Category: Series: Theologians and Economists
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Theologians and Economists: Creation Implications
[Series Index] Today we turn a corner in our discussion of theologians and economists. Most economists (academic ones, anyway) live and work in positive economics … they study the world as it is and attempt to model how economic realities work. Theology is largely a study of normative behavior … we want to discern how…
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Theologians and Economists: A Mission of Stewardship and Redemption
[Series Index] I wrote in the previous post that shalom is God’s vision for us. So what is our mission in relation to the vision that God has given us? I suggest that it is a twofold mission: stewardship and redemption. (I’m riffing here on John Stackhouse’s formulations.) Stewardship Our mission of stewardship is in…
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Theologians & Economists: A Vision of Shalom
[Series Index] Earlier in this series, I said human beings build worlds to inhabit and infuse them with meaning. As God's image-bearers, that is simply what we do. But our world-building enterprise has become corrupted. Because of sin, there is always a mixture of goodness and idolatry in all we create. God's mission is about…
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Theologians & Economists: The Economic World of the Bible Versus Now
[Series Index] A major challenge for theological reflection on economics is the distance in time and space between First Century Palestine and Twenty-First Century America. We tend to read our context back into Scripture. We assume people pretty much understood life as we do. That may be harmless with some issues, but it can profoundly…
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Theologians and Economists: The Impact of Modernism
[Series Index] Though we talk about the arrival of a postmodern era, Modernism still has considerable influence in our discussions of theology and economics. Modernism was built on human autonomy and endless human progress (defined largely as material happiness) through the application of reason. I see two general influences that distort Christian reflection on these…
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Theologians & Economists: Economics and God’s Mission
[Series Index] Human beings were created to build a world. According to Genesis, humanity is to exercise dominion over the earth … to multiply and fill the earth. Psalm 8 declares. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human…
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Theologians & Economists: The Rise of Unprecedented Prosperity (2)
[Series Index] (Continued) Economic Growth When most people think of economic disparity, they usually think in terms of income. Income is correlated with other factors that empower us to survive and thrive. What can we say about per capita income on a historical basis? Comparing income across eras is difficult. Inflation and other variables make…
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Theologians & Economists: The Rise of Unprecedented Prosperity (1)
[Series Index] Is the state of the world getting better or getting worse? Our mission is to seek the greatest shalom possible in the world, always aware that shalom in its fullness will only be recognized at the consummation of the new creation at Christ's return. But how would we measure shalom? Isaiah 65:17-25 gives…
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Theologians and Economists: Knowing the “Common Good”
[Series Index] Each Sunday, Christians around the world gather and pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." It is both a request for an outcome and a statement of commitment to that outcome … to give witness to the coming shalom of the new creation. The previous…
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Theologians and Economists: Self-Interest Versus Selfishness
[Series Index] “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This injunction is mentioned once in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18), and seven times in the New Testament (Matt. 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8) It is the core Christian ethic for relating to others. The antithesis of loving others is selfishness.…