Economics for Prophets: A Primer on Concepts, Realities, and Values in Our Economic System

While many people think that the role of the biblical prophets was foretelling the future, the biblical emphasis, says Walter Owenbsy, was clearly much more on their role as forthtellers of God's message in troubled times. Indeed, much of their message had to do with how economic realities of the day affected the lives of people and the nation.

In our time as well, faith has something to say about such things. That does not mean posing as economists when we are not. But it does mean knowing enough about the way our economic system functions to be able to identify the moral issues at stake within it and to enter responsibly into the public debate about the economic choices that lie before us.

Owensby has written this book to help Christians take part more confidently and effectively in the dialogue on ethics and economics. Economics for Prophets is an introduction to the subject (it assumes no previous exposure to economics studies or jargon) that takes a helpful three-step approach. It explains some of the basic concepts of our economic system, explores how these concepts function in the real world, and critiques both the concepts and their practical working out from a biblical-theological-ethical perspective.

Understanding economics can help Christians function as prophets in the true biblical sense, says Owensby -- as socially aware believers who emphasize not foretelling the future, but forthtelling God's message to the world.