God the Economist

God does not appear in the modern market. For most economists this is as it should be. It is in no way necessary, according to modern economic theory, to consider God when thinking about economy. Indeed, the absence of God in economic matters is viewed as necessary to the great advances in modern economy. The difficulty with modern market economies, however, is that human livelihood is also left out of the theory and practice of the market economy. I propose to bring the church's teaching about God, the doctrine of the Trinity, to bear on the masked connections between God and economy. I will treat the Trinity as the way of understanding what the Bible calls the 'economy of God.'"A brief map of our journey is in order. Chapter 1 considers our present economic quandaries and reasons the church has kept God and economy separated. Chapter 2 inquires about ways in which theology and political economy might be correlated. In chapter 3 we trace some of the historical and theological implications of God's official absence from the market and the surreptitious presence of God concepts in the assumptions behind modern economistic theory. The next chapter investigates some biblical warrants for using Economist as a metaphor for God. The final three chapters examine some of our society's basic assumptions about property, work, and needs. By making a trinitarian critique of God concepts entailed in these assumptions, we seek to open up new possibilities for the church to struggle with economic questions on the assumptive level and to live both before God and in the face of massive problems that emerge in a society extolling liberty and justice in which the denial of livelihood to many people raises radical questions about liberty and justice."- from the Preface

M. Douglas Meeks is the Cal Turner Chancellor's Chair in Wesleyan Studies and Theology, Vanderbilt Divinity School and author of Origins of the Theology of Hope (Fortress, 1974) and God the Economist (Fortress, 1989).