#thomasstorck

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In this episode, the panelists of The Open Door talk with Matthew Tsakanikas on Christian Zionism and its Theological Distortions (October 30, 2024) 1. What is Zionism, and what specifically, is religious or Christian Zionism?  2.  Why is it a theological error? How does it misread the Bible, particularly passages such as Romans 11:29? 3.  What are its origins? 4. Does it have much presence outside the U.S.? If not, why do you think so?5.  What effects has it had on American politics, especially American foreign policy?   6.  Can one make a sharp distinction between political and religious Zionism, at least with regard to their geographical claims? For example, with regard to an assertion of the right of Jews to move to Palestine and, at least to some extent, the displacement of the Arab inhabitants in the early part of the 20th century, did not the two forms of Zionism pretty much operate in the same way?  7. What is the correct way for Catholics to think about the Church and the Jewish people and is there any role they may still play in salvation history?

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In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Valerie Niemeyer, and Christopher Zehnder discuss Catholic social thought and economics. That means taking a long, hard look at capitalism in practice and the dominance of corporations. We’ll explore the nature of usury and what’s at issue in a fair wage. We’ll consider the State as a political community and the family as the cornerstone of social justice. We’ll talk about personal responsibility as the foundation of a just social order. Our welcome guests are Thomas Storck, the editor of Money, Markets, and Morals (En Route Books, 2024) and its Australian contributors Dr. Donald Boland and Dr. Garrick Small, as well as the American distributist thinkers John Médaille and David Cooney. Among the questions we’ll address to this panel are the following. Please feel free to suggest your own!

Is Catholic social teaching a dimension of moral theology?

How should we define capitalism? How can it become a threat to justice?

What is the origin of the modern corporation? Is there any way to challenge its power?

Can you compare and contrast for us, say, the Bank of America, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, a publicly owned bank or a credit union? What dangers does the former pose?

Just what is usury? Why is it wrong? Can you give examples of usurious practices

What is the distinction between a market wage and a fair wage? Where does a minimum wage guarantee fit in?

What is the basis of ownership? Do we own our bodies and our lives?

Should we think of the State as the political community of the highest degree?

Does the current economic order recognize the family as the first unit of a just society? What would a “family politics” look like?

In what ways might we practice personal responsibility in today’s profoundly complex economic order? Is personal responsibility compatible with stock ownership?

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On this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss “the prosperity Gospel” as the tip of an unholy alliance between individualism in theology and philosophy and capitalism in economics. This alliance reaches into the larger culture, including education, science, and the arts. We have a welcome and returning guest, Thomas Storck, to help us. He’s the author of several books, most recently The Prosperity Gospel: How Greed and Bad Philosophy Distorted Christ's Teachings (TAN, 2023). Arouca Press published a revised edition of his Foundations of a Catholic Political Order last year. In addition, he recently translated and wrote a new forward for Louis Cardinal Billot’s Liberalism: A Critique of Its Basic Principles and Various Forms (Arouca Press, 2019). Storck is a prolific contributor to the New Oxford Review. And, to top it off, he’s associated with the American Solidarity Party. We’ll be asking the following questions. Please feel free to suggest your own!

Just what is “the prosperity Gospel,” and who are some of its current proponents

You note that some central elements in our culture give rise to the prosperity Gospel. Just how do you define “culture”?

What is a bourgeois culture? A consumerist culture?

You draw on the work of Max Weber. Why is Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism of special significance?

What happens to a culture that loses sight of teleology?6

Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his opinion in the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood vs. Casey: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” What does this declaration imply?

Why do you claim that technology is not neutral?

Fewer and fewer students major in the humanities. What are the social consequences of this steep decline?

Is there room in art for expressive individualism?

What’s your next book?

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In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes talk with Dr. Thomas Sheahen and Dr. Thomas Storck on Everywhen: God, Symmetry, and Time (February 8, 2023) Have you been told that science and religion are incompatible? Do you think you have to give one up to be consistent?You don’t. In this book, MIT-trained physicist Thomas Sheahen explains how you can:

trust in God more readily, by realizing that God is not limited by space and time

expand your human thinking and step up to a higher plane of understanding

realize that religion and science are complementary paths to knowledge–not opposed

understand that God thought up the laws of nature and uses them in creation.

Everywhen | En Route Books and Media

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Episode 238: Thomas Storck talks about his book Foundations of a Catholic Political Order (June 29, 2022)