HostsCorey J. Mahlercoreyjmahler.com@CoreyJMahlerWoeaka Eschatologuy@treblewoeOf all the idols of modern man, Capitalism may be one of the most challenging to overcome. Not because the wickedness of Capitalism is not manifest, for it is (and we will demonstrate this in today’s episode), but because it has been sold as the only alternative to Communism — a system so wicked that no Christian can possibly support it. Yet the choice is not binary, and those who would claim that it is seek to mislead the Christian into supporting a system that is, in point of fact, anti-Christ.It is the lack of concern for one’s neighbor — a feature built into the Capitalist system and inextricable from it — that should immediately raise alarm bells for the Christian man. Under Capitalism, it is the maximum extraction of profit (itself a dubious category, insofar as it is a vague term) that serves as guiding principle, and yet this is an alien and hostile thing to the Christian system of ethics and morality. Need it even be said that the extraction of maximized profits runs diametrically counter to the second-greatest commandment:Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.Throughout the pages of Scripture, God repeatedly states His concern for the poor, the needy, and the exploited, and yet Capitalism relies, in no small part, upon the extraction of profits from those very categories of the most vulnerable. Ours is not a Marxist critique of Capitalism, but a Christian one. The central question: Is Capitalism compatible with Christianity? We answer in the negative.Mammon is an old god, an idol served by many men from may nations across many centuries. The love of money is not the root of all evils, but, in the words of Scripture, it is certainly the root of many evils, and, in fact, may serve as the stumbling stone upon which faith may founder:»For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.«— 1 Timothy Subscribe to the podcast here.Show NotesMises Definition of “Capitalism”See AlsoBerlin State Museum: Coin CollectionThe ‘boots’ theory of poverty [Wikipedia]Further ReadingOn Trade and Usury by Martin Luther [PDF]Parental WarningsNone.TranscriptThe transcript for this episode can be found hereOther transcripts can be found hereSupport the PodcastRecurring DonationOne-Time DonationMahler’s Amazon.com Wish ListWoe’s Amazon.com Wish ListComments?Join the discussion on Telegram, visit the feedback form or comment below.function waitForElement(selector, callback) { const interval = setInterval(function() { const element = document.querySelector(selector); if (element) { clearInterval(interval); callback(element); } }, 100); // check every 100 milliseconds}function updateTranscriptLink(audioSrc) { const episodeNumber = extractNumber(audioSrc); if (episodeNumber) { const transcriptLink = document.querySelector('a.transcript-link'); if (transcriptLink) { transcriptLink.setAttribute('href', `/transcripts/transcript-episode-${episodeNumber}/`); } else { console.error('Transcript link not found.'); } } else { console.error('Episode number could not be extracted. The audio source was: ' + audioSrc); }}// Function to extract the number from the audio file namefunction extractNumber(src) { const match = src.match(/e(\d+)\.m4a/); return match ? match[1] : null;}// Start waiting for the audio element to appear in the DOMwaitForElement('audio[src*="s.stone-choir.com"]', function(audioElement) { const audioSrc = audioElement.getAttribute('src'); updateTranscriptLink(audioSrc);});