Volume 7, No. 2 (Summer 2004)
This paper contrasts the writings of Frank Knight and Ludwig von Mises, two economists from the first half of the twentieth century who were highly critical of Christianity, with the philosophies of the Christian writers Brian Griffiths and Michael Novak published closer to the century’s end. The former argued vehemently that the Christian faith was incompatible with market economics. Both were perturbed by the economic policies advocated by the church leaders of their day. They believed (perhaps correctly) that these policies were based on poor economics. They considered (perhaps wrongly) that contemporary church leaders were properly interpreting Christian doctrine. Griffiths and Novak provided a counterpoint. They also rejected the kind of socio-economic policies advanced by many churches in the earlier half of the twentieth century. But neither accepted the highly restricted interpretations of Christianity put forward by Mises and Knight. The crucial difference between the two sets of authors lies in their perceptions of the meaning of caritas, (i.e., divine love).
