PROLOGUE
Chapter 1: What Is the Economy In the Bible?
General Definitions of an
Economy
An “economy” generally means a
country’s situation in terms of production and/or consumption of goods and
services, employment or unemployment, inflation, economic growth, or the standard
of living, etc. An economy may also
be defined as “an activity of production, consumption, distribution, or trade
of goods and services by different agents such as a household, a firm, or a
government,” or “the wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in
terms of production and consumption of goods and services,” or “careful
management of available resources.” A
household economy is thus the wealth of a household or careful management of
available and scarce resources for a household. A nation’s economy is the
wealth and resources of a country in terms of production and consumption or in
connection with inflation, unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP), and
economic growth. So, our understanding of an economy in economics textbooks is
more likely a situation or a status of wealth and resources for a household or
a country.
Etymology of an Economy
The word economy (經濟,
jingji) in Chinese is an abbreviation of ‘經世濟民’
(jingshijimin), ‘經國濟世’ (jingguojishi),
or ‘經國濟民’(jingguojimin), said to be originated either
from 書經 (Shujing, the Book of
Documents), one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature, or from 莊子(Zhuangzi or Chuang
Tzu), which means that the government manages or governs the nation’s general
(including political, economic, and social) affairs and issues well and thus
saves its people and makes them better off or prosper. This Chinese word, 經濟
(jingji), with its meaning, has been widely used in Asian countries –
especially in China, Korea, and Japan – and includes not only the areas of
economy but also the areas of politics and administration. That is, it is about
a government’s general activities, plans, or ways of governing its country and
making its people prosper.
The Greek word, “oikonomia (οἰκονομία),” corresponds to the
English word, “economy.” The word, “oikonomia,” is a compound word of “oikos”
(= house) and “nomia” (= management). So, its original meaning is the
management of a house or a household. The word, “oikonomos (οἰκονόμος),”
is a manager of a household.
The word ‘oikonomia’ occurs nine times in the New Testament – three times in the Gospel of
Luke (16:2, 3, 4), one time in 1 Corinthians (9:17), three times in Ephesians
(1:10, 3:2, 9), one time in Colossians (1:25), and one time in 1 Timothy (1:4).
Jesus in Luke 16:2-4 says: “2And
he (a rich man) called him (a steward) and said to him, ‘What is this that I
hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no
longer be steward.’ 3And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I
do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not
strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what
to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the
stewardship.’”
Paul
in Ephesians 1:9-10: “9For he (= God) has made known to us in all
wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he
set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to
unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”; in Ephesians
3:2 and 9: “2- assuming that you have heard of the stewardship
of God’s grace that was given to me for you, …9and to make all men
see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created
all things.”; in Colossians 1:25: “… of which I
became a minister according to the divine office which was given
to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, …”; and in 1 Timothy 1:4:
“… nor to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote
speculations rather than the divine training (stewardship or order) that is in faith;”
Meanings of Oikonomia in
the New Testament
First, oikonomia means “stewardship or the management of a household” in the
New Testament (Luke 16:1-4). The
dishonest steward summoned each one of his master’s debtors and reduced each
debtor’s debt on his or her bill. Later, the master knew what the dishonest
steward had done and commended him for his shrewdness (Luke 16:8). However, it
does not mean that the dishonest steward did a right thing but that he could
find a way to survive in this world. Each one of us is a steward of God and
what we do in this world is stewardship for God. As a steward of God, we should
be honest and faithful.
Second, oikonomia means
“mission or dispensation of (spreading or preaching) the gospel” (1 Corinthians
9:17; Ephesians 3:2; Colossians 1:25). Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:17-18 calls his
mission or commission of spreading the gospel ‘oikonomia.’ Paul in Ephesians 3:2 calls his mission to preach the
good news to the Gentiles, including the people in Ephesus, “the stewardship
(or commission, NRSV) of God’s grace” that was given to him for the
Gentiles. Paul regards his mission or stewardship (of spreading the gospel to
the Gentiles) as “God’s grace and gift.” Paul in Colossians 1:25 speaks of his
apostleship (of spreading the good news to the Gentiles) and regards it as “the
divine office” that was given to him. The word apostle means ‘the one who is
sent’ and every time Paul mentions his apostleship, he reminds of his
duty/mission of spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul uses the word, oikonomia
(economy), in defining his mission or commission of spreading the gospel to the
Gentiles, believing that his mission of spreading the good news is to bring
people to God for them to be saved.
Third, in our relationship with God, oikonomia
means God’s plan or dispensation (of human salvation) (Ephesians 1:9-10, 3:2
& 9; 1 Timothy 1:4). Paul in Ephesians 1:9-10 and 3:9 uses oikonomia in connection with God,
meaning God’s saving plan of his people through Jesus Christ, which was hidden
for a long time but is now revealed as the opportune time came. The
“stewardship” of God’s grace in Ephesians 3:2 can also be interpreted as God’s
salvation plan of his grace about which Paul was commissioned to preach. Paul
in 1 Timothy 1:3-4 also uses oikonomia
in connection with God, meaning the divine training (or plan, stewardship or
order) in faith. Paul interprets or understands God’s economy as his saving act
or plan (or dispensation) of his people – believers/Christians – in his
opportune time.
General Definitions of Economics
Like an economy, there are various ways of
defining economics: “the study of economic behaviors of different units such as
a household, a firm, a market or an industry, a government, or a nation as a
whole”; or “the study of how society chooses to allocate its scarce resources
to the production of goods and services to satisfy unlimited wants”; or “the
study of the choices people make to attain their goals, given their scarce
resources.” When we
study economics, we study an economy of a household – its consumption behavior
and goal to see how a household can manage its economy optimally; an economy of
a firm – its production behavior and goal to see how a business can manage its
business optimally; and an economy of a country – its aggregate supply and demand,
economic growth, economic policies to see how the government can resolve
economic issues such as inflation and unemployment and attain stable economic
growth.
Economics
usually consists of microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is the study of how households and firms make
choices, how they interact in markets, and how the government attempts to
influence their choices; or the study of decision making by a single
individual, household, firm, industry, or level of government. Macroeconomics
is the study of the economy as a whole, including topics such as inflation,
unemployment, and economic growth; or the study of decision making for the
economy as a whole. I personally define economics as “the study of decision
making” for a household, a firm, a market or an industry, or a government
(Microeconomics) and for a country as a whole (Macroeconomics).
Economics in the Bible
We observed that the word, economy (oikonomia)
is used for three different meanings: 1. management or stewardship of a
household; 2. mission, commission, duty, or office (of preaching or spreading
the gospel) of Paul as an apostle; and 3. a plan or dispensation (of human
salvation) of God. A literal translation of the word,
economy (oikonomia), “management of a household” can represent
all these different translations.
Paul performs the act of stewardship
that ‘was given to him for the Gentiles’ (Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25). That is, Paul
manages the household of God by preaching or spreading the gospel (1Cor. 9:17;
Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25) to expand the business of God’s household to the Gentiles
(other nations and people). God manages His own household by making His plan
(of saving people) known to His people (Eph. 1:10, 3:2, 9; 1Tim. 1:4) for the
fullness of time.
So, what is economics in the Bible? Economics
within the New Testament can be defined as the study of stewardship or
management of an individual household, stewardship or management of God for His
own household (kingdom of God), and Paul’s and all Christians’ stewardship of
expanding God’s household (kingdom of God) to other nations and people by
spreading the gospel. We may call the study of stewardship or management of an
individual household the microeconomic perspective; the study of stewardship of
God for His own household (kingdom of God) the macroeconomic perspective; and
the study of Paul’s and all Christians’ stewardship of expanding God’s
household (kingdom of God) to other nations and people the international
economic perspective. As economics in general is about decision making, so
economics in the Bible is about decision making for the household of God
(macroeconomic aspects), for each individual household (microeconomic aspects),
for the expansion of God’s household (international economic aspects), and each
individual’s conduct (economic ethical aspects).
Part I of this book discusses the economy
of God, which is the macroeconomic perspective and deals with macroeconomic
topics. Paul mainly focuses on God’s saving plan or act when he refers to “the
economy of God” (ἡ
οἰκονομία τοῦ Θεοῦ) in the New Testament as
it is the most important and imminent matter for those who were lost by the
grace of God. However, the economy of God
includes not only his saving plan or act of human beings but also His various
governing activities for His people as we can find in the Old Testament and
Jesus’ proclamation in the books of Gospels, especially in John. So, in Part I,
we will study God’s various governing activities and instructions on some
macroeconomic topics, including daily food, land, loans, tithes/taxes, wealth,
poverty, and others.
Part II deals with the
economy of an individual household, which is the microeconomic perspective and
deals with microeconomic topics. An individual household is the smallest unit
of the household of God. Each individual of a household is a manager or steward
who makes decision to manage a household that is entrusted to him/her by God. So,
in Part II, we will study each individual’s various managing and governing
activities for his/her household and decision making on some microeconomic
issues, including talent or money, labor and other resources.
Part III examines the economy of
evangelism or the economy of the church as a whole, which is the international
economic perspective. Luke in the Book of Acts describes Paul’s experience of
encountering with Jesus who appeared to him in the form of light on his way to
Damascus (Acts 9:3-19, 22:6-16, 26:9-23). In Acts 26:15-18, Jesus tells Paul: “15…
I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand upon your
feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve
and bear witness to the things in which
you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17delivering
you from the people and from the Gentiles – to whom I send you 18to
open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power
of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among
those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Paul in Galatians in 1:15-16
describes this experience in his own words: “15But when he (= God)
who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, 16was
pleased to reveal his Son (= Jesus Christ) to me, in order that I might preach
him among the Gentiles.” Paul strongly claims his apostleship (from the Greek
word, ἀποστέλλω,
send out) as he regards it very seriously and it was disputed and opposed by
Jewish Christians. To Paul, his apostleship is not authority but duty or
commission, which was given to him by God, to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
Paul’s economy (mission, commission,
duty, or office), which was given to him, is also any Christian’s economy as
he/she belongs to Christ and is called to be a witness of Jesus Christ (Acts
1:8). Paul’s economy is also the economy of the church as a whole that is the
body of Christ who had come to us to preach the Kingdom of God and let us fully
know God’s salvation plan at his opportune time. The purpose or mission of the
church is to preach or spread the gospel to many nations. By doing so, the
economy of God is expanded to many nations and people and fully known to them
(Matthew 28:19-20). So, in Part III, we will study the economy of evangelism,
which is our mission of expanding the economy of God.
Part IV investigates
Christians’ economic ethics in the Bible. Each
Christian belongs to a family or a household, a church, a company, a community,
and a nation. How should each Christian’s economic ethical conduct be as a
member of each different unit? So, in Part IV, we will discuss Christians’
economic ethics that we can find in the Bible.
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