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Final Reflection Paper

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Course

Philanthropy and Christianity (CORE 3641)

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Students shared 15 documents in this course
Academic year: 2022/2023
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Riya Shah
Seton Hall University
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Riya Shah

Core III

Professor White

December 3rd, 2022

Final Reflection Paper At the beginning of the semester, I was not sure what to expect. Learning about the role of philanthropy and charity in Christianity was not a concept I was too familiar with. I began this course with minimal understanding of the concepts but as I focused on the readings each week, I began to develop my own understanding of the concept. There is both superficial and deeper understanding to this idea and over the course of the semester, I believe I have been able to chip away at the deeper relationship of charity and philanthropy in Christianity.

When first thinking about charity and philanthropy as individual constructs, the common misunderstanding is that they are different names for the same thing. Upon further research and analysis, I have come to understand that they are different concepts. Christianity is one of the largest religions in the world. Certain concepts and virtues can be traced back to thousands of years. Charity and Philanthropy are two such concepts. Throughout this course, I have come to understand that charity and philanthropy are at the foundation of Christianity. Our understanding of the extent they are integrated in the faith comes from the texts and influential figures who came before us.

We started off the course with a renowned philosopher, Aristotle. His works on ethics and the morality of friendship were a starting point for our understanding of charity. At first, I was not sure how our friendships were related to charity or philanthropy. In my mind, friendships were based off emotion and your compatibility with one another. However, I have come to understand that our friendships play a large role in the person we choose to be. In our friendships, a good friendship is one that takes moral values into consideration and upholds them in every scenario. It is important to hold morals at a high standing in any friendship because it brings that friendship closer to a “perfect friendship”, a term which was used by Aristotle in his

works. By finding those people who uphold the same values as you, you are far more likely to fulfil your duties of charitable and philanthropic efforts.

We then looked at an essential part of Christianity: The Bible. The Bible contains the word of God and is considered one of the most holy and revered texts in the world. The Bible contains valuable lessons for one and all regardless of your faith. There are many concepts in the Bible which overlap with other sacred texts such as The Gita and the Quran. We were given multiple chapters to reading during our assigned week but there were certain readings which stood out to me.

Upon reading Romans 12, an important concept was brought to light. A concept which I believe is a fundamental concept to understand if we are to truly understand the importance of charity and philanthropy in Christianity. We are all different parts of one body, the body of Christ. If we all make up one body, it is our duty to help one another in times of need. The basis of charity is one’s willingness to help another. If we focus on the differences between us and continue to discriminate against one another, charity and philanthropy will never flourish in this world. Throughout history, minorities have continuously been oppressed by a larger group. The Civil Rights movement, slavery, the Holocaust, genocide and even the BLM movement could have all been avoided had people been able to let go of differences as small as skin color. We are all human and we belong to the human race. Our differences in culture and ethnicity account for our different functions as a part of a whole.

Throughout our readings, we were introduced to many influential and religious figures. Each gave us further insight into the world of charity and philanthropy. Every individual holds his or her own perspective on matters, but they may circle around a common underlying theme and that is what I have made an attempt to understand over the course of the semester.

In St. Basil’s Great Sermon to the Rich, I was in awe with the idea that St. Basil took a stand in front of the higher class. This sermon is one I believe should be part of every educational system because it highlights the importance of humility. Having money and wealth does allow people to live comfortably but that by no means is a reason to misuse that wealth. This is where philanthropy plays a major role. St. Basil says that if you do not give to the poor or sell any of your wealth for a better cause, that is equivalent to saying the Lord is not your teacher and you do not follow the Gospel. If the Lord is not your teacher and you do not follow the Gospel, are

doing so, every person is serving others in Charity. St. Benedict explains that by doing this service, one is entering service of the Lord Himself. This connects to earlier readings where a common theme has been that by doing charity, one is being connected to God and is following his plan. By reading these Chapters of the Rules of St. Benedict, I have come to understand that charity is an equalizer. The differences which we so keenly focus on within society today would vanish when we are all engaged in an act of charity together.

St. Benedict’s words have helped me to understand the value of charity a bit further. I have understood that charity is not only at the foundation of Christianity, but it is also an equalizer among the people. When it comes to charity, there is not criteria to meet before engaging in charitable acts. It does not matter where you come from or what your social status is, under charity, we are all one and the same. St. Benedict has further laid emphasis on the message that we have seen through previous readings that God plays a role in deciding what we deserve based on need and that one should be content with what they have.

Looking at the words and perspectives of St. Bernard, he spoke of degrees of love. Love is a key emotion in regard to charity and philanthropy and faith as a whole. The fourth and final degree of love is when we arrive at the conclusion and acceptance of our full dependence on God as our Creator and we love ourselves for God. At this stage, we have moved past all selfish reasoning and motivation and this signifies the transition from fear to confidence. We now possess a healthy self-esteem and this is in direct accordance to Christian tradition. Our self- confidence comes from God and the fact that we accept and respect what God has done and continues to do for us. In my opinion, this is definitely the most important stage and the most difficult to arrive at. Society today has so many obstacles and distractions in place that people need to possess the determination and have the willpower to arrive at this degree. I believe these degrees of love play a large role in one’s ability to be charitable and philanthropic. Arriving at this fourth degree means that one is confident in themselves. It is this confidence and love for God which is the driving force behind charity itself. We have seen in past readings that Charity is directly linked to God, and it is our way of doing something for God in return for what He has done for us. This enhances the linkage between love and charity in Christianity.

St. Vincent introduced an interesting concept that I came across in the readings which was the Confraternity of Charity model. This model was the basis for service for the poor and it

revolutionized the provision of welfare in 17th century France. There were four key moments which led to the formation of this model. The first moment was the inspiration. This is the stage where Vincent used his words to point out and communicate the problem to a bigger group of people. This is important because it brings the problem out into the open. Now people have been made aware of the situation and can choose how they wish to respond. This brings us to the second moment of response. Upon hearing the problem, people wish to respond, and this brings about an immediate increase in charitable efforts which are aimed at helping the poor. The third moment is assessment. Here, St. Vincent looked closely at the aid of others and came to the conclusion that a certain level of structure was necessary. Only with structure present would this act of being charitable carry on from just one day to more often. The fourth and final moment is the one of organization. This is the step which ended with the creation of the Confraternity of Charity model. He organized the efforts in a manner for everyone to follow. This level of stages leading up to the execution of a particular thought or idea is what makes the journey worthwhile. This process is similar to the way I handle problems that I face. Whenever an obstacle arises, I take the time to identify it first. Then, I want to do something about it but I am not sure what at first. I take time to look at the problem and list possible solutions and weighing the pros and cons and finally, I choose a method and take action. Revolutionizing the provision of welfare in 17th century France aided performing charitable and philanthropic activities.

Towards the end of the course, we spent some time focusing on Mother Teresa. Focusing on the reading of the Missionaries of Charity, I truly began to understand the profound impact Mother Teresa had in India. A very important barrier which used to exist in India in a greater capacity in the past was the caste system. The caste system has been around for thousands of years and became an integral part of society. Unfortunately, due to this system, people of lower castes were not given as much attention, and they often did not have proper facilities to take care of their own needs. They had to fend for themselves and never had people who looked after them. Mother Teresa paid no attention to any such discrimination. All her efforts were focused on helping the members of the lower castes who had no one helping them. She did not just focus on one aspect of their lives. She made efforts to improve almost every aspect of their lives. She worked on medical assistance, education, homes for children and even social assistance. Something that occurred to me while reading this was how different this approach was compared to previous readings. Most of the people we have read about so far have been men. While the

Christianity: an integral part of the core foundation with a signature underlying goal but subject to interpretation depending on the individual and their perception.

In conclusion, I have learned an immense amount from this course, more than I thought I would. Even though the course was focused on Christianity and I myself am not Christian, many elements of Christianity cross over into Hinduism, the religion my family and I follow. Certain values remain universal no matter where you go and, in my opinion, charity and philanthropy are two such values. We often take things for granted and do not consider the fact that there are so many people who are not as fortunate as we are. I will definitely be taking a lot away from this course in order to apply it to my own life.

References

classics.mit/Aristotle/nicomachaen.8.viii.html

bible.usccb/bible/john/

catholicculture/commentary/how-st-augustine-replaced-philanthropy-with- charity/

pravoslavie/76134.html

m.elcaminosantiago/PDF/Book/Mother_Teresa_-_Caring_For_The_Worlds_Poor.pdf

missionariesofcharity/our-works-of-love.html

library.georgetown/woodstock/ignatius-letters/letter

gutenberg/files/418/418-h/418-h.htm

stanselminstitute/images/Sr_Maria_Gonzalo_Bernard_and_JP_II_523_3_Proof_ 1

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Final Reflection Paper

Course: Philanthropy and Christianity (CORE 3641)

15 Documents
Students shared 15 documents in this course

University: Seton Hall University

Was this document helpful?
Riya Shah
Core III
Professor White
December 3rd, 2022
Final Reflection Paper
At the beginning of the semester, I was not sure what to expect. Learning about the role
of philanthropy and charity in Christianity was not a concept I was too familiar with. I began this
course with minimal understanding of the concepts but as I focused on the readings each week, I
began to develop my own understanding of the concept. There is both superficial and deeper
understanding to this idea and over the course of the semester, I believe I have been able to chip
away at the deeper relationship of charity and philanthropy in Christianity.
When first thinking about charity and philanthropy as individual constructs, the common
misunderstanding is that they are different names for the same thing. Upon further research and
analysis, I have come to understand that they are different concepts. Christianity is one of the
largest religions in the world. Certain concepts and virtues can be traced back to thousands of
years. Charity and Philanthropy are two such concepts. Throughout this course, I have come to
understand that charity and philanthropy are at the foundation of Christianity. Our understanding
of the extent they are integrated in the faith comes from the texts and influential figures who
came before us.
We started off the course with a renowned philosopher, Aristotle. His works on ethics and
the morality of friendship were a starting point for our understanding of charity. At first, I was
not sure how our friendships were related to charity or philanthropy. In my mind, friendships
were based off emotion and your compatibility with one another. However, I have come to
understand that our friendships play a large role in the person we choose to be. In our
friendships, a good friendship is one that takes moral values into consideration and upholds them
in every scenario. It is important to hold morals at a high standing in any friendship because it
brings that friendship closer to a “perfect friendship”, a term which was used by Aristotle in his

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