Richard Baxter, profiled in the latest issue of Religion & Liberty, penned The Saints Everlasting Rest in 1647. In the book’s dedication, Baxter wrote that he had no intention of serving God other than preaching. But he recalled, “sentenced to death by the physicians, I began to contemplate more seriously on the everlasting rest which I apprehended myself to be just on the border of.” Baxter noted that because he was so near death that it quickened his “sluggish heart...

Public policy wonks and economists frequently warn us to consider the unintended consequences of any given initiative. That would be good exercise when considering campaigns to raise the minimum wage and also calls to roll back “right-to-work” (RTW) legislation. The former presumably helps those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, while the latter is castigated as an attack on unions’ right to collective bargaining and, therefore, harmful to middle-class workers. It follows then, that if one prioritizes economic...

In a powerful profile of his son Jamie, a young man with Down syndrome, Michael Bérubé explores some of the key challenges that those with disabilities face when trying to enter the workforce: The first time I talked to Jamie about getting a job, he was only 13. But I thought it was a good idea to prepare him, gradually, for the world that would await him after he left school. My wife, Janet, and I had long been warned...

The latest edition of Econ Journal Watch has a symposium, co-sponsored by the Acton Institute, on the question, “Does Economics Need an Infusion of Religious or Quasi-Religious Formulations?” In his essay “On the Usefulness of a Flat Economics to the World of Faith“, Andrew P. Morriss considers the role of faith in correcting how economics flattens the perception of human nature and human existence: To what extent is economics unduly flat? Compared to the Christian conception of human nature, what...

In this week’s Acton Commentary, Jonathan Witt asks “Why do entrepreneurs who don’t want government intimately involved in the economy want to hob nob?” Think about it. Why do even some entrepreneurs who do not want government intimately involved in the economy pelled to hob nob with all of those European and American politicians at this year’s Bilderberg summit? Maybe what happened to Bill Gates has something to do with it. By most accounts, Gates went about building up Microsoft,...

The latest edition of Econ Journal Watch has a symposium, co-sponsored by the Acton Institute, on the question, “Does Economics Need an Infusion of Religious or Quasi-Religious Formulations?” In his essay “Joyful Economics“, Victor V. Claar reflects upon his life as a Christian and how it has connected to his work as an academic economist. Claar offers a few suggestions about the distinct contributions Christian economists can make in this field of study: First, Christian economists simply municate to the...

On Friday, June 6, shareholders of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., will gather at the Bud Walton Auditorium on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Ark. Among them will be As You Sow member Zevin Asset Management, which is pushing a resolution demanding the retailer issue annual reports on its policy, lobbying and membership expenditures. All of this, of course, is intended to embarrass Walmart in the same-ol’ name-and-shame game employed so often by shareholder activists advancing a progressive agenda. What...

The American Bar Association and Arizona State University’s McCain Institute and School of Politics and Global Studies have issued the first study of its kind: examining Fortune panies for policies regarding human trafficking and forced labor. The study also looked at whether or not Fortune panies had policies regarding conflict minerals (what are often referred to as “blood diamonds:” gems and minerals mined by children and/or forced labor.) The study is entitled, “How Do Fortune 100 Corporations Address Potential Links...

In “Scholastica II,” a convocation address delivered to Amsterdam’s Free University in 1900 (now translated under the title,Scholarship), Abraham Kuyper explores the ultimate goal of “genuine study,” asking, “Is it to seek or find?” Alluding to academics who search for the sake of searching, Kuyperconcludes that “seeking should be in the service of finding” and that “the ultimate purpose of seeking is finding.” “The shepherd who had lost his sheep did not rejoice in searching for it but in finding...

Tanner Stewart did not intend to e an abolitionist. His passion is photography. But his gift for taking amazing photos led him to fight human trafficking. In 2012, Stewart was on a trip to Bulgaria, volunteering for A21, an organization that educates about trafficking and provides care for trafficking survivors. Stewart was bluntly confronted by trafficking in a chance encounter: Stewart, a Seattle-based photographer, had spotted a man holding a baby. Wanting to capture the beautiful moment, he asked the...