A theological economics (original) (raw)

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.

A Critique of Economic Theology (Political Economy, 97 pp.)

As the title suggests, this extended essay is a critique of mainstream economic theory (neoclassical and neo-Keynesian), which serves the function of a theology for the Capitalist religion -- a rationalization and legitimization of capitalist accumulation. The economics faculty constitute a secular priesthood with its own arcane form of self-referential theological discourse. The essay examines the discursive and institutional practices which systematically distort genuine understanding of the economic system in a way that rationalizes capitalist production.

Connecting Economics to Theology

Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social …, 2011

Economics claims to be an independent empirical social science but empirical evidence of the last century challenges this claim. By contrast Caritas in Veritate contains a set of linkages that demonstrate that economics is related to morals, anthropology and theology. Economics is practiced in a cultural setting with a moral dimension related to the human person, which is ultimately grounded in the nature of God. Pope Benedict has focused on love and gift as human qualities reflecting the Divine nature. The anthropology that proceeds from this is a development of Pope John Paul II's emphasis on human dignity and freedom. It suggests moral principles that can guide culture, social institutions and hence economic action. Pope Benedict uses his reflections on the social order to comment on the problems of development for less developed peoples, but his analysis also completes one theme of the social encyclicals. Whereas Pope Leo XIII concentrated on economic and political fundamentals such as property and political organization, subsequent contributions turned attention more towards the human actor in relationship to God. Pope John Paul II made this explicit by turning attention to anthropology. Pope Benedict has connected these and completed the vision initiated by his immediate predecessor. He has described more completely the grounding of anthropology on the family, culture and ultimately the Most Blessed Trinity. The encyclical can be read as an invitation to a broader methodology for economics, one that is better conformed to actual market actors and that has the capacity to overcome some of the contentious aspects of the current discipline. The groundwork has been established by thinkers including Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas and some of its elements are evident in the economic organisation of many non-modern cultures.

Economics in Christian Perspective: Some Ontological and Epistemological Facets

When considering a Christian perspective on economics, it is important to place the area of economic life into some philosophical perspective with regard to ontology and epistemology. What is it that we are discussing when we deal with "economics"? This term can ambiguously refer to both theoretical economic considerations, and the actual phenomenon of economic transactions and interactions among people and institutions. A brief discussion of foundational issues is therefore in order.

The autonomy of economics from Judeo‐Christian thought: a critique

International Journal of Social Economics, 2003

In the contemporary relation between economics and Judeo‐Christian thought, Smith identifies three positions. These are disciplinary autonomy for economics, disciplinary interdependence between economics and Christian thought, and distinctively Christian economic analysis. Little evaluation has been made of these positions. Two representatives, as Smith classifies them, of the disciplinary autonomy and interdependence positions are evaluated from the distinctively Christian economic analysis viewpoint. Unlike Smith's classification, both J. David Richardson and Anthony Waterman are assessed as belonging to the disciplinary autonomy group, in which mainstream orthodox economic science is allegedly able to proceed independent of religious input. This position is criticized insofar, as Richardson's major and influential paper in the area (1988) is found to disregard any appraisal of the contribution of modern orthodox economic theory to the explanation of real world processes, ...

Deification and the Dismal Science: On Orthodox Theology and Economics

Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 2016

This paper outlines a basic methodology for approaching economic issues from the perspective of Orthodox theology. In the first section, I examine (1) the standard definition of economics and (2) the character of economics as a social science and its methodological differences from the physical sciences. In the second section, I examine the role of morality in economics. In the final section, (1) I draw upon Vladimir Lossky and St. Maximus the Confessor inter alia to develop an Orthodox approach to economics. Then (2) I offer four suggestions for interdisciplinary work between Orthodox theology and economics. In conclusion, I argue that both can benefit from one another: Positive economics needs ethics for normativity, and Orthodox theology needs economics for prudent application of spiritual and moral principles.

The Triumph of Theological Economics: God Goes Underground

Philosophy Today, 2019

Both Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud are very much children of the Enlightenment in certain manners. As such, they each sometimes display a qualified but firm optimism about history inevitably making progress in specific desirable directions. For instance, Freud predicts that continuing scientific and technological advances eventually will drive religiosity from human societies once and for all. Marx likewise forecasts the withering away of religions. Moreover, he treats this predicted process as symptomatic of even more fundamental socioeconomic developments, namely, his (in)famous anticipations of subsequent transitions to socialism and communism. However, the past century of human history obviously has not been kind to any sort of Enlightenment-style progress narratives, Marx's and Freud's included. My intervention on this occasion takes inspiration especially from Jacques Lacan's sober reckoning with a "triumph of religion" defying Freud's expectations of relentlessly broadening and deepening secularization. I argue that socio-political phenomena of the past several decades bear witness to religious superstructures having infused themselves into economic superstructures.