The Poverty of Riches: St. Francis of Assisi Reconsidered (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)

saint Francis Of Assisi Is Arguably The Most Attractive Saint Ever Produced By The Catholic Church. The Unusually High Regard With Which He Is Held Has Served To Insulate Him From Any Real Criticism Of The Kind Of Sanctity That He Embodied: Sanctity Based First And Foremost On His Deliberate Pursuit Of Poverty. In This Book, Kenneth Baxter Wolf Takes A Fresh Look At Francis And The Idea Of Voluntary Poverty As A Basis For Christian Perfection. Wolf's Point Of Departure Is A Series Of Simple But Hitherto Unasked Questions About The Precise Nature Of Francis's Poverty: How Did He Go About Transforming Himself From A Rich Man To A Poor One? How Successful Was This Transformation? How Did His Self-imposed Poverty Compare To The Involuntary Poverty Of Those He Met In And Around Assisi? What Did Poor People Of This Type Get Out Of Their Contact With Francis? What Did Francis Get Out Of His Contact With Them? Wolf Finds That While Francis's Conception Of Poverty As A Spiritual Discipline May Have Opened The Door To Salvation For Wealthy Christians Like Himself, It Effectively Precluded The Idea That The Poor Could Use Their Own Involuntary Poverty As A Path To Heaven. Based On A Thorough Reconsideration Of The Earliest Biographies Of The Saint, As Well As Francis's Own Writings, Wolf's Work Sheds Important New Light On The Inherent Ironies Of Poverty As A Spiritual Discipline And Its Relationship To Poverty As A Socio-economic Affliction. "Saint Francis of Assisi is arguably the most attractive saint ever produced by the Catholic Church. The unusually high regard with which he is held has served to insulate him from any real criticism of the kind of sanctity that he embodied: a sanctity based first and foremost on his deliberate pursuit of poverty. In this book, Kenneth Baxter Wolf takes a fresh look at Francis and the idea of voluntary poverty as a basis for Christian perfection." "Wolf's point of departure is a series of simple but hitherto unasked questions about the precise nature of Francis's poverty: How did he go about transforming himself from a rich man into a poor one? How successful was this transformation? How did his self-imposed poverty compare to the involuntary poverty of those he met in and around Assisi? What did poor people of this type get out of their contact with Francis? What did Francis get out of his contact with them? Wolf finds that while Francis's conception of poverty as a spiritual discipline may have opened the door to salvation for wealthy Christians like himself, it effectively precluded the idea that the poor could use their own involuntary poverty as a path to heaven. In contrast to Francis's poverty, theirs was more likely to be seen by contemporaries as a symptom of moral turpitude. Moreover, Francis's experiment in poverty had a potentially negative effect on the level of material assistance directed toward the involuntary poor. Not only did the Franciscan abhorrence of money prevent them from assuming any significant role in alleviating urban poverty, but their own mendicant lifestyle put them in direct competition with the other kind of beggars for the charitable donations of the urban elite." "Based on a thorough reconsideration of the earliest biographies of the saint, as well as Francis's own writings, Wolf's work sheds new light on the inherent ironies of poverty as a spiritual discipline and its relationship to poverty as a socio-economic affliction."--Jacket MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Contents 10 Note on Translations and Previous Scholarship 11 Introduction 14 Part I: St. Francis and the Irony of Holy Poverty 18 Chapter 1: St. Francis and the Leper 20 Chapter 2: St. Francis and His Tunic 27 Chapter 3: St. Francis and His Poverty 30 Chapter 4: St. Francis and Lady Poverty 41 Part II: St. Francis and Holy Poverty in Context 48 Chapter 5: St. Francis and Jesus 50 Chapter 6: St. Francis and Early Christian Sanctity 58 Chapter 7: St. Francis and St. Raymond 80 Chapter 8: St. Francis and His Audience 88 Appendix: A Consideration of the Sources 102 Notes 118 References 166 Index 174 A 174 B 174 C 174 D 175 E 175 F 175 G 175 H 175 I 175 J 175 K 175 L 175 M 175 N 176 O 176 P 176 Q 176 R 176 S 176 T 176 U 176 V 176 W 176 Saint Francis of Assisi is arguably the most attractive saint ever produced by the Catholic Church. Based on a reconsideration of the earliest biographies of the saint, and Francis's own writings, this title sheds light on the inherent ironies of poverty as a spiritual discipline and its relationship to poverty as a socio-economic affliction Sometime in September 1226, only a few weeks before he died, a blind and bedridden Francis dictated his Testament, in which he recalled the circumstances that had led to his conversion some two decades before.