Jordan J. Ballor's Blog

There’s a line that’s been attributed to Martin Luther that goes something like this: “Even if I knew the world was going to end tomorrow, I would still plant a tree today.” Continue Reading...

At nearly $60 million per episode, the first season of Amazon’s The Rings of Power was a historic investment in bringing a famed literary universe to the small screen. Reviewers and audiences were initially ambivalent about the series. Continue Reading...

In a fascinating essay at Jacobin, Orthodox theologian, Bible translator, and polemicist David Bentley Hart engages the teachings of Jesus, the apostles, and the early church on wealth and poverty. Continue Reading...

It has taken some time but there are signs that the cultural elites, members of what has been called America’s “ruling class,” have started to engage in some long overdue self-examination as it relates to their engagement with populist dynamics, especially as represented in the figure of Donald Trump. Continue Reading...

The point of departure for Protestant Social Teaching: An Introduction is an observation set forth by Stephen J. Grabill in the pages of the Journal of Markets & Morality: “Neither magisterial Protestants nor evangelicals have a theologically unified body of social teaching.” Continue Reading...

For all the claims regarding the subjectivity of economics, including schools of thought that emphasize subjective value theory and the descriptive rather than the normative, much mainstream economic thought focuses on what seems to be objective and measurable. Continue Reading... Related posts:Pope Francis On Human Dignity The future of work: Arthur Brooks on human dignity and ‘neededness’ Right-to-Work and Human Dignity

As the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight and we see some hope on the horizon, politicians in our nation’s capital are considering significant proposals to address the crises of the working poor and child poverty. Continue Reading...

Recent policy debates over direct cash grants to parents from the federal government expose our society’s dysfunctional attitudes toward work and parenting. Over at the Detroit News, I have some thoughts and (mostly) concerns. Continue Reading... Related posts:The Parenting Class Utah becomes first state to legalize ‘free-range parenting’ Against Transactional Parenting: Children Aren’t Toasters or Minivans

What distinguishes something that is truly creative from something that is simply innovative? And how do we value and prioritize one or the other? In a recent study, “Creativity, Innovation, and the Historicity of Entrepreneurship,” Victor Claar and I attempt to disambiguate what we call “creative entrepreneurship” from “innovative entrepreneurship.” Continue Reading...

What distinguishes something that is truly creative from something that is simply innovative? And how do we value and prioritize one or the other? In a recent study, “Creativity, Innovation, and the Historicity of Entrepreneurship,” Victor Claar and I attempt to disambiguate what we call “creative entrepreneurship” from “innovative entrepreneurship.” Continue Reading... Related posts:Creativity, history, and entrepreneurship Is the rise of ‘creative entrepreneurship’ killing the arts? Creati...