Zadok Paper S98 Autumn 1999
Christian Theology and Economics: a Reading Guide
by Paul Oslington

The Paper: This reading guide has been prepared with two groups in mind: firstly, students of economics seeking to relate their Christian faith to their studies and, second, for the non-economist Christian concerned about economic issues such as poverty, youth unemployment in Australia or the impact of economic activity on the environment. The contemporary student of economics will rarely encounter any discussion of relationships between economic and theological issues in university courses, and when theological or ethical issues do arise, exploration of them is considered illegitimate.

There is no lack of discussion of economic issues in newspapers and magazines. What is not so readily available is a competent and specifically Christian discussion. Also, on almost all issues there is disagreement about the causes of problems and their economic solution. In part, what is needed is a deeper understanding of the economics on which the policy discussion relies, and particularly a deeper understanding of the theological and ethical roots of this economics. I will emphasise this in the reading guide rather than details of the debates over particular issues as issues and the debate over them changes so rapidly.

The Author: Paul Oslington has been lecturer in economics at Deakin University Geelong since January 1998, after completing a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Sydney on the relationship between trade and unemployment, and a Bachelor of Divinity from Melbourne College of Divinity. Comments and suggestions on the guide are welcome and he can be contacted at School of Economics, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia 3217. E-mail: osling@deakin.edu.au

Introduction

MY INTEREST IN ECONOMICS came as I was growing up in middle-suburban Sydney and wanted to understand more what could be done about global poverty. This interest was stimulated in an Anglican Church I had become involved in, but the more I studied economics, the more I became convinced that the problems were not purely technical. This pushed me to the history of economic thought and methodology, and eventually to a divinity degree.

Having finished a thesis (on the economics of trade and unemployment) and begun to teach economics at university, I feel it important to continue to reflect on the theological dimensions of what I do. The position I have come to so far is that economics is theological but also that theology itself has economics within it. Trying to do one without an awareness of the other makes them both the poorer. Of course, the relationship between economics and theology is not completely symmetrical. Theology has a primacy which means it must ultimately orientate, relativise and sometimes criticise economics, but I do not believe this pushes us towards a 'Christian economics' that separates itself from mainstream economics. Such a move would reinforce the secularising processes which banished theological discussion from economics in the first place and cuts Christian economic reflection off from the helpful criticism of mainstream academic economics and theology. I am very much at the beginning of reflection on Christianity and economics, and conscious that there are many others further down the road.

For those wanting to make contact with other Christians thinking about these issues there is a UK Association of Christian Economists1 and a US Association of Christian Economists.2 Both publish a journal. The Zadok Institute has at times had economists groups but the only one currently meeting is in Canberra.3. Various churches have staff working on social issues and these are additional contacts. Churches also make periodic statements on economic issues, such as the various Papal Encyclicals4, the US Catholic Bishops Statements, the Oxford Declaration on Christian Faith and Economics and the Lausanne Declaration. I will not consider church statements further: they are discussed by Stackhouse, McCann and Roels5, Donal Dorr,6 Donald Hay,6 Kim Hawtrey8 and Digby Anderson.9

The US Association of Christian Economists journal has published a series of personal reflections by prominent Christian economists.10 Conference reports also give a feel for discussions among Christian economists. Two examples are Doug Hynd,11 who reports on a conference held in Winnipeg, and a special issue of the US Association of Christian Economists journal containing papers by David Richardson,12 John Tiemstra13 and Paul Heyne14 along with responses.

Reading guides and surveys include: Stackhouse, McCann and Roels' On Moral Business,15 Charles Wilber's Economics, Ethics and Public Policy,16 Anthony Waterman's article, "Economists on the Relation between Political Economy and Christian Theology",16 Geoffrey Brennan and Waterman's Economics and Religion: are they Distinct?18 James M. Dean and Waterman's Religion and Economics: Normative Social Theory,19 Kenneth Elzinga's article "A Christian View of Economic Order",20 John Tiemstra's review, "Christianity and Economics: a Review of Recent Literature",21 A.B. Cramp's section on "Economic Ethics",22 Roland Hoksbergen's article, "Is There a Christian Economics? Some Thoughts in the Light of the Rise of Postmodernism",23 Donald Hay's numerous writings,24 Andy Hartropp's bibliography, "Christianity and Economics: An Annotated Bibliography",25 Doug Hynd's writings for the Zadok Institute,26 Kim Hawtrey's articles,26 Paul Oslington and Kim Hawtrey's article, "Some Questions and a Bibliography on the Relationship between Christianity and Economics",28 Clive and Cara Beed's "A Christian Perspective on Economics",29 Ian Smith's chapter, "God and Economics",30 Craig Gay's, With Liberty and Justice for Whom? The Recent Evangelical Debate over Capitalism31 and David Richardson's article on "Frontiers in Economics and Christian Scholarship".32 Rodney Wilson surveys the literature on Islam and Judaism as well as Christianity in Economics: Ethics and Religion.33

To: Introductions to economic theory and policy

Paul Oslington has been lecturer in economics at Deakin University Geelong since January 1998, after completing a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Sydney on the relationship between trade and unemployment, and a Bachelor of Divinity from Melbourne College of Divinity. Comments and suggestions on the guide are welcome and he can be contacted at School of Economics, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia 3217. E-mail: osling@deakin.edu.au