Theology and Economics: A Christian Vision of the Common Good
- Length: 304 pages
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
- Publication Date: 2015-09-10
- ISBN-10: 1137552239
- ISBN-13: 9781137552235
- Sales Rank: #4391105 (See Top 100 Books)
The relationship between contemporary theologians and economists has tended to range from frosty to indifferent. Economists usually relegate theological reasoning to the realm of private spirituality, viewing it as holding little relevance for the analysis of markets and economic activity. Theologians, on the other hand, often make lofty and idealized pronouncements about economics with very little understanding of the economic realities they are critiquing. This sometimes fraught, sometimes apathetic relationship is especially troubling given the broad consensus, among both religious and non-religious scholars, that—among the profusion of business and economic-related problems of the last decade—many could be classified as moral crises.
Theology and Economics seeks to fill the gap in understanding, respect, and communication between economists and theologians and set a uniquely collaborative example. Jeremy Kidwell and Sean Doherty have brought together a group of prominent Christian economists and theologians to discuss how we might transform economic and theological reasoning from antagonistic forces into tools with which to cultivate more just and moral economies in the twenty-first century.
Table of Contents
Part I: Swords: Critical Engagements between Economics and Theology
Chapter 1 Andy Hartropp: Why Is Engagement between Christian Economists and Theologians Difficult?
Chapter 2 Michael G. Pollitt: What Do Theologians Need to Know about Economics?
Chapter 3 Eve Poole: A Framework for Doing Theology in the Marketplace
Chapter 4 Mark Chapman: Red Toryism, Common Good, and One Nation
Chapter 5 Malcolm Brown: A Response to Hartropp, Pollitt, Poole, and Chapman
Part II: Plowshares 1: Resources for Collaboration
Chapter 6 Matthew B. Arbo: On the Idea of Commerce as a Natural Means of Human Improvement: Adam Smith’s Theory of Progress
Chapter 7 Andrew Henley: Economics and Virtue Ethics: Reflections from a Christian Perspective
Chapter 8 Jeremy Kidwell: Radical or Realist? An Inquiry into the Social Ethics of John of Chrysostom as a Model for Resourcing the Tradition in Reflection on the Common Good
Chapter 9 Sean Doherty: The Kingdom of God and the Economic System: An Economics of Hope
Chapter 10 Paul S. Williams: Response: Finding Common Ground; Contemporary Resources for Collaboration
Part III: Plowshares 2: Visions of the Common Good
Chapter 11 Hans G. Ulrich: Theological Perspectives for a Human Economy at Its Limits and within Its Limits
Chapter 12 Donald Hay and Gordon Menzies: Is the Model of Human Nature in Economics Fundamentally Flawed? Seeking a Better Model of Economic Behavior
Chapter 13 Nicholas Townsend: Transcending the Long Twentieth Century: Why We Should and How We Can Move to a Post-Capitalist Market Economy
Chapter 14 Martyn Percy: Christianity and Social Flourishing: Theology, Politics, and Economics
Chapter 15 Oliver O’Donovan: Response: A Theology of the Economy
