Premier Publishing, Winnipeg, Canada, ISBN 0-88756-077-6 $15.75 Can.
Everything that we do, must be done to the honour of God. But, how does a Christian do that when making political choices? In particular, how do we decide which economic policies deserve our support? What should be done about unemployment, inflation, the poor? What should the role of government be? Should the market be left free to operate on its own? Is there, in fact, a Christian economic system? The purpose of this book, is to provide a Christian approach to answer such questions.
The book is intended for a broad audience; no prior economic knowledge is assumed. As such, it should be of interest to all those concerned with politics�whether as informed voter or as more actively involved in the political arena. It can also serve as a supplementary text-book for introductory economics courses. Click for info
The book builds on extensive research into the economic policies of one of the small Christian political parties in the Netherlands, the Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond. (since merged into the Christian Union). That research is combined with extensive review of English language literature in the field.
The book takes as a point of departure the cultural mandate that we as God's stewards must develop the world to enable man to honour God and then puts forward a number of other relevant Christian principles. Goals of economic policies such as full employment, caring for the weak and economic growth are considered from a Christian perspective. After examining the appropriate roles of government and the market, the book develops the proposition that a Christian approach to economics should include a conditional preference for the market as a means to achieve biblical goals. The book also deals with the biblical teachings concerning the ownership of property, taxation and regulation and explores the role of competition and incentives in ensuring the stewardly use of God-given resources. Finally, the Dutch "harmony" model is evaluated to see if it might serve as a model of an alternate or "Third Way"�a blueprint for Christian inspired structural change.