In this week’s Acton Commentary, we take a short excerpt from the latest volume in the Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology, the second volume of the trilogy mon grace. In this section, excerpted from chapter 68, “Finding the Means,” Kuyper is exploring the question of how the fruit mon es to expression in the world. In the standard Reformed understanding, baptism munion are confessed to be the “means” of special grace. But what are the “means” mon grace?...

If you’re a young person in America, you’ve undoubtedly been bombarded by calls to“follow your passion,” “pursue your dreams,” or “do what you love and love what you do.” Such slogans have led many toward a renewed appreciation of the meaning that can be found in mundane economic activity—and in many ways, rightly so. But in and by themselves, do these sugary mantras truly represent the path to vocational clarity, economic abundance, personal fulfillment, and human flourishing? In an increasingly...

Now that I am full-time at the Acton Institute (I had been associated since the beginning, but on the governing board) I am trying to read most of its output. Not an easy task giving the numerous books, articles, academic papers and blog posts it publishes each year. Acton has an outstanding Journal of Markets and Morality, which has already reached 21 volumes. I browsed the contents of the most recent edition and saw that it devoted 40 of its...

Note:This article is part of the ‘Principles Project,’ a list of principles, axioms, and beliefs that undergirda Christian view of economics, liberty, and virtue. Clickhereto read the introduction and other posts in this series. The Principle:#2C —Scripture is not an encyclopedia of social science. The Explanation: There’s an old preacher’s tale of a young man who turned to the Bible for guidance on making decisions. Using the text as a divining rod he would flick through Scripture and let his...

Ninety years ago Benito Mussolini, the founder of Italian fascism, stood at the pinnacle of power and prestige. In February 1929, he struck an unprecedented agreement with the Catholic Church on its role in the Italian society, the Lateran Treaty. Yet Mussolini, always remembered as bloodthirsty dictator associated with Hitler, diplomatically settled a dispute of more than 50 years between the Kingdom of Italy and Holy See that dated to the 19th century era of Italian unification. To the horror...

Today, mon to hear many people declaring their desires or conveniences to be rights. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All plan, or even having one’s college tuition bills footed,for example, are routinely touted as “basic human rights.” As the stipulations of what exactly defines a right seem to grow increasingly pliable in public discourse, some are left wondering; is the present confusion over the definition of a right the product of philosophies that came out of the founding era? Philosophies of...

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) unveiled a plan last week for universal child care. Despite her good intentions, her plan would petition, raise prices, and reduce options for parents in need. Warren begins by sharing her own experience as a working mother unable to find child care. Exasperated, she called her “Aunt Bee” and “between tears” told her, “I couldn’t make it work and had to quit my job.” Fortunately for Warren, her aunt came to the rescue...

On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts is joined by the founder and president of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, John Dearie, to discuss the state of entrepreneurship in America. Dearie explains why start up innovation and small businesses sustain the economy and alerts us to the danger of declining entrepreneurship in America. Afterwards, occasional host and award winning news anchor, Anne Marie Schieber, speaks with several people about their work ethic, proving that sometimes satisfaction in the workplace...

When I first read Walden I was in the woods. In the Kitchel Lindquist Dunes Preserve to be precise which is also where I first read The Idiot and, amusingly, Dune. I spent a lot of time walking around alone in the woods in my childhood and adolescence so it was only natural that one day I would stumble upon the great classic of wandering around alone in the woods. When I returned from the woods the day I read...

After video footage surfaced of Senator Bernie Sanders extolling the Soviet Union’s cultural and youth programs, the former prime minister of Sweden threw cold water on the idea that socialism builds sound societies. The tweet by Carl Bildt is the latest intervention by Nordic nations to divert the United States from adopting Marxist policies. As the 77-year-old Vermont senator announced his presidential ambitions, a string of videos emerged showing Sanders supporting Castro’s Cuba, Ortega’s Nicaragua, and the existence of breadlines....