This Handbook introduces and systematically explores the thesis that the economy, economic practices and economic thought are of a profoundly theological nature. Containing more than 40 chapters, this Handbook provides a state-of-the-art reference work that offers students, researchers and policymakers an introduction to current scholarship, significant debates and emerging research themes in the study of the theological significance of economic concepts and the religious underpinnings of economic practices in a world that is increasingly dominated by financiers, managers, forecasters, market-makers and entrepreneurs. This Handbook brings together scholars from different parts of the world, representing various disciplines and intellectual traditions. It covers the development of economic thought and practices from antiquity to neoliberalism, and it provides insight into the economic–theological teachings of major religious movements. The list of contributors combines well-established scholars and younger academic talents. The chapters in this Handbook cover a wide array of conceptual, historical, theoretical and methodological issues and perspectives, such as the economic meaning of theological concepts (e.g. providence and faith); the theological underpinnings of economic concepts (e.g. credit and property); the religious significance of socio-economic practices in various organizational fields (e.g. accounting and work); and finally the genealogy of the theological–economic interface in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and in the discipline of economics itself (e.g. Marx, Keynes and Hayek). The Routledge Handbook of Economic Theology is organized in four parts: • Theological concepts and their economic meaning • Economic concepts and their theological anchoring • Society, management and organization • Genealogy of economic theology

What has theology to do with economics? They are both sciences of human action, but have traditionally been treated as very separate disciplines. Divine Economy is the first book to address the need for an active dialogue between the two. D. Stephen Long traces three strategies which have been used to bring theology to bear on economic questions: the dominant twentieth-century tradition, of Weber's fact-value distinction; an emergent tradition based on Marxist social analysis; and a residual tradition that draws on an ancient understanding of a functional economy. He concludes that the latter approach shows the greatest promise because it refuses to subordinate theological knowledge to autonomous social-scientific research. Divine Economy will be welcomed by those with an interest in how theology can inform economic debate.

In this addition to the award-winning Church and Postmodern Culture series, respected theologian Daniel Bell compares and contrasts capitalism and Christianity, showing how Christianity provides resources for faithfully navigating the postmodern global economy. Bell approaches capitalism and Christianity as alternative visions of humanity, God, and the good life. Considering faith and economics in terms of how desire is shaped, he casts the conflict as one between different disciplines of desire. He engages the work of two important postmodern philosophers, Deleuze and Foucault, to illuminate the nature of the postmodern world that the church currently inhabits. Bell then considers how the global economy deforms desire in a manner that distorts human relations with God and one another. In contrast, he presents Christianity and the tradition of the works of mercy as a way beyond capitalism and socialism, beyond philanthropy and welfare. Christianity heals desire, renewing human relations and enabling communion with God.

Since the early 20th century, economics has been the dominant discourse in English-speaking countries, displacing Christian theology from its previous position of authority. This path-breaking book is a major contribution to the interdisciplinary dialogue between economics and religion. Oslington tells the story of natural theology shaping political economy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, emphasising continuing significance of theological issues for the discipline of economics. Early political economists such as Adam Smith, Josiah Tucker, Edmund Burke, William Paley, TR Malthus, Richard Whately, JB Sumner, Thomas Chalmers and William Whewell, extended the British scientific natural theology tradition of Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton to the social world. This extension nourished and shaped political economy as a discipline, influencing its theoretical framework, but perhaps more importantly helping legitimate political economy in the British universities and public policy circles. Educating the public in the principles of political economy had a central place in this religiously driven program. Natural theology also created tensions (especially reconciling economic suffering with divine goodness and power) that eventually contributed to its demise and the separation of economics from theology in mid-19th-century Britain. This volume highlights aspects of the story that are neglected in standard histories of economics, histories of science and contemporary theology. Political Economy as Natural Theology is essential reading for all concerned with the origins of economics, the meaning and purpose of economic activity and the role of religion in contemporary policy debates.

Political economy and Christian theology coexisted happily in the intellectual world of the eighteenth century. During the nineteenth century they came to be seen as incompatible, even mutually hostile. In the twentieth century they went their separate ways and are no longer on speaking terms. These fourteen essays by Anthony Waterman serve as snapshots of the history of this estrangement, and illustrate the gradual replacement of the discourse of theology by that of economics as the rational framework of political debate. Others have recently shown that both political economy and Christian theology are important, though somewhat neglected elements in modern intellectual history. This book is the first to combine these two lines of inquiry.

Economics has always had a moral dimension; even free-market mascot Adam Smith was a Christian minister. Yet recent events have renewed and recast theological reflection on the economy as the gospel of prosperity succumbs to large-scale economic crisis. In that light Joerg Rieger explores the many dimensions of today's economic crisis. What are the fundamental shifts taking place in the global economy today, and how are they affecting provision for basic human needs, economic equity, and people's prospects?

This open access book seeks to foster a multidisciplinary understanding of the ties between faith, financial intermediation, and economic progress by drawing on research across economics, finance, history, philosophy, ethics, theology, public policy, law, and other disciplines. Chapters in this edited volume examine themes as consequential as economic opportunities, real world outcomes and faith; values and consumerism; faith, financial intermediation and economic development in Western and Islamic societies; and the impact of faith issues on US workers, on the workplace and religion, and on the characteristics of good wealth. Though engaging with difficult questions, this book is written in an accessible style to be enjoyed by laypeople and scholars alike.