HG Brennan Workshop on Economics and Theology

28 Mar 2024 - by

On 8-10 February 2024, The Centre for Religion Ethics and Society (CRES) hosted the second HG Brennan Workshop on Economics and Theology in association with the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACC&C), with the theme of ‘Faith Work and Economics’. Our international guest for the workshop was the distinguished economist and policy advisory, Prof Juergen von Hagen, who is Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Bonn and a leader of interdisciplinary research on economics and theology.

Prof von Hagen delivered an evening public lecture on 8 February on the topic of ‘Economics and Theology: Promise and Difficulties of the Dialogue”. The lecture was well attended by academic economists, theologians and members of the public.

Click here for a pdf copy of Prof von Hagen's paper.

The workshop held on 9 and 10 February included 20 invited participants, who spent two days discussing faith, work and economics. CRES Adjunct Professor Paul Oslington opened the workshop with an overview of the history and current status of the dialogue between economics and theology. Three papers were commissioned for the workshop: one by Christopher White on the faith and work movement, one by Juergen von Hagen on the economic effects of faith and work activities and one by Jonathan Cornford on economics and eschatology.

During the workshop, CRES Research Fellow Dr Brendan Long also launched the book, The Economic Impact of Religion on Society in Australia (Connor Court Publishing, 2024). Dr Long contributed a chapter to the book titled “Measuring the economic impact of religiosity in Australia.”

The next HG Brennan Workshop on Economics and Theology will take place in February 2025.