%0 Journal Article
%T The mystery of economy: Exploring the threshold between theology and economics
%A Emilio di Somma
%J Review & Expositor
%@ 2052-9449
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0034637319830688
%X This article addresses the permanence of a ¡°theological device¡± within the structures of economic thought. Using the work of Giorgio Agamben, this article describes how divine providence relates to the natural world; this analysis will in turn provide the basis for a reading of contemporary economics. Oikonomia, in early Christian use, becomes not only a metaphor for the divine household and God¡¯s own life, but also begins to designate God¡¯s influence both on the divine and the material spheres. Agamben interprets contemporary economics as the theoretical movement that pushes away the ¡°transcendent¡± principle from the ¡°immanent¡± principle, leaving the world devoid of any relation to God. This article engages Agamben¡¯s insights in a discussion about the structures of such ¡°providential order¡± inherent to economic thought, and the ways it can be described as a form of ¡°theology,¡± alternative to the Christian worldview
%K Giorgio Agamben
%K immanence
%K Karl Marx
%K neoliberalism
%K theological economy
%K transcendence
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0034637319830688