In a new video from Made to Flourish, Tim Keller offers practical guidance to ministers and churches on how they canbetter disciple their peoplewhen es to work and stewardship: There are a lot of very non-Christian philosophies that are dominating a lot of areas of work, and if a Christian isn’t discipled, they’re just going to go along with the spirit of the age. They also will probably be getting less joy of their work. They may actually not be...

Prof. Harry Veryser stars in a new video from ISI that explores some of the lessons about private property, rights, responsibilities, and stewardship that can be gleaned from the thought of Thomas Aquinas. For a much more in-depth exposition of the connections between and lessons from Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, check out John Mueller’s Redeeming Economics (ISI, 2010). For more, check out a slate of review essays on Mueller’s book published in Research in the History of Economic Thought &...

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That line was written in 1906 by Evelyn Beatrice Hall to describe Voltaire’s attitude towards a fellow rival French philosopher. For the next hundred years that line was often quoted to express a particularly American ideal of toleration and the importance of free speech. But something changed over the past few decades. Certain offensive speech has been deemed not only utterly indefensible,...

For much of human history, the dominant legal principle was rex lex—“the king is law.” In the 1600s, though, that view was subverted, mostly by Christian thinkers like Samuel Rutherford, who claimed lex rex—“the law is king.” Since then most Western governments have adopted the principle of that the rule of law, rather than the arbitrary diktats of government officials, should govern a nation. Increasingly, though, the principle of rule of law is being replaced, as Bruce Frohnen says, by...

It’s prom season, the time of year when plenty of high school kids eagerly anticipate an invitation to the year’s biggest formal event. It’s no different for the member organizations of religious shareholder activist groups As You Sow and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. Both groups have their tuxedos pressed and dresses tailored for this summer’s highly anticipated climate encyclical from Pope Francis, the progressive left’s version of netting either Kate Upton or Ryan Gosling as prom dates. In...

“For too many of the poor in today’s America, life is essentially that of a client,”says Elise Hilton in this week’s Acton Commentary. “The government cares for their needs: housing, food, education. Spending one’s life as client creates an entitlement mentality: ‘I am here to receive. I am owed something. I depend on others for my needs and desires.’” A place is where people are invested. They create homes, send their kids to school and dance lessons, own businesses, shop...

Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Istituto Acton in Rome, evaluates a new book on Pope Francis and the economy. The book, Papa Francesco: Questa Economia Uccide [Pope Francis: This Economy Kills], is written by two Italian journalists known for skirting the ethical standards for Vatican journalists. For that alone, Jayabalan does not hold their work in high esteem. Writing at Crisis Magazine, Jayabalan is curious as to the motives of authors Andrea Tornielli and o Galeazzi: As I started reading Papa...

On this edition of Radio Free Acton, we’re joined in studio by eminent Catholic scholar George Weigel of the Ethics and Public Policy Center to discuss the pontificate of Pope Francis, his coverage by the global media, and his ing trip to the United States. Weigel is joined in studio by Acton’s President and Co-Founder Rev. Robert A. Sirico, and the discussion is moderated by Acton Director of Research Samuel Gregg. Listen via the audio player below. ...

If one decides to destroy the American Dream, there are a few steps that would be necessary. Put Big Government in charge. The average American can’t figure out his or her own dreams, let alone what it would take to make them a reality.Tell Americans that without the government, the American Dream is hopeless.Produce a lengthy document about the American Dream. Leave out the word “freedom,” let alone the idea of freedom.Let people know that “freedom” (without actually using the...

Capitalism is routinely blamed for rampant materialism and consumerism, accused of setting society’s sights only on material needs and wants, and living little time, attention, or energy for muchelse. But what, if not basic food, shelter, and survival, was humanity so preoccupied with before the Industrial Revolution? As Steve Horwitz arguesin a preview of his ing book, Hayek’s Modern Family, our newfound liberty and accelerated activity in the Economy of Creative Service has actually freed us to devote moreto other...