In modern usage, the practice of charity means the giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.

Etymology

The word "charity" entered the English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".^[1]

Originally in Latin the word caritas meant preciousness, dearness, high price. From this, in Christian theology, caritas became the standard Latin translation for the Greek word agapē Agape is one of several ancient Greek words for distinct types of love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for mankind, though its distinction as a particular type of love predates Christianity. , also called love, is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. Many have, meaning an unlimited loving-kindness to all others, such as the love of God. This much wider concept is the meaning of the word charity in the Christian triplet "faith, hope and charity", as used by the Douay-Rheims The Douay-Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English. The New Testament was published in one volume with extensive commentary and notes in 1582. The Old Testament followed nearly thirty years later in two volumes; the first volume (Genesis to Job) in 1609, the second (Psalms to 2 Machabees plus the apocrypha of and the King James Version The Authorized King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Holy Bible begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 by the Church of England. Printed by the King's Printer, Robert Barker, the first edition included schedules unique to the Church of England; for example, a lectionary for morning and evening prayer. This was the third such of the Bible in their translation of St Paul's Letter to the Corinthians. However the English word more generally used for this concept, both before and since (and by the "King James" Bible at other passages), is the more direct love "Love is the mystery of divine revelations! Love is the effulgent manifestation! Love is the spiritual fulfilment! Love is the light of the Kingdom! Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit inspired into the human spirit! Love is the cause of the manifestation of the Truth in the phenomenal world!. Love is the necessary tie proceeding from the. (See the article Charity (virtue) In Christian theology charity, or love , means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others)

St Paul's agapē was not primarily about good works and giving to the poor^{[dubious – discuss]} (And though I feed the poor with all my goods, and though I give my body, that I be burned, and have not love [agapē], it profiteth me nothing - 1 Cor 13:3, Geneva The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into the English language, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan, translation, 1560), although in English the word "charity" has steadily acquired this as its primary meaning, wherein it was first used in Old French at least since the year 1200 A.D..

Practice

Charitable giving is the act of giving money, goods or time to the unfortunate, either directly or by means of a charitable trust or other worthy cause. Charitable giving as a religious act or duty is referred to as almsgiving or alms. The name stems from the most obvious expression of the virtue of charity is giving the objects of it the means they need to survive.

The poor, particularly widows and orphans, and the sick and disabled, are generally regarded as the proper objects of charity. Some groups regard charity as being properly directed toward other members of their group. Although giving to those nearly connected to oneself is sometimes called charity—as in the saying "Charity begins at home" -- normally charity denotes giving to those not related, with filial piety In Confucian ideals, filial piety is one of the virtues to be held above all else: a respect for the parents and ancestors. The Confucian classic Xiao Jing or Classic of Xiào, thought to be written around 470 B.C.E., has historically been the authoritative source on the Confucian tenet of xiào / "filial piety". The book, a conversation and like terms for supporting one's family and friends. Indeed, treating those related to the giver as if they were strangers in need of charity has led to the figure of speech "as cold as charity" -- providing for one's relatives as if they were strangers, without affection.

Most forms of charity are concerned with providing food, water, clothing, and shelter, and tending the ill, but other actions may be performed as charity: visiting the imprisoned or the homebound, dowries A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both dowry and bride price. Dowry is an ancient for poor women, ransoming captives, educating orphans. Donations to causes that would benefit the unfortunate indirectly, as donations to cancer research hope to benefit cancer victims, are also charity.

The recipient of charity may offer to pray for the benefactor; indeed, in medieval Europe, it was customary to feast the poor at the funeral in return for their prayers for the deceased. Institutions may commemorate benefactors by displaying their names, up to naming buildings or even the institution itself after the benefactors. If the recipient makes material return of more than a token value, the transaction is normally not called charity.

Originally charity entailed the benefactor directly giving the goods to the receiver. People who could not support themselves—or who feigned such inability—would become beggars Begging is to request a donation in a supplicating manner. Beggars are commonly found in public places such as street corners or public transport, where they request money, most commonly in the form of spare change. They may use cups, boxes or hats to collect the donations.

Institutions evolved to carry out the labor of assisting the poor, and these institutions are called charities A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . The term is relatively general and can technically refer to a public charity (also called "charitable foundation," "public foundation" or simply "foundation") or a private foundation. It differs from other types of NPOs in that its focus is centered. These include orphanages Orphanage is the name to describe a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable to care for them. Parents, and sometimes grandparents, are legally responsible for supporting children, but in the absence of these or other relatives willing to care for the children, they become a, food banks, religious orders A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some traditions, ordained clergies. Religious orders dedicated to care of the poor, hospitals A hospital, in the modern sense of the word, is an institution for health care providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment, and often, but not always providing for longer-term patient stays. Its historical meaning, until relatively recent times, was "a place of hospitality", for example the Chelsea Royal Hospital,, organizations that visit the homebound and imprisoned, and many others. Such institutions allow those whose time or inclination does not lend themselves to directly care for the poor to enable others to do so, both by providing money for the work and supporting them while they do the work. Institutions can also attempt to more effectively sort out the actually needy from those who fraudulently claim charity. Early Christians particularly recommended the care of the unfortunate to the charge of the local bishop.

In Islam Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] [note 1]) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of their one, incomparable God (Arabic: الله‎, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad's teachings and normative example (in Arabic called this is called Zakat Zakāt or "alms giving", one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a small percentage of one's possessions (surplus wealth) to charity, generally to the poor and needy. It is often compared to the system of tithing and alms, but it serves principally as the welfare contribution to poor and deprived Muslims, although others may, and is one of the five pillars upon which the Muslim religion is based.

There have been examinations of who gives more to charity. One study conducted in the United States found that as a percentage of income, charitable giving increased as income decreased. The poorest fifth of Americans, for example, gave away 4.3% of their income, while the wealthiest fifth gave away 2.1%. In absolute terms, this was an average of $453 on an average income of $10,531, compared to $3,326 on an income of $158,388.^[2]

Today charity has evolved into a much more modern concept and there many people choose to donate to charities online through websites such as Xperedon or Just Giving.

Examples

• Charity is the first and foremost principle of the Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Catholic Daughters of the Americas was founded in 1903 in New York by John E. Carberry and Knights of Columbus as "National order of Daughters of Isabella," and is one of the largest women's organizations in the Americas. It was renamed as Catholic Daughters of the Americas in 1921 and 1925, it became an independent organization. It has, and the Freemasons Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 in Scotland and Ireland, over a quarter of a million under the Jurisdiction of the United.

• Charity is also used as a forename A given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name (surname). A given name is a name given to a person, as opposed to an inherited one such as a family name, intended to evoke the idea that one so named is a giving person.

See also

• Philanthropy It is generally agreed that the word was coined 2500 years ago in ancient Greece by the playwright Aeschylus, or whoever else wrote Prometheus Bound . There the author told as a myth how the primitive creatures that were created to be human, at first had no knowledge, skills, or culture of any kind—so they lived in caves, in the dark, in
• Indulgence In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that indulgences draw on the Treasure House of Merit accumulated by Jesus' sacrifice and the virtues
• Altruism Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and a core aspect of various religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Sikhism, and many others. Altruism is the opposite of selfishness
• Charity badge A charity badge is a widget used on websites, blogs, social networks or e-mail for promotion of some humanitarian initiative, mainly gathering donations for charity projects
• Charitable trust A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization"
• Charity fraud Charity fraud is the act of using deception to get money from people who believe they are making donations to charities. Often a person or a group of people will make material representations that they are a charity or part of a charity and ask prospective donors for contributions to the non-existent charity. Charity fraud not only includes
• Evangelical counsels The three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are chastity, poverty , and obedience (see e.g. The Code of Canon Law, canons 599–601). As Jesus of Nazareth expressly stated (cf. Matthew 19:10–12; Matthew 19:16–22 = Mark 10:17–22 = Luke 18:18–23, see also Mark 10), they are counsels for those who desire to become
• Foundation (charity) A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations. Foundations may also and often have charitable purposes. This type of nonprofit organization may either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the sole source of funding for their own charitable activities
• Tzedakah Tzedakah is a Hebrew word commonly translated as charity, though it is based on the Hebrew word (צדק, tzedek) meaning righteousness, fairness or justice. In Judaism, tzedakah refers to the religious obligation to perform charity, and philanthropic acts, which Judaism emphasises are important parts of living a spiritual life; Maimonides says
• Dāna
• Zakat Zakāt or "alms giving", one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a small percentage of one's possessions (surplus wealth) to charity, generally to the poor and needy. It is often compared to the system of tithing and alms, but it serves principally as the welfare contribution to poor and deprived Muslims, although others may
• Selfless service The idea of selfless service is an important concept in most religions. Because God is perceived as having a relationship with others, as well as oneself, serving other people is considered an essential devotional practice of indirectly serving God

References

1. ^ The Online Etymology Dictionary
2. ^ "America's poor are its most generous donors", by Frank Greve, McClatchy Newspapers as appears in the Seattle Times, published May 23, 2009

External links

• Concept of Charity in Islam
• Catholic Encyclopedia "Charity and Charities"
• Jewish Encyclopedia "Alms"
• Jewish Encyclopedia "Charity and Charitable Institutions"
• Charity in Judaism
• Intelligent Giving's "How much to give" calculator

Categories: Giving

See Also:

• Charity
• Charity
• Charity: Quotes
• Charity: Dictionary
• Charity: Dictionary

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