Visions of Giving: Resources

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If you began by looking at one or more “Places to Begin” and then several “Puzzles,” you may now be ready to do more intensive reading.

Here we offer thirteen collections of “Resources.” Each collection offers a balanced diet – selected readings immediately available on this website and then suggestions of selected books and essays that you can find in your library or through inter-library loan.

You can also explore other resources here. For instance, a web “book” entitled Visions of Giving: the Protestant Story of ‘Stewardship, 1820s – 1920s is in Resources 4.0 - 4.18 (see below). Meanwhile other offerings in this section are, in web parlance, “under construction.” These include On the Margin: Radical Visions of Giving and Recovery of Ancient Visions.

In the coming years we will add to this panoply of perspectives. For instance, we intend to launch a conversation about regionalism and the ways in which it can affect visions of giving in New England.

Another offering is of a different sort. A Case Study on the “Widow’s Mite" takes a second look at a favorite theme.

You will also discover an array of educational aids for Study Groups and some Links to other web sites that we have found helpful. One of our most promising links is with civicreflection.org. Likewise we urge to consult the anthology, The Perfect Gift, another source of stimulating stories and excerpt from significant works.

	1.	Do the familiar "rules" of giving have any claim upon us?
	Why is tithing so popular as an image of the "good" giver? But what is my "fair share?" "Give all you can?" How much is "all?" Is there a rule of giving that fits most circumstances?

	2.	What do we see in the future coming toward us? And how does that image shape our giving?
	Now is the time? What would be a sign of true progress in giving?

	3.	How do we understand the struggles over giving within us? Any escape from money anxiety?
	Is money "virtuous?" So what is the root of our problem? Materialism? Greed? Etc.? The "glow of benevolence" - a temptation for good givers? Giving - a "private" affair?

	4.	Visions of Giving: the Protestant Story of “Stewardship,”1820s – 1950s
		Preface 4.1 Introduction: “A Republic of Benevolence” 4.2 Lyman Beecher -- "Capital Enough to Evangelize the World" 4.3 Pharcellus Church -- "A Movement in Trouble” 4.4 Catherine Beecher -- “No Duty More Difficult to Fix by Rule" 4.5 Samuel Harris -- "An Antidote to Covetousness" 4.6 Abel Stevens -- “The Next Great Idea” 4.7 Anonymous -- “The Battleground of Parish Life” 4.8 Introduction: “The Good Steward” 4.9 Mary Abigail Dodge --“Grace and Greenbacks” 4.10 Josiah Strong -- “Vision and Money” 4.11 Andrew Carnegie -- “An Alternative Perspective” 4.12 Washington Gladden -- “Money, Tainted and Consecrated” 4.13 Harvey Reeves Calkins -- “A New Generation and Its Hopes” 4.14 Ralph S. Cushman -- “ Going on to Perfection” 4.15 Reinhold Niebuhr -- “Is Stewardship Ethical?” 4.16 Introduction - "Tradition" and "Traditionalism" After the 1920s” 4.17 Richard S. Emrich -- "New Time, New Tithe" 4.18 Joseph Fletcher - "Wealth and Taxation: The Ethics of Giving"