This is part 2 of our series on Biblical Economics.
Proverbs and Free Markets
Selected Verse
An observation: According to Ronald Nash: “Almost without exception, the major evangelical books about social justice that have appeared since 1960s have been authored by writers who reject and condemn political conservatism as a cruel, heartless and uncaring movement totally out of step with an informed political view.” [1]
This leads to two questions: Is Capitalism, as one of the things that Conservative Christians cherished, unbiblical? Does a free market economics enjoy biblical support?
Purpose: Today we will explore the teachings in the book of Proverbs and how the blueprint for economics God offered is one we call Capitalism.
- Capitalism is Biblical since the Bible prohibit these means of acquiring goods and services:
- Coercion (violence)
- Fraud
- Monopoly and statist interference
- Capitalism is Biblical since the Bible permit these means of acquiring goods and services:
- Hard work
- Acquiring wealth over time
- Sales
- Saving
- 4 Kinds of People in a biblical economy:
- Biblically there are unvirtuous rich people
- Biblically there are virtuous rich people
- Biblically there are virtuous poor people
- Biblically there are unvirtuous poor people
I realize the term “Capitalism” can be emotionally loaded; it is important to be specific of my definition of capitalism: “An ideal market economy in which people exchange goods and services in an environment free from coercion, fraud, monopoly, and statist interference with the exchange process.” [2]
Some more comments about the definition of capitalism
- I use this term interchangeably with free market economics.
- Capitalism is not to be confused with cronyism. According to Wikipedia this “is an economic system in which businesses thrive not as a result of risk, but rather as a return on money amassed through a nexus between a business class and the political class. This is often achieved by using state power rather than competition”[3]
- Nor should capitalism be confused with fascism. According to Wikipedia this “is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, as well as strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe” [4]
In the end you want an economy that allows the biblical means of acquiring goods and services to be a reality versus an unbiblical means of providing goods and services which fits the definition of “Capitalism” or Free Market economics.
Capitalism is Biblical since the Bible prohibit these means of acquiring goods and services:
- Coercion (violence)
- “But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who makes unjust gain; It takes away the life of its possessors.” (Proverbs 1:18-19)
- Here it describes how some plan violence in verse 18a.
- Yet these individuals will have violence returned back to them in verse 18b.
- Verse 19 tells us this is not the way to seek gain; in fact it is unjust.
- Violent individuals should not be seen with envy nor their examples followed: “Do not envy a violent person, And do not choose any of his ways.” (Proverbs 3:31)
- Also threat of violence is also seen as wicked: “Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” (Proverbs 10:6)
- Violent desires is seen by God negatively: “From the fruit of a person’s mouth he enjoys good, But the desire of the treacherous is violence.” (Proverbs 13:2)
- Still another verse that talks about violence negatively but this time involving enticing others: “A person of violence entices his neighbor And leads him in a way that is not good.” (Proverbs 16:29)
- “But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who makes unjust gain; It takes away the life of its possessors.” (Proverbs 1:18-19)
- Fraud
- “Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.” (Proverbs 20:17)
- Acquisition of good by a lie is seen negatively here.
- Notice it is compared to having one’s mouth filled with gravel.
- “The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death.” (Proverbs 21:6)
- Here treasure is in view.
- The means of acquiring it is described as through a lying tongue.
- Notice here it is described negatively in two ways:
- “a fleeting vapor”
- “pursuit of death”
- “Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.” (Proverbs 20:17)
- Monopoly and statist interference
- The Bible speaks about bribe negatively
- Bribery is seen as wickedness in general: “A wicked person accepts a bribe from an inside pocket To pervert the ways of justice.” (Proverbs 17:23)
- Notice a person accepting bribe is wicked.
- Thus the act of bribery is seen negatively.
- Hating bribe is seen as a virtue: “He who profits illicitly troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live.” (Proverbs 15:27)
- More importantly Proverbs explicitly teaches that the government should not take bribe: “The king gives stability to the land by justice, But a person who takes bribes ruins it.” (Proverbs 29:4)
- The king of course is a government leader.
- Notice in the context of governing it mentioned that bribe taking ruin the land with injustice.
- Bribery is seen as wickedness in general: “A wicked person accepts a bribe from an inside pocket To pervert the ways of justice.” (Proverbs 17:23)
- Bribery fuels government interference with the free exchange of good and services whether that bribery received by the politicians is in the form of money, power through votes and popularity, etc.
- Sometimes bribery fuels government interference with the free exchange of good and services so bad business competitions are eliminated and therefore a monopoly result.
- True monopolies can only last with government interference since usually when there’s a high demand of something a business or businesses high volume of sales and the raising of costs to consumers signal to others to enter into the market to supply the demand while the increase of amount of suppliers increases competition that lower prices.
- Scripture’s teaching about the danger of bribery isn’t against “socialism” only but also fascism and crony corporatism with the involvement of the state interfering with the markets.
- To reduce the temptation of bribery we have to lower the incentive for government corruption in the first place. That means less government intrusion and more freedom and liberty.
- The Bible speaks about bribe negatively
Capitalism is Biblical since the Bible permit these means of acquiring goods and services:
- Hard work: Proverbs 10:4, 12:11, 12:14a, 13:4b, 21:5, 28:19.
- Acquiring wealth over time: Proverbs 13:11, 20:21.
- Sales (seen positively in Proverbs): Proverbs 31:24, 23:23.
- Saving (evident as one saves enough even for a future generation): Proverbs 13:21-23, 19:14.
4 Kinds of People in a biblical economy:
- Biblically there are unvirtuous rich people: Proverbs 19:10.
- Biblically there are virtuous rich people: Proverbs 13:21-22.
- Biblically there are virtuous poor people: Proverbs 19:22.
- Biblically there are unvirtuous poor people: Proverbs 10:4-5, 12:2, 13:4a, 19:15, 20:4, 20:13, 21:25-26, 22:13, 24:30-34, 26:13-1.
In the end you want an economy that allows the biblical means of acquiring goods and services to be a reality versus an unbiblical means of providing goods and services. One should also want an economic system that increases the prosperity of the virtuous which among other things allow the virtuous to have the means of directly, voluntarily and generously help the poor.
[1] Ronald Nash, Social Justice and the Christian Church (Lima, Ohio, Academic Renewal Press), 4.
[2] Ronald Nash, Social Justice and the Christian Church (Lima, Ohio, Academic Renewal Press), 82.
[3] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crony_capitalism.
[4] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism.
Hi, Jimmy! I am saving these posts! Thank you for showing how Proverbs supports free markets! I am still thinking about your EXCELLENT teaching from last night! Praising God for you, Nancy and your girls!
Wow glad to hear that about Bible study hope it’s edifying thoughts about last night study. I have spent months for this economics series largely thinking and reading before I posted this outline and stayed up late editing the outline last night. Speaking of late last night I saw on Twitter Philadelphia was crazy and my heart grieved where one of the videos the police fled the mob. How are you guys and your loved ones doing?
Loved ones are ok. Nathan and I had plans to go to Philly for the weekend; however, I am really thinking about rescheduling. I don’t want to over react (Nathan’s fine either way go or stay home) but I want to be wise! I know God is always moving/working but it seems even more so in 2020!
Also, did you have enough sleep?! Sorry, not trying to pry or nag or anything like that!! Blessings to you, Nancy and your girls!
I will try to catch a few minutes nap sometime today before my pastoral visitation. Thanks for asking! It’s not nagging at all. I had to be up early to take my mom to the doctors which I presently am doing. If you do go to Philly can you let us know so we can pray? These are crazy times…and yes God is working
Thanks for this good lesson outline on a difficult topic This got me thinking about how local churches all over the world exist within various political-economic systems and also thinking about the history of the church’s relationship to the state. The church took many wrong turns in the past, allying itself with systems on either end of the spectrum that were ultimately antithetical to the Gospel. Yup, we’ve seen over the course of the last 150 years that an economic shift to “well-meaning” socialism is ultimately self-destructive (e.g., New York, the one-time “Empire State”). Also, the shift by mainline denominational Protestants to a “social gospel” changed the focus from the eternal/spiritual to the temporal/material.
Very good comment and I enjoyed reading it. Honestly the more I read the more I think whenever we have a “_____ and state” it is a bad idea for everybody be it the church, many social programs or businesses. The nature of the state power involved force and the idea an institution that is about love and voluntary association can be confused for the state is a dangerous combination. Of all the bad relationships with government by far the worst spiritual impact is church and state. Eternity is at stake amen?
Thanks, brother, and thanks for the good comments! Thomas Paine (not a believer) correctly wrote that government is a “necessary evil.” The less the better. The church-state relationship down through history is a topic that fascinates me for some reason. The genuine church has been persecuted by regimes at both ends of the political-economic spectrum, but I agree that socialism/communism/Marxism has absolutely no use for the church, which it views as a puppet/tool of the Bourgeoisie.
You are right. As a confirmation, it seems that the blessings from God that do not center on the relational aspect of our connection to Him seem to center on some aspect of commerce (which would involve a horizontal relation with man — as opposed to the vertical relation to God — and would enable sharing the news about Him).
Thank you, Jim, for this informative article on capitalism/free market per se in correlation with what is written in the Bible. I really appreciate the topics and the corresponding verses. This list of verses will be handy in the future. GOD bless you and your family!
Thank you Gersom for reading this! Appreciate it. Is it raining tonight for you guys in the Philippines?
Thank you too, Jim! Maybe in some areas as we are still covered by La Niña phenomenon. Usually the “ber” months has sporadic rain.
The bribery section and discussion is highly informative and the crux of your argument. I found it quite compelling.
Thank you, Jim. Blessings.
Fran it is good hearing from you; how may I pray for you this week?
Pray for me to continue to be a faithful and fruitful witness of His grace for His glory. Thank you for your prayers.
Very logically laid out. Love this: “In the end you want an economy that allows the biblical means of acquiring goods and services to be a reality versus an unbiblical means of providing goods and services. ”
Blessings.
The government’s role should be to ensure those unbiblical means of acquiring wealth and services be prohibited be it from thieves or in the name of “social programs”
[…] Proverbs and Free Markets […]
Excellent.
Thank you so much for reading this; I am glad you know I am praying and many others are praying with the hurricane situation you all face; keep me posted!
Amen. Thank you.
Thank you for this excellent outline and Scripture references. Saving the information for future reference.
Blessings
You are welcome wow thank you for saving this for future reference and also for sharing this on Twitter! Appreciate that very much and hopefully others will find it helpful. Praying for your Friday evangelism ahead of time tonight…keep me posted!
Thank you for your prayers.
Not sure if I mentioned two weeks ago one of the many people we speak to on Fridays made his way to our church and received Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.
Appreciate your in depth dive of this topic. Much needed !!
I am learning here! Wow! thank you. God bless
Good stuff, Slim! I have a post going out tomorrow that links to you. 🙂
[…] Slim has done a new series on “biblical economics” that I thought I’d link you up to! Here is part one, “Goodness of Material World” and part two, “Proverbs and Free Markets.” […]
Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
Well said, brother, thank you for taking this issue to Scripture!
Very interesting. I do wonder about monopoly only existing with government interference – seems like I’ve seen lots of examples of government intervening to break up monopolistic practices.
Do you go far enough in your analysis:
What you feel about loaning/borrowing money and charging interest? They seem to be essential for capitalism.
And what about the accumulation of wealth? What happened to our debts in the sabbatical year?
What a timely post
Christians can’t afford not to have a Biblical worldview these days, including a biblical view of economics!
I meant to say both for discernment and also for knowing how things work, so in an age of cancel culture and Big tech bias, people know how to reconstruct their lives
Find singable versions of big chunks of the Proverbs and all 150 Psalms including audio accompaniment tracks, at http://www.aboksu.wordpress.com.. If you’d like “screen ready” videos for use with groups, they’re at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQj9dljI-yb7we0vdtMhBwg/videos
There’s a Proverbs playlist, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8cZ16n_2oI5NA2xEdsbWq7eUxW6Ietke which grows daily.