I am pro-capitalism but balance this position by stating that capitalism needs to be redeemed. I believe that capitalism has improved our community and made life better for both the poor and the more affluent. Post-modern capitalism has caused great income inequality which stokes the fire of revolutionaries. The United States, with its great wealth and technological advantages, still does not have basic health care for all Americans. Homelessness, debt, and materialism are all increasing. These are some of the symptoms of our country’s declining moral values.
Dr. Kenneth J. Barnes, the Mockler-Phillips Chair in Workplace Theology and Business Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has written an excellent book that evaluates capitalism and offers insightful theological solutions. In Redeeming Capitalism (Kenneth J. Barnes, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 2018), he does not seek to destroy capitalism, since it represents the best current economic system, but desires to infuse it with eternal Christian ethics that places boundaries around capitalistic excesses and reaps the positive social benefits. “I aim to challenge you to imagine virtuous capitalism: an economic system with all of the wealth-generating possibilities of the capitalism we have, plus the social benefits of the capitalism we desire – a system that consciously embraces and enthusiastically employs common grace for the common good.” (page 2) Dr. Barnes is highly competent in this subject because he first worked as an international senior executive before becoming a seminary scholar. Few economic authors have both proven business experience and profound theological knowledge.
Dr. Miroslav Volf, Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, wrote in the foreword: “Capitalism is badly in need of sanctification.” (page x) This short sentence gets to the heart of the solution. Governments typically institute regulations when capitalism goes astray. But Dr. Barnes correctly sees this as a mere band-aid. “While we certainly need regulations in place to guard against the dangers of fraud and recklessness, if history has taught us anything, it has taught us that legislation is usually one step behind the offenders. It might even be argued that most regulation is born of unethical behavior or the assumption of unethical behavior.” (page 19) I witnessed the 2008 recession regulation frenzy in my energy trading business after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. My company spent countless millions to submit mountains of commercial data to government regulators. While some provisions of the Act were needed, it did not to solve the underlying problem of human greed. Dr. Barnes is correct to focus on our collective moral failure.
What I liked about Dr. Barnes’ book is his research into the writings of Thomas Aquinas. In my book, Trading With God, I wrote a short chapter on Aquinas’ views on the active versus contemplative life. Dr. Barnes’ book greatly expands Aquinas’ theology: “What do I mean by the term moral failure? For our purposes, I turn to the great moral theologian Thomas Aquinas, who defines a moral failure as any action or policy that is inconsistent with the moral virtues, or cardinal virtues, noted in his seminal work Summa Theologiae, namely prudence, justice, courage (or fortitude), and temperance (that is, moderation).” (page 11) Each of these virtues will be explored in Part II.
