Category: Series: Theology and Economics
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Theology and Economics: Climate Change (Part 1)
Only someone in a coma could be unaware of the climate change controversy for the past decade. Every few days, there are new stories in the popular media about the topic. The crux of the theory is that carbon dioxide (CO2) is put into the air by burning fossil fuels, and the concentration of CO2…
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Theology and Economics: Economic Growth and Future Resources
I ended the last post by observing that what we need is not fewer people but more people who are stewards. Stewards are people who can get the most output with the least input on a sustainable basis. The obstacle to having more stewards is the grinding poverty that dominates vast regions of the world.…
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Theology and Economics: Demographic Transition and the Environment
The Demographic Transition Model is a model used by demographers to describe the transition from high birth rates and high death rates to low birth rates and low death rates that occurred during industrialization in Western nations. It happened in four stages. (See “Demographic Transition” chart for reference.) Stage 1: Prior to the mid-eighteenth-century death…
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Theology and Economics: Environmental Externalities and the Dynamics of Growth
My last post traced how our connectedness with the natural order has been lost. I also noted that pollution increased dramatically from the late nineteenth century until after the mid-twentieth century. I suggested this was partly due to ignorance of pollution's effects and the exponential growth in pollution from industrialization. I also suspect that it…
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Theology and Economics: The Disintegration of Holistic Environmental Stewardship
Regarding environmental stewardship, we live in a unique time in human history. The vast majority of people have worked in agriculture throughout history. They produced almost everything they consumed. It was demanding work with little assurance of a productive outcome. Drought, floods, pestilence, and other natural challenges could easily negate all of one's labor. There…
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Theology and Economics: Personal Stewardship and Spiritual Formation
Most discussions of environmental stewardship in Christian circles these days begin with some talk about travesties being perpetrated on the environment and then define Christian stewardship as a list of actions done to end or reverse those travesties. At the individual level, we are encouraged to live more simply and be in tune with the…
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Theology and Economics: Eikons and Environment in a Fallen World
We are called to be God's oikonomos or stewards of God's household, namely creation. We are to be living eikons of God in the world, reflecting God's character and values in all we do. However, in our present state, we are broken eikons who are ever inclined to elevate our image to that of godhood.…
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Theology and Economics: Two Ecos
The word "Economy" is laden with meaning for Christians. It comes from the Greek word oikonomia, meaning "household management." (oikos = household or home; nomia =management) Related to it is the word oikonomos, which means "household manager or steward." The household in mind here is the large villa of the Greco-Roman world. These were self-sufficient…
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Theology and Economics: Polarity Management
As I was preparing to blog about ecology today, I realized I must introduce a key concept that influences how I approach complex and controversial problems like these. It is called polarity management. A few years ago, I read a wonderful book by Dr. Barry Johnson called Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems. His…
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Theology and Economics: Two Applications
Over the past six months, I have been blogging this series on Theology and Economics. I have made the case that Scripture, inspired by God, places us within a narrative. Scripture gives us God's unfolding story up to the days of the First Century Church. It also tells us something about the end of the…