Christian Perspectives On the Market*

Zusammenfassung

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This paper analyses tbe economic ethics of three main Christian traditions in Europe: the Roman Catholic tradition, the Evangelical tradition and the Ecumenical tradition. After defining several common and divergent elements of these different Christian traditions, we analyze the shortcomings of the free market operation concerning two common Christian values: the priority of the poor and stewardship of creation. We conclude that, because of these shortcomings, the Christian traditions will only provide conditional support to the free market.

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Auszug

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Christian Perspectives On the Market*

1. Introduction

Today, most countries are participating in a wodd economy that is governed by market relations. Globalization is not only a process that is stimulated by technological development improving communication and reducing transportation costs, but also a project deliberately stimulated by international governmental organizations such as IMF, the Wodd Bank and WTO. As barriers of trade have fallen across the wodd, a global economy has emerged for many goods and services. The increased competition has also pushed national economic policies towards more market-aligned institutions and has put welfare states under pressure.

In Christian circles, this development has generated a commonly shared feeling of uneasiness. Some churches have claimed that the woddwide economic system causes accumulation of the wealth of the rich at the expense of the poor and considers this as unfaithfulness to God. A recent example is the Accra Declaration (2004) of the General Council of the Wodd Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARQ.1 It rejects the current economic order of global capitalism, because it defies God's covenant by excluding the poor, and because it stimulates a culture of rampant consumerism and competitive greed and selfishness. Other churches are less critical about the current woddwide economic order, but still share the feeling of uneasiness with the increase in competition and reduction of organized solidarity.

In this paper, we analyse the economic ethics of three main Christian traditions in Europe - the Roman Catholic tradition, the Evangelical tradition and the Ecumenical tradition - and identify common elements and divergences. In section 3 and 4, we analyse the reconcilability of free market operation with two main and most challenging concerns that are common to all three Christian traditions, namely the priority ...

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