Money as God

The nature of money and its impact on society has long interested scholars of economics, history, philosophy, law, and theology alike, and the recent financial crisis has moved these issues to the forefront of current public debate. In this study, authors from a range of backgrounds provide a unified examination of the nature and the purpose of money. Chapters cover the economic and social foundations of money; the historical origins of money in ancient Greece, China, the ancient Middle East, and medieval Europe; problems of justice connected to the use of money in legal systems and legal settlements, with examples both from ancient history and today; and theological aspects of monetary and market exchange. This stimulating interdisciplinary book, with its nontechnical and lively discussion, will appeal to a global readership working in the interfaces of economics, law and religion.Introduction Jurgen von Hagen and Michael Welker; Part I. Money and Markets: Economic, Legal, and Theological Foundations: 1. Microfoundations of the uses of money Jurgen von Hagen; 2. Money and its role in a decentralized market economy Peter Bernholz; 3. Mensura et mensuratum: money as measure and measure for money Wolfgang Ernst; 4. Standardization and monetization: legal perspectives Burkhard Hess; 5. Kohelet and the co-evolution of a monetary economy and religion Michael Welker; Part II. Monetary Exchange: Historical and Social Roots: 6. Money and image: the presence of the state on the routes of economy Tonio Holscher; 7. The social world of Ecclesiastes Choon-Leong Seow; 8. The development of monetary systems in Palestine during the Achaemenid and Hellenistic eras Ulrich Hubner; 9. Fate's gift economy: the Chinese case of coping with the asymmetry between man and fate Rudolf G. Wagner; 10. 'Mothers and children': discourses on paper money during the Song period Hans-Ulrich Vogel; 11. 'Buying heaven': the prospects of commercialized salvation in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries Berndt Hamm; Part III. Monetary Exchange: Ethical Limits and Challenges: 12. The monetization and demonetization of the human body: the case of compensatory payments for bodily injuries and homicide in ancient Near Eastern and ancient Israelite law books Konrad Schmid; 13. What price do we place on life? Ethical observations on the limits of law and money in a case of transitional justice Gunter Thomas; 14. Standardized monetization of the market and the argument for preferential justice Piet Naude; 15. Religious faith and the market economy: a survey on faith and trust of Catholic entrepreneurs in China Gao Shining and Yang Fenggang; Part IV. Money, Wealth, and Desire: 16. 'Do not sell your soul for money': economy and eschatology in biblical and intertestamental traditions Andreas Schule; 17. 'Businessmen and merchants will not enter the places of my father': early Christianity and market mentality Edmondo F. Lupieri; 18. Desire in consumer culture: theological perspectives from Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine of Hippo John F. Hoffmeyer; Money as God?: conclusions Michael Welker and Jurgen von Hagen; Index.