The Godly Stewardship of Money

I certainly like where Dr. Calder ends up, but I’m not quite so sure about the argumentation he uses to get there. This short video is worth checking out: “Breaking the Power of Money” (HT: ESN blog). Continue Reading...

Spiritual Capital and Social Justice

Today at Ethika Politika, I examine the connection between the spiritual practice of meditation — the Jesus Prayer in particular — and justice: If we take justice to mean “to render to each what is due,” we may have some understanding of how this relates. Continue Reading...

Why Jesus is (Probably) Not a Keynesian

In a recent interview with Peter Enns, author and theologian N.T. Wright notes that in America, “the spectrum of liberal conservative theology tends often to sit rather closely with the spectrum of left and right in politics,” whereas, in other places, this is not quite the case: In England, you will find that people who are very conservative theologically by what we normally mean conservative in other words, believing in Jesus, believing in his death and resurrection, believing in the trinity are often the ones who are in the forefront of passionate and compassionate social concern of a sort which if were you to transport it to America would say, oh, that’s a bit left wing. Continue Reading...

Departing in Peace: Economics and Liturgical Living

In the most recent issue of Theosis (1.6), Fr. Thomas Loya, a Byzantine Catholic priest, iconographer, and columnist, has an interesting contribution on the upcoming feast of the Presentation of Christ at the Temple (also known as Candlemas or the “Meeting of the Lord”). Continue Reading...

Did Jesus Support a 100% Tax Rate?

“She must not have any friends,” my wife says all too frequently. “Because if she did they wouldn’t let her go out dressed like that.” Although the cattiness of her comment always makes me cringe, my wife does have a point. Continue Reading...

Uncommon Acts of Common Grace

In connection with the current Acton Commentary, over the last week I’ve been looking at what I call the “the overlap and varieties of these biblical terms” like ministry, service, and stewardship. Continue Reading...

The Little Drummer Boy’s Gift

Earlier this year Michael Kruse put out a request for suggestions for inclusion in a Commissioning Service for Human Vocation. This Advent season it struck me that the Christmas song, “The Little Drummer Boy,” or, “The Carol of the Drum,” is rich in vocational theology. Continue Reading...

What Would Jesus Cut? Who’s Asking, the Pharisees?

The next skirmish over the country’s financial direction will come in September as Congress tries to prepare for the federal government’s new fiscal year, which starts October 1st. The Christian Left has quoted the Bible quite freely during the budget battle, throwing around especially the “red letter” words of Christ in its campaign to protect all of the federal government’s poverty programs (even those so riddled with fraud that the White House wants to cut them). Continue Reading...