Divine Economy »

What has theology to do with economics? They are both sciences of human action, but have traditionally been treated as very separate disciplines. Divine Economy is the first book to address the need for an active dialogue between the two.
D. Stephen Long traces three strategies which have been used to bring theology to bear on economic questions: the dominant twentieth-century tradition, of Weber's fact-value distinction; an emergent tradition based on Marxist social analysis; and a residual tradition that draws on an ancient understanding of a functional economy. He concludes that the latter approach shows the greatest promise because it refuses to subordinate theological knowledge to autonomous social-scientific research.
Divine Economy will be welcomed by those with an interest in how theology can inform economic debate.

Booknews

Theology and economics, though both sciences of human action, have generally been treated as separate and isolated disciplines. Long (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL) traces three traditions in which attempts have been made to bring theology to bear on economic questions: the dominant 20th century tradition, which sought to give economics its independence through Weber's fact-value distinction; an emergent tradition based on the concept of liberation using a Marxist social analysis; and a residual tradition that draws on an ancient understanding of a functional economy. Long concludes that the last approach shows the greatest promise for a productive conversation between the disciplines because it refuses to subordinate or accommodate theological knowledge to autonomous socio-scientific research. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)