Category: Theology
-
Max Weber Was Wrong (About Capitalism)
Public Discourse: Max Weber Was Wrong – Samuel Greg … Second, the empirical evidence disproving Weber’s connection between Protestantism and the emergence of capitalism is considerable. Even Catholic critics of modern capitalism have had to concede that “the commercial spirit” preceded the Reformation by at least two hundred years. From the eleventh century onward, the…
-
Why the Church Needs Business
Huffington Post: Why the Church Needs Business … Beyond the mess that has been the Vatican bank, the Catholic Church can learn a lot from business. This may seem counterintuitive, but the same church that has (rightly) spoken out so forcefully on the excesses and the limitations of capitalism desperately needs some capitalistic skills. How…
-
Subsidiarity in Five Minutes
Here is a good video on subsidiarity with interesting commentary on why our present political difficulties may be connected to a failure to appreciate it.
-
Capitalism and the Kingdom – Bob Lupton
I love Bob Lupton's monthly posts in Urban Perspectives newsletter. I identify with what he writes in his latest installment, Capitalism and the Kingdom. Capitalism is not "biblical" in the sense of being prescribed by God. And in that sense, there is no "biblical" economic system. All economic systems are human constructs that incorporate human…
-
The Evangelical Work Ethic
Christianity Today: The Evangelical Work Ethic Forget Weber. We don't need social science to know that God cares about our work. … … American evangelicals have been rediscovering the precious truth that all honest work serves as a spiritual calling to fruitful and worshipful service (Gen. 2:15; Col. 3:22-24). That means everyone – not just…
-
Church is not Worship, Community, or Mission. It’s All Three
Rachel Young has a thoughtful article at the The Presbyterian Outlook's Outpost blog titled, Consumers, missionaries, or worshipers? She writes: … We use the language of buying and selling, of efficiency, of getting the best product for the best price, even as we think about our relationships, our work, our leisure, our church. We are…
-
The Gospels of Sin Management
Jesus Creed: The Gospels of Sin Management and Their Empty Allegiance American evangelicalism is what it is because of its gospel. Dallas Willard calls its gospel the “gospel of sin management.” American liberal Protestantism is what it is because of its gospel. Dallas Willard also calls its gospel the gospel of sin management. (Some of…
-
Saturday Links
1. Phillip Swagel with a good piece on Inequality and Opportunity … I am not convinced, however, that the president's proposals are well matched to the problem he describes. Indeed, Mr. Obama is better at describing the outcomes he seeks than at putting forward a coherent set of policies to reach those outcomes. But I…