I am extremely excited to announce my new book, All Riches Come From Injustice: The Anti-mammon Witness of the Early Church & Its Anti-capitalist Relevance!
That title is quite a mouthful, I know! I’ve recorded a short video that explains what the book is about and why I wrote it, which you can watch below:
The book examines over 60 quotes from the Early Church as they wrestle with the anti-mammon message of Jesus.
I then suggest that the Patristic witness points today to the necessity of anti-capitalism.
After a brief introduction, there are ten chapters in the book:
- Biblical Foundations
- Can the Rich be Saved?
- The Earth is Common
- Hoard Wealth is Theft
- Contentment and the Sin of Luxury
- Usury
- The Tyranny of Mammon
- Socioeconomic Analysis
- On Marx
- Conclusion
As you can see, I begin with the Bible. I argue that the anti-mammon message of Jesus is central to the gospel, not secondary. I examine the words of Christ in their prophetic context, then I look at how Paul, James, and the book of Acts work out the anti-mammon message of Christ.
The six main chapters analyze quotes from the first five centuries of the Church. The two final chapters (excluding the conclusion) argue that the Patristic witness points to the need for a robust socioeconomic analysis of capitalism today. If we want to be faithful to Christ’s anti-mammon message, it is necessary to analyze the systems of injustice today to proclaim anew the gospel that Jesus is Lord, not mammon!
This is a radical book—fitting for radical times. Our situation is marked by unprecedented inequality, where eight men hoard more than half of humanity’s wealth. This book calls the Church back to its radical critique of mammon, which the first Christians considered essential to the message of Jesus, not secondary.
I hope you check out this new book, and most of all, I hope you can benefit from it! Even if you disagree with my conclusions, I think the quotes I present by the Early Church Fathers will be useful to anyone interested in how first Christians understood wealth and poverty.
Which economic model are you proposing?
In short, socialism. But that is not the main argument of this book. It is mostly about the Early Church Fathers and their writings. I then argue that their witness points toward anti-capitalism today. I implicitly argue for socialism, but it is not the main argument of the book. I have another longer project I am working on that will make that argument.