Cyprian of Carthage laments the lost days of the apostles and the generosity of first Christians when times were tough in Carthage following the Decian persecution and a plague which had ravaged the city.
“In those days, they would sell their houses and estates…giving the money to the apostles for distribution to those in need. But now, we do not even give tithes on our patrimony, and whereas the Lord tells us to sell, we buy instead and accumulate.”
Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) in De unit, 26, 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) 194-195.