'Facsimiles of 41 magazine articles and book chapters published between 1939 and 2002 consider the relationship between economic theory and religion. The first volume looks at the influence of Christian theology on the development of economic theory through such channels as Smith, Malthus, Chalmers, Christian socialism, Catholic social teaching, early American economics, and contemporary mainstream economics. The second volume begins with studies by modern Christian economists and their critics and quick glances at Islamic and Judaic economics. Then it explores contemporary topics such as household allocation of time and church attendance, purgatory as a market-pull innovation, and directly unproductive prophet-seeking activities. Only names are indexed, each volume separately.' - Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)'Paul Oslington has made a valuable contribution to both the secular and religious fields. His volumes bring together a range of recent academic thinking about the relations between religion and economics as it has occurred in the past and exists currently. The selection is judicious and timely, encompassing particular viewpoints with pertinent criticisms of them, a hallmark of appropriate academic practice. The two volumes are likely to become a standard reference work for the field.'-Clive Beed, Economic Record'[A] rich selection of work at the intersection of economics and religion. Paul Oslington, the editor, and Edward Elgar, the publisher, have done a real service in bringing this work together in one place.'- Andrew M. Yuengert, Journal of Markets and Morality'At some time or other, most thoughtful Christians will have wondered about the relationship between economics and theology. . . The collection of readings obtained in Paul Oslington's Economics and Religion admirably covers many issues at the interface. . . The selection of material, some of which has been difficult to obtain, has drawn deserved praise from eminent scholars in Australia, the UK and the US.'- Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education'Anyone teaching a course on economics and Christian belief or wanting to have something to hand to which to point inquisitive students (and hopefully colleagues) may well want to recommend this collection to their librarian. . . A collection such as this is long overdue. . . Paul Oslington has gone out of his way to pull in some excellent but little read material. These volumes provide an excellent starting point for the academic or student setting out to understand the nature of the discourse between economics and theology. There was much in here with which I was not familiar and so it has been a welcome discovery.'- Andrew Henley, Association of Christian Economists Journal'Ever since Adam Smith, religion and economics have been interwoven. This unique collection takes the reader from Smith right up to the present day and provides a fascinating survey for experts and non-experts alike. Highly recommended.'- Kim Hawtrey, Macquarie University, Australia'Economists and calculators are beginning - just beginning - to acknowledge the transcendent. Economics and Religion is a landmark on a spiritual journey. The long road from St Thomas through the Blessed A. Smith, so long diverted by the anti-Christ Jeremy Bentham, is taken up again in these volumes. They should be owned by every serious library, whether a library of God or of Mammon. It will not perhaps surprise people that economists have something to say about the economics of religion, since economists believe they have something to say about everything; what is surprising is that religion has something to say about economics.'- Deirdre N. McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago, US - from Amzon