Noah Meyer
Essay #4
In the Oxford handbook we see that after the separation happened, Christian theology
claims didn’t have any more jurisdiction over economics then even studies of “chemistry and
physics.“ Because there are two sides of the debate; the empirical investigations of systems and
processes, which relied on scientific Study; on the other side there is the interpretation of
meaning and moral value, which is giving theological positions an importance. The Oxford
handbook also describes on page 135 that for the past 200 years scientific study, and theological
beliefs have been separated as two different rooms. This is grounds to say that economics as a
study, and religious beliefs could truly be separated. It is a very current and widespread
postmodern belief that religion, and religious doctrine and teaching should have nothing to do
with science, policy, or laws that are taught to, govern, and run a society. The question that
stands is “should there be a divide between religious/theological beliefs, and economics? Or
should the way we view economics, both scientifically and socially, be viewed with a Lens that
takes into account the religious beliefs of the individuals and people groups functioning in that
very society?“ The Oxford handout says that the separation of economics and theology is a topic
that was made popular by the westernized tendency of humanity and civilization to do away with
religion. This is referred to as the secularization of western thought, the growing postmodern
belief system. We are also shown that economics and religious beliefs have been tied together to
understand true contributions to this desirable outcome, and phenomenon: human flourishing.
It is an increasingly popular idea in westernization that the political economy should be
as farly secularized and separated from religious beliefs or doctrine as possible. But there’s also a
necessity of holding on to virtue, and ethics that is clearly necessary in any society. And it is
undeniable when we look at laws that actually makes sense that they agree with a consistent and
broad set of morals that are Christian. To make laws and to make political regulations you must
have a code of ethics. For a country to understand how it is going to run and govern its economy,
there needs to be some sort of standard for the way they are going to operate. And this standard
will only maintain its stability if it has a biblical foundation to rely on. It doesn’t make sense to
separate policy from religious belief, or economics from biblical morality, because without the
belief and the morality there is no solid ground to stand on and everything is questionable. The
book states that the Lord‘s kingdom was made for everyone in an inclusive environment, with
everyone to be able to have the ability to flourish. Soooo working with the economy in biblical
