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Written in non-technical language accessible to non-specialist
readers, this book is a theological synthesis of the findings of
scripture scholars and ethicists on what the Bible teaches about
economic life. It proposes a biblical theology of economic life
that addresses three questions, namely: *What do the individual
books of Sacred Scripture say about proper economic conduct? *How
do these teachings fit within the larger theology and ethics of the
books in which they are found? *Are there recurring themes,
underlying patterns, or issues running across these different
sections of the Bible when read together as a single canon? The
economic norms of the Old and New Testament exhibit both continuity
and change. Despite their diverse social settings and theological
visions, the books of the Bible nonetheless share recurring themes:
care for the poor, generosity, wariness over the idolatry of
wealth, the inseparability of genuine worship and upright moral
conduct, and the acknowledgment of an underlying divine order in
economic life. Contrary to most people's first impression that the
Bible offers merely random economic teachings without rhyme or
reason, there is, in fact, a specific vision undergirding these
scriptural norms. Moreover, far from being burdensome impositions
of do's and don'ts, this book finds that the Bible's economic norms
are, in fact, an invitation to participate in God's providence. To
this end, we have been granted a threefold benefaction-the gift of
divine friendship, the gift of one another, and the gift of the
earth. Thus, biblical economic ethics is best characterized as a
chronicle of how God provides for humanity through people's mutual
solicitude and hard work. The economic ordinances, aphorisms, and
admonitions of the Old and New Testament turn out to be an
unmerited divine invitation to participate in God's governance of
the world. Our economic conduct provides us with a unique
opportunity to shine forth in our creation in the image and
likeness of God. Often extremely demanding, hard, and even fraught
with temptations and distractions, economic life nevertheless is,
at its core, an occasion for humans to grow in holiness, charity,
and perfection.
This book explores the vital role of faith-based organizations
(FBOs) in compensating for the market's and government's inability
to provide vital services. Its key theoretical contribution is the
notion that poverty is the result of a triadic failure-when
markets, government, and civil society become dysfunctional at the
same time. Using data on Catholic missionaries' development work,
this study presents the various ways by which FBOs mitigate market
and government failures in healthcare, education, and social
services, and in the process build and strengthen civil society.
This study has two main objectives. First, it aims to present an
overview of missionaries' development work, evaluating the
socioeconomic significance of their faith-based development work.
In addition, various comparative advantages and disadvantages have
been imputed to FBOs in the religion-development literature, and we
assess to what extent missionaries actually exhibit these posited
qualities in practice. Second, the groundwork is laid for future
religion-development scholars by presenting a theoretical framework
and a method for evaluating the role and contributions of FBOs in
the larger community. This is an important investigation of
contemporary worldwide Christianity and its relationship with
development. As such, it will interest scholars of religious
studies and missiology, as well as development economics, public
service and the political economy.
Written in non-technical language accessible to non-specialist
readers, this book is a theological synthesis of the findings of
scripture scholars and ethicists on what the Bible teaches about
economic life. It proposes a biblical theology of economic life
that addresses three questions, namely: -What do the individual
books of Sacred Scripture say about proper economic conduct? -How
do these teachings fit within the larger theology and ethics of the
books in which they are found? -Are there recurring themes,
underlying patterns, or issues running across these different
sections of the Bible when read together as a single canon? - The
economic norms of the Old and New Testament exhibit both continuity
and change. Despite their diverse social settings and theological
visions, the books of the Bible nonetheless share recurring themes:
care for the poor, generosity, wariness over the idolatry of
wealth, the inseparability of genuine worship and upright moral
conduct, and the acknowledgment of an underlying divine order in
economic life. Contrary to most people s first impression that the
Bible offers merely random economic teachings without rhyme or
reason, there is, in fact, a specific vision undergirding these
scriptural norms. Moreover, far from being burdensome impositions
of do s and don ts, this book finds that the Bible s economic norms
are, in fact, an invitation to participate in God s providence. To
this end, we have been granted a threefold benefaction the gift of
divine friendship, the gift of one another, and the gift of the
earth. Thus, biblical economic ethics is best characterized as a
chronicle of how God provides for humanity through people s mutual
solicitude and hard work. The economic ordinances, aphorisms, and
admonitions of the Old and New Testament turn out to be an
unmerited divine invitation to participate in God s governance of
the world. Our economic conduct provides us with a unique
opportunity to shine forth in our creation in the image and
likeness of God. Often extremely demanding, hard, and even fraught
with temptations and distractions, economic life nevertheless is,
at its core, an occasion for humans to grow in holiness, charity,
and perfection."
This book explores the vital role of faith-based organizations
(FBOs) in compensating for the market's and government's inability
to provide vital services. Its key theoretical contribution is the
notion that poverty is the result of a triadic failure-when
markets, government, and civil society become dysfunctional at the
same time. Using data on Catholic missionaries' development work,
this study presents the various ways by which FBOs mitigate market
and government failures in healthcare, education, and social
services, and in the process build and strengthen civil society.
This study has two main objectives. First, it aims to present an
overview of missionaries' development work, evaluating the
socioeconomic significance of their faith-based development work.
In addition, various comparative advantages and disadvantages have
been imputed to FBOs in the religion-development literature, and we
assess to what extent missionaries actually exhibit these posited
qualities in practice. Second, the groundwork is laid for future
religion-development scholars by presenting a theoretical framework
and a method for evaluating the role and contributions of FBOs in
the larger community. This is an important investigation of
contemporary worldwide Christianity and its relationship with
development. As such, it will interest scholars of religious
studies and missiology, as well as development economics, public
service and the political economy.
We seek to be both loving and just. However, what do we do when
love and justice present us with incompatible obligations? Can one
be excessively just? Should one bend rules or even break the law
for the sake of compassion? Alternatively, should one simply follow
rules? Unjust beneficence or uncaring justice - which is the less
problematic moral choice? Moral dilemmas arise when a person can
satisfy a moral obligation only by violating another moral duty.
These quandaries are also called moral tragedies because despite
their good intentions and best effort, people still end up being
blameworthy. Conflicting demands of compassion and justice are
among the most vexing problems of social philosophy, moral
theology, and public policy. They often have life-and-death
consequences for millions. In this book, Albino Barrera examines
how and why compassion-justice conflicts arise to begin with, and
what we can do to reconcile their competing claims.
In his celebrated Essay on Population, Thomas Malthus raised the
puzzle of why a benevolent Creator would permit material scarcity
in human existence. Albino Barrera revisits this question using
Thomas Aquinas’s metaphysics of participation and Sacred
Scripture’s invitation to covenant fidelity and kingdom
discipleship as analytical lenses with which to examine the seeming
incongruity of scarcity in God’s providence. Barrera concludes
that scarcity turns out to be a signal opportunity for economic
agency to receive, internalize, and communicate God’s goodness
and righteousness within the human community. Written for
theologians, philosophers, social scientists, and policymakers
interested in the theological and philosophical foundations of
economics, this study argues that precarious, subsistence living is
not an immutable law of nature. Rather, such a chronic, dismal
condition reflects personal and collective moral failure. In this
carefully researched study, Barrera argues that scarcity serves as
an occasion for God to provide for us through each other and that
there are strong metaphysical and scriptural warrants for enacting
progressive social policies for a better sharing of the goods of
the earth.
The marketplace is a remarkable social institution that has greatly
extended our reach so shoppers in the West can now buy fresh-cut
flowers, vegetables, and tropical fruits grown halfway across the
globe even in the depths of winter. However, these expanded choices
have also come with considerable moral responsibilities as our
economic decisions can have far-reaching effects by either
ennobling or debasing human lives. In this book, Albino Barrera
examines our own moral responsibilities for the distant harms of
our market transactions from a Christian viewpoint, identifying how
the market's division of labour makes us unwitting collaborators in
others' wrongdoing and in collective ills. His important account
covers a range of different subjects, including law, economics,
philosophy, and theology, in order to identify the injurious ripple
effects of our market activities.
The marketplace is a remarkable social institution that has greatly
extended our reach so shoppers in the West can now buy fresh-cut
flowers, vegetables, and tropical fruits grown halfway across the
globe even in the depths of winter. However, these expanded choices
have also come with considerable moral responsibilities as our
economic decisions can have far-reaching effects by either
ennobling or debasing human lives. In this book, Albino Barrera
examines our own moral responsibilities for the distant harms of
our market transactions from a Christian viewpoint, identifying how
the market's division of labour makes us unwitting collaborators in
others' wrongdoing and in collective ills. His important account
covers a range of different subjects, including law, economics,
philosophy, and theology, in order to identify the injurious ripple
effects of our market activities.
Markets can often be harsh in compelling people to make unpalatable
economic choices any reasonable person would not take under normal
conditions. Thus, workers laid off in mid-career accept lower-paid
jobs that are beneath their professional experience for want of
better alternatives. Economic migrants leave their families and
cross borders (legally or illegally) in search of a livelihood.
These are examples of economic compulsion. These economic ripple
effects have been virtually ignored in ethical discourse because
they are generally accepted to be the very mechanisms that generate
the market's much-touted allocative efficiency. Albino Barrera
argues that Christian thought on economic security offers an
effective framework within which to address the consequences of
economic compulsion.
In his celebrated Essay on Population, Thomas Malthus raised the
puzzle of why a benevolent Creator would permit material scarcity
in human existence. Albino Barrera revisits this question using
Thomas Aquinas's metaphysics of participation and Sacred
Scripture's invitation to covenant fidelity and kingdom
discipleship as analytical lenses with which to examine the seeming
incongruity of scarcity in God's providence. Barrera concludes that
scarcity turns out to be a signal opportunity for economic agency
to receive, internalize, and communicate God's goodness and
righteousness within the human community. Written for theologians,
philosophers, social scientists, and policymakers interested in the
theological and philosophical foundations of economics, this study
argues that precarious, subsistence living is not an immutable law
of nature. Rather, such a chronic, dismal condition reflects
personal and collective moral failure. In this carefully researched
study, Barrera argues that scarcity serves as an occasion for God
to provide for us through each other and that there are strong
metaphysical and scriptural warrants for enacting progressive
social policies for a better sharing of the goods of the earth.
Markets can often be harsh in compelling people to make unpalatable
economic choices any reasonable person would not take under normal
conditions. Thus, workers laid off in mid-career accept lower-paid
jobs that are beneath their professional experience for want of
better alternatives. Economic migrants leave their families and
cross borders (legally or illegally) in search of a livelihood.
These are examples of economic compulsion. These economic ripple
effects have been virtually ignored in ethical discourse because
they are generally accepted to be the very mechanisms that generate
the market's much-touted allocative efficiency. Albino Barrera
argues that Christian thought on economic security offers an
effective framework within which to address the consequences of
economic compulsion.
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