rice-terraces-longshen-severin-stalder-wikimedia-common.jpg

Work

Glimpsing God’s Garden

 

Photograph: Rice terraces in Longsheng, China:  A beautiful work of engineering, and a good example of how human beings must understand the creation and work in partnership with it and each other.  Photo credit: Severin Stalder | CC3.0, Wikipedia.

The human sense of significance and longing for real purpose are absolutely important, and constitutive of who we are.

 

Conversation Stations 

 
 
 

Messages and Resources on Work and Purpose 

 

Slides of a presentation given to the 2022 Reconstruction class. The introduction features John Winthrop vs. Roger Williams to highlight the debate over freedom of religious Conscience vs. Christendom. The presentation highlights Christian accomplishments in health and hospitals, education and schools, land ownership and economic justice, and criminal justice reform.

 

Wayne Grudem's Misuse of Scripture in Politics According to the Bible

This is a blog post critiquing Grudem’s chapter about economics. Grudem argues for a minimal state with no public lands or public functions, because he believes that all land and property must be private. He misunderstands very important biblical passages like Leviticus 25. See also this humorous take by Kanosea, The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus. Imgur, Apr 9, 2014.

 

Sangwon Yang and Mako Nagasawa, Reparations and the Key Question in Restorative Justice

One of the fifteen blog posts that make up the curriculum, A Long Repentance. This post explores the question of the role of public-private partnerships in economic development, in a forward-looking and responsive way, not only in a backward-looking way. It does argue that since the U.S. government played such a strong role in certain industries and regions, it should do so as part of an industrial policy and social policy. A 10 - 15 minute read.

 

A message given to New Hope Fellowship Baltimore, MD, May 2015. This explores multiple biblical passages criticizing interest rate lending. Not only was such behavior exploitative of people in poverty, even if they “consented” to their own exploitation, it reflected a relational dynamic that cannot be grounded in the Trinitarian relations between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. See also the ppts.

 

Christian Restorative Justice: Human Dignity, Work, and Wealth

These are slides to a presentation on the biblical vision of jubilee economy is compared to the intergenerational inequality perpetuation of modern American capitalism.

 

Christian Restorative Justice: Beyond Charity - God's Restorative Justice for Children and Families

These are slides to a presentation given to Boston Chinese Evangelical Church, on biblical basis for supporting children regardless of what their parents did or endured. Provides many examples from church history of Christians providing education, public goods, etc. broadly.

 

Career Discernment: A Christian Perspective Involving Passions and Desires

A diagram especially for youth, students, and young adults which help us reflect on motivations as coming from the creation, the fall, or the redemption.

 

Career Discernment: Case Studies for Cultivating a Passion for Social Justice

Case studies and examples for various career fields.

 

God as the Foundation of Human Rights (Genesis 1 - 11)

A message from Genesis 1 - 11 showing how our ethics and career goals need to be consistent with the declaration that each person is in the image of God.

 

Human Dignity: Does Every Individual Matter?

Science, philosophy, existentialism, other religions, and double-predestination based theologies mean that some human beings do not matter. Only a fully Trinitarian theology with a medical substitutionary atonement can provide an adequate foundation. There are implications here for our human responsibility to one another.

 

Images of God in a Broken World

This is a series of three messages dealing with (1) how we inherit the image of an evil "god" from a broken world; (2) how Jesus is the accurate and perfect image of God despite our broken world, because he healed human nature in himself; and (3) how Jesus renews the image of God in us by his Spirit, to share God's goodness in a broken world

 
 
 
 

A Literary Approach to Work and Purpose

 
 
 

Part Three: New Creation Ethics in Paul and the Political Context of Human Work

Chapter 15: Political Theology in the New Testament and Early Church 

Chapter 16: The New Creation and Our Calling in 1 Corinthians 

Chapter 17: An Evaluation of Political Theology in Medieval Catholicism

Chapter 18: An Evaluation of Political Theology in the Lutheran and Reformed Traditions

Chapter 19: An Evaluation of Liberation Theology

Chapter 20: An Evaluation of the Catholic Social Magisterium

 

Part Four: Areas of Critical Engagement

These are now the Study and Action Guides.

 
 

Other Resources on a Christian Approach to Work and Purpose

 

Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building (Amazon book, 1979) and pdf book, a fascinating work by a prominent architect about humanity and the built environment, or human ecology. Dr. Timothy Patitsas, Orthodox ethicist at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary in Brookline, MA used this book for his class The Ethics of Beauty. It corresponds to the Platonic paradigm of "forms." See also Eric David Perl, Theophany: The Neoplatonic Philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite (pdf book, 2007) and some of the comments by Christos Yannaras, Person and Eros (Amazon book, Apr 2008) about Western Catholic vs. Eastern Orthodox tendencies in architecture.

Theology of Work an excellent resource. Example entries include: Theology of Work Project, Gleaning (Leviticus 19:9 - 10) (Theology of Work Project website). Theology of Work Project, The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) (Theology of Work Project website). Theology of Work Project, Wealth Gained Through Unjust Means is Harmful (Theology of Work Project website). Theology of Work Project, What the Bible Says About Sustainability (Theology of Work Project, Apr 6, 2015) a reflection on Numbers 35.

Blueprint for Better Business (website)

Faith Driven Business (website)

An Anabaptist perspective: video on "Thoughts on Christian Vocation" condensed from John Alexander's book

Tim Muehlhoff and Todd Lewis, Authentic Communication

Kenman Wong and Scott Rae, Business for the Common Good

David Lyle Jeffrey and Gregory Maillet, Christianity and Literature

John Coe and Todd Hall, Education for Human Flourishing

Francis Beckwith, Politics for Christians

John Coe and Todd Hall, Psychology in the Spirit

Monica Toft, Daniel Philpott, Timothy Shah, God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics

Darren Cushman Wood, Blue Collar Jesus: How Christianity Supports Workers' Rights

Paul Mills, The Great Financial Crisis: A Biblical Diagnosis

Paul Mills and Michael Schluter, After Capitalism: Rethinking Economic Relationships

Lynn White, Jr., The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis (paper, 1974)

Cass Sunstein, Is the Internet Bad for Democracy? (Boston Review, Jun 1, 2001)

The Frailest Thing, Christianity and the History of Technology (Frailest Thing blog, Mar 1, 2012)

Ming Wang, Prominent Doctor Says Faith and Science Can Work Together (The College Fix, Jul 22, 2013) on how his commitment to fetal personhood led to a new discovery

Gordon Govier, Journalists and InterVarsity (IVCF, Aug 2013)

Stanley Goff, Renunciation, Sex, and Power (blog May 22, 2013)

Stanley Goff, Capitalism and Christianity (blog May 2013)

Gordon Marino, A Life Beyond 'Do What You Love' (NY Times, May 17, 2014)

David Cain, Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (The Real Reason for the 40 Hr Workweek) (Films for Action, Oct 2013)

Michael Berube, For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome: A Father Reflects on His Son's Search for Employment (Aljazeera, May 25, 2014)

Religion & Ethics News Weekly, B Corp Business Ethics (WGBH, Oct 31, 2014)

Rebecca Onion, Rules of Business Ethics for Early 19th Century Christian Merchants (Slate, Apr 29, 2015)

Nancy French, Chris Pratt Says No to Sex Scenes Due to His Faith (Patheos, Aug 15, 2015)

Benjamin L. Corey, John Piper: Women Not Suited For Most Jobs In The World (Patheos, Aug 24, 2015)

Christopher Alexander, Building the Garden (First Things, Feb 2016)

Peter Mommsen, The Soul of Medicine (Plough Quarterly Magazine, Jun 2018) we need a vision of how medicine might serve the good of the whole human person: the body’s health, yes, but also the health of that “piece of divinity in us.”

 
 

Other Resources on Work and Purpose

 

Fox News, Work Less, Save the Planet (Fox News, Feb 5, 2013) referencing David Rosnick, Reduced Work Hours as a Means of Slowing Climate Change (Ctr for Econ Policy & Research, Feb 2013)

Vivian Giang, The 14 Most Stressful Jobs in America (Business Insider, Nov 12, 2013)

Andy Kiersz and Max Nisen, The 15 Jobs That Are Most Damaging to Your Health (Business Insider, Dec 1, 2013)

Paul Rosenfield, The Case for the 32 Hour Work Week (The Atlantic, Jun 22, 2015)

Brigid Schulte, Time in the Bank: A Stanford Plan to Save Doctors from Burnout (Washington Post, Aug 20, 2015)

Peter Bungate, Japan's 105-Hour Work Week (Roads and Kingdoms, Dec 2015)

Michael Murphy, Architecture That's Built to Heal (TED Talk, Feb 2016)

Michael J. Thate, Labor and the Social Order (Cosmologics Magazine, Mar 20, 2016) notes how early Christian monasticism posed a challenge to bishops, because monks claimed to be worthy of support, like the apostles. But were they? Why or why not? It demonstrates the beginning of vocation, discernment, mobilization, and self-consciousness in Christian monasticism.

Laura Bliss, How 'Maintainers,' Not 'Innovators,' Make the World Turn (The Atlantic CityLab, Apr 8, 2016)

Derek Thompson, The Next Industrial Revolution (The Atlantic, Sep 6, 2016)

Ana Swanson, Why Amazing Video Games Could Be Causing a Big Problem for America (Washington Post, Sep 23, 2016) young male unemployment and video game culture

Om Malik, Silicon Valley Has an Empathy Vacuum (The New Yorker, Nov 28, 2016)

John Lanchester, What the West Can Learn From Japan About the Cultural Value of Work (NY Times Magazine, Dec 13, 2016)

John Henning Schumann and Sarah-Anne Henning Schumann, Patients Cared For By Female Doctors Fare Better Than Those Treated By Men (NPR, Dec 19, 2016)

Claire Cain Miller, Why Men Don’t Want the Jobs Done Mostly by Women (NY Times, Jan 4, 2017)

Chris Weller, Japanese Family Life is Falling Apart - and the Reasons Go Back to World War II (Yahoo News, May 28, 2017)

Toni Morrison, The Work You Do, the Person You Are (The New Yorker, May 29, 2017) “You are not the work you do; you are the person you are… since that conversation with my father I have never considered the level of labor to be the measure of myself, and I have never placed the security of a job above the value of home.”

Langdon Winner, The Cult of Innovation: Its Colorful Myths and Rituals (Langdon Winner blog, Jun 12, 2017)

Tracy Chou, A Leading Silicon Valley Engineer Explains Why Every Tech Worker Needs a Humanities Education (Quartz, Jun 28, 2017)

Liz Ogbu, What if Gentrification Was About Healing Communities Instead of Displacing Them? (TED Talk, Nov 2017) about architecture, urban renewal, and spatial justice

Charles C. Mann, The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World (Amazon book, Jan 2018)

Natasha Singer, Tech's Ethical Dark Side: Harvard, Stanford and Others Want to Address It (NY Times, Feb 12, 2018)

Dylan Walsh, The Workplace Is Killing People and Nobody Cares (Stanford Business, Mar 15, 2018)

Aaron Tolbert, The Trump Administration Is Waging War On The Poor (Huffington Post, Apr 18, 2018) good cross-cultural comparisons between American views of work and self-determination, and other countries' views of work

Olga Khazan, 'Find Your Passion' Is Awful Advice (The Atlantic, Jul 12, 2018)

Iman Ghosh, Chart: A Global Look at How People Spend Their Time (Visual Capitalist, Dec 11, 2020) stats by country on paid work; education; sleep; other unpaid work; housework and shopping; personal care; eating and drinking; other leisure. This shatters the myth of laziness of non-white people. Also by gender, “Women spend nearly three times more in unpaid care work compared to men—a whopping total of 1.1 trillion hours each year—which means a lot less leisure time.”

Deutsche Welle, Burnout: The Truth About Overwork and What We Can Do About It. DW Documentary, Apr 29, 2022. An excellent 42 minute video documentary. Starts with two documents on English law: The Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest, which was eroded by the Enclosure Movement.