Could economics, which academics long ago deemed “the dismal science,” have a specifically Christian application? If so, what are the unique features of a Christian approach to economics? Edd S. Noell of Westmont College and Stephen L. S. Smith of Hope College expertly answer this question in a recent study published in Christian Scholars Review titled “Economics, Theology, and a Case for Economic Growth: An Assessment of Recent Critiques.” (The authors gratefully acknowledged the financial support of their current colleges,...

In what has been a very trying year of pandemic, unrest, and contentious politics we found ourselves again wrapped up in books, for “[b]ooks, both in their reading and their writing represent not just knowledge but a way of knowing, they are how we e wise.” As Christmas approaches, some members of the Acton Institute’s staff are closing out 2020 by mending the best books they have read this year: Jordan Ballor The Old House of Fear by Russell Kirk:...

The year 2020 has been the most challenging and demanding year most Americans can remember. How did freedom fare in the United States and around the world over the past year? The Cato Institute and Canada’s Fraser Institute measured the level of liberty at the national, regional, and global level for the sixth year in a row. “The Human Freedom Index 2020” surveys conditions in 162 of the world’s 193 nations, covering 94% of the world’s population. Their verdict? Stasis....

J.D. Vance goes from washing and reusing plastic forks at home to posh dinners with seven utensils per setting. The new Netflix film adaptation of his memoir catches the details of knives and forks but misses the “meat” of Vance’s story. Though they have the same title and many of the same plot points, the book and film have different messages. While the book is primarily about the choice to change, the film centers around the choice to leave. This...

While researching another article, I was taken aback to read a political organization refer to its platform as a “new covenant.” The feeling of unease deepened with each plank of its revolutionary and highly divisive program to remake society de novo (about which, more later). Such mislabeling, while far from a first in politics, does a disservice to “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations” – immanentizing the eschaton, in the immortal phrase of William F....

Advent is a time of both patience and anticipation for Christmas. As a result, these seasons make an ideal season for entrepreneurs to reflect spiritually. Advent is also a time for thinking about our responsibilities as Christians between the first Advent in the incarnation and the second Advent in the Parousia – in other words, how we my responsibly use our freedoms and liberties. Joy to the World! The Lord e Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare...

On Wednesday, rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol building, vandalized the halls of government, and caused mayhem that left five people dead, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. These sickening scenes of destruction did e out of the blue. They grew naturally out of cascading failures rippling through the culture, the government, and the church. The D.C. riots reveal the deep failure of the government. How could rioters breach the sanctuary of our republic? “Enormous strategic and planning failures” by...

There has been a lot of social media hubbub about Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s recent prayer in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he closed with “amen and awoman,” apparently striving to be gender inclusive. He omitted atransgender. Cleaver, D-Mo., is an ordained United Methodist who pastored a church in Kansas City for many years. His two-minute prayer was otherwise conventional, full of biblical references and King James cadences – until the very end, when he appealed to the “monotheistic God,”...

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump rendered a tremendous service to the advancement of global religious liberty: He reminded people of the legacy of Thomas Becket, and he named the sainted martyr’s modern-day successors-in-the-spirit. The same battle for dominance between the flesh and the spirit still rages eight centuries later, merely changing venue from England to China. In a beautifully written document on the 850th anniversary of Becket’s murder, President Trump recounted the life and ministry of the archbishop of Canterbury....

Raphael Warnock, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia, believes that the Bible teaches socialism and that embracing a Marxist economic platform “actually makes you a Christian.” In a sermon delivered in 2016 in Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, Warnock chided that “evangelicals who stand on the Bible” but reject socialism need to “go back and read the Bible.” Warnock told his flock: The early church was a socialist church. I know you think that’s an oxymoron, but the early...