Christian Property Ethics

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What does Christian ethics have to say about the institution of private property? The right to private property is necessary to properly fulfill the Cultural Mandate. God gave the Cultural Mandate to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 1:28 says, “And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion […] over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (ESV). Dominion means wise stewardship. God called man to take care of the earth. After the Fall, however, this task became more difficult. Since man is a finite creature, scarcity has always existed. Even in the perfect world, Adam could not be two places at once. However, when God cursed the ground as a result of man’s sin, the effects …show more content…

Defined as “the ability to exclude other users from consuming one’s property,” excludability allows one party have absolute control over a good. Excludability allows private property owners to refuse to share their scarce resources with others. If one is going to live prosperously, one must be able to prevent other people from taking or using up one’s goods. This principal is reinforced by God’s commandment prohibiting theft. To fulfill the Cultural Mandate, a person must be able to use his resources in the way he sees fit, including preventing others from wasting or consuming …show more content…

Accountability forces individuals to bear the costs or reap the benefits of their actions. God created man with a natural conscience. However, just because someone knows what the right thing to do is, does not necessarily mean that he will do it, especially if there are no consequences when he does wrong thing. Accountability reduces this problem. In a society with protected private property rights, if a person breaks something that he owns, he must fix or replace it himself. Conversely, if a person makes a good investment, he is able to reap the rewards himself. The accountability of private property means that everyone is responsible for their own mistakes and free to receive their own rewards. This fact provides incentive for people to be good stewards, fulfilling the Cultural Mandate

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