Be Good Bankers: The Economic Interpretation of Matthew's Gospel, with a Fresh Translation

by Michael Pakaluk

Discover the inherent connections between commerce, the Christian faith, and the divine economy through this groundbreaking interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel.

Suppose that the author of the Gospel of Matthew was an ambitious tax collector who was intricately familiar with the best practices of Roman banking, accounting, and contract law. As a result, wouldn’t we expect to see a unique account of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection that was suffused with business principles and economic rationality?

This, argues Michael Pakaluk, is exactly what we find in the Gospel according to Matthew.

In Be Good The Economic Interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel, with a Fresh Translation, Pakaluk reconciles the tension often felt between business and economics on the one hand, and the Christian faith on the other, revealing how the gospel message is inherently infused with economic principles. Pakaluk illuminates the economic undertones in Matthew’s Gospel and reveals that our very nature is designed for business, a fact that God uses to teach us about himself.

Be Good Bankers delves into the idea that we are all bankers in the divine economy established by the Incarnation of Jesus—the ultimate exchange of divinity for human nature—and his Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. Through exploring the use of debts, receipts, ledgers, deposits, withdrawals, payments, and exchanges in Matthew’s Gospel, Pakaluk provides a compelling framework for understanding how Christians can live and work with our own debts of justice, gratitude, and love.

This book is an essential guide for anyone seeking to navigate the intersection of faith and commerce and find their place in the divine economy.
 

Genres: Economics

340 pages, Hardcover

Published March 11, 2025

About the author

MICHAEL PAKALUK is a professor of ethics and social philosophy in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at Harvard and studied as a Marshall Scholar at the University of Edinburgh. An expert in ancient philosophy, he has published widely on Aristotelian ethics and the philosophy of friendship and done groundbreaking work in business ethics.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best, most faithful-to-the-Greek translation of the Gospel according to St. Matthew that I have ever read! I unfortunately know very little Greek, yet reading this translation makes me feel like I am reading the original text for the first time.

This is to say nothing about the splendid, intriguing, and useful commentary. Pakaluk carefully examines this Gospel account through the lens of its author's profession as a tax collector. He looks at the Gospel in financial and accounting terms, which—though at first seems somewhat out of left field—actually fits the facts of the Gospel quite well. I'll let you read this excellent volume to find out the rest! Highly recommended!

[Ken Abel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great commentary