Civil Society, the Christian Tradition, and the Contest between Charity and Philanthropy

The words "charity" and "philanthropy" are sometimes used as synonyms for one another. Just as frequently, the latter term is used to denote a more sophisticated, larger-scale version of the former. In fact, the concepts of charity and philanthropy have very different historical roots and are associated with very different worldviews. In this talk, Jeremy Beer will excavate what the Church Fathers and great Christian thinkers have had to say about charitable giving, how such giving differs from secular conceptions of philanthropy, and why getting clear about this distinction is important for the health of civil society.