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What is “Economics”? Ten Key “Starting Points” from Scripture
1. The One True God and Sound Knowledge: Where’s the ‘Builder’?
The Bible presents the concept of the Triune God of the Universe. His Word, the Scriptures, lays the foundational truths for life and understanding, including economic understanding. The Bible contains literally thousands of precepts pertaining to economics and presents them as a system, rarely taught today in the churches. As opposed to the Triune God of Scripture, idolatries of all sorts (including the Keynesian economics of today’s idolatry) are ALWAYS “economic” in approach, as well as “religious”.
The Greek philosophers, knowing that the “gods” were a fiction, knew economic issues were also being tossed aside as they challenged traditions in Athens and elsewhere. Idolatry, whatever else it may be, always creates its own economic system… and poverty as well. Being misinformation, idolatry misallocates resources. Certainly the modernistic and Keynesian economics systems have terribly misallocated economic resources, en masse…and to our impoverishment, in their attack upon savings, prices, entrepreneurship, and productivity.
2. Glory, the Gospel and the Destruction of Superstition
Man is made for glory. But, he invariably seeks his own glory first. This movement of the soul often involves a fallen economic thought – ambition, money, greed, deceit, and theft. What if the glory of the soul is directed to the Lord… and He directs it toward sound principles of calling, responsible ownership, and economic stewardship?
The Gospel is not just a “way to heaven”. Of course, it is that certainly. But, no culture can survive long unless the Gospel’s truth is brought to bear upon the conscience of a person. With the powerful change wrought by God in the soul comes a new man… which includes a “new economic man” as well. Suddenly, affections and desires (all economic as well as spiritual) are different. Priorities are reordered for life. Economic truths take on spiritual dimension. “Whether you eat or drink, whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Historically, where the Bible goes, “Calling” becomes understood, with its emphasis on wisdom, and “character”. Such wisdom and character traits replace superstition, mysticism and impoverishment. A justifying faith in Jesus Christ powerfully affects any economy, through the clean and reasonable use of holy precept.
3. Economics in the Garden of Eden
With modern man scoffing at the history of the Garden of Eden, he loses therefore the benefits of understanding vital economic truths so vital to life, and decision-making. In the Garden, the great tenets of economics were begun: Sound Authority and economic subordination, risk and time, the discernment of sound a information system and loss through disinformation, economic needs, economic sanctions and death, allocation of resources, the division of labor, the nature of the Fall, scarcity, inheritance and disinheritance, calling, guilt and envy, glory and commodity, labor and management of resources. Ultimately, the meaning of the Curse and Blessings of God, sin and righteousness (What were Adam and Eve doing in the Garden to begin with?).
4. The Fall, Scarcity and Strife: Handling the “Curse”
Just exactly HOW does an understanding of the Fall of mankind affect your decision-making? Why was the curse instituted by God? Why was economy addressed so heavily in the Fall (thorns and thistles (scarcity), sorrow in conception and population, death and disinheritance, labor and sweat of the brow, disinvestment of labor and capital, the calling of man and woman)?
5. Risk v. Control, Theft, Magic & Slavery: The Power of a Justifying Faith
Everything has risk built into it. But, managing risk is key to understanding and preparing for a future which will arrive and the present which demands your immediate attention. Because of the nature of man, control, theft and slavery take the place of sound economy. Also due to man’s fallen nature, superstition (magic) misallocates management, time and resources. A Justifying faith in Christ is designed to rectify such character traits, resetting man’s handling of the world around him.
I
n place of …
- control
- theft
- magic and
- slavery
…comes…
- covenant/contract,
- productivity,
- wisdom and virtue,
- with capital investment and savings.
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The “Second Sword” of the Church of Christ
Sound Economics and Productive Enterprise
“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
…sword… plowshares…
…spear… pruning hooks…
The nations will learn to “get gain” by moving from weapons to tools (productive stewardship - as opposed to Modernistic and Keynesian economics). |
6. Time, Money and Blood
The Bible shows us that time, money and blood are interrelated. Not only are they related directly in the Bible concerning redemption – “You are bought with a price”; “…redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.”; “the earnest [ed. earnest money] of our expectation”… Scripture teaches us that money is the economic means of saving “life” temporally from the heavy burdens of the curse. Money is temporally redemptive and a means of ‘storing” up the ever fleeting moment. If a man is paid for 50 hours of work by his boss, and a thieve robs him on the way home of that money, the thief has robbed LIFE – 50 hours of it – from the man. If left unrecovered, that man has taken an irrecoverable loss. If it keeps happening, he is losing Life – literally being murdered, on the “installment plan”.
7. Inheritance and Property
God warns that no one take away the boundary stones, marking a person’s property and inheritance. So important is inheritance and property rights with its responsibilities in ownership, that God enjoins severe penalties in His Word for breaching that trust. But, there’s even more involved than simple breach of an inheritance or the theft of property rights.
8. Marriage and the Division of Labor
The essence of an advanced economy is the Division of labor whereby each person contributes talent and resources in areas where he or she is best suited and does so toward economic progress. Sound economy begins in the marriage relationship, sexual satisfaction being addressed in economic terms by the prophets and Paul. Indeed, Paul treats regular refusal to a spouse as “defrauding” that spouse. But, the division of labor, built into marriage, becomes the foundation of a greater degree of such application in advanced economies.
9. Redemption v. Slavery
God used redemption as a model for the destruction of slavery, and the means of “buying back” your Christian brother or your neighbor. Redemption was applied in principle to debt management, the poor laws, gleaning, lending, monogamy, land use, liberty, debt bondage, usury, and the very nature of money, prices, and costs. Slavery is replaced in the Bible with investment, savings, and capital goods. As investment understanding grows, slavery disappears. As savings and investment are eliminated (as in Keynesian economics and the business cycle), slavery returns. Hear why that MUST be so…
10. The Sabbath, Liberty and Holy Precept
Many Christian people cannot defend from the Bible why they worship on the first day of the week. But, what they don’t suspect, is that the Sabbath is not just a day of worship. It was the symbol of liberty and victory over unrighteousness. It’s tie with economics is crucial: “…Six days shalt thou labor …”. Why was this attached to the command to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” ? How does worship, liberty, and rest become related Scripturally? Hear how that is the case here..
Return to top for other categories of economic thinking… bringing greater insights for help in this horrid economic climate. The purpose of this survey is to get your input as what YOU believe are the most pressing issues surrounding Christian Business as a subject for Christian study.
Survey conducted by A&D Net Enterprises with the Institute for Christian Heritage Research (ICHR).
