ABSTRACT
To create a new subdiscipline of theology, "a theology of policital economy", will take a generation of hard work. Since 1891 the Roman Catholic popes have discussed the connections between religion and economics in a series of official letters addressed to all Catholics of the world. In recent years the Presbyterians, Methodists, and others have maintained high-level study groups on various economic issues. Among professional economists, the scientific habit will need little exposition. Economists need desperately to begin paying attention to claims about economic reality being made among religious leaders and by theologians. In theological circles, the word "market" has been surrounded by many symbolic overtones. During the nineteenth century religious leaders and theologians often defended the ancien regime and traditional values, being rather skeptical about political democracy and cultural pluralism. Today, the many experiments in political economy now being conducted by the 160 nations of the world render moot the ideological arguments of past generations.
