Richard Newhauser - The Early History of Greed [2000] [A]

In this full-length study of the early history of greed Richard Newhauser challenges the traditional view that avarice only became a dominant sin with the rise of a money economy. He shows that avaritia, the sin of greed for possessions, was dominant in a wide range of theological and literary texts from the first century CE, and that by the early Middle Ages avarice headed the list of vices for authors aiming to convert others from pagan materialism to Christian spirituality.

Reviews
"Newhauser...has done us a notable service..." Religious Studies Review

"In this provocative study, Newhauser fills a lacuna in historical scholarship even as he provides insight for the nonhistorian...This is an erudite, superb work that commands attention from everyone concerned about the history of thought." Theology Today

"Engaging [...] Newhauser shows us how the history of ideas should be done." The Medieval Review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Implications for Today Unmistakable...
By David M. Sapadin on February 6, 2008
Format: Paperback
Although I had not previously been aware of the historical debate over when and how concern about the human frailty known as avarice entered into western thought, my uneducated guess would have been that it probably happened well before the arrival of the money economy. The human propensity for greed seems to be something that was likely second in arriving into human behavior, once man acquired the ability to conceive of his own death. But of course there are no historical records back that far. But for those who doubt such a claim, Richard Newhauser has scoured the existing historical record to successfully prove his claim that avarita certainly pre-dated the arrival of money.
The most fascinating aspect of this study are the unmistakable consequences of the sin that, despite all the efforts of those in the early church (later church as well) to prevent it, greed has thrived as a human trait and continues to do so. Interestingly, the wealth accumulated over and above the minimum necessary might be best illustrated by the wealth accumulated by the Catholic Church itself.
Certainly, the arrival of money economies didn't hurt man's propensity to hoard. But Newhauser not only shows us records of concern about creed all the way back to 1 CE, but includes slices of many prominent chuch thinkers who were already bargaining with the idea in order that possessions above and beyond what was necessary to live might be permitted - most notably when the nobility or wealthy wielded power in the immediate vicinity. I guess not much has changed since then.
I became aware that, despite the early as well as later efforts by the church, it has failed to control greed in western societies even while demonizing it and collecting enormous amounts of surplus wealth itself.