As a culture, we’re very quick to take Biblical passages regarding work and look for ways to reconcile that with our current economic order. But doing this neglects the various ways in which the meaning of “work” has evolved throughout history, and how failing to account for that can create a theology that’s prone to corruption. In this essay, I highlight the importance of work to living and the ways in which capitalism distorts that relationship.

Table of Contents:

• Part I: Introduction

• Part II: Defining Work

• Part III: Historical Origins of the Ethic

• Part IV: Distilling the Ethic (in-progress)

• Part V: Towards a New Ethic (unfinished)

• Bibliography

Addendum:

• Should Christians Follow the Sabbath?

• The Great Moral Panic Over the “Great Resignation”

• Why Bother With Christianity? (in-progress)