collinsbo's blog

Recently, I came across an extraordinary statement in a comment on this blog: "I don't think that Jesus was that concerned about life on the physical plane." This statement, which took my breath away, epitomizes a certain implicit and unBiblical attitude among Christians that I think is so widespread as to be rarely questioned or even made conscious.

While no one would dispute that Jesus cared primarily about our spiritual well-being, this concern cannot occur without caring about the facts of life on earth. To say that Jesus cares about our spirit, but is not that concerned about events on the physical plane is precisely the kind of specious dichotomy that is at the center of so much carelessness about issues of peace and justice among many Christians. Out of such dichotomies, wars are concocted, economies are ravaged, and the ecology of the earth laid waste.

God cares. He cares about us as spiritual beings. He cares about us as physical beings. In the Catholic tradition, the spiritual and physical parts of humanity are parts of a single totality which we call the "human being". This synthesis between the spiritual and earthly parts of man was made by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 12th century and I'd like to briefly recap it for those who may not be familiar with it.

As Christians, we should target our economic vision using the fundamental truths revealed to us by the Bible, the saints and Fathers of the Church. St. Thomas Aquinas has shown us that the goal of a society should to create a field of virtue in which its members can pursue their salvation in solidarity. Well-being arises from two factors according to St. Thomas: "For the well-being of the individual two things are necessary: the first and most essential is to act virtuously (it is through virtue, in fact, that we live a good life); the other, and secondary, requirement is rather a means, and lies in a sufficiency of material goods, such as are necessary to virtuous action." St. Thomas Aquinas, De Regimine Principum, chap. XV. From this we see that the goal of economics is to provide sufficient material goods to form the basis for the life of virtue. Rather than making security or survival or constant expansion of material goods the goal of economic policy, Christian economics must be centered in promoting the exercise of those virtues which lead to salvation.

As a Catholic, there are two sources of basic Christian doctrine, the Bible first of all and then the teachings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, especially Saint Thomas Aquinas. So I'll use these sources to try and define what I think the basics of Christian economics are.

The foundation, I believe, is the Golden Rule: "You shall not oppress your neighbor...but you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Lev. 19:13, 18) And the Bible actually has much to say about how to implement the Golden Rule in economic life. But before I get to that, a more fundamental assumption is that our goal as Christians is communion with God. Economic life should therefore promote communion with God by creating conditions that allow us to produce the goods we need for life in a way that promotes solidarity, sharing and compassion for the poor and weak.

As significant as economic results and historical analysis might be, as Christians, I believe we have deeper commitments that economic practice must reflect. The perhaps unexamined assumption behind much Christian economic discuss is that the primary purpose of an economic system is to produce an abundance of consumer goods. But what should the goal of an economic system be if we are to fulfill Christ's call to solidarity?

Is capitalism really the bringer of economic gifts that most Christians believe it is? The conventional Christian viewpoint is well summarized by a blogger on the progressive CrossLeft site: ""I personally think capitalism is a neutral system, with its benefits and flaws. Adam Smith wrote that individuals who pursue their self interests in a competitive system often inadvertently create widespread social gains. In the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution created a middle class of over 100 million people in the U.S. Free market reforms in the 1970s have given China a middle class of over 200 million people today. India has now a middle class of 200 million people due to its free markets."