Beyond Charity: Reformation Initiatives for the Poor

The common stereotype is that the Reformers separated public and private morality and were indifferent to the ethical import of social structures and institutions. Beyond Charity calls this understanding into question by providing an analysis of the historical situation and translations of primary documents. The medieval point of view, formed by piety of achievement, idealized poverty — either as voluntary renunciation or as almsgiving. In either case the material effects on actual poverty ...