lynnvinc #92
As for the economic system in monasteries, it is based on generalized reciprocity or primitive communism – not capitalism, which arose only within the past millennium.
False.
We have seen the strong support for free enterprise by St John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Abu #67) and both socialism and communism have been roundly condemned by both.
In his
Christians For Freedom, Ignatius 1986, p 43-47, (with a new edition, since), Dr Chafuen notes that “many people close to Jesus were quite wealthy for their times. Joseph seems to have had his own business and perhaps a donkey; Peter owned a fishing boat, and Matthew was a tax collector. Jesus praised the rich man Zaccheus. It was the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea who kept faith even when the Apostles were beset by doubt (Mt 27:57). Jesus does not condemn the possession of riches but, rather disordered attachment to them.” Notice also that Jesus did not ask His Apostles to renounce their property.
Some misrepresent Acts 2:44-47, where the faithful lived together and owned everything in common – foolishly called “primitive communism”.
These so-called “Apostolics” were condemned by St Thomas and the Late Scholastics, who quote St Augustine. Why?
In his Summa, II-II, Q. 66, art. 2, resp., St Thomas quotes St Augustine: “Augustine says: ‘The people styled apostolic are those who arrogantly claimed this title for themselves because they refused to admit married folk or property owners to their fellowship, arguing from the model of the many monks and clerics in the Catholic Church (
De Haeresibus 40).’ But such people are heretics because they cut themselves off from the Church by alleging that those who, unlike themselves, marry and own property have no hope of salvation.”
More confirmation:
‘Free enterprise economic development started in the great Catholic monastic estates of the ninth century, and a solid basis of economic Catholic thought developed from the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth century the Late Scholastics who were Thomists (followers of St Thomas) “writing and teaching at the University of Salamanca in Spain, sought to explain the full range of human action and social organization.” They “observed the existence of economic law, inexorable forces of cause and effect that operate very much as other natural laws. Over the course of several generations, they discovered and explained the laws of supply and demand, the cause of inflation, the operation of foreign exchange rates, and the subjective nature of economic value…” For these reasons Joseph Schumpeter applauded them as the first real economists.’ (Thomas E Woods Jr,
The Church And The Market, Lexington Books, 2005, p 8).
In the Encyclical Letter
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concerns), 1987, #42, St John Paul II teaches: “Likewise, in this concern for the poor, one must not overlook that special form of poverty which consists in being deprived of fundamental human rights, in particular the right to religious freedom and also the right to freedom of economic initiative.”
From *Centesimus Annus *(St John Paul II, 1991):
“48. Economic activity, especially the activity of a market economy, cannot be conducted in an institutional, juridical or political vacuum. On the contrary, it presupposes sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency and efficient public services. Hence the principle task of the State is to guarantee this security, so that those who work and produce can enjoy the fruits of their labours and thus feel encouraged to work efficiently and honestly. The absence of stability, together with the corruption of public officials and the spread of improper sources of growing rich and of easy profits deriving from illegal or purely speculative activities, constitutes one of the chief obstacles to development and to the economic order.”
Free enterprise doesn’t emphasise greed and self over the common good – does anyone know of any legitimate business that can survive without giving its customers value for money, with other similar businesses competing for the customers’’ patronage? Is the State going to do a better job of allocation of scarce resources? Too many people are greedy and selfish. That’s why we have laws to seek and punish those who steal, cheat, swindle, and worse crimes.
The world is in a mess in every respect partly because so few Catholics have taken take the time and trouble to follow Christ by using their God-given reason and the wise counsel offered by the relevant teaching of His Church.
and switch off.
:yup: