One of the great but long-forgotten works of political economy from the nineteenth century was not written by a politician or an economist — it was written by the Baptist minister Francis Wayland (1796–1865). He was equally an author, a preacher, a teacher, a pastor, and an administrator. Because he was a Baptist minister, it is no surprise that Wayland held to the absolute authority of the Bible. But he was equally an advocate of liberty, property, and peace. FULL ARTICLE
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/6234/francis-wayland-preacher-economist/
Francis Wayland: Preacher-Economist
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“Conservative Christianity and laissez-faire economics are not incompatible.”
Not only are they compatible, an honest interpretation of the Bible requires laissez-faire economics, as Gary North writes.
As Rothbard and others show, free market economics goes back to the Late Scholastics, who were devout Catholics. Protestants inherited and first implemented Scholastic laissez-faire economics in the Dutch Republic, fully understanding that they had derived the principles of the system from the Bible.
Thanks for another interesting article about Wayland.
As a Christian and an Austrian economist, I say “Amen”. It’s too bad that most Christians today have been indoctrinated with the Social Gospel, instead of the actual Gospel.
Wayland sounds like he’s a socialist.
Read “Modes in which the right of property may be violated by society P 274″.
Sounds like you can drive a truck thru that loophole!
I should’ve included the text I referred to in my previous comment:
The Elements of Moral Science (1835).
RogerM writes: “Not only are they compatible, an honest interpretation of the Bible requires laissez-faire economics.”
To true! God ordained the free market when He said, “Thou shalt not steal.” And He condemned overriding this principle of private property, even for “good” ends, when through Peter He said, “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control?” in Acts 5:4. (See the context to see this is about free will in charity. Even the church is not empowered to take money from the rich to give to the poor, much less the government.)
Read “Modes in which the right of property may be violated by society P 274″.
Sounds like you can drive a truck thru that loophole!
I don’t see that section in Moral Science. I do see:
SECT. 2: Modes in Which the Right of Property May Be Violated by the Individual
&
SECT. 3: Right of Property as Violated by Society
Neither of which seem Socialist upon reading them. Rather they seem to indicate a voluntary society where individuals pay user fees for services, and are able to withdraw from society at will.
From here.
The formatting is all wrong on that last post, but y’all can get the gist.
— “Conservative Christianity and laissez-faire economics are not incompatible.” —
That statement is dead-on. But, I’ll take it a step further. The current attitude of Christians toward the state amounts to idolatry — pure and simple.
On the right: Christians have made an idol of the flag and the military.
On the left: Christians have tried to make the state the primary means of grace rather than the church (which is the biblical means of grace) and have made an idol of social spending for the benefit of “the poor” and “the children.”
The modern church (for the most part) has departed so far from the biblical model of Christianity that many Christians consider the biblical model to be “radical.”
Chip:”The current attitude of Christians toward the state amounts to idolatry — pure and simple.”
I couldn’t agree more! Mises called it statolatry. A lot of the criticism of markets and worship of the state seems to come from Karl Barth. I was just reading an article from the Acton Institute on Barth’s opposition to capitalism at http://www.acton.org/publicat/m_and_m/new/controversy.php?article=5. Barth may have been a great theologian, but he swallowed the Marxist view of capitalism whole. He opposed Socialism, too, which only means that he fell for the nonsense of some elusive third way. Someone needs to illuminate Barth’s stupidity on economics so the rest of Protestantism can quit worshipping the state.
Thanks for passing along that Barth article, Roger M.
Roger — Thanks for the article. I was unaware of Barth’s view of economics. However, I do respect his role in opposing the worship of the state. He was the author of the Barmen Declaration of 1934 which opposed the establishment of the Reich Church and the state’s authority over the church as a whole. Along with Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others in the Confessing Church, Barth was a voice calling for a return to biblical Christianity (regardless of his erroneous view of economics).
I couldn’t agree with you more, however, that illumination is needed to help the church stop worshipping the state.
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