To suggest Jesus is a Capitalist is to try to shoehorn Jesus into a system that, while good, is not perfect. No man-made system is perfect, although obviously some are much better than others. I acknowledge that there are many passages that affirm principles that capitalism includes. But I seriously doubt that in eternity, the system that will oversee our efforts will be capitalism - given one of the key attributes of capitalism is to make a profit. Yes, in this broken world of ours capitalism has led to much good, but it has also yielded a lot of awful results as well. And I share all this as someone who was a capitalist throughout five decades and who benefited greatly from capitalism.
Rod, to reiterate I am not opposed to capitalism. It has greatly benefited me and my family. However, what I cringe at is to call Jesus a Capitalist. That is using a system devised by man, that includes many biblical principles, but also includes many principles that appeal to man's baser nature, to describe Jesus. That is why I responded. Jesus is God -- not a Capitalist.
But to provide you with at least one passage, I'll go to the Matthew 5, the passage that every Christian should be familiar with, and should be what we should all strive for. In this passage, there are many qualities that are generally the antithesis of capitalism, or at least the goals of capitalism. Note a few of them: "poor, mourn, humble, hunger and thirst for justice, merciful, pure hearts, peace, turn the other cheek, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you." Most of these qualities are not used to describe any Capitalist, but they all describe Jesus.
One of the key components of capitalism is competition. Competition at its core requires that one wins and someone else doesn't win, or at least they come in second, or third, or last. Competition leads to all sorts of wrong attitudes. Humility is not generally associated with competition. Although when we see a winner who is humble we all marvel and are impressed. This is because most winners are not humble. This is just one example.
I could go on and on but hopefully you get the point. Capitalism is perhaps the best option we have in a broken world. But it's not the best option ultimately. I'm certain that Jesus has a much better option than Capitalism that all those who love Jesus can look forward to.
I have to disagree with your assessment of Matthew 5. You are needlessly associating various vices with the system of private property and free enterprise. You are also needlessly opposing competition.
But in fact, the Logos establishes a system of private property. He requires us not to steal. He requires us not to even think about it (coveting). He limits government to a tax level less than the tithe (I Sam. 8). And He distributes gifts unevenly, while praising a striving for excellence and condemning failure to pursue it.
Pursuing excellence, especially in a system in which gifts are uneven, is going to produce varying results. And some people are going to outperform others. This is not antithetical to what Christ is discussing in the Sermon on the Mount but rather part and parcel of it: if we are to "love our neighbor as ourself", that will necessarily work out as an effort to solve their problems. And most of their problems are economic: food, shelter, education for their children, clothing, and so forth. A system of private property necessarily results in competition to provide those things better than others do. Churches clearly do the same thing to best provide for spiritual needs, although I suppose if one is Catholic they might disagree.
This is all part of the design. Does God not intend the results of following His own law? And He uses that faithfulness to cause men to excel in all things, and thus push back the effects of the Curse and fulfill the Creation Mandate, as well as the Great Commission. Paul admonishes to run so as to win. If God hated competition, He certainly wouldn't write such words in His Bible.
Does God hate sin? Of course. Can competition lead to evil things? Certainly: Cain murdered Abel. But to abolish everything that could cause us to sin is effectively to commit suicide: sin is the misuse of good things, and sinful man will misuse everything.
Finally, I understand that one might take offense at identifying the Lord with a human concept. But is it actually human? No: every idea that we think of as "capitalist" is rooted in God's law, including that most revolutionary of ideas the division of labor, which springs not from Adam Smith but from Paul's metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 of the body of Christ. We simply describe the collection of God's economic teachings by the term "capitalism", and it is certainly not the only one applicable. Likewise we describe our opposition to abortion, euthanasia, child sacrifice and so on as "Pro-Life". It is not wrong to say God is pro-life simply because we created that terminology: the ideas and the purposes are His, and we are simply describing them.
In any case, unless you have a better descriptor for the system of private property, low taxes, small government and market competition described in Scripture, I think "capitalism" will suffice. And I would also note that every system on Earth that violates those principles also violates God's explicit commands.
By no means does this relieve us of the need to follow the Word's other teachings, including those in Matthew 5. Quite the contrary. No one Biblical teaching is isolated from the rest. But that just further presses my point: we cannot pretend piety while ignoring God's opinion on how we are, and are not, to conduct the activities that take up most of our time and efforts, no matter how many Christians think they can.
Rod, I appreciate your thoughts and agree with the preponderance of them. Although in several instances you've mischaracterized mine. As I already stated, I believe capitalism, with all its imperfections, is likely the best system we know of. But we limit God when we attempt to define God by what we know. Because we like capitalism and we see many of its attributes in scripture does not make Jesus a Capitalist. I have no doubt that Jesus will introduce us to systems that greatly outshine the best of what we know.
That said, when you state I "needlessly" associate vices with capitalism and state I am "needlessly opposing competition" you are just wrong.
My life has been characterized by competition, from my earliest years, to present. There is nothing that I stated about competition that is not factual or that should lead someone to believe I oppose it. To point out some of the flaws in something does not mean that person opposes the something. The inherent flaws I offered of capitalism as well as competition, are simple realities of the systems. It does not make them bad. It simply makes them imperfect.
But back to the original objection that I had. It is not to capitalism. It's to calling Jesus a capitalist. As I stated earlier, Jesus is God. Capitalism is an imperfect system and thus should not be used to define Jesus. I don't expect you to agree with my thoughts but I felt I needed to share them. I appreciate your articles. Have a good day.
I'm curious- in what way does a free market (especially in contrast to a slave market, with all manner of regulations and 3rd-parties deciding who pays what and who charged what) contradict anything in the scope of biblical revelation?
To suggest Jesus is a Capitalist is to try to shoehorn Jesus into a system that, while good, is not perfect. No man-made system is perfect, although obviously some are much better than others. I acknowledge that there are many passages that affirm principles that capitalism includes. But I seriously doubt that in eternity, the system that will oversee our efforts will be capitalism - given one of the key attributes of capitalism is to make a profit. Yes, in this broken world of ours capitalism has led to much good, but it has also yielded a lot of awful results as well. And I share all this as someone who was a capitalist throughout five decades and who benefited greatly from capitalism.
Okay. That sounds nice at an extremely general level. Could you specify where the Bible contradicts me?
Rod, to reiterate I am not opposed to capitalism. It has greatly benefited me and my family. However, what I cringe at is to call Jesus a Capitalist. That is using a system devised by man, that includes many biblical principles, but also includes many principles that appeal to man's baser nature, to describe Jesus. That is why I responded. Jesus is God -- not a Capitalist.
But to provide you with at least one passage, I'll go to the Matthew 5, the passage that every Christian should be familiar with, and should be what we should all strive for. In this passage, there are many qualities that are generally the antithesis of capitalism, or at least the goals of capitalism. Note a few of them: "poor, mourn, humble, hunger and thirst for justice, merciful, pure hearts, peace, turn the other cheek, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you." Most of these qualities are not used to describe any Capitalist, but they all describe Jesus.
One of the key components of capitalism is competition. Competition at its core requires that one wins and someone else doesn't win, or at least they come in second, or third, or last. Competition leads to all sorts of wrong attitudes. Humility is not generally associated with competition. Although when we see a winner who is humble we all marvel and are impressed. This is because most winners are not humble. This is just one example.
I could go on and on but hopefully you get the point. Capitalism is perhaps the best option we have in a broken world. But it's not the best option ultimately. I'm certain that Jesus has a much better option than Capitalism that all those who love Jesus can look forward to.
I have to disagree with your assessment of Matthew 5. You are needlessly associating various vices with the system of private property and free enterprise. You are also needlessly opposing competition.
But in fact, the Logos establishes a system of private property. He requires us not to steal. He requires us not to even think about it (coveting). He limits government to a tax level less than the tithe (I Sam. 8). And He distributes gifts unevenly, while praising a striving for excellence and condemning failure to pursue it.
Pursuing excellence, especially in a system in which gifts are uneven, is going to produce varying results. And some people are going to outperform others. This is not antithetical to what Christ is discussing in the Sermon on the Mount but rather part and parcel of it: if we are to "love our neighbor as ourself", that will necessarily work out as an effort to solve their problems. And most of their problems are economic: food, shelter, education for their children, clothing, and so forth. A system of private property necessarily results in competition to provide those things better than others do. Churches clearly do the same thing to best provide for spiritual needs, although I suppose if one is Catholic they might disagree.
This is all part of the design. Does God not intend the results of following His own law? And He uses that faithfulness to cause men to excel in all things, and thus push back the effects of the Curse and fulfill the Creation Mandate, as well as the Great Commission. Paul admonishes to run so as to win. If God hated competition, He certainly wouldn't write such words in His Bible.
Does God hate sin? Of course. Can competition lead to evil things? Certainly: Cain murdered Abel. But to abolish everything that could cause us to sin is effectively to commit suicide: sin is the misuse of good things, and sinful man will misuse everything.
Finally, I understand that one might take offense at identifying the Lord with a human concept. But is it actually human? No: every idea that we think of as "capitalist" is rooted in God's law, including that most revolutionary of ideas the division of labor, which springs not from Adam Smith but from Paul's metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 of the body of Christ. We simply describe the collection of God's economic teachings by the term "capitalism", and it is certainly not the only one applicable. Likewise we describe our opposition to abortion, euthanasia, child sacrifice and so on as "Pro-Life". It is not wrong to say God is pro-life simply because we created that terminology: the ideas and the purposes are His, and we are simply describing them.
In any case, unless you have a better descriptor for the system of private property, low taxes, small government and market competition described in Scripture, I think "capitalism" will suffice. And I would also note that every system on Earth that violates those principles also violates God's explicit commands.
By no means does this relieve us of the need to follow the Word's other teachings, including those in Matthew 5. Quite the contrary. No one Biblical teaching is isolated from the rest. But that just further presses my point: we cannot pretend piety while ignoring God's opinion on how we are, and are not, to conduct the activities that take up most of our time and efforts, no matter how many Christians think they can.
Rod, I appreciate your thoughts and agree with the preponderance of them. Although in several instances you've mischaracterized mine. As I already stated, I believe capitalism, with all its imperfections, is likely the best system we know of. But we limit God when we attempt to define God by what we know. Because we like capitalism and we see many of its attributes in scripture does not make Jesus a Capitalist. I have no doubt that Jesus will introduce us to systems that greatly outshine the best of what we know.
That said, when you state I "needlessly" associate vices with capitalism and state I am "needlessly opposing competition" you are just wrong.
My life has been characterized by competition, from my earliest years, to present. There is nothing that I stated about competition that is not factual or that should lead someone to believe I oppose it. To point out some of the flaws in something does not mean that person opposes the something. The inherent flaws I offered of capitalism as well as competition, are simple realities of the systems. It does not make them bad. It simply makes them imperfect.
But back to the original objection that I had. It is not to capitalism. It's to calling Jesus a capitalist. As I stated earlier, Jesus is God. Capitalism is an imperfect system and thus should not be used to define Jesus. I don't expect you to agree with my thoughts but I felt I needed to share them. I appreciate your articles. Have a good day.
I'm curious- in what way does a free market (especially in contrast to a slave market, with all manner of regulations and 3rd-parties deciding who pays what and who charged what) contradict anything in the scope of biblical revelation?