On Christians and Prosperity

By James Schall

Concern for the poor is at the heart of Christianity. Christians are also called to contribute to human flourishing and create the wealth necessary to alleviate poverty. In this wide-ranging essay, one of the great teachers of political philosophy of our time calls us to think prudently about poverty and prosperity within the Christian tradition. Fr. Schall engages with core questions about the sources of poverty and prosperity and challenges some of the deeply embedded assumptions that arise from the currently dominant humanitarian framework. He also reminds us that while economic development and the creation of prosperity are important, they are always in service to the higher things. Economic prosperity alone is insufficient.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Acton Institute
• Release date: Jul 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781942503194

Book preview

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

I Introduction

II On Wealth and Poverty

III Do Christians Love Poverty?

IV Confessions of a Practicing ‘Socialist’

V On Justice, Rights, and Poverty

VI On Intellectual and Material Poverty

VII On World Poverty

VIII Redistributionism

IX The Economics of Popes Benedict and Francis

X Conclusion

References

About the Author

On Christians and Prosperity

James V. Schall

Christian Social Thought Series

Copyright © Acton Institute 2015

Smashwords Edition

An imprint of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Let us acknowledge then that each one has just so much of happiness as he has of virtue and wisdom, and of virtuous and wise action. God is a witness to us of this truth; for he is happy and blessed, not by reason of any external good, but in himself and by reason of his own nature.… Let us assume then that the best life, both for individuals and states, is the life of virtue, when virtue has external goods enough for the performance of good actions.

—Aristotle[1]

God prefers to act by providence rather than miracles, because He loves the nature of all things. He created and wants to perfect them rather than bypass them. He is like a wise, unselfish king Who exalts and empowers His servants rather than distrusting them and micro-managing His kingdom.

—Peter Kreeft[2]

By identifying a capitalist economy chiefly as a knowledge system rather than a mechanistic incentive system, the new economics obviates all concerns over greed and avarice as crucial to the creation of wealth. The enabling theory of telecommunications and the Internet, Information Theory offers a path to a new economics that places the surprising creations of entrepreneurs and innovation at the very center of the system rather than patching them in from the outside as exogenous inputs. Information Theory also shows that knowledge is not merely a source of wealth; it is wealth.

—George Gilder[3]

The world’s achievement in the field of poverty reduction is, by almost any measure, impressive. Although many of the original Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) —such as cutting maternal mortality by three-quarters and child mortality two-thirds—will not be met, the aim of halving global poverty between 1990 and 2015 was achieved five years ago. The MDGs may have helped marginally by creating a yardstick for measuring progress, and by focusing minds on the evil of poverty. Most of the credit, however, must go to capitalism and free trade, for they enable economies to grow—and it was growth, principally, that has eased destitution.

—The Economist [4]

The empirical evidence from the swift upward thrust of the war-leveled economies of 1940–48—those of Japan and Germany, but also those of Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, which turned to democracy and one form or another of capitalism—is overwhelming. But so also is the evidence from us in the United States, whose grandparents were the wretched refuse of earth, yet now in a short time their families are counted among the most affluent people in the world. How was this possible? Through what system was that done, and what are its imitable secrets? Those who wish to be practical and successful in breaking the remaining claims of poverty in the world might learn from what has worked until now, right before our eyes.

—Michael Novak[5]

[1]Aristotle, Politics, VII, 1, 1323b22–25; b4–1324a1–3.

[2] Peter Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005), 54.

[3] George Gilder, Notes Towards a New Economics, The Weekly Standard, August 5, 2013.

[4]The Economist, Towards the End of Poverty, June 1, 2013.

[5] Michael Novak, Agreeing with Pope Francis, National Review, December 7, 2013.

Foreword

Concern for the poor is at the heart of Christianity. It is not simply one option among many but a central part of what it means to live as a Christian. As Saint James writes in his epistle (1:27), Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. We are to be in the world but not of it (cf. John 17:14–19). This discernment is particularly relevant today where there can be a false dichotomy between social justice on one hand and moral theology and doctrine on the other. The power of Christian charity is precisely that it flows from theology and sound doctrine about God and man.

Yet, despite clear commands to care for those in need, it is easy to become complacent. As Pope Francis writes in Evangelii Gaudium:

Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, … as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.[1]

This problem is not unique to our age. We see it reflected in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16). Saint Augustine, commenting on this passage, says it was not wealth that sent the rich man to hell; it was his indifference. He ignored the poor man. Saint John Chrysostom and others have noted that care for the poor is not only a question of charity, it is also a question of justice. Nevertheless, both our charity and our justice must be rooted in truth. As Pope Benedict writes in Caritas in Veritate:

Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity. That light is both the light of reason and the light of faith, through which the intellect attains to the natural and supernatural truth of charity: it grasps its meaning as gift, acceptance, and communion. Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality.[2]

Charity also must be grounded in prudence. We may think of prudence as being careful or avoiding risk, but this is incorrect. In fact, it sometimes means being bold. Josef Pieper summarizes the classical understanding of prudence as seeing the world as it is and acting accordingly.[3] This is why prudence is considered to be the mother of the virtues: If we do not see the world as it is, we cannot be just or brave. Saint Thomas Aquinas goes as far as to say that imprudence can lead to injustice. He writes that injustice can occur in two ways, first by the violent act of the man who possesses power, and second through the false prudence of the sage.[4] The poor throughout the developing world have unfortunately suffered both: brutal dictators on one the hand and internationalist social engineers who have used the developing world as a lab for their experiments on the other. The combination has resulted in a host of problems, including crony capitalism, the rise of a multibillion-dollar-poverty industry, and widespread exclusion of the poor. The point here is not to challenge the benevolent intentions of aid and charity workers; but I do think it is fair to question the prudence of many of the policies of the last several decades.

In On Christians and Prosperity, Father James V. Schall, one of the great teachers of political philosophy of our time, calls us to think prudently about poverty and prosperity within the Christian tradition. He also asks us to think seriously about economics and human incentives. He applies a lifetime of studying philosophy and theology to encourage us to think beyond the constraints of Enlightenment notions of rationality and the sentimentality that it breeds and engage with core questions about the sources of poverty and prosperity.

Father Schall wrestles with Catholic social teaching, the hunger for justice, and how to think about those who are poor—not as objects but as subjects and protagonists of their own story of development—a core theme of the PovertyCure Series. He engages foundational concepts such as mercy, justice, inequality, and the moral dimension of work. He also reminds us that while economic development and the creation of prosperity are important, they are always in service to the higher things; indeed, economic prosperity alone is insufficient.

Poverty is a complex topic, and good people can and do disagree. Father Schall’s contribution is to challenge some of the deeply embedded assumptions that arise not primarily from Christian teaching but from the dominant humanitarian framework of our day. I am delighted to have such a distinguished scholar and philosopher contribute to the PovertyCure Series, and I hope this book provokes much discussion and debate about one of the great moral challenges of our time.

Michael Matheson Miller

Research Fellow, Acton Institute

Director/Producer, Poverty, Inc.

[1] Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (2013), n. 54.

[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (2009), n. 3.

[3] Josef Pieper, Prudence (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959), trans. Richard and Clara Winston.

[4] Saint Thomas, On the Book of Job, 8,1.

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Portions of this book were previously published in various articles. The author wishes to thank the editors of these publications for permission to use these:

James V. Schall, SJ, Confessions of a Practicing Socialist, www.lewrockwell.com/1970/01/ryan-mcmaken/james-v-schall/, July 2003.

James V. Schall, SJ, Sense and Nonsense: Social Justice, Crisis Magazine, 23 (October 1, 2005), 63, www.crisismagazine.com/2005/sense-and-nonsense-social-justice.

James V.