Now to him who able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. –Ephesians 3:20, 21 Story and Imagination Now that the Disney Corporation […]
Ben Suriano interviews John Milbank on theology and capitalism.
The laissez-faire capitalism of Adam Smith (1723-1790) solidified the concept of private ownership seeking maximum profits primarily through self-regulation and competition.[1] Time has passed and the laissez-faire model has shifted though the essential elements of private ownership motivated by the accumulation of profits has remained. Profits once held predominantly by the bourgeois courtesy of the proletariat […]
At this juncture in history, we lack the concepts which make sense of our intuitions and the practices which embody and enact our cognition. For the predominant structures of thought and practice are part of a conceptuality and grammar which are collapsing under the weight of their own inner contradictions. This is true of empty […]
There’s a scene in Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film Distant that most moviegoers will relate to. At the end of a long day, a man slumps onto his comfy chair and turns on a movie. It’s a slow-moving, challenging art film by Andrei Tarkovsky (cinephiles will recognize it as Stalker). The man watches it for a while, […]
Introduction: The fact that we need a better understanding of economics in relation to how the Christian faith encounters the world in which we live should come as no surprise. The traditional metrics of wealth and poverty have been found wanting and the current upheaval in relation to the ever-growing rift between the ‘haves’ and […]
We pop-culture-engaged Christians love to claim things as our own. From The Matrix to The Simpsons to Radiohead, if there’s something not altogether evil, or spiritual and “vaguely Jesus-y,” to use Ann Lamott’s phrase, we will somehow squeeze and twist a thing until it is almost Christian. So let me be the first to claim the Canadian pop band […]
I’m not afraid of the monster under my bed. I’m afraid of the monster next to my bed. I’m terrified by the growing number of books which I want to read, have been told to read, or feel obligated to read. It seems that, no matter how many times I reorganize the stack of books, it continually grows closer, […]
“Sometimes when I look deep into your eyes I swear I can see your soul.” -James Shame was once defined to me as compacted anger; anger directed not towards others, but seared into one’s sense of self. Although deep in one’s heart is where shame thrives, its trace is always seen on the face. The progressive […]
Ken Myers: The experience we have as consumers is surely one of the most formidable features of contemporary life, and yet the way living in consumer culture affects us is often neglected by religious leaders. Most often theologians, pastors, and moralists focus on the problem of greed or materialism, worthy concerns to be sure, but […]
After being discharged from the Army in 1993, I thought I would pursue professional politics as a course of life. I eagerly joined a local Republican politician in Hanover, Pennsylvania where, before the end of summer, Tom Ridge offered me an invitation to join his staff in his upcoming run for Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race. As […]
TOJ: “The” distinction for the emergent church and for younger Christians over the last 10 years has been that of being postmodern. The binary category of being postmodern, rather than modern, and such dedication to that label has given needed identity to younger generations experiencing a new culture. How important do you think it is for […]
TOJ: It’s a great honor for me to be able to interview you, so thank you very much. So I will dive in and throw out some questions. After growing up in an environment where you felt the realities of a racist, oppressive society, you decided to return to the South from California where you were […]
Dry sea floors Dancing trees Bethsaida water Saintly whores… Jericoed troubadours; Storm’s compromise Spit full sight Longing days Canaan’s surprise… Grace after three tries; Virgin births Grateful rocks Glowing shrubs Well women’s worth… Peace, yes, peace on earth; Damascus blindin’ Faith of five thousand Desert prophets No more cryin’… Low swung chariots arisin’; Walls of […]
Money is everything, Alex said. I opened my mouth to disagree, but stopped. I looked directly at his face and saw that he meant what he said. He doesn’t have the luxury to think that money isn’t everything. Like most of the other one-billion people in China, his sole purpose is to get enough money […]
“Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for He who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother.” -Saint Clare of Assisi Chapter 1 The rhythm of her rocking body lulled the child to sleep. The night was warm, […]
It’s tempting to call 2004 The Comeback of Indie Rock, but the reality is that Indie has never been more here than now. With the triumphant return of The Pixies, the extended reissue of Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, and excellent new albums by Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, etc., the past and […]
11. “Somewhere Only We Know”– Keane from Hopes & Fears– I do not want to like Keane. I am tired of sensitive Brit Rock. Nevertheless, I cannot resist this majestic ode to privacy, with its soaring melody, righteous pianos, and subtle synths. 10. “The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth” – PJ Harvey from Uh Huh Her– A […]
Like debris shoved around in the aftermath of the tsunami, my heart and mind have tried to stay afloat amidst the waves of grief and confusion that are drowning out joy in our world. One senior staff member from India, well acquainted with calamity and suffering said to me last week in Bangkok, “grief shrouds […]
William is a young man who worked as a day laborer before he became part of an Agros community in El Salvador. One day he was working with his father and fell out of a tree and hurt his back. In the hospital he worried about the mounting debt, the future of his children, and […]
The mission of Pura Vida (www.puravidacoffee.com) is to harness the power of business to create good and serve the poor. We believe that, together, consumers and business leaders can join to promote a new type of capitalism – one that changes the way we think about business. In his sermon “The Strength to Love,” Martin […]
AKRON, Pa. – In Cochas, Peru, Eulogio Medina and his wife, Guillermina Salome, work with quiet dignity, creating exquisite carved gourds that reflect their country’s rich tradition. Across an ocean, men and women with that same quiet dignity volunteer their time to showcase Eulogio and Guillermina’s work, selling their crafts to help supplement their family’s […]
“Why do you labor for that which does not satisfy?” Isaiah 55:2 The noted Christian theologian Michael Novak has observed that “we are all capitalist now”[1] and as I write these words an evangelical Christian is beginning his second term in what is arguably the single most influential economic post in the world.[2] These facts should give […]
My theme for this essay is “Women and Globalization.” I wish to talk about women’s relation to globalization both in the ways that women, especially poor women, are disproportionately victims of globalization, and also the way in which women’s groups are among the important sites of critique and resistance to globalization. I also want to […]
The many different interactions between globalization and religion can be approached from a variety of theological perspectives and ethical practices. The World Council of Churches (WCC) marks one such model. The WCC constitutes the largest transnational institutional manifestation of diverse communities of Christian faith. It encompasses the denominations of Protestantism (e.g., Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational, […]
There was a woman named Rosalinda with whom I attended Sunday mass when I lived in Chile in the 1980s. Rosalinda lived in a small wooden shanty with her elderly mother. Their income, which sufficed for little more than bread and tea, was derived from the potholders and other items that Rosalinda crocheted and sold […]
My quest to think about, address, and understand the relationship between theology and economics began when I found myself as an evangelical Christian, freshly out of Taylor University, armed with a Bible and desire to preach the Gospel as a local pastor in Honduras in the Caribbean Council of the Methodist Churches. I had never […]