Economic Evidences for Christianity

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Economic Evidences for Christianity

• W. Robert Reed
• Department of Economics
• University of Oklahoma

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I. Introduction

• Four Main Points

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Humans consistently and pervasively behave in
ways that violate standard economic theory.
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A fundamental, and unique, teaching of
Christianity is that human beings possess a sin
nature.
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The concept of the sin nature is central to
Christian doctrine.
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The violations of economic theory provide
empirical evidence that man has a sin nature,
and hence, are evidence for Christianity.
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II. Violations of Economic Theory

• (But first we have to know what were violating!)

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Part 1 The Indifference Curve(s)

DATES
7
3
1
CDs
3
8
1
9
An Infinite Number of Indifference Curves

DATES
U1 gt U2 gt U3
U2
U1
U3
CDs
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Part 2 The Budget Constraint

DATES
Income 150 PDATES 30 PCD s 15
5
3
1
CDs
10
4
8
11
A Pop QuizWhat happens if PCDs ??

DATES
Income 150 PDATES 30 PCD s 15
5
3
1
CDs
10
4
8
12
The Answer
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DATES
Income 150 PDATES 30 PCD s 15
5
3
1
CDs
10
4
8
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The Economic Paradigm of Choice

DATES
Utility-Maximizing Point
C
B
A
CDs
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A Fundamental Proposition of the Economic
Paradigm of Choice

• People will never choose to raise prices to
  themselves

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Because when P?, U?

DATES
U2 lt U1
U1
U2
CDs
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An Empirical Fact

• People DO raise prices to themselves!

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Examples where people deliberately raise the
price of undesirable activities

• ? Leaving spending money at home
• Studying in the library
• Placing alarm clock across room
• ? Many others

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Why?
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III. The Christian Teaching of the Sin Nature

• The biblical account of how man acquired a Sin
  Nature (a.k.a. The Original Sin)

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Genesis 215-17,31-6 The LORD God took the
man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it
and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded
the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in
the garden but you must not eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat
of it you will surely dieNow the serpent was
more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD
God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God
really say, You must not eat from any tree in
the garden'? The woman said to the serpent,
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"We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the
tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you
must not touch it, or you will die.' "You will
not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes
will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil. When the woman saw that the fruit
of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the
eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she
took some and ate it. She also gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
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The concept of the sin nature is central to
three fundamental doctrines of Christianity.
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The Doctrine of DamnationThe sin nature
results in condemnation

• Romans 519 through the disobedience of the
  one man, the many were made sinners.
• Romans 518 one trespass was condemnation for
  all men

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The Doctrine of Grace and Salvation
Deliverance from condemnation comes solely by
relying on Jesus Christnot on oneself or another
religious figureto address the problem of the
sin nature
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John 146 (Jesus speaking) I am the way, and
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.
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Since People Are Fatally Flawed, the Solution To
Their Sin Problem Cannot Lie Within Themselves.
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Rather, It Must Lie Outside Themselves. Hence
the Reliance On Jesus Christ In Order To Be
Delivered From the Power of Sin.
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The Doctrine of Regeneration The sin nature
cannot be reformedit must be replaced
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Galatians 220 (Paul speaking) I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me.

• 2 Corinthians 517 Therefore, if anyone is in
  Christ, he is a new creation

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IV. The Connection Between the Sin Nature and
the Violations of Economic Theory
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A Description of the Sin Nature

• Romans 715-24 I do not understand what I do.
  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I
  hate I doAs it is, it is no longer I myself who
  do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that
  nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
  nature. For I have the desire to do what is
  good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do
  is not the good I want to do no the evil I do
  not want to dothis I keep on doing

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Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me
that does it. So I find this law at work When
I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in Gods law but
I see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind and
making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work
within my members. What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death?
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Three Characteristics of the Sin Nature

• 1) The sin nature has a mind of its own
• it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is
  sin living in me.

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2) The sin nature is intent on evil

• For what I do is not the good I want to do no
  the evil I do not want to dothis I keep on
  doing.

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3) The sin nature is engaged in a battle against
my will

• For in my inner being I delight in Gods law
  but I see another law at work in the members of
  my body, waging war against the law of my mind.

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Price-Raising is a Self-Control Strategy
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What is the Significance of Price-Raising
Behavior?

• It clearly indicates that we are engaged in an
  internal struggle
• a struggle within ourselves to do the right
  thing

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Could This Be Evidence for the Existence of the
Sin Nature?

• The sin nature has a mind of its own
• It is evil in the sense that it leads us to do
  things which are destructive to ourselves and
  others
• It is engaged in a battle against our wills

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Could This Be Evidence for Christianity?
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No other religion has a Romans 7
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No other religion describes man as having a sin
nature
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Other religions talk about sin and temptation
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They speak of sin as an immoral or unwise choice
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and temptation simply as something that
shouldnt be given into.
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But if we cant stick to exercising, if we cant
make ourselves study, if we cant stop from
eating Snickers bars
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why would we ever think we could do the really
hard stuff and be good?
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Christianity Teaches That People Are Fatally
Flawed and Need Outside, Divine Intervention to
Fix Them
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Closing ThoughtThink about that next time you
find yourself raising prices
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A Short Bibliography on the Problem of
Self-Control

• Ainslie, George. 1975. Specious reward A
  behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse
  control. Psychological Bulletin 82(4) 463-96.
• Deily, Mary and W. Robert Reed. Temptation,
  willpower, and the problem of rational
  self-control. Rationality and society 5(4)
  455-472.
• Elster, Jon. 1986. The multiple self. Cambridge
  Cambridge University Press.
• Hare, R.M. 1971. Backsliding. In Weakness of
  will, edited by Geoffrey Mortimore. London
  Macmillan.
• Lukes, Steven. 1971. Moral weakness. In Weakness
  of will, edited by Geoffrey Mortimore. London
  Macmillan.
• Matthews, Gwynneth. 1971. Weakness of will. In
  Weakness of will, edited by Geoffrey Mortimore.
  London Macmillan.
• Schelling, Thomas. 1984a. Self-command in
  practice, in policy, and in a theory of rational
  choice. American Economic Review Papers and
  Proceedings 74(2) 1-11.
• ----. 1984b. The intimate contest for
  self-command. In Choice and consequence.
  Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press.
• ----. 1985. Enforcing rules on oneself.
  Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 1(2)
  357-74.
• Thaler, Richard H. and H.M. Shefrin. 1981. An
  economic theory of self-control. Journal of
  Political Economy 89(2) 392-406.

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