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Adam Smith
Adam Smith’s religion drove his prescriptions for a virtuous humanity and a free and flourishing society. Jan van Vliet examines how the practical implications of these strike a common chord with Scripture.
Endorsements“Van Vliet’s study of Adam Smith masterfully uncovers this influential progenitor’s entire philosophy, from economics to ethics. Flying in the face of caricatures such as laissez-faire and raw capitalism, so often falsely attributed to Smith, this reading reveals how profoundly concerned this philosopher was for the poor and the destitute, as well as other effects of social injustice. At the same time, van Vliet sharply criticizes Smith for his lack of a robust Reformed theological undergirding. The lasting effect of such an honest appraisal of Smith’s work is the timeliness of his views, especially in the face of our present cultural upheavals.”
—William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics Emeritus, Westminster Theological Seminary
“Jan van Vliet has written an excellent work both expositing and summarizing the work of Adam Smith and offering a Reformed Protestant engagement and critique of Smith, with special attention given to the thought of Cornelius Van Til. If you suspect that what you were taught on Adam Smith in your college economics class might be a tad askew, this book is for you. Van Vliet works through the key insights of Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, and argues persuasively that Smith was concerned with the proper ordering and prospering of the culture as a whole, particularly with justice for the poor and underprivileged. Kudos to van Vliet for a super book.”
—Bradley G. Green, Professor of Theological Studies, Union University; Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“I’m glad to see a volume in the Great Thinkers series on Adam Smith as his influence on contemporary culture is immense. Jan Van Vliet gives a compact and helpful summary of Smith’s life and main ideas, and his Christian theistic evaluation will I hope provoke more theologians to engage with his work.”
—Paul Oslington, Professor of Economics and Theology, Alphacrucis University College
Endorsements“Van Vliet’s study of Adam Smith masterfully uncovers this influential progenitor’s entire philosophy, from economics to ethics. Flying in the face of caricatures such as laissez-faire and raw capitalism, so often falsely attributed to Smith, this reading reveals how profoundly concerned this philosopher was for the poor and the destitute, as well as other effects of social injustice. At the same time, van Vliet sharply criticizes Smith for his lack of a robust Reformed theological undergirding. The lasting effect of such an honest appraisal of Smith’s work is the timeliness of his views, especially in the face of our present cultural upheavals.”
—William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics Emeritus, Westminster Theological Seminary
“Jan van Vliet has written an excellent work both expositing and summarizing the work of Adam Smith and offering a Reformed Protestant engagement and critique of Smith, with special attention given to the thought of Cornelius Van Til. If you suspect that what you were taught on Adam Smith in your college economics class might be a tad askew, this book is for you. Van Vliet works through the key insights of Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, and argues persuasively that Smith was concerned with the proper ordering and prospering of the culture as a whole, particularly with justice for the poor and underprivileged. Kudos to van Vliet for a super book.”
—Bradley G. Green, Professor of Theological Studies, Union University; Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“I’m glad to see a volume in the Great Thinkers series on Adam Smith as his influence on contemporary culture is immense. Jan Van Vliet gives a compact and helpful summary of Smith’s life and main ideas, and his Christian theistic evaluation will I hope provoke more theologians to engage with his work.”
—Paul Oslington, Professor of Economics and Theology, Alphacrucis University College
184 pages, Paperback
Published November 13, 2024
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April 16, 2025
Van Fliet, Jan. Adam Smith. Presbyterian & Reformed, 2024.
In 2011, when I was reading a book by a neo-Marxist atheist, I felt a dark presence in the room. By contrast, some six months later, as I was reading Thomas Reid and Adam Smith, I found myself, metaphorically speaking, breathing crisp, cool air. Of course, such an anecdote, while meaningful to me, does not mean Marx was wrong or Smith right. It might suggest, however, there is something intuitively sound with Smith’s project. It is not just intuitively sound; it is empirically right. Smith’s economics, not Marx’s, lifted two billion people out of poverty.
Not everything concerning Smith should be adopted, to be sure. His labor theory of value has been eclipsed by the “Subjective Revolution.” His ethics are adequate at best, Deistic at worst. Jan van Vliet is aware of these problems and does a decent job guiding the reader through Smith’s corpus.
Ethics
Smith followed Francis Hutcheson’s in assigning the “moral sense” as the locus of right and wrong. It is an “innate capacity” where one feels the value of the moral act. Applied to society at large, it is an expression of natural feeling. This seems surprising at first, for did not Smith promote one’s own self-interest as the guiding principle? But for Smith the two are connected. My happiness cannot be found apart from others’ well-being. Lest that sound overly noble, the reason does appear somewhat selfish: I am looking at the other’s evaluation of my own action.
This leads to the weakest section of Smith’s project: rules for society arise from general considerations of propriety. It is not hard to see how Smith can avoid a vicious relativism. His project worked because Britain and America had centuries of religious discipline. It is not clear it could (or would) work in the post-revolutionary Global South (or Harvard today).
Economics
If Smith’s ethics are weak, his economics are rightly the stuff of praise. Much of it, in fact, to use a philosophically loaded phrase, is “common sense.” There is a reason for that. Smith’s project was successful because it aligned with reality. Most of us are already familiar with (if not obedient to) his main points. We will touch on only a few.
We maximize wealth through the efficient employment of capital. This reflects a virtuous circle: income drives purchases, leading to greater production, yielding more income.
Not everything he said was correct, though. Smith tended to reduce value to labor. I think he meant to say that the price of a good must clear the labor costs. This sounds right, but, as the Austrian School has demonstrated, the value of an object is what ultimately I decide to pay for it.
Van Vliet has written a fine introduction to Adam Smith. At one point he mentions Thomas Reid, Wolterstorff, and epistemic foundationalism but only in passing. The reader would have been interested to see any connections between Reid and Adam Smith.
In 2011, when I was reading a book by a neo-Marxist atheist, I felt a dark presence in the room. By contrast, some six months later, as I was reading Thomas Reid and Adam Smith, I found myself, metaphorically speaking, breathing crisp, cool air. Of course, such an anecdote, while meaningful to me, does not mean Marx was wrong or Smith right. It might suggest, however, there is something intuitively sound with Smith’s project. It is not just intuitively sound; it is empirically right. Smith’s economics, not Marx’s, lifted two billion people out of poverty.
Not everything concerning Smith should be adopted, to be sure. His labor theory of value has been eclipsed by the “Subjective Revolution.” His ethics are adequate at best, Deistic at worst. Jan van Vliet is aware of these problems and does a decent job guiding the reader through Smith’s corpus.
Ethics
Smith followed Francis Hutcheson’s in assigning the “moral sense” as the locus of right and wrong. It is an “innate capacity” where one feels the value of the moral act. Applied to society at large, it is an expression of natural feeling. This seems surprising at first, for did not Smith promote one’s own self-interest as the guiding principle? But for Smith the two are connected. My happiness cannot be found apart from others’ well-being. Lest that sound overly noble, the reason does appear somewhat selfish: I am looking at the other’s evaluation of my own action.
This leads to the weakest section of Smith’s project: rules for society arise from general considerations of propriety. It is not hard to see how Smith can avoid a vicious relativism. His project worked because Britain and America had centuries of religious discipline. It is not clear it could (or would) work in the post-revolutionary Global South (or Harvard today).
Economics
If Smith’s ethics are weak, his economics are rightly the stuff of praise. Much of it, in fact, to use a philosophically loaded phrase, is “common sense.” There is a reason for that. Smith’s project was successful because it aligned with reality. Most of us are already familiar with (if not obedient to) his main points. We will touch on only a few.
We maximize wealth through the efficient employment of capital. This reflects a virtuous circle: income drives purchases, leading to greater production, yielding more income.
Not everything he said was correct, though. Smith tended to reduce value to labor. I think he meant to say that the price of a good must clear the labor costs. This sounds right, but, as the Austrian School has demonstrated, the value of an object is what ultimately I decide to pay for it.
Van Vliet has written a fine introduction to Adam Smith. At one point he mentions Thomas Reid, Wolterstorff, and epistemic foundationalism but only in passing. The reader would have been interested to see any connections between Reid and Adam Smith.
Displaying 1 of 1 review