A Biblical Foundation for Economics

What is the term commonly known as “economics?” In my insufficient understanding, economics is a scientific body of thought (Ritenour 1-2), containing certain principles which surround the idea of trade. So in trying to establish its “biblical foundation”, we need to understand the basic ideas that the Bible establishes on the subject of money.

In this paper, I’ll be touching on four central ideas of biblical economics. They are 1) the expectations of work, 2) the right of economic freedom, 3) the principle of saving, and 4) the principle of giving.

Firstly, the expectations of work. The Bible is clear that if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat (Prov. 20:4, 2 Thess. 3:10). However, most of modern society views work as more of a burden (a necessary evil) than a purpose. But God created us from the beginning to work (Gen 1-3), and it was only in the Fall at which work became toilsome. So we don’t work because it provides, but rather because that is our role, and a result of that role is provision. And the consequence of not fulfilling our role in work is poverty.

The second idea in biblical economics is the right to economic freedom. The government, by taking materials away from the people to distribute them for the values that they appreciate, is functioning outside of its role. They do have a precedent for taking money to distribute to the poor, but they do not have much more freedom to distribute money. But when you remove the Bible and principles like the first in this paper; as MacArthur says, who is left to decide what you should do in your work or with your money? The government and the power elite (Grace to You).

This is the reason socialism is wrong. We have a right to make money. Socialism has an elite group that takes it and chooses who gets most of it. Besides the moral problems, it also doesn’t work. People just don’t work as hard when something is given to them instead of them having to earn it.

The third idea in biblical economics is the principle of saving, particularly that of avoiding debt. Many passages, such as Romans 13, Proverbs 22, Psalm 37, etc. help make clear that it is unwise and, if done with the wrong motives, wrong, to go into debt. Besides leaving you in the long term with less, you are slowly becoming held as a slave to the borrower. Instead of this wrong, we are to save some of our money for the future. As John MacArthur says, the gap shouldn’t be between what you spend and what you make, but between what you spend and what you make (Grace to You).

Finally, the fourth idea is the principle of giving. We are not to ever withhold from our fellow Christian neighbor in need, as long as it depends on us (1 John 3:16-18). And furthermore, we are to store up rewards in heaven, where nothing dissolves as everything does on earth (Matthew 6:19-21). We do that by being generous, devoting money to the Lord, and giving it to the church or fellow believers. For we are not to put our hope in things which will dissolve with time, but in the imperishable (1 Tim. 6:17-19). But we are not to give because we have to, but cheerfully, as onto the Lord (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).

Work Cited ------------------------------------------------------ Grace to You, & MacArthur, J. (2012). Thinking biblically about the economy, government, and your money (selected scriptures) [Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eag7mKYDvU&t=1684s

New American Standard Bible. (1995). New american standard bible. The Lockman Foundation.

Ritenour, S. (2010). Foundations of economics: A christian view. Wipf and Stock Publishers.