed the institutional malfunction of the economy for this problem, they did not develop drastic measures for a revolutionary reconstruction to transform the existing institutions, or turn against the market norms. Instead, they tried to convince individuals to increase their altruistic behavior and to prove that such behavior would increase the general welfare. The Fathers, by incorporating ethical judgments in their economics ideas, developed commandments, propositions, and exhortations, justified on religious and economic grounds, in order to reduce the consequences of the unequal distribution of wealth. Their aim was to prove that such a distribution was contrary not only to Christian teachings but also to the economic interests of both rich and poor citizens.