I have heard many references in speeches and sermons to the Parable of the Rich Fool. Many of them were aimed at business people, probably most of them were aimed at middle-class to upper middle-class workers.
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One of the frequently overlooked little details of the Gospel is that when the wise men from the East announced that the birth of the Messiah, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem was troubled with him.
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As we have seen there were major differences between the Galilean political economy and that of Judea. This difference in economic base was partly due to providence as expressed in the geographical differences.
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In our ongoing series about Jesus' model for economic engagement during His earthly ministry, we look next at the encounter with Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector.
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We’re so excited to share a conversation today that we think is long overdue. If you’ve been following the website, you’ve no doubt seen the name Jerry Bowyer as we’ve featured several of his blog posts (including “Jesus’ Terrible Financial Advice,” “How God’s Work is the Model for Your Work” and others)—all of which are must-reads.
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I wrote several months ago about New Testament scholar (read here and here), Ben Witherington III, and his book, A Week in the Life of Corinth. What I find most fascinating about the book is the degree to which Christians were integrated into the economic life of the city.
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The first thing Jesus says about investing is something which He doesn't explicitly say, but implies: that is, that investment is permitted, and even good. This is implied by the fact that Jesus tells parables in which the investor is 'the good guy'.
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“Before we can even ask how things might go wrong, we must first explain how they could ever go right.”
These words from Friederich August Hayek, the Australian-born economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974, set us on our path.
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The confrontation with the moneychangers has been used to enlist Jesus into an ideological war against finance. There are many examples, but probably the best known of them is FDR's inaugural address in which he extensively referenced this text.
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Our friend Jerry Bowyer recently interviewed Ron Blue and Karen Guess to discuss the relationship between greed and material wealth. While Western culture tends to view materialism as something that only wealthy people experience, Ron Blue’s trip to Africa pointed to the fact that it is more of a human problem than a social one. See what else they had to say in the full interview below.
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Hobby Lobby founder David Green's new book is both memoir and message. The message is that God owns everything, including David Green’s multi-billion dollar business. He applied that principle first in the form of personal generosity, eschewing the CEO lifestyle for one of high and growing philanthropy.
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We talked about the creation account in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. I spent 5 years in almost daily study of the Hebrew text of the early chapters of Genesis and then spent another year writing up that research into a 240 page thesis for which I was awarded the Sacred Licentiate in Theology degree (STL) by the Collegium Augustinianum. In other words, I've spent a lot of time on this: I'm not winging it.
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Jesus' terrible financial advice is that you cannot serve two masters. If you serve money, then you cannot possibly be serving God. God and Mammon are incompatible poles around which to orient a life; therefore, a life serving money puts you at odds with God.
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The first treatise on double-entry bookkeeping came from the mind and pen of Luca Pacioli. If you've ever wondered why there is a system of accounting software named after a Renaissance era mathematician, now you know.
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