Abundance and Scarcity: Christian Economic Thought (original) (raw)

Abundance and Scarcity: Introduction

2018

An enduring debate in the history of economic thought is that between the predominant paradigm of scarcity, on the one hand, and the alternative viewpoint of abundance, on the other. This intellectual discourse has important implications with respect to the general outlook of the discipline, its formative and substantive aspects, and the ensuing policy implications. Part 1 attempts to contribute a unique perspective to this debate, by examining the Islamic position on the notions of scarcity and abundance, and its implications with respect to modern economic theory and policy. We address these issues by examining Islamic scripture, traditions, and the views of past and contemporary Islamic theologians, exegetes, philosophers, and economists. We also examine interesting parallels and links with other religious and secular schools of economic thought.

Wealth and Poverty: Christian Economic Thought

Prophecy, Piety, and Profits

This chapter explores the vast tradition of Christian economic thought on the subject of wealth and poverty. This tradition includes the scripture of the Old and New Testaments, the writings of the early Church Fathers and the medieval Scholastics, the modern Papal encyclicals, and the opinions of contemporary Christian theologians and economists. The predominant Christian position on the subject is largely derivative of the stewardship view of wealth, and its implications with respect to property, poverty, and charity.

Economy and Modern Christian Thought. Leiden: Brill, 2022.

Brill Research Perspectives, 2022

This work presents key features of the engagement of Christian theology, ethics, and related disciplines with the market and economic concerns. It surveys ways that the dialogue has been approached and invites new models and frameworks for the conversation. It contends that economy and Christian thought have long been interconnected, and recounts aspects of this relationship and why it matters for how one might engage the economy ethically and theologically. Finally, it highlights a number of sites of emerging research that are in need of development in light of pressing social, political, economic, and conceptual issues raised by modern life, including money, debt, racial capital, social reproduction, corporations, and cryptocurrency.

Review of The Routledge Handbook of Economic Theology

Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, 2021

The Routledge Handbook of Economic Theology is based on the premise that economics and business administration have undergone a theological turn of their own after the secularization of society. It defines economic theology as follows: It is the study of the forms of interaction between theological imaginaries on the one hand, and economic thought and economic-managerial practices on the other, both past and present. It identifies explicit and implicit theologies inherent in economic concepts, institutions and practices as well as the role of economic terminology within theological thought, both past and present (4). On this basis, the forty-nine contributors from a range of disciplines study the way in which the development of theories in economics is grounded in the history of theology, or the way in which the sense of the sacred is still present or even activated in the profane realm of management, production, consumption, finance, and entrepreneurship in the contemporary world. Thus, the theological notion of justification by grace is seen as a source of inspiration for a way of speaking about the economy in which the good life is not seen as booty in a victorious trade war, but as a gift. In light of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic views of humanity, economic concepts such as money, debit and credit, property, prosperity, governance, markets, profit, and poverty are interpreted as incentives for the renewal of personal relations, while the exchange of goods and services is seen as potentially beneficial to the community (D. Stephen Long, W. Cavanagh, D. Bell, L. Bruni, S. Zamagni). Many contributors are critical of the concept of the homo economicus when it comes to explaining actual economic behavior. There is a growing realization, at least among theological economists, that human beings should first and foremost be seen as social, relational, or even loving beings.

Scarcity vs. Abundance: Moving Beyond Dualism to "Enough"

Scarcity and abundance work together as a positive feedback loop, driving one another in an ever-increasing frenzy for “more,” creating an ever-widening gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” as some gather an abundance and others are left with scarcity. The Bible’s wisdom literature presents us with a similar point, seeing danger in both scarcity and abundance and thus praying, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need” (see Proverbs 30:7-9, NRSV). When we are at peace with enough, on the other hand, we don’t have to be afraid of not-enough; we don’t have to hoard more than enough. When we experience “enough,” we can rest, trust, relax, share, and live into an awareness of our true needs. We can seek and embody God’s Kingdom fully, free from worry and fear. This is what the church looks like in Acts, as the earliest Christ-followers live communally, share meals, and sell everything, pool their resources, and care for those marginalized by society. In at least three spheres of society: psychological, relational, and ecological, our dualistic anxiety around scarcity and abundance is reaping unhealthy harvests. This paper uses these three spheres as lenses to discuss scarcity, abundance, and enough: their impact on relationships through liberation pedagogy, postmodern philosophy, and feminist critique; the impact of our drive for abundance on the ecological realm; and the psychology of the Western worldview regarding shame, scarcity, abundance, and enough. Christ’s call to the church to embody his essence, and the interconnectivity in the recognition of other-as-differentiated-same in feminist thought, forms the conclusion.

The Problem of Wealth: A Christian Response to a Culture of Affluence

2017

Poverty is often seen as the condition of having too little. In this book Elizabeth L. Hinson-Hasty says that the problem is that some have too much. She argues that the "most pressing theological and moral problem of our time" is "popular US attitudes toward the unlimited right of white individuals to their wealth and to the ways in which our current dominant forms of wealth creation are increasing poverty and accelerating the wealth gap within the United States and between nations around the globe" (10). Her proposal is to "radically alter our attitudes, systems, and policies that support and justify the increase of one's individual wealth at the expense of a larger commons and to learn to distribute wealth and money more justly" (10). This goal is accomplished by inviting "people of relative privilege to ask what will motivate those who profit from the current systems and structures to transform them for the sake of the commons" (22). She advocates a program, called Zacchaean economics, where one restores oneself to community by returning what was received "because of unjust economic policies and unfair, unearned social privilege" (236). Hinson-Hasty maintains that her program is consistent with the Christian worldview and spends much of the book defending that position. The book is an ambitious and wide-ranging work, touching on fields such as economics, anthropology, comparative religion, biblical exegesis, and theology. There is much to be applauded in this book, although as an economist, this reviewer found parts that are wanting.

Ecclesiastical Response on Economic Justice – A Biblical Theology of Wealth

BIBLICAL STUDIES JOURNAL, 2021

The fundamental needs of humans are food, shelter and clothing. Despite progress, the existence of absolute poverty for many hundreds of millions of people involving malnutrition, illiteracy, disease and starvation is a fact of today's world. What is Jesus's attitude and teaching of Jesus on Poverty? What does the church as a community say when there is economic injustice going on in society? What does the Bible teach about the economic welfare of people? How can the Church at the local, national, and global levels play a vital role in the economic welfare of people? I attempt to briefly present the Biblical Theology of wealth or Economic Justice in the light of the present-day global economic inequalities.

Abundance and Scarcity: Greek Economic Thought

2018

This chapter surveys the opinions of the great Greek philosophers on the subject of scarcity and abundance. A diversity of views existed on the subject, with such views influencing the intellectual discourse of several schools of thought, from medieval Christianity to modernity. The Greek philosophers surveyed include Hesiod, Plato, and Aristotle.