“AN INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN ECONOMICS” THE STARTING POINT OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS God has cursed the earth (Gen. 3:17-19). This is the starting point for all economic analysis. The earth no longer gives up her fruits automatically. Man must sweat to eat. Furthermore, among the able-bodied, Paul wrote, “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2Thess. 3:10). All of the speculations of Marxist economists will not find a way for the post-revolution utopian world to avoid the curse of scarcity imposed by the first principle, and none of the government welfare schemes of professional welfare economists will escape the ethical limits of the second. These are two of the “givens” in the universe. TWO FUNDAMENTAL ECONOMIC SEPARATIONS Scarcity came as a direct result of the original human rebellion; the foundation of geographical specialization (at least with respect to climate) was laid as a result of the evil of the pre-flood culture; the division of labor was enhanced with the very act of cultural, national, and geographical separation that came as a consequence of the Tower of Babel. The separation restrains men in the evil that they would do as a monolithic unit, yet the division of labor restrains men in the evil that they would do as atomistic, autonomous individuals. [Gary North, An Introduction to Christian Economics (Nutley, New Jersey: The Craig Press, [1973] 1974), pp. viii, ix].
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:57:04 +0000
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