Treasure and Dominion

By North, Gary

Book Id: WPLBN0000697917
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 1.59 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	Treasure and Dominion
Author:	North, Gary
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Religion, Christianity, Literature
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Citation APA MLA Chicago North, B. G. (n.d.). Treasure and Dominion. Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Religion and Christian Theology Collection

Excerpt
Excerpt: Writing an economic commentary on the Gospel of Luke has been an emotionally unsettling experience for me. As I was writing the first edition, day by day, I found that the words on my computer?s screen called me either to rethink or repent. In trying to explain Jesus? words, I found that my summaries of, and comments on, His words that dealt with personal economics placed me under conviction. I found in His words no acceptance of the supreme belief of the industrial and post-industrial West: faith in the socially redemptive power of compound economic growth. Instead, I found warnings against the personal pursuit of riches. Yet the pursuit of personal gain is at the heart of all modern intellectual justifications of free market capitalism, and has been for over two centuries. Jesus warned against the worship of mammon, while modern economists have placed mammon worship at the center of their analysis of how the world really works, and how it must work if we are to attain economic efficiency. Writing my economic commentary on Matthew?s Gospel should have produced the same awareness, but Luke?s is even more unrelenting in its condemnation of the pursuit of riches.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents Preface (6:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Introduction (12:32?34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. Reversal of Fortune: Covenantal Sanctions (1:51?53) . . . . . . 25 2. The End of the Old Covenant Order (3:9?14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3. Stones into Bread: Power Religion (4:4?4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 4. The Kingdoms of Man: Power Religion (4:5?8) . . . . . . . . . . . 63 5. Risk-Free Living: Power Religion (4:9?12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 6. Liberation of the Whole World (4:16?21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 7. Calling vs. Occupation (5:21?28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 8. Open Fields at Harvest Time (6:1?15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 9. Reversal of Fortune: Beatitudes and Woes (6:20?25) . . . . . . 129 10. A Merciful Hand (6:27?36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 11. Full Measure, Running Over (6:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 12. By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them (6:43?45) . . . . . . . . 174 13. Obedience Brings Security (6:47?49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 14. Interpersonal Comparisons of Subjective Utility (7:41?43) 194 15. Choked With Riches (8:11?15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 16. The Rich Get Richer; So Do the Poor (8:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 17. The Lure of Business (8:33?37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 18. No Visible Reserves (9:1?3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 19. To Gain the Whole World (9:23?25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 20. First Things First (9:57?62) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 21. The Good Samaritan (10:30?36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 22. Answered Prayer: Something for Nothing (11:9?13) . . . . . 284 23. Tithing Is Not Enough (11:39?42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 24. Value, Price, and Fear (12:6?7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 25. Treasure and Greed (12:15?21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 26. Missionary Finances (12:22?34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 27. Rewards for Perseverance (12:35?38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345