Category Archives: research article

Michaël Gonin Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 2 (2025): 205-225 AbstractFor most scholars and practitioners, a market economy is, fundamentally, an economy of competition. Yet competition is a concept with a diversity of meanings and uses in economics, management, and theology. In this paper I argue that while the Christian worldviewContinue reading “Market Economy Without Egocentric Deviance: A Theology of Excellence Instead of Competition”

Gordon Menzies, Arttu Mäkipää, & Steven C. van den Heuvel Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 1-8 Publication historyFirst view: 14 May 2025Published: 20 May 2025 1. Introducing the theme How does economics contribute to human flourishing? Economics can be understood either as an applied set of policy tools orContinue reading “Introduction to the Special Issue”

Xavier Meulders Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 157-71 AbstractLibertarian paternalism is “the set of interventions aimed at overcoming the unavoidable cognitive biases and decisional inadequacies of an individual by exploiting them in such a way as to influence her decisions (in an easily reversible manner) towards choices that sheContinue reading “An Anselmian Case Against Libertarian Paternalism”

Michaël Bauwens Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 173-188 AbstractThis paper charitably develops a possible metaphysical argument against usury, as a common ground on which theology and economics can consider the issue. The metaphysical framework is derived from Anselm’s Augustinian-Platonist metaphysics of participation whereby all goods are good through theContinue reading “Towards a Metaphysics of Usury”

Pim Boven Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 127-140 AbstractCan theologians, philosophers and economists have a fruitful conversation about human flourishing? In practice, that does not appear to be so easy. Nevertheless, I believe it is worthwhile to bring knowledge from different disciplines into conversation. In doing so, I chooseContinue reading “Path Dependency, Stewardship and Human Flourishing: An Economic Exploration”

Gordon Menzies Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 45-61 AbstractThis paper critiques constrained optimization as the dominant framework in contemporary economics by revealing its implicit theological flaw: the assumption that constraints are inherently bad. The author traces the development of Homo Economicus from Mill through Robbins to Becker, examining howContinue reading “The Divine Pretensions of Homo Economicus: Limits must be Bad”

Ellen Van Stichel Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 141-155 AbstractAristotle’s conceptualization of chremastikè and oikonomia offers a foundational framework for understanding the distinction between an economy focused on the accumulation of wealth, as represented by chremastikè, and one that prioritizes the needs of all members of a “household,” asContinue reading “Back to Aristotle: Catholic Social Thought’s Plea for the Economy as ‘Oikonomia’”

Emilio Di Somma Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 189-204 AbstractEconomics is a human activity. An understanding of such activity, therefore, cannot be achieved without an effort to understand the human person. As Bruni and Zamagni have affirmed, in their Dizionario di Economia Civile, social scientists and economists must takeContinue reading “Living Happily in a Happy Community: Economics as Friendship and Intersubjectivity”

Arttu Mäkipää Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 27-43 AbstractThe vast majority of economists reject the relevance of theology for their discipline. This paper challenges that consensus. Theological anthropology sees human beings as simultaneously created in the image of God, but also as fallen (through original sin). I argue thatContinue reading “The Paradox of the Fall: the Economics of Genesis as the Genesis of Economics”

Masao Ogaki Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (2025): 97-108 AbstractIn years to come, the “community mechanism” will become increasingly important. This is a mechanism in which at least one person voluntarily offers cooperation and is not rejected. The community mechanism complements the workings of the market mechanism (a mechanism basedContinue reading “The Economics and Theology of the Community Mechanism”