Economic perspectives in Chrysologus sermons on the Lost Son

Abstract

Many sermons of Peter Chrysologus have been preserved for us. Five of these sermons deal with the parable of the Lost Son. In this article these five sermons are studied from an economical perspective. These sermons will be discussed with reference to aspects such as wealth, poverty, acquisitiveness, squandering, prodigality, etc. This article will therefore shed light on the prevailing view of economic issues in Chrysoslogus’ world, though this was not the primary and intentional focus of these sermons.