“He who has possessions and, according to this [the early church] example of equality, shares on earth his returns and income with his brethren, in being universal and equitable in his gratuitous generosities, is an imitator of God the Father.”
Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) as cited by L. Wm. Countryman in The Rich Christian in the Church of the Early Empire (New York and Toronto: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1980) 196-197.