Charity is literally one of the seven virtues which are thought of as opposites to the seven vices or sins (or to take a page from Buddhism, "antidotes" to the "poisons" of the vices).
It's not exactly " charity" as we know it. The Latin word is "caritas" which means "caringness" basically but the Greek word is "agape" which is a saintly kind of love. Compare the increasing intensity of love involved in sympathy/empathy/compassion or love for a friend/family/partner/all beings.
Compassion is literally the thing of saints and which allows one to sit calmly while being tortured to death as a martyr. One of the most haunting things I have seen is that image of Thích Quảng Đức so calmly protesting the South Vietnam government's persecution of Buddhists (CW: suicide by self-immolation). I imagine that is how the Christian martyrs must have held themselves in their last moments
Charity is literally one of the seven virtues which are thought of as opposites to the seven vices or sins (or to take a page from Buddhism, "antidotes" to the "poisons" of the vices).
It's not exactly " charity" as we know it. The Latin word is "caritas" which means "caringness" basically but the Greek word is "agape" which is a saintly kind of love. Compare the increasing intensity of love involved in sympathy/empathy/compassion or love for a friend/family/partner/all beings.
Compassion is literally the thing of saints and which allows one to sit calmly while being tortured to death as a martyr. One of the most haunting things I have seen is that image of Thích Quảng Đức so calmly protesting the South Vietnam government's persecution of Buddhists (CW: suicide by self-immolation). I imagine that is how the Christian martyrs must have held themselves in their last moments