- Consulting Editors
- The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Economics in the Christian Scriptures
- Economics in the Church Fathers
- Voluntary Exchange and Coercion in Scholastic Economics
- Economics and Theology in Italy since the Eighteenth Century
- From the Foundation of Liberal Political Economy to its Critique: Theology and Economics in France in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- Theology and the Rise of Political Economy in Britain in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- Economics and Theology in Europe from the Nineteenth Century: From the Early Nineteenth Century’s Christian Political Economy to Modern Catholic Social Doctrine
- Economics and Theology after the Separation
- Roman Catholic Economics
- Anglicanism
- Eastern Orthodoxy’s Theology of Economics
- Reformed Christian Economics
- Theonomy and Economic Institutions
- Anabaptist Approaches to Economics
- Pentecostal Approaches to Economics
- Interface and Integration in Christian Economics
- Weber, Theology, and Economics
- Economic Religion and Environmental Religion
- Christianity and the Prospects for Development in the Global South
- Faith, Religion, and International Development
- Christianity and the Global Economic Order
- Economic Models of Churches
- The Economics of Religious Schism and Switching
- Spiritual Capital
- Religious Labor Markets
- Behavioral Economics of Religion
- Regulation of Religious Markets
- Economic Justice
- Happiness
- Usury
- Human Nature, Identity, and Motivation
- Gender
- Poverty
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
There are two key facts about development that are obvious yet often overlooked: the solution to material poverty is material wealth and the only sphere of society that generates such wealth is business. From these two foundations, the argument in this chapter is that Christianity can be, and often is, conducive to the kind of environment that business needs to flourish and for business to contribute to the well-being of society. It is remarkable the extent to which the role of religion and business are ignored in mainstream development thinking. One reason this is generally overlooked is that the development community tends to focus on definitions and causes of poverty, rather than what causes wealth. This chapter discusses the role of the Evangelical-Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement in promoting wealth through a sense of calling, a positive mind-set, delaying gratification, stimulating entrepreneurship, rationalization, and nurturing voluntary associations.
Keywords: interdisciplinary, economics, theology, religion, Christianity
Peter S. Heslam is Director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative at the University of Oxford, a Senior Member of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and a Visiting Professor at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics in China.
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- Consulting Editors
- The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Economics in the Christian Scriptures
- Economics in the Church Fathers
- Voluntary Exchange and Coercion in Scholastic Economics
- Economics and Theology in Italy since the Eighteenth Century
- From the Foundation of Liberal Political Economy to its Critique: Theology and Economics in France in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- Theology and the Rise of Political Economy in Britain in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- Economics and Theology in Europe from the Nineteenth Century: From the Early Nineteenth Century’s Christian Political Economy to Modern Catholic Social Doctrine
- Economics and Theology after the Separation
- Roman Catholic Economics
- Anglicanism
- Eastern Orthodoxy’s Theology of Economics
- Reformed Christian Economics
- Theonomy and Economic Institutions
- Anabaptist Approaches to Economics
- Pentecostal Approaches to Economics
- Interface and Integration in Christian Economics
- Weber, Theology, and Economics
- Economic Religion and Environmental Religion
- Christianity and the Prospects for Development in the Global South
- Faith, Religion, and International Development
- Christianity and the Global Economic Order
- Economic Models of Churches
- The Economics of Religious Schism and Switching
- Spiritual Capital
- Religious Labor Markets
- Behavioral Economics of Religion
- Regulation of Religious Markets
- Economic Justice
- Happiness
- Usury
- Human Nature, Identity, and Motivation
- Gender
- Poverty
- Index