Realism and a Christian Perspective on Economics

Beed & Beed (1996a) argued that a Christian philosophy and methodology provide an alternative mode of thinking about economic matters than is provided by secular economics. The Christian view is shown here to be a form of realism, having affinity with the metaphysical realism propounded by Trigg (1989, 1993), but differing from the critical realism of Bhaskar (1989, 1994) and others, advocated by Lawson (1997) in economics. A brief history and outline of realism are presented so it is clear what is being compared with the Christian position. This is followed by comparison of Christian realism with metaphysical and critical realism. Some illustrations of how Christian realism might be applied to economic questions are developed to show how it differs from the way in which secular forms of realism might analyse the same questions. Applying Christian realism to socio-economic matters requires an interdependent and normative approach in the context of a given metaphysical worldview. It takes the analysis of economic questions into territory unfamiliar to secular economics and which the latter may well reject as not being economics.