Doing Well and Doing Good: The Challenge to the Christian Capitalist

By Richard John Neuhaus

Book Overview

With this timely reissue, Image celebrates the twentieth anniversary of an important, classic work on faith and economics from one of the leading Catholic intellectuals of the past century. As pertinent today as it was when it was first published in 1992, Doing Well and Doing Good argues that for too long Christianity has had nothing to say to Wall Street or to Main Street. Some churches have blasted the greed of the former or the bourgeois grasping of the latter. Others have insisted on a socialist alternative. But the time has come, Neuhaus says, to stop such silliness. Drawing on the writings of Pope John Paul II, Richard Neuhaus has written a classic, groundbreaking work that unashamedly seeks to bestow a blessing on business. The common good depends on it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307955605
• ISBN13: 9780307955609
• Release Date: July 2012
• Publisher: Image
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Pope John Paul II's "Centesimus annus"

Capitalism has often been seen as an opponent to Christianity. This highly scholastic book focuses on Catholicism in America. Richard Neuhaus interprets Pope John Paul II's encyclical of 1991, "Centesimus annus." The four parts examine economics and moral reflection, Catholic social teaching, the Revolution of 1989, and What all this means for justice. The year 1989 is, to the author, as important in history as 1066, 1776, 1945, and other famous dates, for that year a new world order began. "Centesimus annus" is a manifesto in defense of pluralism. Neuhaus reminds us that for centuries what we call social services was in the domain of families and churches. The appendix includes a condensed version of the encyclical with numbered paragraphs and sections. Neuhaus refers to those specifically throughout the book, as he analyzes the pope's views on various issues, such as abortion, AIDS, sexuality, and ecology. The index provides adequate access to these specific topics. Catholic and other libraries supporting social responsibility committees will find this analysis of the encyclical helpful as a reference source.