From the opening chapters of Genesis, the issues of work, economics, and vocation are of clear practical importance to what it means to be a godly human being, loving and serving God in the world he has created. This issue of the Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology tackles these topics from a variety of perspectives, but always oriented to the preaching of God’s Word, and the life and faith of God’s people.

As with last year’s BET, the content arises from the Center for Pastor Theologians’ two Fellowship Symposia. This year, the symposia were generously sponsored by the Acton Institute, with Dr. Stephen Grabill, Acton’s Director of Programs and Research Scholar in Theology, acting as guest consultant. The fellows were invited to reflect on and respond to the collection of essays found in Harper and Gregg’s, (eds.) Christian Theology and Market Economics (Edward Elgar, 2010), as well as three primers produced by Acton on the relationship between faith and vocation. These primers addressed our central issue from the perspectives of the Pentecostal, Baptist, and Wesleyan traditions. Essay and book reviews in Vol 2 include:

ESSAYS

BOOK REVIEWS

Steve Corbertt and Brian Fickert. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor, Gary L. Shultz Jr.

Jennifer Roback Morse. Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village, Christopher Bechtel

Jeff Van Duzer. Why Business Matters to God: And What Still Needs to be Fixed, Jay Thomas

Wayne Grudem. Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business, J. Ryan Davidson

Timothy Keller. Every Good Endeavor: Connecting your Work to God’s Work, Jason A. Nicolls

Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros. The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence, Gregory Thompson

Adam Smith. The Wealth of Nations, and Karl Marx. Capital: Volume I, Greg Forster