One of the more thought-provoking seminary professors I had was a church history professor by the name of Carl Trueman. Carl (at Westminster, there was an unwritten rule that professors under the age of 45 or so were on a first-name basis with the students, all the rest were "Dr." so-and-so) is from England and is able to provide a perspective on American culture and politics that we Americans might miss. Plus, he's an historian which gives him a unique take on current events.
Carl has an article posted on one of the websites I frequent, Reformation21.org. It's called "The Freedom of the Christian Market" (click here) and is a very interesting analysis of our current financial mess. You may or may not agree with him on every particular, but it is definitely worthwhile reading.
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4 comments:
Sorry Scott, but nothing Carl says is correct. 1. The free market did not create the problem - but government mandates. 2. free markets do not reward raw greed, but creating value for others. Markets do not reflect greed but reality. 3. This crisis was not created by greed, but - ironically- by misguided compassion. 4. The market is fixing the problem - but once again the government is preventing the market from doing its thing.
Oh, and how ya doing, by the way!
Hi Josh! Good to hear from you!
First, we are doing well up here. With snow on the ground and temperatures in the 30's, it looks like winter is here. I suppose it is the same in Southern California, too. :)
As for your comments on Trueman's article, I think you are missing his point. He's not blaming the free market as such for the problem, but universal human sin that perverts what would otherwise be a perfectly good system.
As for the direct cause of the crisis, I'm not an economist so I really don't know. However, it seems reasonable to say that at least part of the problem was the willingness of so many borrowers to take on an irresponsible amount of debt. Trueman's point was that a consumer culture that fosters a sinful materialism only encourages this sort of unwise borrowing. (Sarah Palin said as much in her debate with Joe Biden when she said all of us need to heed our parents' advice in money management, or something like that!).
Anyway, read it again. I don't think he's saying exactly what you hear him saying.
I read Carl's article and I must say it was very well-written. I agree with his points. It's amazing to see how most of our problems in this world boil down to sin in our lives and the way we try to manifest the covering of that sin.
I'm just hoping the financial crisis will be over in April of next year so the baseball season can start on time and the Steelers can sign their draft picks.
:)
Steve,
First, thanks for the comments on the blogs!
As for the financial crises, I'm glad to see you've got the priorities right! With that in mind, I think the Cardinals should sign all the free agents they can this off-season and not worry about their budget. I'm sure they can apply for a government bailout later!
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