Christian economic theology is distinguished from Christian social ethics by its methodological reflection on the emergence, formation, and proper boundaries of the economic sphere, as well as transcendental reflection on the conditions of possibility of economic science. In practice, this often amounts to anxiety about the authority of Christianity in the economic sphere, as well as about the extent to which Christianity can be held responsible for the system of impersonal economic domination known as capitalism. This review essay draws upon (...) three recent works on or about Christian economic theology, and argues that this genre's anxiety about Christian authority manifests in the ways that it draws temporal boundaries between ancient, medieval, and modern economies. Ultimately, its ambivalence about economy itself is traceable to Aristotle's understanding of money as containing two natures, one defined by quality (use value) and the other by quantity (exchange value). Christianity here becomes a cipher for quality. (shrink)

Resumen En el presente trabajo nos acercaremos a las reflexiones aristotélicas sobre lo económico, desde la perspectiva de Karl Polanyi, precisamente porque éste acude al filósofo griego con el ánimo de obtener elementos útiles para construir una profunda crítica de la moderna sociedad de mercado. Aristóteles intuyó el futuro incierto de un orden social devorado por relaciones económicas en hipertrófica expansión. En su época, desde luego, tal amenaza sólo era potencial y jamás vio la culminación efectiva de nada semejante. No (...) obstante, a pesar de ello, fue capaz de visualizar el significado último de lo que estaba en juego, además pudo comprender que un crecimiento desmedido y descontrolado de las relaciones mercantiles acabaría trastocando irremediablemente el equilibrio cívico; entendió que la extensión irrestricta del deseo de ganancia a todos los lazos humanos supondría una potente amenaza contra la médula misma de la comunidad política.This study approaches Aristotelian reflections on economy through the eyes of Karl Polanyi, as he resorts to the Greek philosopher to find useful elements when building a profound criticism of the modern market society. Aristotle intuited the uncertain future of a social order devoured by economic relations expanding at a hypertrophic rate. In his time, indeed, this was only a potential threat -he never saw the effective culmination of anything like what we are seeing today-. But he was nevertheless able to see the ultimate meaning of what was at stake, and to understand that the unmeasured, uncontrolled growth of market relations would irremediably affect the civic balance. He understood that the unrestricted extension of the desire for profit to all human ties would be a powerful threat to the heart of the political community. (shrink)