Capitalism as Heresy: On Why Theologians Criticize Markets

Christian economists are often interested in statements made by theologians and church leaders on economic issues. While there critical of modern economics as a discipline. The purpose of this paper Theologians discussed include Catholics and Protestants. Several of the theologians examined are part of the Radical Orthodoxy group and almost M ost nations utilize markets to organize their economies, and many believe that market systems defeated socialist systems with the fall of the Soviet Union and its satellites. Even China has moved toward capitalism for its economic organization, although it continues to reject democratic reforms. Yet, there remain a number of people who condemn markets and advocate either a form of socialism or some “third way” that is neither socialism nor capitalism. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons given by theologians who dislike markets. Numerous reasons can be found in the literature, and not all theologians emphasize the same faults of markets. Some of the reasons are moral, some are philosophical, and some are theological, although these concepts often overlap. I am not claiming that all theologians have an antipathy towards markets, since there are many theologians who support market systems. Michael Novak is probably the best known theologian who supports capitalism, but he is not alone. We Author’s Note: I appreciate helpful comments and discussions with