Money
Benjamin Franklin is famous for saying, among many other things, that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. If he were writing today, I suspect he might want to alter one of those terms—not so much death and taxes, but debt and taxes. Debt has become as much a part of our […]
Even more than Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a most unexpected best-seller, especially given the fact that, unlike Hawking's most famous work, this one contains no pictures. It is also probable that the two works have something else in common: many more people own the […]
"When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty without Hurting the Poor’¦and Yourself" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
In a helpful addition to the growing evangelical literature on poverty, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert argue persuasively that many well-meaning attempts to help the poor end up hurting them, as well as those trying to help. The book's title is unfortunate, connoting an overall pessimism toward helping the poor, when the authors are clearly […]
7. Parity Among all Professions:The Doctrine of Vocation Another of the culture-shaping aspects of Calvin's thought was his emphasis on the sacredness of ordinary vocations. Before Calvin and the Protestant Reformation, the doctrine of vocation or calling was thought to be exclusively for the clergy. However, his view of work as inherently dignified by our […]
