Tag: Acts 2
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Theologians and Economists: Distributive Justice
[Series Index] Reading the legal codes in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, it is clear private property was taken for granted. One of the Ten Commandments was "Thou shall not steal." Numerous references exist for appropriate restitution when someone's property has been taken or damaged. Private property was central to Old Testament economic life. However,…
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Living Simply in Abundance (10)
What does the non-gospel portion of the New Testament have to say about wealth and abundance? In most ways, it is consistent with what we have seen in the rest of Scripture. But we need to go no further than Chapter 2 in Acts before we come across one of the more controversial passages concerning…
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Economic Fallacies: “Biblical Redistribution”
The Biblical Redistribution fallacy identifies wealth equalization as the primary economic concern of the Bible; the Jubilee Code of Leviticus 25 is the most exemplary passage. Based on this perspective, public policies ranging from tax rates to debt cancellation for developing nations are advocated. These policies may be worthy and appropriate, but that is distinct…
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Theology and Economics: Having the Mind and Heart of God. (Part 2)
Jesus gave vivid images in Matthew 25 to describe what he expects of his followers between his ascension and his return: We are to have the mind and heart of God in everything we do. We are to care passionately about the things God cares about and act on those passions. Paul wrote regularly about…
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Distributive Justice
Reading the legal codes in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, private property was taken for granted. One of the Ten Commandments was "Thou shall not steal." Numerous references exist about appropriate restitution when someone's property has been taken or damaged. Private property was central to Old Testament economic life. However, ownership of private property was…