📖 Biblical Definition
Scripture does not use the word "capitalism," but it everywhere presupposes private property, voluntary exchange, honest weights and measures, and the fruit of one's labor belonging to the laborer. "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15) assumes the legitimacy of private ownership. The Parable of the Talents rewards the servants who invested and multiplied what was entrusted to them, while condemning the one who buried his portion (Matthew 25:14-30). Biblical economics is neither laissez-faire autonomy nor state redistribution — it is stewardship under God's sovereignty, where men are free to own, trade, and profit, but are accountable to God for how they use every resource.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The term "capitalism" did not appear in Webster 1828. The word "capital" referred to chief, principal, or the stock employed in trade.
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CAP'ITAL, n. The stock employed in trade, manufactures, or any business. The fund or money laid out in a business enterprise. Note: Webster understood capital as the productive stock a man employs — his tools, goods, and money. The system built on such ownership was simply called "commerce" or "free enterprise."
📖 Key Scripture
• Exodus 20:15 — "You shall not steal."
• Matthew 25:14-30 — The Parable of the Talents: faithful stewardship multiplies what is given.
• Proverbs 10:4 — "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."
• 2 Thessalonians 3:10 — "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat."
• Deuteronomy 25:13-15 — "You shall have a full and just weight, a full and just measure."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Capitalism is attacked as inherently exploitative, while its critics offer systems Scripture explicitly condemns.
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The modern critique of capitalism comes from two directions, both unbiblical. The Marxist left condemns private property as theft and free exchange as exploitation — directly contradicting the Eighth Commandment and the biblical reward of diligence. The libertarian right absolutizes the market, making profit the supreme good and treating greed as a virtue — contradicting Scripture's warnings against covetousness and its commands to care for the poor. Biblical economics affirms private property, honest labor, voluntary exchange, and generous charity — all under the lordship of Christ. The problem is never ownership itself but idolatry of wealth. "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10) — not money itself, and certainly not the freedom to earn it honestly.
Usage
• "Biblical capitalism is not greed baptized — it is stewardship exercised through private property, honest labor, and voluntary exchange under God's law."
• "The Eighth Commandment presupposes capitalism before any economist named it — you cannot steal what no one rightfully owns."