Category Archives: research article

Jamshed Y. Uppal Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 3 (2023): ##-## AbstractLimitations on or total prohibition of usury (or interest) have been a pervasive theme across religions and ancient societies. Since medieval times, two major institutional changes relating to non-performance of debt contracts have taken place, namely, the abolition of slavery and theContinue reading “Usury, Slavery, and Limited Liability”

Emil B. Berendt Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 3 (2023): ##-## AbstractThis article argues that much of Scholastic and neo-Scholastic teaching on usury rests on practical considerations regarding redistribution and market instability. This aspect of usury is underappreciated by economists, especially those in the field of the history of economic thought. A coreContinue reading “The Scholastic View on Usury and Economic Instability”

Esa Mangeloja Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 3 (2023): ##-## AbstractThe principle of benevolence is at the root of Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) thinking on society, the economy, and business ethics. Luther was the forerunner of the moral economy. He saw the necessity of strong public authorities, which should take into account the publicContinue reading “Martin Luther’s Business Ethics and the Economic Utopia”

Ida Simonsson Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 2, no. 2 (2022): 85-100 AbstractThis article analyzes prices and value as constituting a theological problem in early and medieval Christian thought. First, it looks at the patristic critique of wealth and market prices and shows that such critique was rooted in a concern with aContinue reading “Value and the Market’s (Dis)Order: Market Prices as a Theological Problem in Patristic Thought and the Value Theory of Peter of John Olivi”

Andrew Swann Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 2, no. 2 (2022): 67-83 AbstractThis essay explores the use of financial instruments and the way such instruments discipline actors to envisage time, the future, and its possibilities. Through the construction of a contrastive theological account of futurity, using the Christian Discourses of the Danish theologian-philosopherContinue reading “Volatility and Foresight: Risk, Derivatives, and Kierkegaard’s Christian Discourses”

Tong Zhang Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 2, no. 2 (2022): 51-66 AbstractEconomic neoliberalism promises social efficiency with self-interested participants and free competition. This doctrine is challenged by the extensive production of wasteful goods and services in the contemporary West. By studying three types of wasteful production—conspicuous goods, conspicuous profession, and information overproduction—Continue reading “The Logic of Wasteful Production”

H. Spencer Banzhaf Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 1, no. 2 (2021): 193-215 AbstractRecently, some theological ethicists have criticized modern economics for offering a rival theology that undermines an appreciation for creation and God’s gifts. In their view, through the logic of opportunity cost, economics substitutes a tragic world of scarcity for God’sContinue reading “Economics and Theological Ethics: An Environmental Economist Replies to his Queen”

Joost Hengstmengel Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 1, no. 2 (2021): 137-158 AbstractOne of the earliest attempts at formulating a systematic religious approach to economics was undertaken by neo-Calvinists, first in the Netherlands, and later in the twentieth century also in the Anglo-Saxon world. While their approach to and achievements in economics haveContinue reading “The Amateur Economist: Abraham Kuyper and Economics”

Emmanuelle Auriol / Jean-Philippe Platteau / Thierry Verdier Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 1, no. 2 (2021): 159-191 AbstractIn order to elucidate the revival of religion in the Muslim countries, we must not only understand the spread of puritan interpretations of the faith (as they have permeated movements running from Muslim Brothers toContinue reading “The Triangular Game between Autocrats, Clerics, and the Military: An Application to Muslim Countries”

Luigino Bruni Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, vol. 1, no. 2 (2021): 117-135 AbstractThe parable of the Good Samaritan is not only part of the spiritual, ethical, and artistic heritage of the West; this biblical passage has also been used in economics. Some leading economists, J. Buchanan and A. Sen, in particular, have devotedContinue reading “The Samaritan’s Trust Game”