Joseph Cardinal Höffner CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ... - Ordo Socialis

CHAPTER ONE: THE MATERIAL OBJECTIVE OF THE ECONOMY
§ 1 Determining the Material Objective of the Economy
The meaning immanent in the cultural realm economy (the „material objective“ of the economy)
results from the relationship of man to the world of material goods, which has four particular
characteristics:
l. The Sovereign Position of Man with Respect to the World of Material Goods.
Man stands in the centre of creation as „horizon and common boundary between the spiritual
and corporeal nature“(Thomas Aquinas, In 3 Sent., Prol.). God has „given him being with the
stones, vegetative life with the trees, sensitive life with the animals, and spiritual life with the
angels“(Augustine, City of God, V:II). Because as a spiritual being man stands on a higher
level than things, plants, and animals, he possesses a dominium naturale over the entire material
creation, a sovereign right that God has explicitly confirmed: „Fill the earth and subdue
it“(Gen l:28). As God’s likeness, man is entitled to rule over creation and to make the earth a
living space worthy of himself. In doing so, of course, he may not fall prey to the three fundamental
appetites that tempt him: the desires to enjoy, to have, and to rule. Against these
Scripture warns: „Nothing that the world affords comes from the Father. Carnal allurements,
enticements for the eye, the life of empty show - all these are from the world“(l Jn 2:l6). Today,
man is threatened not only by practical materialism, but by the danger of misusing the
power over the forces of the cosmos - and thus over man himself - placed in his hands by a
highly developed technology. Above all, that eerie gap disguising the immediacy of human
responsibility, which, in many cases (e.g., with atomic bombs and intercontinental missiles),
lies between the seemingly harmless activation of the equipment and the terrible consequences
appearing perhaps in another continent, could increase the temptation to irresponsible
action. It is necessary for man, who exercises power over nature, to gain mastery of himself as
well, so that he may employ those dangerous forces that have been awakened from the dark
depths of nature in a God-fearing and conscientious way. The Christian will see in earthly
things a gift of God - and indeed, compared with redemption and grace, only a small something
„given besides“ (Mt 6:33) - and oppose to the temptations threatening here the threefold
defense that is recommended in the Book of Tobit: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (Cf. Tob
l2:8) - prayer against the „desire to rule and to be important“, fasting against „the desire to
enjoy“, and almsgiving against the „desire to have“ (Cf. Gaudium et spes, 37).
Also to be seen in this context is John Paul's II impressive description of „the phenomenon of
consumerism.” In order to avoid it one „ one must be guided by a comprehensive picture of
man which respects all the dimensions of his being and which subordinates his material and
instinctive dimensions to his interior and spiritual ones“ (Centesimus annus, 36.2) Hence
criticism is directed „not so much against an economic system as against an ethical and cultural
system” „If economic life is absolutized, if production and consumption of goods become
the centre of social life and society’ s only value…the reason is to be found not so much
in the economic system itself as in the fact that the entire socio-cultural system, by ignoring
the ethical and religious dimension has failed“ (39.4 ). „Thus a great deal of educational and
cultural work is urgently needed, including the education of consumers in the responsible use
of their power of choice, the formation of a strong sense of responsibility among producers
and among people in the mass media in particular; as well as the necessary intervention by
public authorities.“ (36,2).
Originally, God destined earthly goods „for the entire family of mankind“(Quadragesimo
anno, 45) and thus did not assign them to particular people as he did to each one his or her