COLLECTION in the New Testament. — The Church of Jerusalem, during the first decades of its life, lived in indigence and constant need of financial aid. The subsequent persecutions (Acts 4:1–8; 8:1–3; 13), the confiscations ordered by the Sanhedrin (and by Roman authorities), the famine that occurred in the time of Claudius, and the oppressions of the rich against the poor of which Acts 2:6–7; 5:1–6 speak rendered the material conditions of the mother Church very precarious. St. Paul, who had gone there with Barnabas to bring the aid collected at Antioch (Acts 11:27–30) and who had promised the "pillars" (James, Cephas, John) to remember the poor of Jerusalem (Gal. 2:10), kept his word.
In 1 Cor 16:1–2, the Apostle repeats the order already given to the Galatians to collect in the assemblies on the first day of the week and to set aside alms which he himself would carry "to the saints." In 2 Cor he devotes two chapters to the collections (chs. 8–9), sends trusted delegates, strongly recommends them, highlighting their material and spiritual benefits. To the Romans (Rom 15:25–27) he announces that he is setting out for Jerusalem to bring to the poor of that Church the offerings collected in Macedonia and Achaia: "For," he says, "if the Gentiles have shared in the spiritual blessings [of Israel], they must now in return also assist [them] with material blessings." The Apostle, by bringing the collections to Jerusalem, refuted by deeds the accusations of the Judaizers and the Jews. Before the tribunal of Felix he would make this argument prevail (Acts 24:17).