In the early seventh century, Persian raids in Palestine added to social unrest already present in the eastern Roman Empire. With the fall of Jerusalem in 614, impoverished citizens left the Holy Lands and traveled south by the thousands towards Alexandria, while those who remained in the cities struggled with debt. As Gregory Nazianzus, Basil the Great and John Chrysostom knew well—and as Churches in North America are learning—financial crisis can lead people to God. John Moschos, a seventh-century peripatetic Byzantine monk, appears to have known this as well.
In his Pratum Spirituale—a collection of stories and anecdotes John gathered while traveling around Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor with his fellow pilgrim, Sophronios—one finds issues of wealth, poverty, lending, borrowing and other concerns of market economy intimately tied up with issues of social and theological justice. In a text largely concerned with the lives of stationary monks, these few and all-too-short stories that touch on the financial distress of lay persons seem oddly out of context among stories of holy men, miracles and heresy. Possibly their small number has allowed them to be easily overlooked in the current academic discussion of poverty in the early Christian world, therefore my aim in this paper is to bring Moschos’ treatment of money in the Meadow into the larger conversation of the connections between wealth, poverty and soteriology. Therefore, drawing from select texts in the Pratum Spirituale, I will argue that John’s preservation of stories of financial crisis and gain present a theological vision harmonious with a patristic vision of Christ present in the suffering poor, and poverty as a means to salvation. Ultimately, the stories stand as affirmation that creative and compassionate economic practices in times of social unrest contributed to the spread of Christianity in the Byzantine Empire.Working Bibliography for Money in the Meadow: Conversion and Coin in John Moschos’ Pratum Spirituale
Primary
Basil of Caesarea. A Psalm of David Against Usurers; On Psalm 14. PG 29.263-80.
________. English translation in Exegetic Homilies. Translated by Sister Agnes Clare Way. Vol. 46 of The Fathers of the Church. Washington D.C: Catholic University of America Press. 1963. 181-91.
Clement of Alexandria. Who is the Rich Man that is Saved? PG 9.602-52.
________. English translation in G. W. Butterworth. Loeb. Harvard University Press. 1919. 265-367.
Gregory of Nyssa. Against Usury (PG 46.433-52). In Gregorii Nysseni Opera. Vol. 9. Ernest Gebhardt. Leiden, ed. E.J. Brill. 1967. 195-207.
__________. English translation in “Against Those Who Practice Usury by Gregory of Nyssa.” Translated by Casimir McCambley. Greek Orthodox Theological Review 36. 3-4. 1991. 287-302.
Moschos, John. Pratum Spirituale; ed. J.P. Migne, PG 87.2851-3112.
__________. French translation by M.J. Rouet de Journal, Le Pré Spirituel. Sources Chrétiennes 12. Paris. 1946.
Palladios. Historia Lausiaca [HL]. Translated and annotated by Robert T. Meyer. Paulist Press. 1964.
Secondary
Bagnall, Roger S. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton University Press. 1995.
__________, ed. Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300-700. Cambridge University Press. 2010.
Baynes, Horman H., “The Pratum Spirituale,” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 13 (1947) 404-414.
Brown, Peter. Poverty and Leadership in the Later Roman Empire. Brandeis University Press. 2002.
Chadwick, Henry, “John Moschos and his friend Sophronios the Sophist,” JTS, NS 25 (1974) 41-74.
Chitty, Derwas J. The Desert a City. Oxford. 1966.
Constantelos, Demetrios J. Byzantine Philanthropy and Social Welfare. New Brunswick: Rutger’s University Press. 1968.
Dunn, Geoffrey D., David Luckensmeyer and Lawrence Cross, ed. Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church. Vol. 5: Poverty and Riches. St. Paul’s Publications. 2009.
Gutwein, Kenneth C. Third Palestine: A Regional Study in Byzantine Urbanization.
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Haldon, John. “The Reign of Heraclius: A Context for Change,” in The Reign of Heraclius (610-641): Crisis and Confrontation. Gerrit J. Reinink & Bernard H. Stole, ed. Leuven: Peeters. 2002. 1-16E.
Howard-Johnston, James. Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century. Oxford University Press. 2010.
Emil, Kaegi Walter. Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium. Cambridge University Press. 2007.
Emil, Kaegi Walter. Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests. Cambridge University Press. 1995.
Laiou, Angeliki, and Cécile Morrisson. The Byzantine Economy. Cambridge University Press. 2007.
American Society of Papyrologists. 1999.
Lopez, Robert S. “The Role of Trade in the Economic Readjustment of Byzantium in the Seventh Century.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 13. 1959. 67-85.
Mango, Marlia. Byzantine Trade, 4th – 12th Centuries. Publications for the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. Ashgate. 2009.
Patrich, Joseph. Sabas, Leader of Palestinian Monasticism: A Comparative Study in Eastern Monasticism, Fourth to Seventh Centuries. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. 1995.
Pattendem, Philip. “The Text of the Pratum Spirituale.” JTS NS 26. 1975. 38-54.
Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion
Pacific Lutheran University
Religion Department
Tacoma, Washington
Education
2004 Ph.D. University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto
Major Exam Area: Christian History; 7th – 15th century
Minor Exam Area: Gender Studies; 1st – 18th century
Thesis Title: They Who Give From Evil; the Response of the Eastern Church to Money-lending in the Early Christian Era.
Supervisor: Professor T. Allan Smith
1994 M.T.S. Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, California
1990 B.A. Concordia University, Portland, Oregon
Major: English Literature
B.A. Concordia University, Portland, Oregon
Major: Education – Secondary; Language Arts Certificate
Additional Study:
1996/ 99 Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California
-Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
-Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute
1993 Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
1992 Pacific Northwest Film Center, Portland, Oregon
University and Teaching Appointments
2005/ 10 Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious History/Historical Theology
Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington
2009/10 Faculty, Archdiocese of Seattle, Deacon Formation Program
2005 Instructor, Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
University of Washington, Tacoma, Washington
2002 Instructor, Faculty of Theology
University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada
2001/02 Teaching Assistant for Dr. T. Allan Smith (Early Christianity)
University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada
1994 Teaching Assistant (Holocaust Literature),
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
Courses Taught:
Pacific Lutheran University:
Religion 121/190: The Christian Tradition
Religion 220: Early Christian History (also taught as “Ancient Church History”)
Religion 235: Islamic Traditions
Religion 361: Eastern Orthodox Theology and Spirituality
Religion 361: Wealth in the Ancient Church
International Honors 111: Authority and Discovery
Writing 101: Holy Cow ~ Sacred Figures in Modern Fiction
Archdiocese of Seattle, Deacon Formation Program
History 105: Christian History to the Gregorian Reform
University of Washington (Tacoma):
TIBCIN 461: The Church in Latin America
TSCIIN 335: Religion in the Modern World
The University of St. Michael’s College:
SMH 1001: The Early Church (to 600)
Teaching Areas:
Primary: early Christian history and theology/ medieval Christian history to the Reformation/ Eastern Orthodox theology and spirituality/ patristic history and theology/ monastic history, theology and spirituality.
Secondary: Byzantine Empire and Commonwealth (Slav & Rus’) history/Islam/Gender Studies
Papers at Conferences:
2010 “Natural Disasters as Moral Lessons: Gregory of Nazianzus and New Orleans,” co-written with Dr. Kevin O’Brien and PLU student Anna Duke, at the American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
2009 “The War over Contingent Faculty: Views from the Front Lines, with Concerns and Caveats,” co-written with Dr. Pauline Kaurin at Globalization, Shared Governance, and Academic Freedom: An International Conference, the American Association of University Professors 95th annual meeting, Washington D.C.
2008 “Smashing God’s Face: Art, Theology and Violence in the Byzantine Empire,” at the
Religion, Arts and Peace Conference, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington
2004 American Academy of Religions-Eastern International Region Seminar, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York, May 1, 2004: "Repelling the German Fury; Frederick I Barbarossa in Niketas Choniates' Historia."
Invited Presentations and Panels:
2010 “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes
Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30), A Response from the Religion Department,” panel presentation at the American Academy of Religion National Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
2009 “The Jesus Prayer in Eastern Orthodox Contemplative Practice,” panel presentation titled “Meditation in Comparative Conversation” at the American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.
2007 “’That which has been wrung from tears.’ Usury, the Greek Patristics and Catholic Social Teaching,” at “The Church Fathers and Catholic Social Thought” conference at The Centre for Catholic Social Thought, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Publications:
Published, peer reviewed:
2009 “Smashing God’s Face: Art, Theology and Violence in the Byzantine Empire,” in
ARTS: The Arts in Religious and Theological Studies, ed. Wilson Yates and Kimberly
Vrudny.
2009 “’Strip the Rich Right Down to their Shirts’: St. John the Almsgiver and the
Transformation of the City,” in Ekklesiastikos Pharos, Thekla Sansaridou, ed.
2008 “St. Basil and St. Gregory's Sermons against Usury: Credit Where Credit is Due,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 16, pp. 403-30.
Submitted, under review:
2010 “And Justice for All: Advocacy, Obligation and the Employ of Contingent Faculty,” co-written with Dr. Pauline Kaurin.
Accepted for publication, peer reviewed:
2010 “’That which has been wrung from tears’: Usury, the Greek Patristics and Catholic
Social Teaching,” in Reading Patristic Social Ethics: Issues and Challenges for 21st
Century Christian Social Thought. Johan Leemans, Brian Matz and Johan Verstraeten, eds. CUA Studies in Early Christianity. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press.
2010 “Chapter Seven: Usury,” in A Compendium of Patristic Writings on Social Justice and the Common Good, Brian Matz, ed., Catholic University Press.
2010 “St. Constantine-Cyril and St. Methodius,” “St. Photios,” and “The Ancient Patriarchate of Rome,” for the Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, John A McGuckin, ed., Wiley Blackwell.
Accepted for publication, popular scholarship:
2010 “Philippians,” for the Book of Faith project, Scott Tunseth, ed., Augsburg Fortress.
Book Reviews:
2009 The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach, by Judith Grunert O’Brien, Barbara J. Mills, Margaret W. Cohen, for Teaching Theology and Religion.
2008 Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times by Joerg Rieger. Fortress Press,
2007. Journal of Church and State.
2005 The Substance of Things Seen: Art, Faith, and Christian Community, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004. Fall, 2005, Toronto Journal of Theology American Providence: A Nation with a Mission, by Stephen H. Webb. New York, Continuum, 2004. Fall, 2005, Toronto Journal of Theology
2004 Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views, by Dan O. Via and Robert A.J. Gagnon.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. Fall, 2004, Toronto Journal of Theology
In Justice: Women and Global Economics, by Ann-Cathrin Jarl. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 2003. Fall, 2004, Toronto Journal of Theology
Weaving Relationships: Canada-Guatemala Solidarity, by Kathryn Anderson. Waterloo:
Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003. Fall, 2004, Toronto Journal of Theology
Terror and Triumph: The Nature of Black Religion, by Anthony B. Pinn. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 2003. Spring, 2004, Toronto Journal of Theology
Witnessing and Testifying: Black Women, Religion and Civil Rights, by Rosetta E. Ross.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. Spring, 2004, Toronto Journal of Theology
Teaching Places, by Audrey J. Whitson. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press,
Spring, 2004, Toronto Journal of Theology
Additional Academic Presentations/Invited Lectures
2008 “Smashing God’s Face: Art, Theology and Violence in the Byzantine Empire,” Pacific Lutheran University Religion Departmental Colloquium.
“Danny Saudners and ‘non-action’ in Potok’s The Chosen: Taking Intellectual Action,” at the International Honors Program colloquium.
“Picturing Faith: The History and Theology of Orthodox Iconography,” at the request of the PLU Art Department to accompany their exhibit titled: Picturing Faith: Continuing Traditions of Iconography and Illumination.
“’Strip the rich right down to their shirts’: St. John the Almsgiver and the Transformation of the City.” University Lecture Series, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Washington.
2007 “A Historian’s Task and Potok,” at the International Honors Program colloquium.
“Female Leadership in the Early Church,” at the request of the Pacific Luthearn University Diversity Center.
“Diverse Elements of a Traditional Christmas,” at the request of the Pacific Lutheran University Diversity Center.
2005 “St. Basil and St. Gregory's Sermons on Usury: Credit Where Credit is Due,” Pacific Lutheran University Religion Departmental Colloquium.
“Historical Fact and Fiction in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code,” at the request of the Pacific Lutheran University Diversity Center.
2004 “Gregory of Nyssa’s Contra usurarios: Reflections on Usury in Fourth Century Cappadocia,” at the Toronto School of Theology Patristic Society, Toronto, CA.
2003 “The Emperor and the Patriarch,” at the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto, Ontario.
“The Process of Alienation: East and West,” at the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto, Canada.
2001 “Palamite Theology and the Victory of the Hesychasts,” at the Faculty of Theology,
University of St. Michael's College, Toronto, Canada.
1998 “Byzantine Pilgrimage Art; Honoring the Holy,” at the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.
Professional Memberships:
North American Patristic Society; member since 2006.
American Academy of Religion; member since 2003.
American Academy of University Professors; member since 2008.
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