Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Christian Social Thought

August 22, 2013

Prudent Stewardship and the Cappadocian Fathers

Today at Ethika Politika, I examine a few rules of prudent stewardship that follow from the teachings of the Cappadocian fathers on poverty, almsgiving, and fasting. One of the great challenges in this area today is how best to live out in our present context the statement of St. Continue Reading...
August 16, 2013

Virtuous Bribery? Care for Prisoners in the Early Church

In her historical study of wealth and poverty in the early Church, Loving the Poor, Saving the Rich, Helen Rhee offers the following interesting historical tidbit with regards to how early Christians were able to minister to their imprisoned brothers and sisters who awaited martyrdom: Bribing the prison guards, which must have cost a certain amount, features frequently enough in the Christian texts. Continue Reading...
August 14, 2013

Pope Francis and the Catholic Way of Dialogue

In Crisis Magazine, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg discusses how Pope Francis and the Catholic Church engage other religions and philosophies: “Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.” That, according to Pope Francis, is the response he gives when leaders ask him for advice about how to resolve their societies’ internal differences. Continue Reading...
August 13, 2013

Economic Challenges Provide Church with Opportunity

Recent news reports on unemployment, underemployment, and the high level of dissatisfaction among those with full-time work are an opportunity for the church, says Michael Jahr. People are looking for meaning, fulfillment, opportunity – and the church has answers that no one else can provide. Continue Reading...
August 13, 2013

Zingers for Zinn

In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, David J. Bobb examines the way in which Howard Zinn has been elevated by Hollywood and the academic left to make “the late Marxist historian more influential than ever.” Continue Reading...
August 08, 2013

A conflict of Christian visions: Gen. 1-2 vs. Gen. 3 Christianity

There are two prominent schools of thought within conservative Protestant circles that continue to clash over what Christianity is about because their starting points comprise different biblical theological visions. I use the word “prominent” here because I fully recognize that there are other more nuanced voices in the Christian diaspora. Continue Reading...
July 30, 2013

How To Help Without Giving A Dime

Charitable giving, for the most part, involves money. But not always. The auto manufacturer, Toyota, donates efficiency. The car company’s model of kaizen (Japanese for “continuous improvement”) was one their employees believed could be beneficial beyond the manufacturing business. Continue Reading...