R: Capitalism is Compatible with Christianity

In Matthew 20, Jesus likens heaven to the landowner who hires laborers for his field. A penny is

given to those who toil all day in the heat; a penny is given to those who are called at the last hour to

serve. When those who worked for longer complain that they have not received their fair share, the

landowner asks: “Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will

give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is

thine eye evil, because I am good?” No portion of the New Testament better encapsulates the heart

of this evening’s resolution than that of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Both sides may

take the sentiments espoused in the parable and utilize them for their own purposes, but neither can

mold the entirety of the tale to fit their ideology. It is our duty to parse with care the complex

teachings of Jesus so that we may truly decide whether capitalism is compatible with Christianity.

The affirmative reads between the lines to argue that what Jesus calls for is an adherence to basic

principles of capitalism including compensation, property rights, and free trade. No servant of Christ

is expected to work for free: when someone gives their labor to you, it is just to pay them in a

commensurate manner. Regarding contracts, the strict manner in which the landowner adheres to

his promises signifies the Christian belief in fulfilling obligations. And those in the parable display

the importance of property by recognizing the lawfulness of doing what one will with one’s own. In

other words, justice, charity, and prosperity are all Christian values that, when combined with

capitalism, may be better inculcated. To say capitalism is incompatible with Christianity ignores both

the practical benefits of capitalism and the tenets of the faith that signal support for its perpetuation.

The negative takes the Gospel in full to argue that Jesus acts in a way that subverts economics as a

whole. Capitalism does not incentivize those with means to be charitable to those without them.

Indeed, the fact that the landowner pays both workers equally runs contrary to the capitalist ethos.

The lesson to be learned is that value cannot be defined in terms of costs and benefits: true value is

an intrinsic aspect of human life that transcends the monetary calculations of capitalism. Those who

think that they possess a higher worth than their fellow man miss this fundamental teaching of

Christ: that the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. In this respect, no system that plays into

the degraded aspects of human nature can be considered compatible with Christianity.

Does capitalism curtail the evils of human nature? Or does it exacerbate them? What is a human

being worth? And can our worth ever truly be quantified?