Idols of Nations
Biblical Myth at the Origins of Capitalism
Description:... Roland
Boer and Christina Petterson here produce a critical survey showing that the
rise of capitalist theory was shaped by the way different economic
philosophers—Smith, Hobbes, Grotius, Malthus, Locke––read the Bible. Invoking
Jeremiah (14:22) and Adam Smith—who took the title of his Wealth of Nations from Isaiah (61:6, 66:12)—they show that early
theories of capitalism were shaped by particular assumptions that these
theorists brought to their readings of the story of Eden in particular. They
examine those assumptions and evaluate what has changed in subsequent
centuries. Idols of Nations shows
that the Bible was central to the theorization and economic thought of these key
thinkers as it explores the distinct problems each sought to overcome.
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