“Given a sharp and eager mind, eloquence is picked up more readily by those who read and listen to the words of the eloquent than by those who follow the rules of eloquence.”
              — Saint Augustine, On Christian Teaching

“We learn wisdom primarily by dwelling in a community that worships the source of all wisdom and studies his Word and world” (Quentin Schultze, An Essential Guide to Public Speaking, 54).

“How primitive man comes upon a conception of God in a world where God does not exists is a conundrum to the mind of the evolutionary naturalist. . . . These religious conceptions demand an explanation, and Darwin pulls an answer out of a hat. He opts for psychological explanation, attempting to attribute man’s spiritual nature to another animal trait. According to Darwin, all notions about the cruder religions and the “more advanced” monotheistic religions (such as Christianity) come from “the same high mental faculties,” and God does not reveal Himself to man. Instead, the evolutionist must view man as alone in the universe, and therefore he will have to figure things out for himself. Darwin concludes that man is becoming more self-aware, more intelligent, more advanced, not because he submits to God’s revelation but because he is evolving into a higher creature. For Darwin, religion is just a phase as the human species evolves into a higher form” (Kevin Swanson, Apostate: The Men Who Destroyed the Christian West, 130-131).

“For the Christian, exegesis and theology should provide the basis of expectation for the future, not current events” (Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology, xxvii-xxviii).

“[P]ersonal discipline is the indispensable key for accomplishing anything in this life” (R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, 11).

“My prayer is that this book will lead God’s people to pray more fervently and believingly: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). And in better understanding and praying that, they might more diligently labor to “make disciples of all the nations” (Mt 29:19), knowing that “he shall have dominion” (Ps 72:18 KJV)” (Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology, xxiv).

Christ Shall Have Dominion

From The Psalter, 1912

Based on Psalm 72

(Tune: ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’)

Recently Peter Leithart plays sounding board for Pastor Rich Lusk, who “points out that in the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples gather up more food than they started with. They spend resources, but their reserves increase rather than decrease.” Leithart briefly reflects on the implications of the economy of the kingdom of Heaven, suggesting — “This is the economy of the kingdom: The Father rewards generous service, so that our expenditures of time, energy, and resources don’t deplete but add. We find more time, energy, and resources to expend on further generous service.” Leithart continues with the conclusion that “The economy of the kingdom is magical because creation is magical.”

In the final analysis, the kingdom is not limited by economic’s norm-of-thought, i.e., the (heretical?) doctrine of “limited resources.” God’s resources are abundant. How do we know? God is the omnipotent Creator. And Miracles are for reals, duh. Also, if you want to be a Christian economists, how about reading 1 Kings 17 everyday for a decade. God feeds the prophet with bread from ravens. That is cool. However, I am well aware that it is difficult to quantify that sort of thing, but if your economic theory doesn’t take it into consideration . . . well, what can I say–if that is the case, then your theory is as broken as a kitten pet-to-death. It is cute, but, alas, d.e.a.d.

Thus, fecundity: the economy of the kingdom.

From WSJ in 2011.

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government. . . . Don’t expect a reversal of this trend anytime soon. Surveys of college graduates are finding that more and more of our top minds want to work for the government. Why? Because in recent years only government agencies have been hiring, and because the offer of near lifetime security is highly valued in these times of economic turbulence. When 23-year-olds aren’t willing to take career risks, we have a real problem on our hands.

 A real problem, indeed.