“We must not then fling away the riches that are of benefit to our neighbors as well as ourselves. For they are called possessions because they are things possessed, and wealth because they are to be welcomed and because they have been prepared by God for the welfare of men. Indeed, they lie at hand and are put at our disposal as a sort of material and as instruments to be well used by those who know.
An instrument, if you use it with artistic skill, is a thing of art; but if you are lacking in skill, it reaps the benefit of your unmusical nature, though not itself responsible. Wealth too is an instrument of the same kind. You can use it rightly; it ministers to righteousness. But if one uses it wrongly, it is found to be a minister of wrong. For its nature is to minister and not to rule.
We must not therefore put the responsibility on that which, having in itself neither good nor evil, is not responsible, but on that which has the power of using things either well or badly, as a result of choice; for this is responsible just for that reason. And this is the mind of man, which has in itself both free judgement and full liberty to deal with what is given to it.
So let a man do away, not with his possessions, but rather with the passions of his soul, which do not consent to the better use of what he has; in order that, by becoming noble and good, he may be able to use these possessions also in a noble manner. “Saying good-bye to all we have,” (Luke 14:33) and “selling all we have,” (Matthew 19:21) must therefore be understood in this way, as spoken with reference to the soul’s passions.”
Clement of Alexandria in The Rich Man’s Salvation, Loeb Classic Library (London: William Heinemann, 1919,) 299.