Faith Archive

Event 6 May 2026 · 6:45 PM

Ethics and Faith in a Competitive Market Economy

We are pleased to introduce an initiative designed to support those in the private sector and develop their thinking in matters related to faith, ethics, business and economics. We aim to provide a dedicated space to examine the moral underpinnings of business and how contemporary (...)

Book Review 5 May 2026 By Jan Bentz

Merchant Saint by Donald Prudlo and Paul J. Voss

Jan Bentz reviews a biography of the first layman canonised by the Church, which offers a striking meditation on whether economic life can itself be a genuine sphere of Christian virtue.

Blog 29 April 2026 By Philip Booth

The Vocation of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a distinct vocation, requiring virtues rarely articulated in management literature. Drawing on economic analysis of radical uncertainty alongside Catholic social teaching from Pius XII to Francis, Philip Booth sets out the virtues demanded of the entrepreneur — and argues that they extend well (...)

Book Review 27 April 2026 By Neil Jordan

Can’t We Just Print More Money? by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning

Neil Jordan reviews Can’t We Just Print More Money?, an engaging, accessible and well-illustrated book, written by economists at the Bank of England, that assists the public in understanding economics and major economic matters.

Book Review 20 April 2026 By Graeme Leach

‘The Permanent Problem’ by Brink Lindsey

Graeme Leach reviews a new book arguing that capitalism has solved scarcity but not yet delivered genuine human flourishing.

Blog 13 April 2026 By Ernie Graham

Competition – Not only Ethically Positive, but Necessary

Is competition merely a necessary evil to be restrained? Drawing on Trinitarian theology and the doctrine of stewardship, this blog argues that rightly ordered competition is essential to human flourishing.

Book Review 30 March 2026 By Naoise Grenham

‘Encountering Artificial Intelligence’ edited by Gaudet et al.

Naoise Grenham comments on the first of a Vatican-led, three-volume series of theological investigations into AI, which is heavily influenced by the late Pope Francis’s theology of encounter.

Blog 18 March 2026 By Philip Booth

Explaining Social Justice using the Prodigal Son

Philip Booth uses the Parable of the Prodigal Son to distinguish social justice from distributive justice in Catholic social teaching, and explain the common good.

Book Review 16 March 2026 By Neil Jordan

‘The Price of our Values’ by Augustin Landier and David Thesmar

The Price of Our Values stresses the need for ‘value pluralism’: for economics to acknowledge the shortcomings of some of its default analytic positions and make greater room for moral concerns, as well as the need for moral thinking to allow greater space for economic (...)

Blog 18 February 2026 By Francisco Mota S.J.

The (Pro)Vocation of the Business Leader

Fr. Francisco Mota S.J. on why business leadership is a true vocation—and why good goods, good work, and good wealth demand more than advocacy alone.

Book Review 16 February 2026 By Clara Piano

‘The Kingdom of God and the Common Good’ by Dylan Pahman

Clara Piano reviews a book that brings two central strands of Orthodox Christianity – mystery and paradox – into conversation with modern social questions, offering a vision in which sacrifice and beauty together illuminate Christian economic life.

Book Review 12 January 2026 By Andrew Packman

The Enduring Attraction of ‘Just Prices’

In spite of the damage caused by attempts to control prices, ideas of ‘just price’ remain attractive to many, and highlight the need to make the case for the importance of market prices in generating the wealth needed to provide prosperity and reduce poverty.

Book Review 15 December 2025 By Andrei Rogobete

‘A “Failed-Again” Christian’ by Dato Kim Tan

A ‘Failed-Again’ Christian is an intimate and down-to-earth spiritual memoir that wrestles with some of the most pertinent and enduring questions linked to the reconciliation of faith, science and the problem of evil.

Blog 15 December 2025 By Andrew Baughen

The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics

Before the torrent of games available on your phone, a popular game in magazines was ‘spot the difference’. It’s amusing to play and realise that often we don’t immediately spot all the differences even when we stare at both pictures intently. But I wonder if (...)

Blog 15 December 2025 By Philip Booth

A Guide to Rerum Novarum, Part Three

The Protection of Workers, Unions and the Duties of Employers This is a repost of an article originally published on the Catholic Social Teaching blog of St Mary’s University (https://catholicsocialthought.org.uk/). Part I, Part II In this final part of the encyclical, the treatment and protection (...)

Blog 8 December 2025 By Philip Booth

A Guide to Rerum Novarum, Part Two

The Church, the Family, the State and the Use of Riches We ended Part One of this guide to Rerum novarum with the encyclical’s reminder to the rich that they would have to answer to God if they were not generous with their riches. The focus (...)

Event 13 November 2025 · 3:00 PM

Ethical Challenges in the Age of AI

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics was pleased to hold an event on 13 November 2025 Ethical Challenges in the Age of AI The event was chaired by Andrei Rogobete. Our guest speakers were: Revd Dr Simon Cross Bishop (...)

Book Review 3 November 2025 By Vincent Geloso

‘A Brief History of Equality’ by Thomas Piketty

A Brief History of Equality seeks to argue for policies that the author contends reduced inequality during the 20th century, but the book offers more in the way of manifesto than convincing analysis.

Book Review 20 October 2025 By Richard Turnbull

‘God Is An Englishman’ by Bijan Omrani

In answering the question of how Christianity formed and shaped law, institution and culture in England, God is an Englishman tells an important story but the book tends to drift from its big-picture narrative and focuses too heavily on the medieval period, as though the (...)

Blog 15 October 2025 By Brian Griffiths

Margaret Thatcher – A Life & Legacy: Mrs Thatcher’s Economic Policy

Brian Griffiths outlines Thatcher's three-part economic strategy — defeating inflation, reducing the state, and strengthening markets — and its Christian foundations.

Book Review 6 October 2025 By Victor V. Claar

‘Mere Economics’ by Art Carden and Caleb S. Fuller

Mere Economics introduces caring Christians to economic thinking, connecting essential facts of faith to central ideas of economics and illuminating issues like poverty, environmental stewardship and other concerns that Christians take seriously.

Event 17 August 2025

How to Be a Christian Social Thinker: Ecumenical Insights from the Eastern Orthodox Tradition

On Monday 14 July, CEME held an event with guest speaker Dylan Pahman (Acton Institute). Organised in partnership with Blackfriars Hall, Pahman spoke on his forthcoming book The Kingdom of God and the Common Good. The event was chaired by Andrei Rogobete. Speaker Bio: (...)

Blog 27 May 2025

Philip Booth: Pope Francis, Fraternity and Globalisation

This is a repost of an appreciation of Pope Francis by CEME Fellow, Professor Philip Booth, first published on the Catholic Social Teaching blog of St Mary’s University. We thought it would be of interest to CEME readers, but reposting does not mean endorsement of every (...)

Book Review 19 May 2025 By Edward Carter

‘The Economics of the Parables’ by Robert Sirico

Robert Sirico is one of the leading lights in the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a research organisation that promotes the benefits of free enterprise to the churches and more generally. Fr Robert is also a Roman Catholic priest, and so (...)

Book Review 10 March 2025

Andrea Soberg: ‘Religion in a Changing Workplace’ by Elaine Howard Ecklund, Denise Daniels, and Christopher P. Scheitle

Based on research conducted by a team of academics, Religion in a Changing Workplace considers the impact of allowing employees to demonstrate their faith at work, discussing advantages, challenges and possible results for organisations.

Book Review 3 March 2025 By Edward Carter

Economics for Ecclesiastics edited by Martin Schlag and Giuseppe Schlitzer

Based on research conducted by a team of academics, Religion in a Changing Workplace considers the impact of allowing employees to demonstrate their faith at work, discussing advantages, challenges and possible results for organisations.

Book Review 20 January 2025

Andrea Soberg: ‘Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World’ by Michaela O’Donnell

Make Work Matter is a book that can assist the reader in acknowledging and using the gifts and talents God has given us for the work we do, but the reader needs to understand what they will get out of this book before reading it.

Book Review 2 December 2024

Neil Jordan: ‘My Year with God: Faith for Doubters’ by Svend Brinkmann

In My Year with God, Svend Brinkmann charts his thinking about questions of religion over the course of a year, seeking to explore how it is possible to find meaning in faith in a modern, secularised world.

Book Review 16 September 2024 By Gordon Bannerman

‘Pax Economica’ by Marc-William Palen

Charting the continuous movements for free trade from the 1840s to the present day, Pax Economica examines the history of the liberals, radicals, socialists, feminists, and Christians who advocated for free trade as the necessary accompaniment to anti-imperialism and peace.

Book Review 2 September 2024

Amanda Porterfield: ‘Faith in Markets: Christian Capitalism in the Early American Republic’ by Joseph P. Slaughter

In Faith in Markets, Joseph Slaughter describes the organization, economic power, and cultural impact of three different Christian businesses in pre-Civil War America.

Research 25 July 2024 By Richard Turnbull

William Wilberforce: His Life and Significance

William Wilberforce: His Life and Significance On the 24 February 1807, the House of Commons voted by 283 votes to 16 to end the trade in human slaves in all British territory. The principal opponent of the slave trade within Parliament and a leading figure (...)

Book Review 22 July 2024

Andrea Soberg: ‘Rooted Leadership: Seeking God’s Answers to the Eleven Core Questions Every Leader Faces’ by John E. Johnson

There are a myriad of books, academic articles, blogs, consultants’ websites, etc. that focus on leadership and explain how to be a good leader of people and organizations. Many of us who teach in the field of leadership can spout off the names of those (...)

Book Review 1 July 2024

Trey Dimsdale: ‘Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand of God’ by Brendan Long

In Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand of God, Brendan Long offers an erudite and balanced understanding of Smith’s work on its own terms – including certain theological and philosophical assumptions – arguing that Smith’s thought provides a framework for making sense of the economic (...)

Book Review 17 June 2024

Andrew Studdert-Kennedy: ‘God’s Good Economy: Doing Economic Justice in Today’s World’ by Andrew Hartropp

God’s Good Economy is an introductory book aimed at helping to equip people to ‘live and speak for Jesus Christ in today’s world’ with the underlying conviction that doing economic justice is indeed part of this living and speaking for Christ.

Book Review 13 May 2024

Clara Piano: ‘Catholic Social Thought, the Market and Public Policy: Twenty-First-Century Challenges’ edited by Philip Booth and André Azevedo Alves

Catholic Social Thought, the Market and Public Policy offers a powerful combination of insights from economics and Catholic social thought to contribute to today’s most challenging policy discussions.

Book Review 6 May 2024

Richard Godden: ‘Capitalism and Christianity: Origins, Spirit and Betrayal of the Market Economy’, by Luigino Bruni

In Capitalism and Christianity, Luigino Bruni provides a sweeping overview of various strands of Christian thinking about economic and, to some extent, social matters over the past 2000 years and seeks to assess their impact.

Book Review 13 February 2024

Neil Jordan: “Faith in Markets: Abrahamic religions and economics”, edited by Benedikt Koehler

Faith in Markets: Abrahamic religions and economics edited by Benedikt Koehler (published 2023) offers a series of studies of the ways in which the Abrahamic faiths have steered adherents towards practices that tend towards markets and sheds light on the ways in which market concepts (...)

Research 29 January 2024 By Lyndon Drake

Virtues of Growth and Restraint

In this final article, I will draw from two stories in the Bible that will be well-known to many readers, to give an example of how those who read the Bible as scripture can draw from those stories in developing modern economic ethics. The first (...)

Research 22 January 2024 By Lyndon Drake

The Task of Modern Economic Ethics

As I suggested in my previous article, my preferred way to read the biblical texts is to identify in them a particular kind of method, rather than precise prescriptions. In this article, I will suggest some specific aspects of method in modern, theologically-informed economic ethics. (...)

Research 8 January 2024 By Lyndon Drake

Types of Creativity in Biblical Texts

One way to approach biblical texts is to read them as if they prescribe economic medicine for modern social maladies. For example, Paul Mills argues that an appropriate and devout appreciation of the Jubilee of Leviticus 25 will result in the construction of an economic (...)

Publication 5 December 2023 By Andrei Rogobete

The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence

Andrei Rogobete examines AI's opportunities and risks through Christian theology, arguing for a human-centric approach to artificial intelligence.

Event 30 November 2023 · 3:00 PM

CEME & Las Casas Event: “Finance for the Common Good”

We were delighted to host a joint event on the 30th November 2023 between the Centre for Enterprise, Markets & Ethics (CEME) and the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice (Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford), on the theme of “Finance for the Common Good”. Our (...)

Book Review 19 September 2023

Andrei Rogobete: “Faith Driven Investing – Every Investment Has an Impact–What’s Yours?” by Henry Kaestner, Timothy Keller et al.

Faith Driven Investing is not another “how to” guide to investing. Its seventeen contributors explore who faith driven investors are and what they are called to do. They stress the intrinsic worth of work and explore what faith driven investors are for rather than merely (...)

Research 9 May 2023 By Lyndon Drake

Approaching a Biblical Economic Ethic – The Sins of Biblical Economists

Numerous modern authors draw on biblical texts as support for economic rules in modern societies. Notably, contemporary writers often draw contradictory conclusions about the message and intent of the texts in their ancient settings, as well as about the rules that they derive for modern (...)

Book Review 20 October 2022

Richard Godden: “Faith, Finance, and Economy” by T. Akram and S. Rashid (eds.)

Faith, Finance, and Economy (published 2020) is a fascinating miscellany of essays exploring the relationship between fair and financial or economic matters. Its focus is on Christian perspectives but it also contains interesting essays relating to consumerism in China, Islamic finance and faith in the (...)

Book Review 8 July 2022

Edward Carter: “The Biblical Entrepreneur’s Experience” by S Leigh Davis

The Biblical Entrepreneur’s Experience by S Leigh Davis (published 2021) has a number of defects. Its use of scripture in support of the North American free market system is simplistic and selective and it almost espouses a prosperity gospel, implying that correctly following biblical methods (...)

Book Review 23 February 2022

Richard Godden: “The Wealth of Religions” by R. M. McCleary and R. J. Barro

The Wealth of Religions (published 2019) is an unusual book. It explores both the interplay between religion and economic growth and issues associated with the connection between religion and the political economy. There is an element of miscellany about it but it addresses interesting and (...)

Publication 8 February 2022 By Philip Booth, Kaetana Numa, Stephen Nakrosis and Richard Turnbull

Government Debt

The authors argue that government debt raises serious moral questions — particularly around intergenerational justice — that Catholic social teaching has largely overlooked.

Book Review 4 October 2021 By Richard Godden

‘Management as a Calling’ by Andrew J. Hoffman

Management as a Calling (published 2021) is not written overtly from a religious perspective although the author speaks with evangelistic fervour, challenging business students and those involved in business to embrace fundamental values and thus address the challenges of modern business, including especially climate change. (...)

Publication 9 October 2020 By Richard Turnbull

The Social & Economic Teaching of the Hebrew Scriptures

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of The Social & Economic Teaching of the Hebrew Scriptures, edited by Richard Turnbull. A PDF copy can be found here. The publication can also be purchased in paperback by (...)

Publication 28 October 2019 By Steven Morris

Lessons From Family Business

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Lessons from Family Business: Perspectives from Faith by Steven Morris. A PDF copy can be found here. Alternatively, a hardcopy can be purchased by contacting CEME’s offices via email at: office@theceme.org (...)

Publication 17 September 2019 By Edward Carter

God and Competition

Edward Carter explores whether competitive behaviour can be understood positively within the Christian faith, drawing on economic theory, Scripture, and business experience.

Publication 25 January 2019 By Richard Turnbull

Work as Enterprise

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Work as Enterprise: Recovering a Theology of Work by Richard Turnbull. A PDF copy can be found here. Alternatively, the hardcopy version of the publication can be purchased by contacting CEME’s (...)

Publication 9 January 2019 By Steven Morris

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Doing Good Through The Local Church by Steven Morris. The publication can be downloaded here. Alternatively, a paperback copy can be ordered by contacting CEME’s offices via email (...)

Publication 25 April 2018 By Richard Turnbull

Understanding the Common Good

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of Understanding the Common Good, edited by Richard Turnbull. A copy of the publication can be found here. Alternatively, please contact CEME’s offices for hardcopies via email at: office@theceme.org (...)

Publication 11 July 2017 By Lyndon Drake

Capital Markets for the Good of Society

Capital Markets for the Good of Society discusses the ethical foundations and societal benefits of capital markets from a Christian perspective, emphasizing their role in promoting human flourishing and economic fairness.

Publication 2 June 2017 By Ben Cooper

The Economics of the Hebrew Scriptures

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of The Economics of the Hebrew Scriptures by Ben Cooper. The publication can be found here. Alternatively, for hardcopies please contact CEME’s offices via email at office@theceme.org (...)

Publication 22 June 2016 By Edward Carter

God and Enterprise

The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) is pleased to announce the publication of God and Enterprise: Towards a Theology of the Entrepreneur by Edward Carter. The publication can be downloaded here. Alternatively, hardcopies can be ordered by contacting CEME’s offices via email at: office@theceme.org (...)

Research 2 September 2015 By Brian Griffiths

Who is the Good Samaritan today?

Who is the Good Samaritan today? The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most popular, well-known and compelling stories Jesus ever told. Rather than teaching in an academic and rather dry way by making general statements, Jesus taught people by telling (...)

Publication 22 July 2015 By Richard Turnbull

Quaker Capitalism

Richard Turnbull examines the extraordinary business achievements of the Quaker entrepreneurs — Cadbury, Rowntree, Fry — and asks what lessons their integration of faith, enterprise, and social responsibility holds for today.