Christian Economic Ethics: History and Implications

Description

What does the history of Christian views of economic life mean for economic life in the twenty-first century? Here Daniel Finn reviews the insights provided by a large number of texts, from the Bible and the early church, to the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation, to treatments of the subject in the last century. Relying on both social science and theology, Finn then turns to the implications of this history for economic life today. Throughout, the book invites the reader to engage the sources and to develop an answer to the volume’s basic question. Review "Daniel Finn treats the relationship of Christian social ethics and economic life with the subtlety, insight, and balance that it deserves but rarely gets. The study is deepened by opening up the history of Christian social teaching, brightened by everyday examples, and sweetened by a kind and generous tone. Finn is gracious toward those who disagree with his positions, but always clear and firm about where he stands." --John Tiemstra, professor emeritus of economics, Calvin College "Finn accomplishes two important tasks in this book. First, he surveys the historical development of the principles of Christian social thought. Second, he presents the Christian tradition as a credible and challenging alternative to the entire spectrum of political ideology, not simply as a another tool for those ideologies to employ in the political fray." --Andrew Yuengert, professor of economics. Pepperdine University "I can only think of one concise and apt adjective to describe Daniel Finn's Christian Economic Ethics: History and Implications: magisterial! No other single volume so deftly recounts the entire history of Christian economic ethics, Protestant and Catholic, and its development while so brilliantly engaging in a two way dialogue between economics and Christian economic ethics. Specialists will want their own copy and beginners will find this work as an indispensable introduction to the topic." --John A. Coleman, S. J., Casassa Professor of Social Values Emeritus, Loyola Marymount University About the Author Daniel K. Finn is the William and Virginia Clemens Professor of Economics and the Liberal Arts and professor of theology at Saint John's University and the College of St. Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. He is a past president of the Society of Christian Ethics, the Association for Social Economics, and the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is the author or editor of a number of books, including The Moral Ecology of Markets (2006), The True Wealth of Nations (2010) and The Moral Dynamics of Economic Life (2012). Acknowledgments ix Part I. Introduction 1. Introduction: Well Water Deep Down 3 2. How a Living Tradition Means 19 Part II. From the Bible to the Reformation 3. The Hebrew Scriptures 33 4. The New Testament 51 5. The Early Church Christian Faith and Concern for the Poor 71 6. The Early Church Patristic Teaching on Ownership and Wealth 87 7. The Beginnings of Monastic Life 107 8. The Medieval Period Thomas Aquinas and Natural Law Ethics 123 9. The Medieval Period Thomas Aquinas on Four Economic Issues 139 10. The Protestant Reformation 159 Part III. Resources for Interpretation 11. The Development of Moral Teaching 181 12. Engaging Controversies Today 199 13. What We Should and Should Not Learn from Economics 217 Part IV. Modern Church Teaching on Economic Life 14. Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI 237 15. Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI 257 vii 16. Contemporary Protestant Thought on Economic Life 275 17. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI 301 Part V. Coming to Conclusions 18. Principles for an Economic Ethic Today 329 19. Implications for an Economic Ethic Today 349 20. Society, Government, and Market: Getting the Relationships Right 369 21. Conclusion 383 Bibliography 391 Index 405 Additional Praise for Christian Economic Ethics 411