Scot McKnight: September 2009 Archives

9:32 Now as Peter was traveling around from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. 9:33 He found there a man named Aeneas who had been confined to a mattress for eight years because he was paralyzed. 9:34 Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Get up and make your own bed!" And immediately he got up. 9:35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Peter Raises Dorcas

9:36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which in translation means Dorcas). She was continually doing good deeds and acts of charity. 9:37 At that time she became sick and died. When they had washed her body, they placed it in an upstairs room. 9:38 Because Lydda was near Joppa, when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Come to us without delay." 9:39 So Peter got up and went with them, and when he arrived they brought him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him the tunics and other clothing Dorcas used to make while she was with them. 9:40 But Peter sent them all outside, knelt down, and prayed. Turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 9:41 He gave her his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her alive. 9:42 This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 9:43 So Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a man named Simon, a tanner.

This series is by Michael Kruse and it concerns economics -- a basics in economics. Most of us, and I include myself, no next to nothing about how economics work and so this series is here for the education of all of us. (Thanks Mike.)

Division of labor, mechanization, and trade has given rise to prosperous societies. Economic prosperity is spreading around the globe. Most people welcome the improving material quality of life. But is this prosperity sustainable? Commodities and natural resources are limited. We are told to reduce consumption so there will be more for others ... we should "live simply that others simply may live." It seems so intuitively obvious. But is it true? Malthusians would be inclined to think so.

Scholar and clergyman Thomas Malthus, published the first edition of his landmark work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, in 1798. Malthus was skeptical of his contemporaries' optimistic visions for human improvement. His historical analysis showed that agricultural resources grow arithmetically (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...) while populations grow geometrically (i.e., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 ...). Population outgrows the supporting resources. Societies must either expand their territory or experience a check on population size via war, disease, or famine. Greater prosperity tends to follow these checks as population comes back into balance with resources. That leads to new population growth and the cycle repeats itself. This is the Malthusian trap. It is a fairly accurate characterization of the world's experience prior to the Nineteenth Century.