Five Things You Need to Know about Faith, Work, and Economics

It is not uncommon for many people to think there is an unbridgeable chasm between Christianity and economics.

• There are unbelievers who are aghast at the notion that economic truth has any affinity with anything smacking of religious belief.

• On the other hand, many Christians assume economics is about how greedy people satisfy their lust of the eye and pride of life.

In fact, God is interested in both the spiritual and material aspects of his creation, and there are many truths that indicate the connection between economic theory and a Christian view of humanity and nature.

In fact, the opposite is true.

There is No Conflict between Christian Faith and Sound Economics

Economics is part of the created order and, hence, part of God’s general revelation (Psalm 19:1–4). We are only able to engage in science of any kind because God created a universe with purpose and natural regularities we call scientific laws (Genesis 1:1, 14–16, 20–25; Psalm 119:89-90; 72:5-7, 17; 89:34-37).

Additionally, God made every person in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and, therefore, like God, we engage in purposeful behavior.

Consequently, those economic laws that are implications of human action are reflections of God’s glory as he reveals it in creation.

The Laws of Economics Are Predicated on a Christian View of Man

Whether we acknowledge it or not, as implied above, economic laws, such as the law of comparative advantage and the law of supply and demand, are consequences of our being made in God’s image.

Therefore, we can understand more about the nature of man as we understand more about the image of God.

Because God thinks (Isaiah 55:8–9) and acts with purpose (Genesis 1:1–4, 14-18) and because man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), it is reasonable to conclude that man is able to think and act with purpose, including within an economic setting.

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