Following up on the recent discussions of envy, here’s a bit from Russell Kirk’s book on economics: It would be easy enough to list other moral beliefs and customs that are part of the foundation of a prosperous economy, but we draw near to the end of this book. So instead we turn back, for a moment, to one vice we discussed earlier—and to the virtue which is the opposite of that vice. The vice is called envy; the virtue...

Christian’s Library Presshas now released the third part in its series of English translationsof Abraham Kuyper’s most famous work,Common Grace, a three-volume work of practical public theology. This release,Abraham-Parousia, is the third and final part of Volume 1: The Historical Section, following Part 1 (Noah-Adam) and Part 2 (Temptation-Babel). Common Grace (De gemeene gratie)was originally published in 1901-1905 while Kuyper was prime minister. This new translation offers modern Christians a great resource for understanding the vastness of the gospel message,...

The Obama administration has created a policy wherein foreigners who purchase a baby via an American surrogate will be able to claim U.S. citizenship for the child. According to the Daily Caller: The fertility clinics will be able to pocket the profits, after granting access to American education, health, welfare and retirement services to the foreign children and the foreign parents. The giveaway is plished by a surprise change in regulations, which redefined the term “mother” to include women who...

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “The Soul of the System,” I examine a number of images and distinctions related to Hunter Baker’s latest book,The System Has a Soul. In describing Herman Bavinck’s images of the kingdom of God as a pearl and a leaven, and plementary distinction from Abraham Kuyper of the church as an institute and an organism, a question naturally follows about the relationship between each element of the pairings. As with any distinction of this kind, there...

I was transfixed by this video the other day. The simplicity of the video itself, the careful, skillful work, the lovely hands of a master at work – all brought to mind the goodness of work and creation that God granted to us. St. John Paul II, in his encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work) says this: It is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy; it is also good as being something...

Earlier this month the city of Houston sent out a subpoena to five area pastors demanding to see: All speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession. Houston mayor Annise Parker even appeared to support the measure, saying on her Twitter account, “If the 5 pastors used pulpits for politics, their sermons are fair game. Were instructions given...

Italian edition of “The Good That Business Does” by Robert G. Kennedy (Fede e Cultura, 2014) On Oct. 23, before a capacity-audience at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, the Acton Institute and Italian publishing house Fede e Cultura launched Robert G. Kennedy’s Il bene che fanno gli affari (original title “The Good That Business Does,” Acton, 2006, Christian Social Thought Series). The pontifical university’s research center, Markets, Culture and Ethics, acted as co-sponsor with its vice academic director...

Family structure is one of the most significant, though oft-overlooked, factors that affect the economic fortunes of Americans. A new study from AEI titled “For Richer or Poorer” documents the relationships between family patterns and economic well-being in America and shows how radically it can affect e. Here are seven figures you should know from the study: 1. The growth in median e of families with children would be 44 percent higher if the United States enjoyed 1980 levels of...

Gerard Lameiro speaks at the 2014 Acton Lecture Series Earlier this month, Acton ed Gerard Lameiro to the Mark Murray Auditorium to deliver a lecture as part of the fall 2014 Acton Lecture Series. He spoke on the topic of “Renewing America and Its Heritage of Freedom,” which also happens to be the title of his latest book. Following his lecture, I sat down with Lameiro to discuss his thoughts on the gradual loss of freedom we’ve experienced in the...

Acton’s Director of Research, Sam Gregg, ponders “Envy In A Time Of Inequality” in today’s American Spectator. Envy, he opines, is the worst human emotion. From the time that Cain killed Abel to today’s “near-obsession with inequality,” Gregg says envy is driving public policy…and that’s not good. The situation isn’t helped by the sheer looseness of contemporary discussions of economic inequality. Inequality and poverty, for instance, aren’t the same things. That, however, doesn’t stop people from conflating them. Likewise, important...