Can Christianity and Capitalism Coexist?
I have always been a proponent of a free market system. I came of age in the era of capitalism and the last twenty years of the cold war. I grew up in an upper middle class home. The son of a Neonatologist and a mother with a Ph.D. in counseling. We never lacked for anything, even after my parents divorce. I never have known what it means to be in dire need. I always have seen socialism and communism as evil things. Ronald Reagan called the U.S.S.R. the evil empire, and proceeded to spend them out of business, so to speak. The arms race inflated our economy, defense spending put much money in pockets, and in an attempt to keep up, the Soviet Union bankrupted themselves. It is against this backdrop that I began to read The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time by Karl Polanyi.
“Karl Polanyi, once a World War I officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, a lecturer at the People’s University, and a member of the editorial staff of Vienna’s leading financial newspaper, who had been forced first from his native Hungary and then from Vienna by the turmoil of revolutions and dictatorships, began The Great Transformations an exile in England at the end of the 1930s.” [1] Polanyi had to flee his home due to the Anchluss or Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. He is decidedly socialist in his economic leanings and that was one of the difficulties I had with his book. I have seen the devastation wrought by changing of a country from a free market system to a socialist government taking over the private sector. Venezuela, at one time, was one of the most prosperous countries in the world. When Hugo Chavez ascended to the Presidency in 1988 and the subsequent taking over of the oil industry by the government has resulted in a country in complete crisis. Where once people had plenty, one only has to watch the news to see the poverty rocking the nation. Citizens now stand on line for up to eighteen hours a day to by food, and sometimes they are rewarded with rotten meat. A dozen eggs cost 150,000 Bolivars, even though a teacher makes approximately 300,000 B’s per week. Socialism has failed its people in Venezuela.
Polanyi makes the argument that a free market system makes fictitious commodities out of labor, land, and money.[2] He argues that market systems did not exist until the creation of these free markets at the beginnings of the industrial revolution in the 19th century. [3] There are those who would disagree. Geoffrey Hodgson writes “Much previous criticism of Polanyi’s argument has centred on his claim that markets played a marginal role in economic systems prior to the nineteenth century. Subsequent scholars have claimed that markets and prices had a substantial economic influence in ancient civilizations such as in Rome and Babylonia.” [4] The free market system and the capitalism that comes with it may or may not be a product of the Industrial Revolution, but in its present form there are certainly problems.
So that brings me to my question from the beginning, can Christianity and capitalism coexist? On the one hand one cannot deny the prosperity capitalism has brought, in this capacity it has allowed the Church universal to take the gospel to all the corners of the earth. But, there is also no denying the perversion of the gospel in the name of the almighty dollar. All one has to do is google preachers begging for money, or prosperity preachers and you get headlines such as Creflo Dollar asking for 65 million dollars for a new airplane, or Greedy Megachurch Pastor builds a $1.6 million mansion. [5] You see these things and how they push people away from God and understand the aversion to them from someone like Polanyi. Admittedly, these preachers did not exist when he wrote his book, but there has never been a shortage of money and power in the church. There are some who would argue “democratic capitalism allows man more freedom to achieve his rightful place in the universe as a creature of God than any other socioeconomic system” [6] I cannot come to grips with that statement, but I also cannot accept that socialism is the answer either. I think the answer lies somewhere in between, but I am not an economist, as evidenced by this post.
I am not sure those who would argue that Jesus would be a socialist or a proponent of the free market system have strong footing. In scripture we are told “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world; the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1st John 2:15-17. In other words, I am not supposed to covet money, or materials. I am supposed to be about the spiritual things of God.
Neither side of this coin is palpable to me. I see good in both, the ability to take care of the needs of others because of the money that comes from living in a free market society, in a socialist society there is equality. I also see evil in both, haute finance putting control of all economic gains in the hand of a few elites, Communism, fascism, socialist regimes have all perpetrated some of the most heinous crimes against humanity (see Nazis, Stalin, etc). In the end, as Christians, we are to understand that God has put us under authority, where we are, and we are to live the gospel under those circumstances.
[1] Mayhew, Anne. “The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time.” EHnet. Accessed January 31, 2018. https://eh.net/book_reviews/the-great-transformation-the-political-and-economic-origins-of-our-time/.
[2] Polanyi, Karl. The great transformation: the political and economic origins of our time. Boston: Beacon Press, 2014. 71.
[3] Ibid. 71-74.
[4]Hodgson, G. (2017). Karl Polanyi on economy and society: A critical analysis of core concepts. Review of Social Economy, 75(1), 1-25.
[5] Google Search https://www.google.com/search?q=greedy+pastors&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVkeWfsobZAhXE54MKHbQhBI0Q1QIIaCgF&biw=1250&bih=635
[6]Williams, T.T. “Is Capitalism Christian?” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 69, no. 2 (1987): 498-498.
About the Author
Jason Turbeville
A pastor, husband and father who loves to be around others. These are the things that describe me. I was a youth minister for 15 years but God changed the calling on my life. I love to travel and see where God takes me in my life.7 responses to “Can Christianity and Capitalism Coexist?”
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Jason,
Good question, “Can Christianity and capitalism coexist?” I don’t like the present day use of “coexist” against the Christian context, suggesting that all roads lead to God and everyone gets a “free pass” into Heaven.
After reviewing your thoughts on “desires of the flesh” I saw the parable of talents come into mind. (Matt. 25:14-30 · Luke 19:12-27). These teach the principle of stewardship, against the Biblical idea that the Master wanted his servants to invest wisely and earn him a profit. So, how do you compare this with your ideas presented in your post?
Does any of Polanyi’s work connect with your dissertation research? I struggled, but I found a way to connect him to mine, thru his lived example of “perseverance.”
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Mike,
I did finally find connection in that the consumeristic approach to Christianity is fleshed out in our desires to one up the church down the road. In other words, a congregation is worried more about how we look in conjunction to another church rather than focusing on seeking and saving that which was lost.
Jason
Hi Jason,
Great title! And your follow up response of, “Neither side of this coin is palpable to me.”
I like your use of Scripture, thank you for that. I am also reminded that the “Love of Money” over the “Love of God and Love of Others” is really the bottom line divider in this situation. Would you agree?
Jay,
I absolutely would agree, we as a church can do much better than we have been doing.
Jason,
We must also be cognizant of the fact that the free market system and our democratic capitalism, while generating the most wealth ever realized in the world to date, has also been the most exploitative when it comes to abusing God’s creation, including individuals used as cogs in a wheel. The problem with both systems, or any other for that matter is that they all tend to be utilized for the illicit gain of a few.
The Church has struggled with issues of enmeshment since Constantine but the best aspects of it always prevailed as a countercultural movement. What do you see as the countercultural movement of our day?
Dan,
Unfortunately the church, in my opinion, is trying to be to culturally relevant. I think we need to find a way to be countercultural, in that we are not to look like the world but to reach it for Christ. I see to many churches with green rooms and set ups that would rival some tv stations or concert venues. We are to worried about putting on a show. I thing to be countercultural we need to find a way to make the gospel central, be reaching out to those in need and find a way to be spiritually discerning in all things. That being said, if you have the way please let me know, how do we turn our congregations away from the materialistic world view?
Jason you write with such clarity, focus, and self-knowledge. I first appreciated the “backdrop” against which you wrote your reflection. It really helps to understand and appreciate your perspective. While my experience is both similar and different in various ways, in this day and age, I agree with you that capitalism is probably the best option we’ve got. And I certainly am a beneficiary of capitalism as my father was a commercial real estate developer. However, it seems that we need to do a better job, because it’s not perfect and people get left out. So maybe we ought to think about how to reshape capitalism for our time. I’ll leave that to the economists!