Religion And Economics

By Reverend Jan Scholtz

For most people the proverbial war between science and religion ended long ago, either in a stalemate or a truce. But the conflict between religion and economics go on; apparently for good reasons, after all, didn’t Jesus through the money-changers out of the temple?

Economics isn’t called ‘the dismal science’ for nothing; what could be more dreary than the economic man put forward by classical economics- a creature motivated by nothing more than self-interest? What a contrast with the Christian man, who inspires to love God by serving others with hope and charity!

To make matters worse, classical economic theory assumes a world of scarce resources in which individuals have no choice but to compete with each other in order to survive. Our Christian faith, on the other hand, teaches us that in Gods world there is more than enough to go around.

But is the dispute between religion and economics really as irreconcilable as all that? Granted Jesus threw the money-changers from the temple, but he also praised the servants who profitably invested their masters money, and punished the one who tried to conserve it. If Jesus’ confrontation with the money lenders isn’t the sum of the Gospels lessons on economics then perhaps classical economics doesn’t have the last word on wealth either.

The ‘Economic Man’ may have only cared about profit and loss but some of today’s economists have a more generous perspective. They view intelligent money management as a means to achieving a better life rather than as an end in itself. For example, take Ben Stein and Phil de Muth’s book ‘Yes, you can still retire ‘comfortably’- they offer some surprising pieces of advice not only about money management but also about living well.

If Jesus perceived an inevitable conflict between faith and economics he never mentioned it- perhaps he had a more inclusive understanding of economics than many of us do.