The Economy of Grace (Book Review Sample)

The Economy of Grace
Name
Institution
The Economy of Grace
The reading on the economy of grace raises fundamental questions that must be considered in the Christian anthropology. The article, which is based on the premise that the market system has failed in its objective to mitigate hunger, forces the reader to question almost everything that modernity stands for. In this regard, the point which mostly spurs my thinking is the admission that economic efficiency (which has been the pride of the new market system) has created societal inefficiencies by undermining human dignity. While this statement is oblivious of the milestones realized in living standards since the onset of the previous century, I am inclined to agree that the current system has undermined the value of humanity by placing everything for sale. The market view is increasingly alienating human beings from the morality that God intended, where the logic of grace advocates for exchange without the expectation of return.
However, this logic of grace, which is perpetuated from the Genesis cycles to the teachings of Jesus and proposes a means through which humanity can be ridded of its insatiable hunger, can be understood as being bundled with challenges of its own. By proposing a model of giving that is aligned to the needs of God’s children, Meeks proposes a prescription which is largely guided by Christian principles. Even under the assumption that all human beings professed the Christian faith, it is largely unlikely that gifting (the concept upon which the economy of grace is edged) could be sustainable. While the reading recognizes the inherent evil nature of human beings as a key bottleneck to the economy of grace, it basically undermines the role that this evil plays in shaping human interactions.
Nevertheless, the reading contains elements that are significantly practical in relation to the current nature of human interactions. Of note is the assertion that the market system, which is primarily driven by the notion of artificial scarcity, is not sustainable. As this artificial scarcity drives up debt and ultimately propels humanity into modern slavery, the warnings of the Torah become more evident that they did before: that debt leads to slavery, communal exclusion and ultimately death before death. The fact that society is headed towards this demise because of the inefficiencies of the market system is not subject to question. The fact that there is need for another solution, one that is not edged on the current notion of market morality, forces us to turn to the economy of grace.
In essence, the reading resonates with my view that the forging of sustainable communal relationships, which are edged on interdepe...