I just wrapped up a new chapter — a BIG chapter — on my Christianity vs. Capitalism series. This is some serious “inside baseball” for Christians debating the merits of Pope Francis’ anti-capitalist pronouncements. Casual and non Christians might want to stick with the summary, which is this:
The Old Testament has many promises of material rewards for the faithful. The New Testament has many admonitions against seeking riches. The two themes might be connected in a subtle manner. Suppose the Pharisees of yore treated promises of Divine Providence as nearly identical to karma. The logical conclusion is that the poor and unlucky are poor and unlucky because of sin, and that the rich and powerful are enjoying their wealth and power by virtue of their righteousness.
Perhaps Jesus was berating the wealth-seeking (and having) Pharisees for this incorrect view and the resulting hardness of heart.
Karma vs. Christianity is a lengthy meditation of such matters. I explore how the Old Testament picture of Divine Providence differs from karma and thus the Pharisees were accountable for their theonomical error they believed otherwise.
This meditation may be also useful for Christians wondering whether it is moral to practice capitalism. It is also a partial admonition against the opposite: the Prosperity Gospel.
Ah, subtleties…I wonder if I am wasting my time getting subtle on a web site. Maybe with tablet computers long reads of Internet materials are now feasible. But maybe this should be a book…