The Moral Status of Wealth Creation in Early-Modern Reformed Confessions

This article examines the moral status of wealth creation, particularly within its theological and religious contexts, across Reformed confessions from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These confessional standards are a key source for the moral teaching of Reformed churches, and their treatm...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ballor, Jordan J. 1978- (Author) ; Kooi, Cornelis van der 1952- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group 2019
In: Reformation & Renaissance review
Year: 2019, Volume: 21, Issue: 3, Pages: 188-202
IxTheo Classification:KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance
KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
KDD Protestant Church
NCE Business ethics
Further subjects:B Greed
B REFORMED CONFESSIONS
B Charity
B Wealth
B Theft
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:This article examines the moral status of wealth creation, particularly within its theological and religious contexts, across Reformed confessions from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These confessional standards are a key source for the moral teaching of Reformed churches, and their treatments of the eighth commandment demonstrate a relatively nuanced and sophisticated view of wealth. Rather than simply denouncing wealth itself as intrinsically evil, these confessional standards, from a variety of national and ecclesial contexts, both on the European continent and Britain, provide a basis for viewing wealth creation as a moral good, even while warning against excess, temptation, and vices such as avarice and envy. This survey of the treatments of wealth from a diverse set of Reformed confessional standards provides a foundation for understanding a critical element in the formation of Reformed, and more broadly Protestant, economic ethics in the early-modern period.
ISSN:1743-1727
Contains:Enthalten in: Reformation & Renaissance review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/14622459.2019.1673941