“Serfs and slaves were always given at least enough to keep them physically well. But present-day society has ignored the wisdom of this fair provision.”

Source: Poverty (1912), p. 8

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Robert Hunter (author)98

American sociologist, author, golf course architect 1874–1942

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“Ancient families became extinct and the Church became the heir of their lands and slaves and serfs.”

Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) United States Baptist theologian

Source: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907), Ch.4 Why Has Christianity Never Undertaken the Work of Social Reconstruction?, p. 144
Context: When the machinery of [Roman] imperial administration broke down in the provinces under the invasion of the barbarians in the fifth century the machinery of the Church remained unbroken.... Ancient families became extinct and the Church became the heir of their lands and slaves and serfs. Small proprietors sought security by committing their lands to the Church and becoming its tenants.