ECONOMICS, PUBLIC POLICY
Part of the ministry resources on Christian Social Ministry, Social Justice. It is categorized in the site archive that is not updated past 2012.
- Introduction
- Resources from Catholic Social Teaching
- Resources by Ron Sider
- Resources by Tony Campolo
- Resources by Jim Wallis
- Resources by Shane Claiborne
- Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation
- Capitalist-Friendly Authors
- Related Ministry Resources
Introduction
Most Christian literature on social action, social justice, church-and-culture, and church-state relations convey a strong tone of advocacy. Authors write passionately to encourage a prescribed course of action. Not uncommonly, they convey strong advocacy or opposition for economic systems, both capitalism and socialism. This may be unintentional, but at other times it is quite intentional.
Popular authors such as Jim Wallis (God’s Politics), Tony Campolo (Red-Letter Christians), and Shane Claiborne (Jesus for President) appropriately address evangelical Christians who may align indiscriminately with the assumptions of crass capitalism and imbibe the evils of materialism, excess, oppression, and indifference to the poor. They remind us that the gospel of the kingdom has much to say about economic and social justice, and call the church to be a prophetic catalyst toward economics that address the needs of “the least of these.” Yet even though these authors may not intend it, readers could come away believing that a socialist economic system best conveys Christian values. Capitalist-friendly authors, on the other hand, also promote social justice, but do so while upholding the rule of law, limited government, the dignity of hard work, the role of families as income producers, and the government’s role in securing economic conditions that allow individuals to prosper and reap the rewards of their industriousness. Neither group completely embodies God’s will for the human community. Each group makes important contributions to the discussion.
While most church leaders do not aspire to be economists, they may unwittingly convey economically ill-informed proposals if their only exposure to social justice is through authors who are more one-sided on the issue. As stated above, it is important to read the correctives of capitalism from authors such as Wallis, Claiborne, Sider, and others. It is equally important to read from Christian capitalists who possess a strong social conscience, and who are convinced that socialism is less, not more, conducive to God’s vision for social justice (e.g. Craig Carter). Authors in this vein are less well-known, but offer a perspective that helps Christians to see possibilities of forwarding the interests of social justice without the anti-capitalist sentiment. These include organizations such as the Acton Institute and authors such as Scott Rae, Craig Blomberg, John Schneider, Marvin Olasky, Ronald Nash, Michael Novak, and others. This Ministy Resource Guide seeks to represent an appreciative balance of Christian views of economics and public policy.
One more caveat. I love the quote by Rich Karlgaard, the Christian publisher of Forbes magazine, that listening to a minister preach on business “is like hearing a eunuch lecture on sex: He may have studied the topic, but really knows little about the mechanics.” (Richards, Money, Greed, and God, 5) Ministers may be tempted to use their captive audiences to spout off opinions on matters they know little about. The purpose of this resource guide is not to equip ministers to lecture on economics, but to give them a more informed basis for understanding and equipping others for the biblical calls to social ministry.
Resources
I have divided this guide according to author or perspective. They are listed in a kind of suggested order within each category, but hopefully are described in a way that readers could assess the value of any individual volume for their needs.
Chuck Collins and Mary Wright, Catholic Social Teaching
- Chuck Collins and Mary Wright, The Moral Measure of the Economy – A substantive biblical treatise on the macro issues of U.S. economics, reflecting deep social sensitivity characteristic of Catholic Social Teaching.
Ronald J. Sider
- Introductory article, Ron Sider on Social Ministry
- Ronald J. Sider, Fixing the Moral Deficit: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget – A brief, reasonable treatment on how to address the deficit, care for the poor, etc. (2012)
- Ronald J. Sider, The Scandal of Evangelical Politics: Why are Christians Missing the Chance to Really Change the World? – Sequel to Scandal of Evangelical Conscience. Offers a philosophy of political policy-making, ethical discernment, and ministry intervention on a variety of issues ranging from war, abortion, same-sex marriage, and environmentalism.
- Ronald J. Sider and Dianne Knippers, Editors, Toward an Evangelical Public Policy: Political Strategies for the Health of the Nation – Assembles an impressive panel of Christian theologians, economists, and practitioners who offer educated perspectives on how evangelicals can express themselves politically through a biblical framework.
- Ronald J. Sider, Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America – A hard look at the socioeconomic data on poverty, and a thorough, holistic, and non-partisan set of proposals to end poverty in America.
Tony Campolo
- Introductory article, Tony Campolo on Social Ministry
- Tony Campolo, Red Letter Christians: A Citizen’s Guide to Faith and Politics – Campolo’s attempt to lead evangelicals to the direct teachings of Jesus for insight into issues of politics and social justice.
- Tony Campolo and Bruce Main, Revolution and Renewal: How Churches are Saving Our Cities – Offers a balanced discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of how the political left and right, respectively, deal with issues affecting the needs of our cities.
- Tony Campolo, Choose Love Not Power: How to Right the World’s Wrongs From a Place of Weakness – Encourages Christians to follow the example of Christ, who refused to establish his kingdom through economic, political, or religious power.
Jim Wallis
- Introductory article, Jim Wallis on Social Ministry
- Jim Wallis, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and Left Doesn’t Get It – Confronts liberals and conservatives, and challenges the illusion that either political party occupies the moral high ground.
- Jim Wallis, The Great Awakening: Seven Ways to Change the World, Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America — Seeks to translate biblical convictions into social action on issues such as creation care, racial equality, abortion, family values, war and peace, and corporate leadership.
Shane Claiborne
- Introductory article: Shane Claiborne on Social Ministry, New Monasticism / Ordinary Radicals
- Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals — Describes the economic orientation of the New Monasticism, based not on partisanship, but in the incarnational lifestyle of Jesus to become a people “set apart” for the world.
Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation
- Introductory article: Resources for Reconciliation —Duke University Divinity School Center for Reconciliation
- Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier, Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness – Proposes a way of Christians living in a violent and wounded world as learned from the lives of the disabled. Rather than contending for privilege by wielding power and authority, we can witness prophetically from a position of weakness, exhibiting radical forms of gentleness, peacemaking and faithfulness.
Capitalist-Friendly Authors
- Scott Rae and Austin Hill, The Virtues of Capitalism: A Moral Case for Free Markets — A theological case for capitalism. Their thesis is that despite its flaws, failures, and imperfections, capitalism remains the most moral choice among the world’s economic systems.
- Kenman L. Wong and Scott B. Rae, Business for the Common Good: A Christian Vision for the Marketplace (Christian Worldview Integration) – Wong, a business ethicist, and Rae, a biblical ethicist, team to offer a perspective on how the Christian story shapes business.
- Jay W. Richards, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and not the Problem – Richards provides what is perhaps the most definitive Christian case for capitalism by an economist. A good introduction that may be followed by Claar and Klay below.
- Victor V. Claar and Robin J. Klay, Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy, and Life Choices – A scholarly work that sets for the philosophy that a just and prosperous society depends for its continued success on maintaining the right balance of power and responsibility among three principle spheres: democratic governments, market-organized economies, and strong moral and cultural institutions.
- Ronald Nash, Social Justice and the Christian Church – Provides careful contextual analyses of biblical texts regarding aid to the poor, and encourages caution as Christians use these texts as bases for socialism.
- Craig Blomberg, Neither Poverty Nor Riches – A very balanced biblical theology that surveys both Old and New Testaments on the issue of finance and economics.
- John R. Schneider, The Good of Affluence: Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth – Lays out the essential thesis that scripture makes room for the responsible possession of wealth, and that capitalism may indeed be the best system to secure prosperity for all.
- Marvin Olasky and Amy Sherman, The Tragedy of American Compassion – Argues that neither free markets nor welfare-by-government provisions alone provide truly compassionate solutions to social problems. Stresses the importance of personal aid and one-on-one hospitality.
Related Areas
See Other Ministry Resources on Social Ministry, Social Justice, and Urban Ministry:
- Social Ministry, Social Justice, Urban Ministry – INTRODUCTION
- Theological and Philosophical Foundations of Social Ministry, Social Justice, Urban Ministry
- SPIRITUALITY for Social Ministry, Social Justice, and Urban Ministry
- STRATEGIES For Christian Social Ministry and Social Justice
- URBAN MINISTRY – Strategies For Social Ministry and Social Justice Among the Urban Poor
- Christian Perspectives on POLITICS and Church-State Relations
- Christian Perspectives on ECONOMICS and Public Policy
See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Christian Ministry: