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Dollar Signs of the Times: A Common Sense Guide to Securing Our Economic Future
by R.C. Sproul, Jr.
Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI 49516. Paper, 166 pp. ISBN 0-8010-8372-9.
"Economic confusion is not merely a Western phenomenon; it reaches all who wish to eat, to produce, to be good stewards of God's creation."
"Economically confused" is Sproul's term for himself at the close of the 60's, when he campaigned actively for social justice and felt it a Christian duty to work for the redistribution of wealth. This book, an excellent primer into economic theories, describes what the author learned about root causes of poverty and injustice since those turbulent times.
It's a brief study, but engagingly written and refreshingly clear, covering such topics as materialism vs spiritualism, equality vs equity, and government force vs personal freedom. And right there among discussion of Adam Smith's theories, the Laffer Taxation Curve, and the evolution of money are biblical perspectives on property, covenant, and stewardship. "Just as a man who attempts to break God's law of gravity by stepping off the top of a skyscraper will fall to his death, so also will a nation pay dearly for violating God's economic laws."
For readers who doubt that God has made any economic declarations, Sproul makes a compelling case. His focus and interpretation on Bible passages pertaining to weights and measures, slothfulness, and the year of Jubilee are real food for thought.
This book was written at the launch of the Clinton administration, before the stock market was setting high-jump records every week. It is interesting to analyze the current scene in light of Sproul's essays on economics — which of his 'Four Conditions Necessary for Prosperity' have improved? Were they improved by Republicans or Democrats? Both? Neither?
As to the future, Sproul's wry comment is that "everyone hopes to gain prestige from predicting economic downfall, knowing full well that if the economy grows stronger no one loses. Perhaps it is not the science of economics that is so dismal — it is the economists themselves." He does offer some strategies for citizens to support, many of them difficult (such as refusing government grants because such redistribution messes up the free market).
Even readers who disagree with some points of this book will find it a pleasurable hike through the forest of economic complexity. And it is nice to be reminded that "it is the Lord Who gives you the ability to produce wealth." (Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: R.C. Sproul, Jr. Is the Director of Publications for Ligonier Ministries, which provides Christian laypeople with substantive educational materials on apologetics and ethics. He is managing editor of the ministry's monthly Bible study magazine, Tabletalk. He has also taught freshman English at the University of Mississippi.
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