Tag: jubilee
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Theologians & Economists: “Family Writ Large” and the Information Gap
[Series Index] Without a doubt, family is the Bible's most pervasive metaphor for the people of God. We are all children of Abraham. We are the household of God, where God is the paterfamilias. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, with God as the head of the household. Families are face-to-face communities. People…
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Self-Interest and Benevolence: Partners, not Antonyms (Part 6)
[Link to Part 5] Co-creators and Partners in Our Own Provision Over the last five posts, I've made the case that economic freedom has generated unprecedented abundance. People acting on what they believe to be in their best interests bid for goods and services, and people acting on their perceived best interest freely choose to…
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Living Simply in Abundance (8)
What did the prophets have to say about wealth and justice? It is frequently preached today that the prophets condemned economic inequities and proclaimed God’s desire to equalize wealth. Is this true? First, we need to recognize that there are three aspects to economic justice. Distributive Justice – Addresses how capital and goods are distributed…
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Living Simply in Abundance (7)
Earlier in this series, I wrote that wealth and prosperity were promised outcomes for faithfulness to the Mosaic covenant. But within that covenant, we find this warning: Deuteronomy 8:17-20 17 Do not say to yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth." 18 But remember the LORD your…
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Living Simply in Abundance (5)
The biblical narrative was revealed into specific historical-cultural contexts. If we go back into the world of the Old Testament, we find a distinctly agricultural society. Unlike our Enlightenment/Modernist-influenced culture, "rights" did not begin with the individual or the state. The emphasis was on relatedness. God owned all that is, and humanity was made stewards…
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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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Household: Jesus’ Mission Statement
How did Jesus perceive his mission? The gospel of Luke tells in sequence of Jesus being baptized, going into the wilderness to be tested, and then reading from the scrolls during worship at Nazareth. Scholars believe the event at Nazareth actually happened later in Jesus' ministry. So why does Luke locate it at the beginning?…
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God’s Politics: Why Jim Wallis Doesn’t Get it Either
[I am away at the General Assembly Council Meetings of the PCUSA with little time to write. So here is a rerun from December 14, 2005. I should also point out that by identifying myself as a theistic evolutionist in my post yesterday, I probably annoyed some of my conservative friends. This article is my…