Does Acts 2-5 Teach Socialism?
Art Lindsley, The IFWE Blog

Acts 2-5 presents a beautiful picture of Christian community. But does it mandate socialism for believers? What can be said to such a claim?

Read more on PowerLinks – 07.18.12…

That’s the question asked at the “Economics for Everybody” blog. The answer? A resounding yes:

Work is important to God. It’s so important that He put Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it.” God took His creation and assigned it to Adam “to fill and subdue.” That sounds like work to me.

Read more on ‘Does God Like Economics?’…

President Obama’s speech last week in which he asserted to businesspeople, “You didn’t build that,” has been getting some pretty harsh and some pretty hilarious responses.
In this week’s Acton Commentary, “It Takes a Village to Raise a Business,” I caution against responses that play into a simple individualist/collectivist dichotomy that underlays the president’s message:

Read more on Acton Commentary: It Takes a Village to Raise a Business…

Earlier this week, Dom Giordano of CBS Philadelphia’s 1210 AM radio affiliate led a discussion of President Obama’s “You didn’t get there on your own” speech to entrepreneurs and small business owners.  Multiple callers recommended Rev. Sirico’s recently published Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy as a counter to the President’s comments. And this morning, Sirico is slated to appear on the Dom Giordano Program at 10:05 a.m. EST.

Read more on Rev. Sirico on CBS Philadelphia’s Dom Giordano Program…

“What life experiences would best prepare Jesus for his later public ministry,” ask Klaus Issler, “for his distinctive divine-human role as Messiah and Savior of the world?”

We might think being born into a priest’s family would provide an excellent heritage for the Messiah, which was the life situation for Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptizer (Luke 1:5–17). Days could be devoted to studying Scripture, prayer and daily access to the temple precincts. Yet Jesus came into a layperson’s family, devoting the bulk of his young adult years to working at a “secular” job.

Read more on How Did Business Shape Jesus’ Life?…

Turns out that cronyism hits more than just your pocketbook. There’s a good chance it’s hitting your waistline too.

That’s the takeaway from this editorial by Charles Lane. You see, cheese is one of the highest fat foods we eat, and our country overproduces cheese because of government created market distortions.

Read more on Let Them Eat Cheese…

Os Guinness makes the concise yet brilliant defense of the centrality of truth in the introduction to One Word of Truth: A portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn by David Aikman.

This short introduction not only offers keen insight into Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, but directly speaks to the ills of our society.

Read more on Os Guinness on Solzhenitsyn and Truth…

A short post in thanks to Lee Harmon over at The Dubious Disciple for his review of Wisdom & Wonder. Here are a couple brief highlights from the review:

His writing, while dated and in many places relevant only to the most conservative Christian, is intelligent and opinionated, and the translation is elegant. It’s a pleasure to read.

Read more on What the Fall meant for Science and Art: Wisdom & Wonder book review…

Our On Call in Culture community has been on a journey exploring different areas that God has us On Call in Culture. We have such a rich community of people living their lives to bring God glory. Here are examples of people we have seen who are being On Call in Culture in their life and work. Are there other job areas you would like to see us focus on? We’d love to hear what you think!
Read more on On Call in Culture Hall of Fame…

On National Review Online, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg challenges liberals on economic immobility:

When it comes to applying liberté, égalité, fraternité to the economy, modern liberals have always been pretty much fixated on the second member of this trinity. It’s a core concern of the bible of modern American liberalism: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (1971). Here a hyper-secularized love of neighbor is subsumed into a concern for equality in the sense of general sameness. Likewise, economic liberty is highly restricted whenever there’s a likely chance that its exercise might produce significant wealth disparities.

Read more on Samuel Gregg: Challenging Liberals on Economic Immobility…