Religious Reflections on Property

Today I came across a book called Having: Property and Possessions in Religious and Social Life (William Schweiker and Charles Mathewes ed., Eerdmans 2004).   From a review on the website of the Center for Public Justice, a Canadian organization concerned with religion and public life:

The editors tell us that their book "aim(s) to show the contribution religious studies and theological reflection can make to considering and responding to a humanly basic reality, namely, property and possession." Sixteen essayists come at the theme from different perspectives and disciplines. From a brilliant study by Charles Mathewes of Augustine’s concept of "using the world." to Jean Bethke Elshtain’s anguished look at the rhetoric of today’s eugenics, this book reminds us that we inherit an ocean of meaning nuanced by our ancestors and fed by biblical streams.

Tom B.