I recently was asked to do a column for a Torah-based ministry, primarily with an emphasis on economics and current events from a Biblical perspective. Attached below are links to that first article and the ministry newsletter as well.
This was a busy week for another reason. I have been doing some year-end guest hosting for a nationally syndicated radio show (also primarily economics-related, but from a more secular viewpoint). Those shows are available on a podcast (at least for a week or so) as well, should anyone be interested.
Bible econ 101 article (December, 2009):
http://crucifiedlifemin.com/index.php?o ... 47&lang=en
http://crucifiedlifemin.com
Patriot News Hour show archives:
http://patriotarchives.blogspot.com/
Wed, 30 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg30dec09.mp3
Tue, 29 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg29dec09.mp3
Mon, 28 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg28dec09.mp3
Wed, 23 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg23dec09.mp3
Bible Econ 101
Like many people, I went through a period of youthful rebellion, during which I questioned a number of things that I had been taught - including many things that were supposedly "Biblical".
I still recognize that a great many people will do everything possible to deny that the Bible contains Truth, but will somehow listen when that understanding directly affects their wallet. And somehow that is particularly poignant now that it has become increasingly obvious that we are heading into a genuine Depression - and those who know what the Bible has to say about economics saw something years ago that Fed chairmen and Treasury Secretaries still try to deny:
we reap what we sow.
And there really IS "nothing new under the sun". The deadly seeds of debt that are now rooted so deeply have been repeated many times in the past, although arguably never so extensively. Even those who admit to Biblical illiteracy somehow seem to know that "the debtor is slave to the lender" (from Proverbs 22:7). I submit that we are beginning to understand why...but ONLY just beginning.
The biggest, and perhaps most important, element of what the Bible teaches directly about economics is repeated many times, including Deuteronomy 25:13, 14, and 15. Remember as well that He repeats something for a reason! Those verses say that we are to have honest or "just" weights and measures. We are not, in other words, to defraud one another by having "diverse" measures - a BIG one for when I measure out my part of the deal, and a small one for the "other side" of the trade.
Most importantly, perhaps, is what now passes for money itself -- a debt "note" that is redeemable for nothing, and which is denominated in a unit of measure that no longer has any meaning.. As such, it is the ultimate example of a "dishonest weight". The Book of Proverbs alone actually calls such dishonesty an "abomination" before God no less than a half dozen times. (Take a look at places like v. 11:1, 20:10, 20:23, just for starters.)
Many people, too, can quote the famous line that "the love of money is the root of all evil" -- although some tend to misquote the verse, and leave out the key words "love of"! Still more problematic, however, is the fact that what passes for "money" today would have been recognized as a fraud by all those who read Paul's original letter!
Everything our Savior taught is EXPLICITLY consistent with what He said when He Wrote it to begin with. But because we are told that those who had already taken it upon themselves to perform forbidden "additions" to His Word were trying to trick or entrap Him, some of those subtle distinctions He made are thus VERY interesting.
There has never been a fully "fiat" money (meaning "faith based" - in man) which has survived for very long. Once fallen men begin to rely on the power to print "money from nothing", the (generally inflationary) collapse becomes inevitable, even though extraordinary measures are being used to prolong the inevitable. "Quantitave easing" amounts to little more than the purchase of US debt with newly-printed money. Official figures that purport to show "green shoots" are lies based on twisted statistics. (See John William's fine work at http://www.shadowstats.com for details.) From "hedonic" adjustments, rent 'equivalents', and open fraud like removing prices for food and fuel -- used to hide real inflation -- to unemployment data manipulation, all such "false witness" is ulitimately nothing but an attempt to cover up one type of fraud (dishonest weights and measures) with others.
Eventually even the most maniputlated markets, and gullible participants, will no longer be able to deny the truth.
It is important to remember that the prudent man sees danger and takes warning. Whether that includes such simple measures as coming out of debt, or trading fiat paper for gold and pre-1964 silver coins, it is time to "come out of her". Those who seek to follow Him, and be obedient to His Word, must begin to learn to deal honestly with one another again as the corrupt system is judged, and collapses. What will replace it is something about which we have already been warned.
Comments on this article may be directed to Mark via
http://allamericangold.com/CSMailto/forms/mark.htm
This was a busy week for another reason. I have been doing some year-end guest hosting for a nationally syndicated radio show (also primarily economics-related, but from a more secular viewpoint). Those shows are available on a podcast (at least for a week or so) as well, should anyone be interested.
Bible econ 101 article (December, 2009):
http://crucifiedlifemin.com/index.php?o ... 47&lang=en
http://crucifiedlifemin.com
Patriot News Hour show archives:
http://patriotarchives.blogspot.com/
Wed, 30 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg30dec09.mp3
Tue, 29 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg29dec09.mp3
Mon, 28 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg28dec09.mp3
Wed, 23 December, 2009: http://allamericangold.com/ptg23dec09.mp3
Bible Econ 101
Like many people, I went through a period of youthful rebellion, during which I questioned a number of things that I had been taught - including many things that were supposedly "Biblical".
I still recognize that a great many people will do everything possible to deny that the Bible contains Truth, but will somehow listen when that understanding directly affects their wallet. And somehow that is particularly poignant now that it has become increasingly obvious that we are heading into a genuine Depression - and those who know what the Bible has to say about economics saw something years ago that Fed chairmen and Treasury Secretaries still try to deny:
we reap what we sow.
And there really IS "nothing new under the sun". The deadly seeds of debt that are now rooted so deeply have been repeated many times in the past, although arguably never so extensively. Even those who admit to Biblical illiteracy somehow seem to know that "the debtor is slave to the lender" (from Proverbs 22:7). I submit that we are beginning to understand why...but ONLY just beginning.
The biggest, and perhaps most important, element of what the Bible teaches directly about economics is repeated many times, including Deuteronomy 25:13, 14, and 15. Remember as well that He repeats something for a reason! Those verses say that we are to have honest or "just" weights and measures. We are not, in other words, to defraud one another by having "diverse" measures - a BIG one for when I measure out my part of the deal, and a small one for the "other side" of the trade.
Most importantly, perhaps, is what now passes for money itself -- a debt "note" that is redeemable for nothing, and which is denominated in a unit of measure that no longer has any meaning.. As such, it is the ultimate example of a "dishonest weight". The Book of Proverbs alone actually calls such dishonesty an "abomination" before God no less than a half dozen times. (Take a look at places like v. 11:1, 20:10, 20:23, just for starters.)
Many people, too, can quote the famous line that "the love of money is the root of all evil" -- although some tend to misquote the verse, and leave out the key words "love of"! Still more problematic, however, is the fact that what passes for "money" today would have been recognized as a fraud by all those who read Paul's original letter!
Everything our Savior taught is EXPLICITLY consistent with what He said when He Wrote it to begin with. But because we are told that those who had already taken it upon themselves to perform forbidden "additions" to His Word were trying to trick or entrap Him, some of those subtle distinctions He made are thus VERY interesting.
There has never been a fully "fiat" money (meaning "faith based" - in man) which has survived for very long. Once fallen men begin to rely on the power to print "money from nothing", the (generally inflationary) collapse becomes inevitable, even though extraordinary measures are being used to prolong the inevitable. "Quantitave easing" amounts to little more than the purchase of US debt with newly-printed money. Official figures that purport to show "green shoots" are lies based on twisted statistics. (See John William's fine work at http://www.shadowstats.com for details.) From "hedonic" adjustments, rent 'equivalents', and open fraud like removing prices for food and fuel -- used to hide real inflation -- to unemployment data manipulation, all such "false witness" is ulitimately nothing but an attempt to cover up one type of fraud (dishonest weights and measures) with others.
Eventually even the most maniputlated markets, and gullible participants, will no longer be able to deny the truth.
It is important to remember that the prudent man sees danger and takes warning. Whether that includes such simple measures as coming out of debt, or trading fiat paper for gold and pre-1964 silver coins, it is time to "come out of her". Those who seek to follow Him, and be obedient to His Word, must begin to learn to deal honestly with one another again as the corrupt system is judged, and collapses. What will replace it is something about which we have already been warned.
Comments on this article may be directed to Mark via
http://allamericangold.com/CSMailto/forms/mark.htm
