Redeeming Capitalism. Kenneth J. Barnes.
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2018. 207pp.
Kenneth Barnes currently holds the chair in Work Place Theology and Business Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. As might be expected, therefore, Redeeming Capitalism is about the theology and ethics of business. Its basic argument is simple: The capitalist economic system that now exists is not the same as that which has existed in the past and, specifically, is not that endorsed by Adam Smith; it suffers from serious flaws that derive from a “moral vacuum” (page 1), which is itself a product of postmodern thinking; yet no other economic system provides a better workable alternative, the thinking of writers such as Picketty and Pool is hopelessly Utopian (pages 81 and 86, respectively) and the solution does not lie in regulation (page 59); what is needed is, essentially, moral reformation and the replacement of “post-modern capitalism” (Chapter 6) with “virtuous capitalism,” being capitalism based on Aquinas’ cardinal virtues (Chapter 13).
There is little to criticise in this as an overall thesis. However, below this very high level, much of what Barnes says is superficial, questionable or simply wrong. Indeed, it is an example of the kind of thing that...
Christianity & Social Service in Modern Britain. Frank Prochaska. was published in 2006 by
Oxford University Press. 2006. 228 pages.
Frank Prochaska describes Christianity & Social Service in Modern Britain as “an interpretative study, which seeks to contribute to the history of social service, religious decline, and democratic traditions” (p. vii). There is no doubt that, between the late Victorian years and the twenty-First century, the voluntary provision of social services in the UK was substantially replaced by State provision and, over the same period, Christianity in the UK declined. Frank Prochaska seeks to examine the connection between these two processes.
He does this by first examining the beliefs that underlay nineteenth-century Christian social action and providing a general overview of the nineteenth-century philanthropic landscape, before moving on to consider four specific areas: schooling, visiting, mothering, and nursing. In each case, he examines the motivation, nature, and growth of voluntary Christian action during the nineteenth century and the changes (principally, the decline) that occurred between the last quarter of that century and the years following the Second World War and, to some extent, beyond. In the final chapter, he turns to examining post-war attitudes and endeavouring to draw broader...
