Abstract:
Under the heading "sustainability development", new ways out of the crisis of the capitalist, global economic system and a future-oriented, just and sustainable economy and society are being sought. The most recent symptoms of this crisis are the financial and banking crisis in 2007-08, the euro crisis between 2009-11, since 2020 the corona pandemic and climate change, which is growing vehemently. The rising inequality of wealth distribution and global poverty are also signs of an inherently sick system.
Although the current discourse on sustainability is not entirely without references to the writings of the New Testament, the elaboration of an overall New Testament perspective or several perspectives on individual writings has been lacking up to now. This work closes this gap by introducing a Christian-spiritual perspective grounded in the New Testament into the current sustainability discourse and thus making an important contribution to the search for a just and sustainable economic order.
To this end, the diverse statements of the New Testament on economic references and on the consequences of economic action are examined and bundled into central statements. Six thematic focal points (so-called paradigms) can be identified in the writings of the New Testament on money and economics: the first two paradigms (1) "Danger of wealth" and (2) "Economics in the context of eschatological reservation" deal critically with economics and property. This is followed by (3) "Use of money" and (4) "Option for the poor", two paradigms that see money and possessions as an impulse for action. The two paradigms (5) "Securing basic needs" and (6) "Community of goods, consumption and life", which describe ideals of dealing with money and possessions and a call for imitation, form the conclusion.
In the interpretation of biblical passages exemplary for the statement of the respective paradigm and in the dialogue with two relevant, global voices (the Agenda 2030 of the United Nations as a political voice and the encyclical Laudato Si of Pope Francis as an ecclesiastical voice), the great opportunity of a Christian spiritual perspective founded in the New Testament for the current sustainability discourse becomes visible.
