I Believe In Jesus, So I Believe In Capitalism

Many today remain skeptical that the Bible -- a book "of religion" actually conveys the ideals and doctrines one might use to make a case that it actually favors a particular kind of economic system. The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) wrote a constitution which in fact specifies that the Bible favors no particular economic system.

Doctor Gary North has spent the better part of a very scholarly life disproving just that claim. I surely will not here attempt to recapitulate all the details of his bibical case for capitalism (but I will recommend his books at http://www.freebooks.com/). Nevertheless, I will show in brief from the Word of God that its well-known doctrines do in fact imply one kind of economic framework, thus denying in principle all others.

The Bible clearly teaches doctrines compatible only with free market capitalism, and even specifies the precise limits of just how "free" this market economy ought to be. It's ethical teachings form a legal and socio-economic framework when carried to their logical conclusions, and applied where they themselves teach they ought to be applied.

The Bible has the final and authoritative answer to all social theoretical questions, all of them. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin disgraces any people. The Proverbs tell us this, and they teach kings how to rule a society, a people. It was written by kings for their children -- future kings. This means it necessarily possesses a social and economic doctrinal set.

First, God has given Christ "all authority in heaven and on the earth." Before Christ condescended from heaven, He was already King of Heaven. This is not new. What is new is the last part, specifying that He (since His vindication three days after his death at the hands of the whole world -- Jew and Gentile alike) properly inherits all things. For it is written, "The meek shall inherit the earth," and again, "God gave to men the earth" (Psalm 24:1).

These men who will inherit it, with Christ, the Heir of all things, come from every tribe, tongue and nation, both male and female (Gen. 1:26). The conquer what becomes their portion of that inheritance by the grace of God found in the Gospel of Christ. This they declare as priestly evangelists in training. They inherit in the resurrection what they conquer in this life by the Gospel, rising as kings to impose the law of the Lord as the law of the land.

At least that it what the book of Revelation says. The Psalms and Proverbs said it first though. In short, God's people do what Jesus did. This does require, however, a little change in our understanding of "meekness" since the Lord Jesus thundered against the wicked powers of his day. In this regard, he was little different than all the prophets. But that is for another time.

God's sovereignty in Christ implies that He rules all things, and Christ the king favors the righteous in his ruling, and withstands the wicked. God works "all things together for the good of them that love Him." This implies the postmillenial thesis.

Christians must inherit -- win, succeed, obtain victory - over three things: the world, the flesh, and the devil. This victory is guaranteed, and Christ Himself is the surety (guarantee) of that promised success. He accomplished this already in principle, but its historical outworking remains. This is why the Bible teaches Christians to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (i.e. with extreme caution, circumspectly, not recklessly).

Thus, success in all things -- the blessings of the covenant of grace -- Christians possess fully only in the resurrection unto glory. Yet, the Bible teaches that a Christians initial salvation (justification and regeneration) is continuous with the rest of his salvation. He simply "works out" what he already is and has in order to grow in sanctification (holiness, to be like God).

For God is at work in His people causing them to will and to act according to His good pleasure, and He who began a good work in them will complete it til the day of Christ Jesus. God, therefore, over time even overcomes their own stubborn tendencies to rebel, and subdues the flesh to his holy purposes. There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord -- not from the world, not from the flesh, and not from the devil (see the book of Job).

So the sovereignty of God in Christ, plus the goodness of the rule of Christ toward His people, plus the doctrine of the continuity of salvation in Christ, these three taken together imply that Christian begin to inherit from the moment they are saved. That inheritance continues until they finalize it in the resurrection.

Why then do not all Christians grow progressively more wealthy over time? The answer is found in the order of God's priorities for his people: holiness first, then happiness. But He wants both for them. Nevertheless, sometimes He postpones the one for the sake of the other. In the end, the greater sanctification NOW leads to the greater final blessing later.

Let us revert to the book of Job. Why did God allow -- even bring to bear - curses upon Job and his household? In every case, it was for the purpose of Job's greater sanctification. The odd thing is that Job is introduced to us as "a man who fears God and shuns evil." But Job has issues. He tries -- for one thing -- to live a righteous life on behalf of his own children. He sacrifices for them almost compulsively to insure that they do not go astray in their hearts. This is not Job's terrain. It is God's. Job was righteous and loved his house, but He did not trust in God's sovereignty (yet). Neither did Jonah (He didn't trust the fish either).

Job, in short, was a man both of faith and fear. And God sought to purge him of the one in order to establish the other -- to overcome the flesh in Job, and to silence the world of complainers against him (both against Job on the one hand and God on the other), and the devil whom God had invited to a debate. Satan recognized God's challenge for just what it was: God was taunting Satan. And Satan took up the challenge God knew he could not resist. The Lord played him like a fiddle.

Thus did Job portray the Lord Jesus by way of type, where Satan was again seduced by his own pride into supposing he might defeat God. The "defeat" he brought about was his own. That is called "Lex Talionis." Some 1,200 years (or so) after the life of Job -- Job was not a post-exilic book -- and Satan had learned nothing about the infallible Sovereignty of God. His pride would not permit him to learn what others had clearly seen - including Job's friends. One wonders at what distance Satan stood from the conversation God had with Job in the later part of the book. Surely, he knew of it soon after if not at the time (for he was given to roaming to and fro throughout the earth -- Lord later said of this roaming "Seeking whom he may devour", where devour means to "kill, steal and destroy" - the ultimate vandal).

So we know that Job inherited over time, but that inheritance was not smooth and even. It was however, continuous. His type shows that God's people inherit good things from God -- mixed with trials and tribulations. But the very long end of Job's life was one of peace and great wealth and prosperity. He died "Old and full of years," satisfied with his life.

Proverbs 11:30 shows a continuity between heaven and earth for the righteous: "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner."

Matthew 19:27-30 has Peter inquiring of the Lord Jesus:

" ... Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."

Here, it is plain that Jesus specifies just what the receive a hundred times as much OF -- the same that was mentioned by Peter in the question -- "houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands." Does this not sound like the book of Job again? Here, the Lord suggests a continuity between this life -- what Christians give up in order to follow Christ -- and what they recieve "in glory" (everlasting life is a life of glory, like that of Solomon, only far greater).

The resurrection is not about "things" for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. But wisdom is to be acquired in the acquiring of all other things. So possessions are not "the point," but they do come with wisdom. Little could be clearer from the life of Solomon - the richest man in history, and its wisest up to that point.

The glory-life of resurrection simply greatly empowers dominion, since the dominion mandate attends humanity in the nature of the case. God is sovereign, and created man in His image, making him a secondarily-sovereign agent. Man is appointed to rule over all under Christ, which 1 Timothy 2 calls Him "The Man" (meaning the second and better Adam).

Thus, we see the aquisition of property -- having and using cool stuff, with houses and land -- form a part of ordinary humanity. Capitalism is "human" economics. Capitalism is based upon work and trade. The Bible teaches both. Salvation is free to men because it must be. There is no way one can earn it. But even that is to be "worked out," with striving. "Strive to enter the narrow gate" the Lord Jesus commanded.

Life -- any life well lived -- necessarily contains a good deal of proper striving (after righteousness and wisdom). This is why eternity is described as "rest" for those that enter the narrow gate. It is rest from striving after that which God commands. The striving does not cause the inheriting of righteousness, but you cannot inherit unless you strive like you mean it. Your three enemies will fight hard to keep you out of the kingdom, so you must fight hard to inherit. This is true for all Christians. The world, Jesus said, loves its own, and so the wicked do not have to fight against that system. They do not have the same strife the Christian does.

But then, from this very short discussion, let us deduce a few things about Capitalism from the Bible's other teachings.

1. God is sovereign and sovereignly gave to men the earth.
2. Thus, the Lord Jesus became a man to inherit it (For Satan had aquired it by stealth).
3. He rules all things in favor of the righteous, and promises them more "good things" (of the kind we are now familiar) in the resurrection. We know resurrected people can eat, since the Lord ate broiled fish and honeycomb, so food is on the menu in the resurrection still.

4. God commands men to rule the earth, and to tend it, as Adam was commanded in the Garden of Eden. We are supposed to acquire land and build it up (improvements) like the Proverbs 31 woman. She buys and sells. So did Solomon.

5. The Bible commands men to fill the earth and subdue it. This is part of being human, not some part of being Christian per se.

6. The Bible commands men to serve (make and produce things other people want) and trade. Goods and services form the backbone of a nation's GNP. This is basic capitalism 101.

7. Above all, we are to seek wisdom. "In all your getting," Solomon commands his children [i.e. God commands His children] "get understanding." Without this, the possession of goods and services mean nothing, since one cannot manage them well. Give a fool a great deal of money suddenly and you will have a dead fool. Give a fool a great deal of wisdom suddenly, and you have a man fit for a great deal of wealth suddenly.

8. Wisdom consists in the strategic acquisition and distribution of wealth in such a way as to advance the Gospel of Christ and its attendant virtues, of which faith, hope and charity are chief. This is what it means to say, "for the glory of God and good of men."

9. The proper limits of free market economies are set by the law of the Lord (the international standard of wisdom). This would include prohibiting the manufacture and sale of idols, conducting business on the Lord's Day, prostitution or pornography of any kind, slavery, and the like. It would also limit taxation to no more than 10% total in any national case, and would require some behaviors. These include aiding and abetting your neighbor's welfare and prosperity, as though it were your own (i.e. so called "Good Samaritan" laws).

10. All these teachings of the Bible are wholly incompatible with any form of Communism or Socialism. Communism forbids private property, where the dominion mandate commands this (and the eighth commandment presupposes this since you cannot steal what no one owns). Socialism, the control of the distribution of goods, places total control -- but not ownership -- of the nations assets in its hands. The Bible understands ownership to include control, thus refuting all forms of socialism.

The apostle Peter said to Ananias, "While it [the land he proposed to give away] was yours, was it not in your power to do with it what you will?" The authoritative example of the apostles shows that even when "everyone had everything in common," that the control of their assets only fell under Church jurisdiction AFTER it was freely donated -- NOT by compulsion from the state or Church.

Therefore, we may safely conclude that the Sovereignty of God, His gracious donation of the earth to us, our derived soverignty under Him, the dominion mandate, the wisdom mandate, our continuity with the resurrection, the Great Commission's doctrine of inheritance which Jesus taught, the biblical prohibiton against theft, it's command to love our neighbor as the self, and the many several other related doctrines of the Bible -- clearly convey the logical force of a command which amounts to free market capitalism.

This consists in the right of men to pursue the dominion and wisdom mandates by work and trade within the social and economic limits specifed by the law of the Lord. Because I have obligation to love my neighbor, I also have the obligation to help him do what God commands him.

Only free market capitalism can fulfill, without obstructing, the two greatest commandments. If it is hatred of my neighbor to steal from him, it must be love to help him prosper and advance the cause of his personal wealth. This is why the OT says, "If you see your neihbor's ox stuck in a ditch, go and help him pull it out." Therefore, God commands free-market capitalism, and forbids all forms of socialism and communism.

This is not a new commandment, but an old one. Even the Westminster divines, among those Puritans who gave us (eventually) the stock markets, have free-market capitalism clearly built into the Larger and Shorter Catechisms on the duties commanded and forbidden under the eighth, ninth and tenth commandments.

These read:

Q. 74. What is required in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.[162]

Q. 75. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbor’s wealth or outward estate.[163]

Q. 76. Which is the ninth commandment?

A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.[164]

Q. 77. What is required in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbor’s good name,[165] especially in witness-bearing.[166]

Comments: One's wealth and prosperity depends to a great extent on his or his company's reputation. McDonald's has built up (earned) a certain reputation. To deliberately undermine it would differ in no material aspect from stealing, since the effect would be to deplete its resources.

Q. 78. What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own, or our neighbor’s, good name.[167]

Q. 79. Which is the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.[168]

Q. 80. What is required in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition,[169] with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that is his.[170]

Q. 81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate,[171] envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.[172]

The Puritans sure could spot an implicate of any proposition or proposition set. They properly infered these answers from the commandments, given the rest of their canonical context.

Commandments 8 through 10 are then properly refered to as the trifecta of biblical, free-market capitalism -- if we allow for the irony that the Bible forbids "trifectas"(i.e. gambling, since it necessarily includes coveting -- fast money won perchance with [theoretically] unlimited potential).

Therefore, I believe in capitalism as an article of the Christian faith, not simply because it has turned out to be better for people, because "it works," or because the majority likes it. God commands the dominion and wisdom pursuits. Biblically-circumscribed capitalism is not some mere tradition of men. This is why it works so well. But we ought not to favor what has good short-term consequences merely for the benefits. That is pragmatism, and James plainly teaches that we are to shun such fleshly and demonic "wisdom."

I believe in capitalism because I believe in Jesus. The promotion of free-market capitalism simply amounts to promoting the Christian economic system, as one part of the Christian worldview. It should not be treated entirely in isolation from the rest of the biblical outlook, though this may be necessary for the purpose of limiting one's teachings for the moment.

But any one proposition, doctrine, or set of teachings we must eventually situate within the whole worldview to properly "contextualize" (this is what people often mean by this very awkward term) it, to see it within a more balanced picture of the way it relates to the other Christian doctrines we are more familiar with.

Christian capitalism simply forms one of the many sets of doctrines within the biblical framework. It is an article of the Christian faith, the faith of Jesus, and should be treated as such in any Christian teaching context. This means that advocating any form of Socialism or Communism amounts by the force of logic to teaching another religion which seeks to compete with the Gospel of Christ for the allegiance -- and wallets -- of men.

As such counter-biblical economic theories and systems properly form apologetic targets for the biblical apologist. This means Keynesianism, Social Security programs (which amount either to Ponzi or Pyramid schemes), and other counter-biblical policies are fair game.

And not just any form of "Capitalism" will do. The ten commandments and their canonical qualifications are highly specific as to which kind of capitalism the Lord has commanded. This means I am not advocating Libertarianism, although I would prefer much of its platform precepts to those of the Republicans (pragmatist Capitalism) or Democrats (pragmatist Socialism). And let the reader notice -- as I have mentioned before -- the postmillenial nature of Capitalism.

The fact that Islam, for instance, does not allow one to charge interest on loans truncates its ability to grow and take dominion (thankfully). Here, it fails the postmillenial economic test. Jesus commanded of the wicked and lazy servant, "YOU should have put your money at interest with the bankers...."

The Lord Jesus is a capitalist of a very biblical kind, a practical Man who seeks profitable servants, who forgives the debts of those unable to pay who seek it of Him, who puts up surety for His people [with the full faith and credit of heaven and earth], and who specificies in His Word just how He expects His people to manage their money.

This means that I am not a Socialist or a Communist for the same reason I am a theonomic Capitalist: I believe in Jesus, and in the faith He commands.

And now for a very unscientific postscript.

Capitalism buys shares of "goods, services and contracts" [companies], not "chances." The mutually-consenting nature of gambling does nothing to mitigate its evil, since coveting is a form of false religion, the worship of chance and money. This is a commonly-misunderstood aspect of free-market capitalism with biblically-specified limits.

Christians do not want money -- and men ought not to want money -- gained in ways the Bible forbids. They should seek money to which God hs promised to add his blessing. The favor of God brings wealth, and God adds no trouble with it. Thus, capitalism seeks to acquire -- since God command us to acquire -- but properly construed it seeks to acquire for the glory of God and the benefit (both short and oh-so long-term benefit) of men.

It seems clear enough -- given the Bible's teachings and the confessional dicta based upon them from the Puritans -- that the RPCNA should give real consideration to amending its Constitution in this regard. There is no shame in reformation, but rather glory, the inevitable destination of believers in Jesus from every denomination.

But the ones with better confessions and greater understanding (like the RPCNA and almost any denomination with three letters or more) have a special obligation to conform their standards to their better knowledge. For they lead God's people at the head.

Though not on a one-for-one basis, Presbyterians tend to rate their denominations by numbers of letters the way others do their hotels with stars, making the RPCNA something of a five-star denomination. So they will want a very clean lobby. Fair or no, people expect more from hotels with more stars.

If your denomination believes in capitalism, this means the elders take their Bibles very seriously. If they have not come this far yet, give it a little time, and send them a link to this post. And don't forget to pray for them. They need it almost as much as you do.