It’s nonsense. More, it’s not healthy for the country.

. . . you have to be nearly unconscious not to realize that “Christian capitalism” is neither good Christianity nor good capitalism. It’s not “Christian” because it ignores the central teachings of Jesus on the moral imperative of taking care of the poor in the Sermon on the Mount, and it dismisses the actual economic practice of the disciples as described in the Book of Acts.

It is also lousy capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system where the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit in a competive market. The capitalist system relies on self-interest, not “stewardship” to actually run. Theories of markets actually assume that people will act according to their self-interest and not from a disinterested love of others.

This has been known for a very long time. In 1776, Adam Smith, sometimes considered the “father” of modern economics, related human nature and how markets work. “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the bakers that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantage.”

The proponents of “Christian Capitalism” have lost sight of that. In their view God stratifies people based on their income and their assets. If you have more of both, it’s because “God wanted me to get rich.” This is idiotic. Whatever else the Bible preaches, it certainly doesn’t preach that. No, the Bible is pretty explicit about the poor: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

The current Republican Party and its followers would do well to remember that.