Protestant Thinking on Markets, Morality, and Human Flourishing: Calvin, Kuyper, and the Ecumenical Movement

The Reformed tradition, identified closely with the reformer John Calvin, puts distinctive emphases on the relationship between economics and theology. Tracing the thought of Calvin through to the nineteenth-century Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper and most recently to the economic teachings of the World Council of Churches, distinct themes emerge, including the importance of acknowledging God’s sovereignty and authority, the relative rights of property, the relationship of humanity as a communion, the dignity of every person, the role of institutions in intellectual, moral and spiritual formation, a balanced view of hierarchy, and the priority of the role of love. In this way a variegated and yet generally consistent picture emerges of the Protestant understanding of the relationship between economic realities and human flourishing.