Blog posts

What WALL-E and Wilhelm Röpke Teach Us about Work and Economics

By Joseph Sunde Humans have a tendency to daydream about a day or a place where work is no more, whether it be a retirement home on a golf course or a utopian society filled with leisure and merriment. But is a world without work all that desirable? In a recent lecture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the question is explored by Dr… Read More

Election 2016: 3 Principles and Practices for Christian Political Engagement

By Charlie Self “This is the worst campaign in history.” “Unbelievable – it cannot get any worse!” “Is this the best the two parties can offer?” “How did we get here?” “He is unworthy of being president.” “She is the least qualified candidate in history.” “He is a misogynist, racist and xenophobe.” “She is corrupt, a serial liar and does not like… Read More

From the Roots of Society to the Fruits of Discipleship

By Joseph Sunde Jesus calls us to reach beyond an earthbound economics, re-orienting our thinking around a Kingdom-first perspective that requires active spiritual engagement and discernment. Yet even as Christians, we set our sights on the material without first considering what God would have us do. Alas, transcendent ends will only come from… Read More

Piety and Politics: The Church’s Social Responsibility

By Jordan Ballor According to a Pew Research Center report, “Religiously unaffiliated people have been growing as a share of all Americans for some time…. Religious ‘nones’ – a shorthand we use to refer to people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is ‘nothing in particular’ – now make up roughly 23… Read More

The Doom Delusion: Overcoming Pessimism in a Prosperous Age

By Joseph Sunde Global poverty is on the decline. Technological progress is pacing at break-neck speed. Freedom and opportunity are spreading across the world. And yet our political classes and popular masses continue to preach of impending doom. Why do we have so much pessimism in an age of such pronounced prosperity? In an essay for The… Read More

How Much Economic Value Does Religion Provide America?

By Joe Carter How much value does religion add to the U.S. economy? According to a new study the effect of religion exceeds the revenue of the ten largest tech companies—including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook combined. The study, recently published in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, provides three estimates of the… Read More