Everything in Common?

Book excerpt: Possessions and how believers handle them are key topics in the NT. In this book, Fiona Gregson examines the practice and theology of sharing possessions in community in the NT by examining six diverse NT examples of sharing. Each example is considered in its historical and cultural context before being compared to one or more non-Christian examples to identify similarities and differences. Gregson identifies common characteristics across the NT examples and consistent distinctives in how the early church shared possessions compared to the surrounding cultures. Gregson’s findings demonstrate that Christians subverted Roman patronage expectations; Christian groups were more diverse in their membership and exhibited more flexible, less structured examples of sharing; Christians placed greater emphasis on the free choice of individuals to contribute to sharing; and Christians more frequently participated in eating together and had a greater focus on relational bonds than was common in Graeco-Roman society/culture.