Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'natural law'

June 13, 2014

New Issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality (17.1)

The most recent issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality, vol. 17, no. 1, has been published online at our website (here). This issue features an array of scholarship on the foundations and fabric of free and virtuous societies, ranging from David VanDrunen’s examination of the market economy and Christian ethics, offering an unique synthesis between pro- and anticapitalist perspectives, to David Urban’s examination of liberty and virtuous self-government in the works of the seventeenth-century English poet John Milton. Continue Reading...
April 25, 2014

The Glory of God and the Goal of Good Laws

“The goal of all good laws is first and foremost the glory of God, then the good of one’s neighbor, privately and, most important, publicly.” –Girolamo Zanchi  The following excerpt comes from Thesis 3 (above) of Girolamo Zanchi’s newly translated On the Law in General.  Continue Reading...
February 06, 2014

Why Natural Law Arguments Are Necessary

A few weeks ago I asked why natural law arguments more persuasive. Natural law advocates intend for such argument to persuade both believers and non-believers, so how do they account for the relative ineffectualness of such arguments? Continue Reading...
September 18, 2013

The Orthodox Christian Political Theology of Aristotle Papanikolaou

In the most recent issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality (16.1), I review The Mystical as Political by Aristotle Papanikolaou. I write, In The Mystical as Political, Aristotle Papanikolaou seeks to construct a political theology rooted in the Orthodox Christian conviction that all of creation, and humanity in particular, was created for communion with God. Continue Reading...
August 16, 2013

Virtuous Bribery? Care for Prisoners in the Early Church

In her historical study of wealth and poverty in the early Church, Loving the Poor, Saving the Rich, Helen Rhee offers the following interesting historical tidbit with regards to how early Christians were able to minister to their imprisoned brothers and sisters who awaited martyrdom: Bribing the prison guards, which must have cost a certain amount, features frequently enough in the Christian texts. Continue Reading...
July 11, 2013

William J. Abraham: The Treasures and Trials of Eastern Orthodoxy

Last night I attended an engaging lecture at Calvin College by Dr. William Abraham of the Southern Methodist University Perkins School of Theology. Abraham, whose religious background is Irish Methodist and who is now a minister in the United Methodist Church and the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins, gave a presentation titled, “The Treasures and Trials of Eastern Orthodoxy.” Continue Reading...